Hahahah I was thinking damn the humidity in the air has done a number on his hair 
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Yes, he looks far better as a player when a team is front footed when pressing and a player isn’t running at him, exposing his lack of pace, Andoni’s setup and style of play suits his aggressive style of play far better.
He was also very good in possession and scored a beauty.
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Nyoni and Koumas last time we won the Carabao Cup in 2024
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I’m still hoping he’ll come good certainly wasn’t this match 
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You do realize, though, that he hasn’t been playing as well since you started using that picture? 
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Does that means Flobs needs to start rotating other teams’ crests or players instead?
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I will change it when Nyoni becomes a regular starter. As it is I haven’t much confidence in who we are playing.
I do like the look of Jacquet though.
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As far as avatars go @Livvy, yours would be a bit lightweight but I recon mine could do a decent job in midfield. He’s massive and quite agile from lighting Decepticons all the time
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Who are we playing next?
Next up is to pop the cherries. 
Andoni Iraola on the younger players:
“I was happy for them. Different positions, different demands. The best thing is that they were dead when I subbed them. Trey [Nyoni] was cramping, Rio [Ngumoha] couldn’t have run a lot more, McConnell the same. When this happens is because you’ve given your all. They have been very energetic, having the willingness of winning the duels, feel that they press, I was happy for them, yes.”
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The game did everything it needed to do for me. First and foremost we advanced. So, job done.
But then beyond that, we saw some youngsters and squad men get a game, and they didn’t let us down. Koumas did very well, so did McConnell and Nyoni. Mama made some fantastic saves - the one where he put his hand up sharply to save a deflected shot was excellent.
All three goals were excellent, getting better and better until Szobo scored a worldie. He has that in his locker as we all know.
The ‘first choice’ midfield is not there yet, as a unit, so we have plenty of work to do. But today the youngsters and fringe players did well, and some established stars scored some lovely goals.
Onwards and upwards.
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Is it just me? I do love to see the youngsters and supposed 2nd string players, playing with a point to prove and putting the effort in as they feel if they perform they will impress the coach and it might lead to more chances of playing.
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Very unassuming in his role and that is in a good way
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Was brilliant imo.
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The Good
We are a deeper side than we were 24 hours ago. That was for 60 minutes just about perfect for what you want in an early round League Cup game, excellent balance between immediate competitive requirement and team balance from Iraola. Some veteran leadership, some veterans trying to play their way into a bigger role, and some young players getting critical experience, all working together to get the win and make the guys whose legs were getting rested aware that they need to earn that starting role.
The Bad
Mama had some great reaction saves, but in this era of the Arsenal ugly set piece goal a keeper has to be much stronger than that. VAR might well have given him the foul in a league game, but he probably would have had to be more forceful to draw the contact that would create the foul. PL opponents will have seen that play, Spurs pretty obviously did because it wasn’t too long before they tried to recreate it from a free kick.
The Ugly
Two years ago a midfield with Grav and Dom rolled over the league, so it is no surprise that a manager would want to find a way to make it work - notwithstanding the fact it hasn’t for about a year and a half. Dom was poor today other than a thundering goal, but has shown he can play to a high level in the right structure. Gravenberch on the other hand was magic in a Slot structure that even Slot struggled to recreate after about February 2025. Klopp evidently couldn’t figure him out, and Iraola obviously hasn’t yet. That pairing isn’t what works for either player.
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Trey on Insta
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