Palarse

You're right, it should say difference, not comparison. And it should have a plus sign. I made it on a tablet, and wrongly assumed the reader wasn't expecting professional standards. I'll try harder.

It’s crystal clear.

A little disappointing. We were the better side and with a bit of luck could have won. Nico Domulator was the MOM but Muriel had a great game. That goal after his run would have been something special.

Palarse were there for the taking but unfortunately we let that opportunity slip. Toffolo was also surprisingly good and his crossing is excellent.

Something is missing from the front line and of course that is Taiwo. Unfortunately without him we are blunt.

Chicago: A little flat.

Nothing wrong with the analysis, except any model showing we're no better than last year is inherently flawed

I thought the front three put in a similarly toothless performance today as they did v Brentford, in which Taiwo played. So I don't know that today's lack of scoring was completely due to his absence.

Elanga was absolutely ass though. Looked like he'd never played football before.

He is the second coming of Franz Carr maybe. However, I think his understanding with Taiwo will continue to develop, he'll follow SSC's instructions, and we'll see an excellent player.

I'll stick my neck out here and say no, I don't think we will. I don't think he's going to work out. There's always bound to be a few duds with the number we've signed, and I think he'll be this year's. Given we don't have too many players in his position, I expect it'll be the area we look to strengthen in January.

I don’t think Leicester and Leeds are like for like replacements for Burnley and Sheff Utd because you’re assuming the latter two are being relegated. Sheff Utd probably but I’d be surprised if Burnley go down. Anyway, isn’t the correct comparison with teams promoted last year? We’d played both Fulham and Bournemouth at home this time last year and lost both. So we are (maybe) four points to the good this season?

If Fulham and Bournemouth aren’t their own equivalents, who the hell are they equivalent to?

Bournemouth = Leeds
Fulham = Brentford
Brentford = Palace
Palace = Wolves
Wolves = Everton
Everton = Leicester

It’s complicated, this stuff. I think I’ll just leave it as “we’ve made progress”.

Clearly we are making progress, as seen in how we are playing. We could carry on playing last year's contain and counter attack style, and likely will do at times. But to transition to a mid/upper table team, we need to be able to control the game more, have more possession and break teams down whilst dominating. That's a work in progress and will take time. To date, whether we are seeing an improvement in results is uncertain, but improvements on the pitch are obvious.

We were unlucky not to win yesterday.

Let's talk about Dominguez a bit. He's got overshadowed by Murillo, but wow he looks good.

After time to think about it over night, I still feel as happy with the performance as I was at the time (not always the case). There was a lot to like, notably Murillo, Domínguez & Sangaré, but also honourable mentions to MGW, Toffolo, Boly, Angry Serge & Montiel. On another day we could have scored 3 - the margin of error for MGW’s lob from that outrageous Murillo pass is minuscule, and the deflection over the bar after Montiel’s late scissor kick could have gone absolutely anywhere (qv Arsenal’s first goal in the first game as an example). I was particularly happy with what seems to be growing in midfield; I haven’t seen us recover, retain and do useful things with the ball like that for a long time, especially away from home. Nico Domínguez in particular looks a steal.

For all the positives, there are still concerns at both ends of the pitch. Palace’s defence is good, sure, but I’d still hope to see more from CHO (accepting it’s still early days), and Elanga was no more than OK when he came on - in particular, the beautifully disguised round the corner pass from Domínguez right at the end was a goal had Elanga’s first touch not been shite. Wood is what he is, and he will score goals, but without Taiwo our main threat seems to come from midfield runners. Midfield runners are good and we haven’t had them for a while, but they need to be as well as forwards, not instead of them.

At the other end, Turner worries me. He’s far from crap, but definitely has a flap and/or weak punch in him.

Even so, it’s probably 30 years since I’ve seen as controlled an away performance as that from a top flight Forest. We’ve come a long way in 2 years. Pretty happy.

Best player on the pitch for me. Runs all day, can mix it up when he needs to (despite not being the biggest) and has the ability to break lines with his vision. Like Murillo, obviously very early days but both look outstanding recruitment.

I don't get the downer on Elanga but it reminds me of around this time last year what some of the same people were saying about Awoniyi. Look at his run against Arsenal before Awoniyi's goal and how he absolutely skin's Partey and White. Look at him making a total clown out of Caicedo and Disasi on multiple occasions against Chelsea, never mind his composure for the goal. I was worried before he signed about what he actually had but it's clear that what he has is strength, pace, skill and ability to carry the ball at great speed. And he is only 21. Huge potential.

I worry a bit about who our regular scorers are going to be without Awoniyi and Johnson. I don't agree that Wood will inevitably score goals. He is a good battering ram and a threat from crosses but he can't run in from behind and he doesn't really make many runs into the box or get shots away. Gibbs-White needs to improve on his finishing and/or we need to start delivering better balls from set-pieces. MGW takes everything and the threat is a bit limited.

I'd say a Niakhate throw is a bigger threat than am MGW corner right now. Maybe Murillo can take corners.

I think what the last two games have shown is that when two mid table premier league teams play each other, it can turn into a back and forth of one team ineffectually trying to break down a set defence.

Which basically requires a mistake (few and far between, due the quality of the defences), a moment of genius or a set piece to break down.

Unfortunately, our two or three moments of genius came to nothing yesterday but we definitely need to improve set piece delivery to pose a more consistent threat.