LDN Blue

I agree with you to be honest. The issue about Kante-Matic-Oscar is not one of whether it 'works', since we have to analyse and infer what Conte's aim even is. So yeah if it's an approach that's designed to shut out the opposing teams so we keep a rigid shape in front of the back 4 then you can say it 'works'. But as you've pointed out quite clearly, it's not going to help break down stubborn teams who keep 10 men behind the ball. An example of this is Hull City yesterday, they kept a good defensive shape and simply didn't allow United to get into the 6-yard box but allowed them all the possession. Sure United struck late through a massive bite of luck but how on earth are we going to break down these defences when we only keep Costa, Willian and Hazard as our only attacking outlets? Sure we can bring on Pedro, Cesc and Batshuayi. But what if we could replace Oscar and get someone who brings in his work rate but is simply more able in the attacking sense of the game?!

The only reason I find this doesn't work is because such rants usually come via another story or post in a thread that's usually player/match related

Scumbags

Christensen's getting sold next, I'm calling it now

Is it so hard to believe?

Oh man, please let this be the case. If we beat United and do it convincingly I'm going to stick it on all United fans

Have to disagree personally. Don't see Martinez as any kind of tactician, I would be afraid to have him as a manager when Belgium face teams like Germany, Brazil, Portugal etc. I was very surprised that Martinez was the most affordable manager they could have got. With their plethora of talented players, going through the so called 'golden generation', I'm sure there would've been more than a handful of managers wanting that job.

How about 4 Daves and 7 Kantes?

Point taken, perhaps I've become custom to Mourinho's brutal truth regarding board matters In any case, that preceded my point about him leaving Juve for this reason. If you follow where I'm leading with that..

Yeah true that. Our loan policy is now affecting first team affairs because we've got more invested in that than our own senior team! They're making the high bids so you can't think it's just the money that's a problem. Unattainable targets or even simply poor negotiations must be a part of this too. Let's just hope they've got a rabbit to pull out the hat in this last week of the window. Don't care even who at this point, just get some competent defenders!!

86 home games unbeaten. That number I won't forget because it was just incredible how long it went on for! It was a psychological boost for all our home games and was a stat no-one could argue about. Then to lose it to those scumbags scouse pricks made it even worse

This point can't be overstated enough. Roman has to wake up now, this is ridiculous. Not going to start the rhetoric on who specifically it falls on, but there's got to be some sort of accountability here. Surprised Conte's not furious with this situation at the moment, didn't he leave Juve because of exactly this situation? (correct me if I'm wrong). Not going to say Mourinho was completely innocent in why he was sacked, but look at the effect of what happens when you secure the manager's targets. We're slowly going down the Arsenal road. Thankfully we signed Kante at least, without him we'd be in worse trouble arguably. But not addressing an issue in defence now will definitely come back to bite us. Zouma can't come back soon enough ffs. Any word on timescale?

You can't dislike this guy , really good to have someone so well liked by even rival fans! Endearing himself to fans is always a good way to gain confidence and keep it!

I think you're mistaking what I'm saying haha. I'm not suggesting he's going to have an attitude problem here or wherever he moves on to. But the rumours surrounding James and Zidane is that of the right attitude. Wasn't Rodriguez reprimanded for coming to training speeding in his new sports car for example? I guess Zidane is old school in the sense primadonnas have to leave their lavish lifestyle at the gates of training. But also I agree with your analysis regarding a tactical mismatch with himself and Zidane. Like we're having with Cesc. I expect Hazard and James to compliment each other wonderfully with maybe even Cesc in certain games. I'm 100% for this to happen (we should move this to James' thread lmao!)

Yeah seemingly doesn't think James has the right attitude, I mean you're not gonna disagree with the manager that won them the Champions League last season are ya Worst source ever by the way.. LOL

But bare in mind Zidane doesn't play James anyway so it not all too much to read into. Napoli don't have the cover they require for Koulibaly and if he's happy to play then there should be no issue. It's generally an issue in England where players feel "unsettled" and subsequently don't play lol

Not surprised one bit he's out of favour. He should have really paid attention to what happened with Fabio Borini and Daniel Sturridge. If you become a contract rebel, you'll be cast into the shadows lol

Yeah, I meant something more than 140 characters lmao! Maybe someone on the forum.

So anyone actually seen this guy play or..?

Nah I completely agree with you. I do appreciate what Willian did last season in terms of some important goals from free kicks and whatnot. But he's also one that will need replacing out of this team, he's still not good at making decisions in the final third of the box. Much like prior to last season, he's good at running with the ball and taking on opposing full-backs on generally anyone but once he crosses into that final third he's a headless chicken. I'd love it if we could convince Cuadrado to stay with us and really unleash that potential he's shown for Columbia and Juventus, but all the rumours seem to suggest he's very unsettled and doesn't want to stay in England. I guess that's a consequence of loaning someone out within 6 months of signing them - Thanks Jose lol. If Conte can convince him to stay I see no reason why he can't displace Willian as our primary right-winger. I do agree here, it will just depend on Conte. He says he's flexible in that if he sees something tactical isn't working he's not afraid to make the change, so perhaps we would see less Matic and more creative attacking players. You just worry with the unstable defence we have coupled with just Kante marshalling ahead of them, we're quite easily exposed on the counter attack. But as you say, if we signed a LB & CB then that works for us. 10 days left of the window, I'll be amazed if we can make 3 world class signings. Waking up on Monday to the news of James & Koulibaly would put me over the moon! Lol

Certainly. If anything I would have preferred Mkhitaryan to James Rodriguez if we were seeking an attacking midfielder, because he played on the right for a lot of Dortmund games last year (so I've been told anyway..) and that would make sense. It would push Willian to improve all round, but we'd also have a secondary creative outlet. If James does come, he'll probably keep Cesc and Oscar out the team. I don't see Conte dropping Matic, he'll provide the protection in midfield and stick to Conte's seeming evident 7-defensive players on the pitch tactic.

Lmao, welcome to the damned club . That place is horrible for the amount of clickbait titles, but it's so easy to get yourself excited browsing through! LOL

Exactly this lol, he's getting goals so it's hard to argue past it. But it's like justifying Lukaku because he's got around 100 league goals at the age of 23, sometimes it's looking past stats. Having said that, it's ridiculous how much Costa can be counteractive when we're playing well or trying too. He's got attributes to make powerful, intelligent runs and find that half a yard on a defender to reach Fabregas' ball.. Othertime he may not even bother or as you said take a shoddy first touch that kills the move. Just trying to bet with myself of how many games he'll get himself banned for this season

Lmao, ridiculous. We're not going to pay £25m for a 30-year old, regardless of what the market is behaving like right now. Surely?! .

Fair. But money thrown will at the club will always change things It's a moot point because we're not going to do it either way.