i was so optimistic and pretty confident before the game but when i saw we were missing Rodrigo and Raphinha i guessed we might be in for a tough night. over 100 million pounds worth of talent sat in the stand if you include Phillips and Llorente; i know Leicester had some injuries too but they showed they have a class deep squad by still having a player like Maddison to bring on and make a difference where we were left with a green poveda and a, imo, out of his depth at this level Tyler Roberts.

we were bloody awful for the first 25 minutes, miss placed pass after miss placed pass, slips and errors everywhere and leicester fully deserved a 2-0 lead without having to do a great deal. all that said Bamford missed 2 sitters and had he nodded that first minute header in as he should the whole game could have panned out differently. we were better in the second period but leicester always had our number on the night although 4-1 flatters them a little but its another lesson learned hopefully.

on to Palace. They are a very limited, dour but functional team that will definitely sit in and look to Zaha. aside from that and set pieces they shouldn't cause us too many headaches. The worry as mentioned above is we struggle to break the park the bus teams down and without the class of Rodrigo and probably Raphinha again its hard to see where the goals come. quite simply we need Bamford to be clinical if he gets his 1/2 chances in the game or it could be another frustrating game.

I think Pablo came out as he's still working back to match fitness. He didn't look tired mind

Rodrigo has tested positive for COVID which is a blow but appears to be A-Symptomatic which is good news thankfully. Should be back after international break.

The international break has actually come at the right time this time.

Absolutely it has

What a poor decision that was disallowing Bamfords first goal.
He`s pointing where he wants the ball to be played and VAR deems his arm is a fraction over the line.
Dermot, Phil Neville and Michael Own all thought it was a goal.
Poor goalkeeping by Messlier for the Costa own goal and Harrison giving the ball away more than he keeps it.
All the possession but down 3-1.

It looks like it's going to be a season of wins and hammerings.

With our first choice 11 we are ok but the depth in the squad is not good enough.
Harrison losing the ball in promising positions pretty much resulted in 2 goals for Palace.
Koch should have done better for their first goal and as mentioned Messlier at fault for the own goal.
I know I`m critical of Harrison but I have never seen a player lose the ball so many times.
No idea why he keeps bringing Roberts on to play as a 10 either.
Badly in need of Phillips and Rodrigo and I would play Lllorente alongside Cooper

Should of said Alioski should have prevented the 4th goal too.
We need a left back not left wingers who can run up and down the touchline all day.

we are missing our spine, as i think Llorente will be taking Cooper's spot soon so with him, Phillips and Rodrigo you have 3 international players missing and a team like ours still with plenty of championship players in the squad can't go for long papering over those cracks.

that said we are getting no luck lately. VAR was a joke for the Bamford goal, a ridiculous deflection for their 3rd and a worldie free kick. we do need to tighten up though and getting those players back should rejuvenate us. the international break comes at a good time for once.