King Kante

You need Willy for PK's. Not sure we need Kepa but Willy could be vital.

I am praying to god Dave is the CCB. Both Rudi and Zouma are boarding on clownhood when it comes to positioning.

Yeah, Phil Bardsley annihilated him one night in Stoke also. This is a tackle he got booked for: https://youtu.be/DDLv7KAPDU8 However, he did him about six times that night.

It is nice to have but if your CB's and GK are contributing 2 goals conceded in 11/12 games or whatever and one was an own goal. I am happy for them not to score and keep that sort of record going. Of course, goals are handy but I want my CB's to defend. If they do that to a high level, getting the odd goal is way down my priority list.

That may be true, however if he continues to play like he is currently there is no need to for him to score goals. That is the job of the WB's, CM's, AM's and CF's.

This game will determine how mature we are as a team. I see 1-1 or 1-2 Atletico. Will be interesting to see how it plays out.

I do not think the Leeds result was that bad, super annoying for sure, but not bad. I say this as Leeds turned up at the weekend and gave us a game, they have done this to other sides in the top half of the league so I am not feeling it was too much of a disaster. The biggest issue I had was all the changes. For me, James should've started ahead of Ziyech and I also think Giroud may have been a good idea on that pitch. Further, Kova was missed a lot. For me, the real no excuse dropped points this season were: WBA away Soton home Soton away (I mean who seriously thought Zouma of all people was a good idea at CCB?) Wolves away Le Arse away Those games were pretty much plain awful or due to awful individual errors. For me, those games should resulted in 3 wins and 2 draws, which would mean an additional 8 points.

Erm, no.

Pretty sure he had a contract to 2022 and then last season he met some clause that pushed it to 2023. Last year people were widely discussing that he would only have two years at the start of this. If you're correct, then maybe he will stay another year.

Not happy with the team selection at all. Ziyech and Chilwell were just plain poor and Puli and Harvetz faded out of the game after 25 minutes or so. The Jorgi/Kante pivot was also poor at progressing the ball through the midfield. For me, I do not want anyone to keep on saying Chilwell or Ziyech should start until Alonso or two of the AM's do something really poor. Both were non-entities today. After the Soton and Wolves draws, this was a really bad two points lost.

Ziyech off for James please, this back four nonsense isn't working. We aren't getting any better attacking play and we are defending worse. It is a recipe for disaster.

Not a fan of switching formations, not a fan at all.

Personally, I see Tammy leaving this Summer. I don't see him signing a new contract unless he establishes himself as CF1 (very unlikely), he only has two years left (so this Summer is the best to sell) and he would have a number of clubs interested in him so would raise a decent fee. Personally, I am a bit torn on Tammy, I think playing CF is generally a tough gig and a lot of top CF do not hit consistency until they reach 24-25. As a result, selling is a bit of a risk. No one wants to sell a top player who just needed a bit of time to develop. However, counter to this is the fact that he has clear weaknesses that we haven't seen develop much since he came back last year, which leads you to think he may not be more than a CF2/CF3 for a top club. As a result, I do see him sold, but I do think there is some risk he becomes a lot better down the line.

Well Giroud is very 50/50. You could let him leave then it is six/seven depending on how CHO is deployed. However, again as you indicate, we switch to a 4, we are needing more players for certain as you got to add a DMF. Plus, as much as I have liked what I have seen from my limited experience of watching Konate, what is the purpose of buying a very injury prone CB, and displacing AC if he continues as he is? Further, why would anyone give up control? It is lunacy. I know TT is flexible but there is no need to start making changes for the sake of it. Like I said and will maintain, unless everything goes to pot, we aren't and shouldn't be considering a switch away from 3atb.

Well I hope you're right but I don't see it. He had the option to go to Bruges, play in the CL and win Belgian league titles but apparently that wasn't good enough. So, I am not sure he'll be willing to go anywhere were that would be a possibility. No mid to top half team in Spain, England, Italy, France or Germany are going to take him as his stats can't hide the fact he is a poor player anymore.

Yeah, this is a great idea. But who are we finding that is even going to pay £5m and give him £100k a week wages? Not going to happen in my opinion. I'd be amazed if we even find someone to cover his wages.

Be interested to see how he develops over the course of the next two-three years. In my opinion, he will be at a top Champo club next season. Maybe at best someone in Germany.

Nah, I think he has now joined the Drinky/Baba category and people realising why we call him Batsh*t. No one is going to pay his fee and wages. Best we can hope for is another loan with someone covering his wages. Only prayer we have of a sale is that Lukaku goes down injured before the Euros and he somehow becomes their No.1 striker for the tournament and he gets 6+ goals.

