The La

Werner, then

To follow up on this - re-watching the Cardiff game at the moment. When he had that effort cleared off the line in the first half he immediately dropped back, won possession really well, played it quickly to feet then looked to drop into space. A manager's going to love that

Weighty matters indeed. I'd be interested in the implications Redharvest sees in the links to "the octopus." Opening up that whole piscine debate may provide a little welcome context on any potential pursuit of Geoff Pike. Or Frank Lamprey

It's not the cheese, bread, vegetables and meat that RedHarvest objects to. It's the chocolate biscuits the rile him so

Agree with this but I actually think you might be damning him with faint praise. He was very good first couple of games, then he started getting skinned badly and diving in too early. It looked like there was a technical flaw uncovered that he never really got the games to iron out of his play, here or anywhere else. It may be that he's still not ironed it out and oppositions have forgotten their scouting notes on him but he's been playing against sides that do have plenty of attacking talent out wide and has looked very solid. It looks like the mental side is there with him, which is more than half the battle

Absolutely bang on. The most Gerrard-esque performance by a Liverpool player not named Gerrard since... very difficult to recall anyone in yonks and yonks. Maybe as far back as David Thompson at Sheffield Wednesday. He was fantastic

Hmmm... old "Righteous Rory" would never have shown such a degree of self-awareness and humility

Look: garlands, bouquets and sweet music are undoubtedly merited, but are we bestowing them on the grinder or his monkey? I mean, if Hassony came out and said " Hey everyone - I just wrote this story about a bunch of animals, it begins: you'd be wise to be cautious, given his track record points far more towards a high volume of "amusing" pictures parroting tired internet memes, rather than writing The Wind in the Willows Let me put this another way, lads. Who wouldn't raise an eyebrow at the following?

I come to praise the lad, not bury him but if someone's planning on dishing out a Tomkins-style gig on the back of this I would definitely recommend giving those tyres a good old kick. Seems a bit late in the day to have what the Americans call a "breakout year"

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Rory - though I'm skeptical about where you're pulling all this insight from after a decade or more of undistinguished service, I very much enjoy these opposition crib sheet thingies. Good work, 6/10.

Like the Xhirkles that you find In the windmills of your mind?

While the talk of budgets and allocations is very interesting, there is a danger of becoming sidetracked by minutiae. Clearly the big issue at hand is what song we are going to sing for this Xhaka when he arrives. Does anyone know how "Xhaka" is pronounced? I'm assuming "Chaka" - in which case we can go with "Granit Xhaka can't half rap, it's time he had an England cap, so come on Bobby Robson (18 February 1933– 31 July 2009), he's your man. If anyone, can Xhaka can" which also has the splendid serendipity of referencing Chaka Khan, who had a big hit in the nineties with "Injected With A Poishon"

That's him - cheers

What about the chap from Monchengladbach with the name that sounds like Xabi but isn't? Would he fit the bill as the box to box midfielder?

I think the club are confident Hendo will be ok for Spurs, no? Regardless - might be time for a bench appearance for Teixeira?

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Gerrard Henderson Suarez

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Peter Cruych

I do. I also think having centre halves who can do a passable job at fullback means we can change formation mid-game without necessarily making any subs

I think, looking at the way the squad is, we're going to see 3 at the back more often, with Sakho, Agger and Toure all playing.

I probably would. I'm a bit nervous about what to expect from Suarez this season to be honest. Definitely need to bag another striker, though

Exactly. I would add that a backup goalie is exactly the sort of signing you should be making on deadline day. Seems logical to leave it until the end. See what you've got, where you're at and who's fluttering their eyelashes at you.