OhForAGreavsie

Spot on. I think we will need several starters against Peterborough. If we field a lineup consisting entirely of squad players, we will lose. Our squad team is never as strong as it really should be. Worse, it always manages to perform at a level which is less than the sum of its parts. This is the ideal game to re-introduce Kurt, while Michy must play of course, along with Nat and JT if ready. We might expect to see Beggo, Willian and Fab but other places should be filled with starters. Anything else is dangerous and would make me nervous.

I agree with much of the criticism posted tonight. Indeed I posted a fair bit of it myself. The thing is, we have a week and a half to chew things over before we get back to the league. In the meantime, let's try to spare a few posts in praise of the players and the coach to recognise their magnificent, record-setting, achievements. If I was there, I'd be on my feet applauding you all off the pitch gentlemen. Well, I can be there in spirit at least, so huge congratulations to the squad and coaching staff for three unbelievable months. Thank you lads.

When your midfield is a mess things get chaotic at the back. Retain possession poorly and your defending automatically gets worse. Some people insist on blaming the defenders for that but there is a bigger picture people need to see.

No, the lads deserve our attention. The problems we've been discussing this evening are not news. We've known about them for a long time, and Antonio has known about them for as long as he has been here. Despite those issues our team has put together a magnificent sequence of results. Even if tonight ends in defeat we need to honour them for what they have achieved.

I argued that we should have signed him from AZ all those years ago. Oh well.

No, he used to PLAY as an attacking midfielder. That's not the same thing as being one.

Agreed, which is why the solution to this problem lies in the market. The market is for another day however. For today, I'd make the change.

There is solidity but I'm not sure it's being added by that combination. I confess I'm just completely fed up with Matic. He is problem, not a solution.

Moses at fault for the goal. Everyone else stepped up, he didn't. Outcome free header and goal.

They have better athletes at wingback, and better technicians at CM. Makes a huge difference to their fluidity.

Matic can pick a pass, like most players, when he is facing up and around the edge of the box. That's not the issue however. When in possession in the middle of the park he simply doesn't have the right combination of technical quality and speed of thought. Throw in his chronic one-footedness and he is almost always compelled to play the ball backwards. Momentum negated, potential attack killed. Swap Matic for Dembele and our improvement would be huge.

Summer if it must be, but as soon as possible is the right answer.

I hope we are working hard to recruit one or more CMs this window. Without Cesc we have no one in there who can get turned and move us forward. Personally, I would have started Cesc today. The way things are going I think we will need him before the end. Matic is absolutely not the answer in there.

On the contrary they've done very well for themselves. Like Oscar, they are not good enough to play for top-level clubs and so they choose to cash in. Fair enough, I for one do not blame them. Agents will tell all kinds of lies and gleeful media will publish almost anything, but the truth remains the truth. Witsel turned down Juventus? Laughable. If the Old Lady really made him a serious offer, he'd have taken it.

I don't want this fella at all, so the price doesn't come into it for me. In my opinion he is reasonably sound defensively but overrated in possession. Koulibally has signed a new contract, and is presumedly more out of reach than ever now, but van Dijk is a poor alternative.

No, but there must be a reason. It's not something I'm worried about in any way. I'm sure the club will make the best arrangements possible within the terms of the loan contract. Beyond that, the reality is that Pat has no future at The Bridge.

Play whoever he likes but DO NOT LOOSE. If he plays a squad team and looses I may never forgive him. I can't abide these managers who decide to throw The Cup away. Instant sacking offence in my book.

I agree that the two lads from Monaco are good options and would represent genuine upgrades. By the start of next season I would ideally like to see upgrades down our right flank as well however. Pedro and Moses are working fine but if we are able list those two as squad players, rather than automatic starters, our group will begin to look extremely powerful. I like the idea of a high quality addition at centre back but do not believe that Van Dijk is the man we need. He is sound enough defensively, but I don't share the widespread opinion that he adds quality on the ball. If City see him as an upgrade for them it would surprise me because I certainly don't see him as one for us.

There is a thread here.

I cant say that I've seen him performing with that degree of quality often enough to believe that it is his standard level, and not just a flash of peak form that all players exhibit at some moments. I certainly think there is a gulf of quality in possession between Kessie and Badelj. If you haven't already seen these performances, check out the videos. I felt his best display (of these) came against Roma. See what you think: -

Dembele is very unlikely to move again so quickly. Worse, if he does move it's likely that he would turn us down once more as he did two summers ago. I don't know if we bid again this summer, but he made it clear very early on that Dortmund was his chosen destination. Granted, when he turned us down in 2015 it was probably because he didn't fancy becoming a part of the loan army. Now that he would be recruited for the first team that might change things for him, but I still doubt that he would give up on BVB after just one season. He certainly won't give up after half a season and move in January.

Kroos is a great player but no one should get carried away by the passes in that video. Most of them have three things in common; they are easy to spot, easy to complete and they occurred after Kross was given all day to decide what he wanted to do and then to execute his decision. Of course there are occasions when Kroos earns time and space for himself and it is that ability, not the passes themselves, which set him apart as a top level player.

I thought that was what I said. :-) Paying premium prices for premium players is the right way to use financial muscle. Paying premium prices for sub-premium players is the right way to waste a lot of money, and make your rivals better.

True, but then that's always the case with every opportunity and every penny spent.

Yes it would be allowed. Players may represent a maximum of two clubs in a single season. He joined Monaco during the off-season so they have been his only club so far this term.