Everyone says that we have to change formations. I am not sure. 3atb has been our best formation for our squad since 2016, it is just some managers were to intent to play their way. For me, something drastic is going to have to happen to switch to a back four as not only is 3atb the best formation for our squad bar a couple of players, it is also the best players for a lot of our top young boys out on loan (Amapdu, Guehi and Gallagher.) Killer, in my opinion, has it right. No need to really change from a 3atb, tweaks will need to happen in due course as people will start to figure certain elements out but we can shift certain aspects of it without having to go to a 4. In regard to signings, only things I really want at the moment are a LCB and a CF. Outside of that, we are pretty much fine and just need to sell players (although I do see us getting Donarumma on a free if we get the chance.) I mean, in a back 3, we could roll with this squad. GK: Mendy, Kepa, GK3 CB: Silva, AC, LCB, Rudi, Dave WB: James, CHO, Alonso, Chilwell CM: Kova, Kante, Jorgi, Billy/Gallagher AM: Harvetz, Mount, Puli, Ziyech CF: CF, Werner, Giroud(?) People will cry about Alonso still knocking about, but I want to know who we are getting that is better to play LWB2? Please note LWB and not LB. Sure people can name some, but unless it is Alaba (who would be the LCB who can double up as a LWB, I am not seeing anyone realistic.) However, I think Alabais almost certain to go to Spain. The real key is CF. Get Håland, with the way we are now controlling games and not giving people chances and that is a incredibly difficult team to break down. Personally, I would also be content with DCL as he has turned into a very good PL CF. At most, if you really want to play football manager, you could sell Jorgi and try and get SMS to add a bit more strength and height to the CM position. As I have said elsewhere, playing as we are atm and thinking of switching to a back 4 is lunacy, as not only are you messing with what has been established as our best formation. You also need to go on another massive buying/selling spree to get it right.

He had the option of a sale with a buy to Bruges but thought he was above it so went to Palace instead. Nonsense as the Belgian league is about his right level.

Personally I think he is gone. His buy out is €30m and he is playing well. The comments from AC about him being 'expensive' are due to; a) them testing the waters to see if we will go lower, b) providing themselves with some insurance if they end up outside the top 4. In my opinion, they will probably buy him regardless if he keeps going at his current rate as at €30m they could probably even activate and then sell for €35-€40m anyway. Especially with his passport tax. Personally, I would sell Zouma before him, however I am of the thinking even if Zouma is sold before, he will still be sold regardless. I say this as; A) We have too many right footed CB's. Rudi, Zouma, AC, Silva, Dave (RCB), Amapdu. We do not need all those players and Tomori and Zouma are going to still attract reasonable fees (€30m Tomori), (£25-£35m Zouma.) B ) We need a LCB. This could maybe be solved with Guehi or Sarr, but my feeling is they are better off on loan getting minutes for another 1-3 years (depending on how they develop.) Therefore, we are probably looking for a left footed player and especially so if we continue with 3atb. C) We have far too many dregs (tier 4) that are draining the wage bill that are almost impossible to shift owing to their high wages; Batsh*t, Baba, Drinky, Kepa, Zappa, Emerson, RLC, Barkley (tbf he may get a buyer). So, we will have to sell some of our tier 2/3 players to make up some funds. This includes Tammy, Jorgi, Kante and Ziyech as we still need some expensive pieces and cannot accommodate everyone.

Funny reading some of these past comments on ol' Batsh*t. Numerous posters saying he is a good player and you should look at his stats, even though he always failed the eye test. Well here is a stat: 3rd choice at Palace behind Ayew and Benteke, arguably 4th if you count Zaha. 1 goal in 872 minutes of football.

Depends on what formation we go with. However, I would say the following: 1 x CF - Probably the biggest need owing to our lack of goals. 1 x No.6 (if we keep 3atb) that isn't funsized. Still could do a bigger CM. If we kept 3atb, I would look at SMS. 1 x DMF (if we move back to a back 4). Not sure who we would go for but this would be needed as our midfield do not put up enough resistance in a 4. 1 LCB - This one is less of a need than it looked a couple of months ago. Has potential to be solved by either Guehi or Sarr. Those however are some tough positions to get. At CF it is very unlikely we woulf get Håland and after that even someone like DCL would be nigh on impossible. A CM/DMF should be achievable but the issue is the amount of players we have here already. At the moment, we have: Kova, Jorgi, Kante, Billy, Baka, Drinky, RLC, Barkley, Gallagher. Going to have to sell at least two or three and loan couple before we can think about buying. LCB - This is just generally a tough position to recruit for as everyone wants one and there are only a few of them about of the right level. Lets see what happens.

Indeed. Problem is everyone still thinks Barca and Real have money, when they do not. Further, players like Mane and Salah have a peak of 23-29, maybe 30-31 if they're lucky. Only AM's that have ever gone for top dollar at 29+ were the technical ones who didn't rely on pace. No way do those feckers get brought for serious $$$ unless someone is hitting the crack pipe.

Yes, it is 8 players but I would say for 3.5 positions as CHO has been playing well at RWB so when we play the lesser teams you have the option of him going there. As for the others, at least one of Tammy and Giroud are going to leave - Tammy only has two years and with all rumours suggesting he doesn't sign unless he gets the CF1 role consistently and Giroud is at most going to rolling contracts and is now a high end CF2/3. As for the others, Mount has enough about him to suggest he can be tried in the No.6 role (I suspect to see this before the season ends.) Then you have Ziyech who is starting to look like Cuadrado and not up to the physicality of the league. I am not sure, that is a massive problem. Allow one of Giroud/Tammy leave then possibly sell Ziyech. That would then leave 6 players of 3.5 positions. I don't disagree, but if you buy a top end DM then all you're doing is replacing the 3rd CB with a new DM, which isn't resolving the issue of not having enough positions for the AMs/CFs. I think TT is pragmatic, if the formation keeps reaping the benefits that it currently is, then I doubt he will change it. If it starts getting picked apart, then for sure back to 4231/433.