People need to actually watch Tonali… his positional sense is amazing. He made himself perfectly available to receive the ball in space so he could make both runs that resulted in a goal, but especially the Barnes goal… and not only did he make that goal happen he then moved into space after laying it off to Barnes so he would be in a good position if Barnes needed to pass it back.
Lewis Hall only got to full match fitness playing games, for all the talk of ‘Howe masterclass getting him ready then letting him play’… a) Howe had no choice as Burn was unavailable b) Hall was NOT fit when he got the run of games when Burn wasn’t available… Sitting in the Milburn for the Everton game (so had a great view) he was gassed within 15 mins, only regular football got him up to speed.
As for ‘Tonali not being ready to play Howe’s style of football’… he’s been training with the club since pre season, just how much time does it take to get your ideas across? What does that say about Howe and teams coaching skills if a player of Tonali’s ability is struggling. Was told recently that players can just swap and interchange roles easily in a game… seems odd that they can do that, but one player can’t pick up how we play after spending so long training and even longer as part of the squad.
As for Tonali’s fitness, he played 2 full 90 mins in a week for Italy in the first international break… way back… so if wasn’t ready then why the hell is he not now?
Similar concern about Osula getting game time… with Wilson’s mystery issue, if Isak gets injured then we’re f**ked and have no real backup (Don’t say Gordon!)… but by playing Isak so long every game we are denying Osula time to get experience and increasing the chances of Isak getting injured.
Isak was planned knackered at 3-1 up, he literally stood and made no attempt to get the ball or even put pressure on a Forest player about 6 yards outside the box. 3-1 up, Isak knackered and he stayed on the pitch till the 96th minute, about another 12-15 mins.
So yes, I do think there’s things to question about Howe. No I don’t think he should be replaced but he’s not perfect and I’m not gonna just trot out a party line that is too f**king close to Arteta’s “Trust the process”