King Kante

Yeah, this is my recollection too. It is why I am also not really buying this story. For me, Rice is still the real target. This is just paper talk imo (or a plant to put pressure on Wet Spam) as DMF is actually one position we really need to strengthen for the first XI and not just strengthen the depth of the squad. I personally cannot see us wanting to wait two years to sort that out. Only way that may be possible is if Amapdu turbo charges his development and can come into the squad for next season. That would then allow us to play Kante in a No.6 role in a 433, rotating with Mount who would be used more in the games where we have more possession.

I found it slightly strange we didn't go for him when he went to Dortmund. We could've got him a good two year loan and then gave him more money. Anyway, interesting to see how this one plays out, wouldn't be surprised if this story is a plant to try and lower the Rice price. Brady has been in the news over the past few days complaining about the cost of Covid. In my opinion, I see a deal to be done with Wet Spam, something like one dreg plus some cash which makes for a approximate £60m deal.

Just looking at our first team squad: GK: Mendy, Cech, Willy, Kepa CB: Silva, Zouma, AC, Rudi, Tomori RB: James, Dave LB: Chilwell, Alonso, Emerson CM: Kai, Mount, Kante, Kova, Jorgi, Billy AM: Ziyech, Puli, CHO CF: Werner, Tammy, Giroud Ignoring those out on loan and the utter dregs like Drinky, Baba, Baka etc, what do people think should be the next three signings in regards to positions? Further, who from the squad would you cull in the next 12 months? Mine would be: DM, CB, AM/CF (depends on how Werner gets on at CF in a 433) Culled: Kepa, Rudi, Alonso/Emerson, AC, Jorgi, Giroud.

For sure, if I had an option, I would've kept TC all day long. £96m blown on 2GK's is insane, especially as one is an absolute clown that even makes Karius look half decent. Insanity. Let's not even get into the contracts/wages.

Tonight is him done, as he cannot play the next two games. So, that is one we should have back safely.

Some links to us. Personally hope we avoid looks like he has lost a yard of pace as well as putting on some extra weight.

CHO at £180k looks good value when compared to a reported £150k a week for RLC and £190k for Kepa. However, I agree with you. £400k a week sets a very dangerous precedent. Personally, if I were convinced Alaba could play CB in the PL it may have been worth it as at 29 a CB probably still has about 4 good years left in them especially one has fit as Alaba. I am working to the basis that this would be a around £75m for a four year contract, which is a bit like £25m fee plus £240k a week. Further, he can double up as LB2 so everyone could get their wish in not seeing Emerson and Alonso again and we could go with: LB1: Chilwell, LB2: Alaba/Dave. However, as I said, I suspect he is not suited to play CB in the PL.

Is anyone up to date on what is happening with Alaba? Is he going to end up on a free this coming Summer?

Tbf, a number of places in the press said this in the last window along with Kante and Inter didn't sign any of them.

Where are we getting another player of his quality from? Further, which player of that level is going to choose to come here if we have Ziyech, Pulisic and to a lesser extent Werner and CHO in the squad when there are other top teams that they would walk into the first XI? For me, if/when we get another AM it will be a squad level player who knows they're going to be rotated if Ziyech and Pulisic aren't fit. Further, if we want to have a balanced XI we need to prioritise DM, CB and possibly CF before we start thinking about back up players. At the moment, we have the following in the untouchables category: Mendy, James, Silva, Chilwell, Harvetz, Mount, Ziyech, Werner, Puli (when fit). Arguments can be had for Zouma if Silva is playing. However, the fact of the matter is that Silva is 36 years old and could drop his levels with one moderate injury or too much football. Kante is also a possible untouchable but there are still questions about how effective he is in a No.4 role. At CF there are questions about Werner as a No.9 in a 433, however I am personally ok with him playing out left in a 433 if Puli isn't fit. Forr me another CB is priority No.1 then a DM to get a little more balance in midfield. After that, a CF will be required if Werner doesn't work in a 433 and/or Tammy does not continue to improve.

At LB we have Alonso and Emerson, who are fine as a back up option this year with the size of our squad and all the players we need to shift. Maatsen is also a young boy with a lot of potential so we should see how he develops this year. Dave can cover LB as well and with James' current progress we should be looking to find him minutes as Dave as a squad option gives us excellent depth. I see him transitioning to a Milner type role which is very handy. GK, I cannot see any movement until Summer. Kepa needs to either be shifted or taken out the back and shot, Willy is still knocking about and Cech is now an option. Does this need work in the Summer? For sure, in Jan? Not really. Also, GK2 is normally a easy position to fill as you just need to find a good GK that is hitting 35+ and out of contract/last year and give them a decent wage. I agree with AM, which is why I was happy to keep Willian (although I only wanted him for another year.) However, we currently have Puli, Werner, CHO and Ziyech to fill those roles. After that Harvetz and Mount can moonlight in them if required. For me, we need to give this season to the first four before thinking about changes, especially as this will probably mean CHO gets culled as I still have hope for him.

