King Kante

Let's see, I am not really a fan of Yank ownership, but he was by far and away the best of the Yank options. Personally, I am waiting to see what happens with this as whilst he has made the right noises, actually putting your hand in your pocket, especially in an intelligent way, is very different.

He goes home with his £4.25bill in his back pocket still.

Yeah, Reece, Mount, Trev (if happy with a sqaud role), RLC and Gallagher (from what I have read) all seem to be very attached to the club. Can't see any of them leaving unless forced or aren't playing at all.

I do a little investing and things like this aren't really an issue, especially for individuals like Ratcliffe whose investments are in established industries that aren't on the brink of extinction. Firstly, he isn't going to sell his shares, so all he has currently is a paper loss, secondly within five years' he will either be richer than he is now or back to his peak. People like Ratcliffe don't panic in such situations and they especially do not sell in such situations. It is a little like saying any investor when Covid hit was 50% less rich than they were the month before. Most people who where in that boat, are still richer than they were before the Covid crash. I mean, just look at that graph, even with the current volatility he is still almost 10x richer than he was at the start of 2016. That is an insane amount of growth.

I think since the players came back from the international break, their only focus was the CL. We got knocked out of that so now they're completely on the beach. We're lucky we have a 8 point gap, essentially 9 points with our GD. Tbh, I think we'll get 3rd as I do not see Le Arsè or Spuds getting 15 points and I am sure we win win a game or two, but it is so frustrating to watch. James, Alonso and Mount were the only ones that seemed bothered.

Defence is now a real worry. In my opinion we only have one starting calibre CB in Silva who is 38, you can maybe stretch to Dave at RCB. After that you've got the following issues: James: Can be slotted into RCB but that just means he takes Dave's place. Additionally, it requires a RWB. I was find with this when Hakimi was an option or trying to blood Livra, but where are we getting that calibre or type of prospect? Trev: Not good enough to be starting. He is a solid enough 4/5CB but I don't think we can rely on him full time. Sarr: Not good enough. Could argue CB6 as that is almost an impossible position to fill, but in reality I am not confident whenever he starts. Colwill: Very big leap for him to go from 25ish games for Huddersfield to 50+, including CL with Chelsea. Best thing for him would be a PL loan next season to someone like Leeds. For me, if we are to keep the 3atb system we now may need 3 CB's or 2 CB's plus a RWB. However, if we got to a back 4, then you are asking a lot of Silva and Dave/James are never playing there. Just need the sale to happen asap.

Got to feel sorry for him with that ACL.

Bohely has to be the one now, the other two are far too complicated with the principal financiers being involved with other clubs.

@NikkiCFC everyone is awaiting your response 😉

Nikki this first bit is where I feel you're not 'seeing the wood from the trees' as the British say. It seems to me that because Mount lines up in a traditionally WF role (No.11/No.7) in a 343/352 you're expecting WF play from him. This for me isn't the case, and he is instead being told to play a hybrid No.8/No.11 role in traditional parlance. This is why I feel the comparison to Lampard is fair, especially as Lanpard had to play RW in a 442 for a lot of his first two seasons which meant people were expecting him flying down the wing and crossing like Beckham/Figo. I mean, let's be real, how does he get away with playing as he does if TT and Southgate are telling him to go out and play like Hazard/Mbappe/Sancho etc? It is clear they don't expect him to do that and like what he does do. As for Oscar, I feel he is a good example of a player that stagnated; well done for bringing him up. I would say no, he never became as good as SFL, but he could've been if he had applied himself and had the desire/commitment. For me, if he had applied himself and focused on his game more in training then he could've been a very good/to great player. However, for whatever reason, he didn't (probably because he was shagged out banging both his wife and her sister.) Additionally, my point on Mount's stats wasn't so much to say he is a better player than Lampard in his first three seasons but rather that he is showing statistical leaps each season that are similar to Lampard. A important thing to remember with Lampard is that he was considered World Class until he was 26/27+. A lot of this was due to people not rating him when he was younger/not appreciating how much work he put in to become great rather than being naturally great. As for England fans, 90% of them are morons and only a few of them can get over their club loyalties when evaluating players. Saved me a lot of time with the rest I wanted to post.

Can't get angry about being split open by that ball from Modric. That was up there with the best assit ever. Not sure there was much we could do there. Points that turned the tie where then Mendy howler, the RLC/Kante after you Claude for the second yesterday and I would say TC's save from Kai in the 77 minute. That save was very similar to the one he made from AM in 2014. When that happened and prevented 4-0 I turned to my GF and said that I bet Real take this to ET and win then as we run out of legs.

