Jonty

Just give him the 5 year extension already

Some puzzling lineup decisions, handball in the goal somehow not checkable by VAR, our goal offside by a hair. Hopefully getting all our bad luck out of the way before the CL final. At least I hope we won't see Dave at wing back again, and hopefully TT has a word with Rudi and tells him to stop taking so many shots and trying to pull off difficult passes. Frustrating but can't begrudge Leicester continuing to overachieve, congratulations.

In light of the performances in the last two games, I think 10 of the 11 now pick themselves: Mendy, Dave, Thiago Silva, Rudiger, James, Chilwell, Kante, Jorginho, Mount and Werner. Only question mark for me is whether to go with Havertz or Pulisic. The other lingering question was whether Dave should be played at CB or RB. He looked shattered by about the 60th minute in the Real game, and I don't think it's practical to sub off your captain/defensive leader in a Champions League Final. James showed yesterday he can be trusted in a big game defensively, and going forward he was excellent. Conversely, I don't trust Christensen or Zouma to the same degree.

Pretty unfair to Pedro, whose energy has driven this late run of possession.

Nice of the ref to ruin a perfectly entertaining cup final

I must say I don't recall him committing many absolute howlers, as we've grown accustomed to seeing from some of the other supposed top keepers in the league this season (De Dea, Pickford, Kasper, etc.). I wonder for all the stats about his poor save percentage and high number of goals conceded, how many of those he should genuinely have been expected to stop.

It is inevitable that he will show up as a world class keeper somewhere else.

A pure class act, was genuinely annoyed that Tammy didn't play him in at the end of the game today for what looked like an easy parting goal.

Echoing what many others have said, this more than perhaps any previous season was excellence (and frustration) by committee, I don't think there a stand-out option and the fact I can barely remember the first half of the season now makes it more difficult still. Voted Kovacic as I believe he has been the most consistent player in the team, and has had a hugely important role given the inconsistency displayed by Kante, Barkley and Ruben this season. Willian probably second. Pulisic, Giroud, Mount and Abraham have all been brilliant in spurts but haven't been consistent. The inclusion of James, Barkley and Dave as nominees I find rather surprising, i'd probably rate Jorginho over all three of them and on par with the aforementioned Pulisic and Co.

Incredible scenes in the Championship today. Can't imagine how Forest fans are feeling, and Brentford fans will be gutted also. Congratulations to my adopted home Luton Town also on clinging onto survival.

If at the start of the season you'd offered me an FA Cup Final and that all we need to make top 4 is a home draw with Wolves on the last day, I would happily have taken it. I would run back the same team which outplayed United and, really, outplayed the champions today for large stretches, with the exception of Pulisic coming in for Mount.

Very entertaining game, and very unfortunate to be 3 goals down when I don't think Liverpool created a decent chance the entire first half. For all the moaning about our defence it's worth noting the first and third goals came from mistakes by Willian and Giroud. Second goal was a very soft FK. I'm also not sure which of those Kepa was supposed to save - perhaps the FK? The camera angle from behind TAA shows it went well outside the post before coming in though, I think people overreact when the keeper doesn't throw a futile dive at the ball. The defence, goalkeeper and holding midfield players all rely on each other to make themselves look good. It's notable that this season has seen a noticeable decline from our two best defensive players (Kante and Dave), and that a few players who perhaps were being flattered by their efforts in recent years have been shown up as a result (Rudiger, Zouma, Christensen, Kepa, etc.). Having Oblak in goal wouldn't have stopped any of today's goals, and giving up on such a highly rated young GK seems foolish, especially if we aren't recouping a decent proportion of the initial investment.

7 goals in his last 9 starts. Tough to see him not getting first crack at the starting job next season on this form.

I really cannot believe how much I have grown to like Giroud, as I did Fabregas before him. A striker who puts himself about physically as you want from any number 9, but also has the ability and attitude to play selflessly and make everyone around him better.

Tough call on whether he stays, given we're offering two years and he wants three. In that third year he'll be 34 when the season begins, and turning 35 shortly after it ends. He's been immense this season, and while he's always clearly been very athletic and extremely fit I don't recall him in prior seasons pressing and tracking back anywhere near as much as he has done this season. I'm not sure whether it is him naturally maturing or that he's playing for one last big contract, but if the Club is confident we can get this Willian, and not the streaky and sometimes sulky Willian of old, I think it's a no brainer we give him the full three. That is of course no guarantee though. I wonder also whether stepping out of Hazard's shadow for the first time has encouraged him to take on more responsibility on the field.