Rousseau

They just picked him up for €70M...

Newcastle look quite slick. They know what they're trying to do, even without a few of their best players.

I don't see the diamond. It looks like a flat 4-3-3 and flat 4-4-2 in different phases. The front three are definitely changing positions. To be fair, we've not had a lot of the ball to see anything develop.

I don't expect the finished article, but I expected to see a bit more intent both in possession and out of it. As DMAA says, it's a couple of short passes before losing the ball or a chipped ball forward.

I think they're missing a few players.

It looks like a flat 4-4-2 in defence which is nice to see - it's quite common at the top of the game - but it's not done anything to stop them passing through us...

Our pressing is rubbish. And we can't pass through theirs.

It's definately a 4-3-3. It's not what they had on the graphic. Dowell is not even a winger!

Youth.

Is it weird that I'm more excited to see Mayo, Rice and Lowry?

Dessers not available?

Called it. 4-3-1-2. Dowell as an #8, Cantwell as the #10. On paper, anyway.

That's 6 snaps throughout the whole f*cking game.

You are correct, but don't mistake that for lack of structure: there's still a base formation and then a formation in defence and attack. Guardiola is tyrannical about attacking space, but he is still equally tyrannical about rigid structures in attack and defence. Even one of the most chaotic managers, Fluminense's Fernando Diniz, still has a structure. I was just correcting dB, as he stated we were playing with one up front. He also still thinks we were playing a 4-2-3-1 - he was suggesting such even when we used the Christmas tree under Gerrard! That and there's no football to watch!!

It would be a better service.

We don't have a right wing issue: we don't have a right wing.

I'm off, so...

I sent that to you in private!

I can see that last screenshot being the way we play next season. Just replace Kent with Hagi or Dowell, or Cantwell, with Dowell playing where Cantwell is on that graphic. Up front it'll be two of Dessers, Danilo, Lammers, Sima, Sakala (if he stays).

Do you want more graphics? I would argue we've been playing the 4-3-1-2 since March at least, outwith a few one-off games.

They're not fanciful. That's how we played. I watched it with my own eyes.

That one was more of a Christmas tree, iirc, with Hagi and Cantwell playing as two #10s, but we pressed with a front two. Matondo played there often just because he was the only one capable as playing as a pressing forward. I suspect if we had another capable forward Matondo would have been dropped. Fotmob.