As I always like to do with Mount, I will compare his stats to those of SFL in his first three seasons at Chelsea (also remember SFL was 2.5 years older than Mount when he arrived.) SFL 01/02 - 53 games - 7 goals, 2 assists - 4483 mins - goal/assist every 498 mins 02/03 - 48 games - 8 goals, 5 assists - 4127 mins - goal/assist every 317 mins 03/04 - 58 games - 15 goals, 9 assists - 5041 mins - goal/assist every 210 mins Mount 19/20 - 53 games - 7 goals, 6 assists - 3741 mins - goal/assist every 288 mins 20/21 - 54 games - 9 goals, 9 assists - 4242 mins - goal/assist every 236 mins 21/22 - 45 games - 11 goals, 14 assists - 3049 mins - goal/assist every 122 mins People need to remember that Mount shouldn't really be thought of as a pure AM but more of a old No.8 like SFL because of his off the ball work when out of possession. However, I always use this metric (even though I am not a fan of stats alone) as I used to have to defend SFL a lot in his first three seasons here. As I am doing with Mount, I always pointed to the fact that he was improving year on year and that by the time he got to 25 onwards it would put him in good stead. What is impressive with Mount is that he is showing similar progress with more advanced metrics at 2.5 years younger. In addition, he also has three years of CL experience whereas SFL only got a one/two rounds of UEFA cup experience in his first two years. Lastly, SFL in his 03/04 season also has the 'issue' of primarily scoring against smaller teams. If you look into advanced stats the majority of his league goals that season 70%+ came against teams in the bottom half of the league, whilst his only goal against a top 6 team was a peno against Utd. Tbh, this comparison is going to start to become harder from next year as SFL became our Peno taker from 04/05, however I think this should always be considered, especially as Mount is still only 23.

I do not believe it. Surely they're not that stupid.

It is the same with many players tbf. Alonso is pretty much universally loved by those in the MHL. Ok, he gets a few groans here and there but generally 'runs down the wing' is heard a lot more frequently.

Yeah, we fu*ked ourselves last week. Could've easily been 2 v 2.

Be good to see him back next season, he has certainly done enough to merit a squad role ahead of Barkley, RLC and Saul.

Cannot believe there are still these discussions on Mount. I mean some people are having a go about his stats even though: 1) He has improved his stats year on year 2) Is only 23 so still young; I personally don't expect full consistency until 25'ish (although do expect improvements, which he has done.) 3) He isn't even a player that should be judged on g&a stats. Mount's best quality is playing between the lines and pressing like a mad man. That is incredibly valuable in the modern game and he does this to a high level. Simply put, people either don't realise what type of player he is, don't understand what role he is playing (instead just thinking he is a AM and want elite WF play from him) or simply have an axe to grind.

Honestly, as I said before we brought this joker, we would've been better off with keeping Tammy/Giroud. Honestly, I cannot see how people at the club didn't see this, I am just a regular fan and called this.

Shot ourselves in the foot in this one and then had Benzema produce some magic which you've got to take your hat off too. If we get an early goal, it will be game on but we cannot have Lukaku or RLC on the pitch and we need to start Kova.

I would probably go for this. Wouldn't be surprised about Jorgi for Kante however.

Five year's isn't too much of an issue at 19 as that means that you get out at 23/24 while he probably thought that they would continue to flirt with relegation and be sold earlier to raise cash at some point. The issue has been that West Ham have significantly improved and he gave them a further year option. Now he has to ride or die with them until 2024 most likely.

Personally, I don't want a owner/group of owners who play to public opinion too much.

The Athletic indicated that they heard rumours of a US individual who could finance the deal him/herself (they didn't name him/her (probably because they were spoken to off record.)) In my opinion, those talking loudly in the press do not have much chance. I include Candy/Kim, Centricis and the Broughton/Coe bid in that. People with money generally don't go mouthing off about deals of this magnitude in the press, those that are, are just doing so for the press and/or because they want to draw public support for their bid. Personally I would say forget those that have spoken quite openly. I mean, anyone remember how Roman came in? Literally wasn't reported until the day or two before the deal was sealed. This transaction will be more public due to it's notoriety with Russia/Ukraine, however I am sure we will have a shortlist with someone that hasn't been reported yet/has gone very quite/not said much themselves.

Be interesting to see the short list. If it goes down to three, be best if it is a mixture rather than all Americans as I suspect only one is capable and the others will pull a Hicks/Gillett or Glazer playbook and see us as a 'franchise'.

True. I meant more that the Saudi group will funnel enough cash to spend big (which isn't always a good thing as I can do without Kepa and Lukaku.)