Up For The Cup Part 1: Poo-Ton edition

Barry is a first team player when fit. That kid is going to be special if he can stay healthy.

Yeah, we didn’t get out of first gear. Ryan Yates was fun to watch but Morato was quality. He owned the Poo-Ton forwards.

Sosa is very talented but a bit of a spaz. He does some really good things (cross for Yates. Score) and then has the touch of a rapist. He is basically an over-excitable kid.

Was lovely to see Danilo on. The four sub change was a little disconcerting. I wish we had kept Taiwo on as it would have done him good to maybe get a couple of more chances. He was calm to start with. Nice layoffs. Good link up play. His finishing had a lot to be desired though and I think if he got one thunderbastard in then he would take off. Oh well. Nuno knows best.

Toff’s and Ryan showed some good range of padding and Jota was just Jota. A pain in the arse.

Chicago: Satisfied.

I'm a huge Sosa fan. As he integrates into the squad and country more (i think he spoke a Paraguayan dialect rather than even Spanish), he'll keep getting better, and he's already got the best delivery in the squad, except possible JWP.

Not seeing that at all. One decent cross all game yesterday but nothing that half a dozen of our other players don’t do every game. He doesn’t look quick, he doesn’t look strong and he doesn’t have amazing skill. Hopefully he’ll develop and I’m certainly not writing him off but he’s nowhere near the level of Jota at the moment and he, in turn, is nowhere near Elanga or CHO.

Good of you to about it.
(Winky thing)

That's where I was, particularly Sosa.
Jota deserved MotM, just ahead of Yates for me.
Sosa got an assist and a goal, but so many bad decisions - reminded me of early Elanga in the amount of times he conceded possession, was bullied off the ball, chose the wrong pass or didn't make the pass. People will scream stats at me, as they did when I made the same point about Elanga, but better teams will (and did) punish us when we give the ball away so cheaply.

The wingers are, I think, showing the difference between Prem experience and not.
They aren't quite ready but it's great squad depth.

www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/p0kj3grp?partner=uk.co.bbc&origin=share-mobile

Honestly, I presumed his English would be better than that by now. That's not a criticism particularly, I just maybe naively presumed he was having lessons a few times a week - plus living in the country would naturally accelerate that of course. Obviously just some people have a natural affinity for learning other languages - personally I'm hopeless and would have been worse than Danilo in reverse!

I agree and disagree a out Sosa. He's inconsistent which you only address with game time. I've seen him have a great touch, make an incisive past and most of all move into space well. I think he panics a little. The cross for the goal yesterday was superb and his movement for his goal and the execution was excellent. Hopefully he gets plenty of cup game time.

I'm in the undecided camp. I think he can play some great balls in from free kicks and open play. I think he's got a good shot on him. He's fast ish and tricky ish. But he's also lightweight and gives the ball away too much. Wouldn't sell ... Wouldn't start him. Give him 12 months and let's see.

I've seen it reported a few times that Nuno insists on players speaking English in the training ground.

I'm calling bullshit on that. Danilo wouldn't be able to talk to anyone and wouldn't have a clue what's going on

The bit where he says "nice to meet you" in response to the 2nd question made us laugh.

Exeter away next round.

Piece of piss.

Also loves to give a free kick away when there's no need

Don’t think we’ve played Exeter in my lifetime.