The other problem with selling Willian was that we knew Hazard was going and needed some stability in the playing squad owing to all the managerial changes. Personally, I think that is what kept him here. As to Willian now, it is funny to see Le Arse fans now recognising how unproductive he is. Penny starting to drop on their forums 😂

Once we get Rice I think that is Camavinga off the table. At that point we would have something like 12 midfielders: Kante, Mount, Rice, Kovacic, Jorgi, Gilmour, Barkley, RLC, Drinky, Amapdu, Gallagher, Harvetz. That would mean we need to shift 5-6 players as it is, no way do we add another. At CB, it is difficult. Upamecano was looking promising but is currently looking a disaster. Gimenez is too injury prone to want to build your defence around him and then players such as Varane are also dipping. Ramos is someone I would consider but again he is only going to be a one/two year solution. Ginter for me is probably most likely. Personally, I think only DM and CM will see any movement in the next 12 months. There could possibly be a new AM but I think that is unlikely until there is a cull at CM as I suspect Mount and Harvetz will be played there if we get desperate.

Haaland could become better than Mbappe. His scoring record is insane. As for his contract his buy out kicks in during Summer 2022. €65m. I have been thinking to myself for a while, if we can bed in all the new signings and have Mount and James become legitimate first XI players (and possibly Gilmour) by 2022, we should be a very attractive option for him. I mean, our first XI squad in at the start of 2022/23 could include: James (22), Chilwell (25), Harvetz (23), Mount (23), Rice (24) (I think he comes next Summee) and Puli (23). At that point Haaland would still only be 22 that could be a serious squad for a decade. That is also before we get to CHO (22), Gilmour (21) and Ampadu (23) who should all be knocking around the swuad or in the first XI depending on progress. Only real concern will be CB as Silva will be 38 by then, and whilst Zouma is playing well at the moment, we need to see if he has actually improved/improving or if it is because he is having his hand held by Silva. If we can sort a real long term CB1 then we should be laughing.

Harvetz will do that when playing as the No.8 in a 433.

Will Silva play in this one?

I do not think that CHO is a lost cause but the boy does need to step up his performances. At no point has he really had a game in the past 18 months where anyone has said, 'wow, he has to play next week'. Only one that may have fallen into that category is the Dippers away last season. For me, he needs to be become more aggressive and direct when attacking the box/opposition defenders as he too often gets to the final third and then lays it off or gets dispossessed easily. He is only 20, so he will need to step things up soon as wingers probably have the shortest career. Further, my concern is that he may have a similar trajectory to RLC, i.e. lot of potential as a kid, then hype keeps him in the squad for another 10 years.

Tomori has two issues which I think is why he doesn't play. 1) Short and not good in the air, unlike Silva who is short but good in the air. 2) Overplays in dangerous positions. He is probably better on the ball than both AC and Zouma but he over complicates things at times.

I am not disgareeing, my points are that: A) RLC is almost impossible to shift owing to his wages and the rumour that he is a home boy/gets home sickness if he is away from his family for too long. B ) My proposal is essentially sell Gallagher with a fixed buy back. Essentially it is a glorified loan. The only thing it does is that it provides us with more cash than a straight loan. I am quite hopeful for Gallagher but due to the sheer number of CM's on the books, I am unsure when he will get a chance to come into the squad in a meaningful way.

I think we can split these players up into groups. 1) Not good enough - Rudi. He has also been pretty hardcore with other players as well. AC is now completely MIA atm as well. Kepa's has not only replaced by a new No.1 but also the technical director. 3rd choice at best. 2) People that question him - Luiz. Called him Frank instead of Gaffer and that was it. To be honest, I get the feeling Frank didn't really fancy him and was looking for an excuse. Didn't agree with this one as Luiz was key to playing 352 properly which was probably the best suited formation for last years squad. 3) Trainers. Get the impression anyone that doesn't graft in training will be in trouble. CHO and Kova do not strike me as great trainers.

Thing is, I reckon there is still more to come. Not the finished article yet and still getting used to the club/league.

Boom. Another clean sheet. Still trying to figure out what his exact level is but for those of you that used to defend Kepa. This what a GK at PL level is meant to do/look like.

Well that must've been a pretty quick change as we went to 4231 by the 10th minute. To be honest, I wasn't sure of the set up in the first few minutes but it was 4231 for most of the half. I put it down to all the chopping and changing and it took them a few minutes to settle.

Well it kind of got broken up by Kante, which meant Mount got shift out to the wing a lot. One thing is for certain, Mount is twice the player in a No.6/No.8 position.

It was because we played 4231 again. Honestly, we need to stop playing it as our passing in midfield goes to pot when we do. Today was great in that we won, but when it was 11 v 11 and then again from the 50th minute we were not transitioning the ball through midfield properly.