Tomo

Its a squad game these days even more so now with what is going to be an absolute crazy schedule while football plays catch up on lost time due to lockdown (we're looking at summer 2023 until the calendar breaks even and even that's on the assumption there's not another suspension). With the way Lampard likes to play a regista is crucial, even more so currently given we don't exactly have the best ball playing CB's, asking Gilmour to play every game at his age and with the scheduling in the coming years is unrealistic, we need two capable players in that position minimum, none of our other midfielders are capable of giving high efficiency in that role not even Kova. I could just about get my head around Rice if he's exclusively played as a CB and signed for a reasonable price (around £35m, 40 tops) but I don't want him anywhere near the midfield. That said I'm not totally against selling Jorginho if an irresistible offer comes in given his age and the fact he's probably not an undisputed starter anymore due to Billy's emergence but he absolutely must be replaced by another player capable of playing the regista role and lightening the load on Billy.

The thought of replacing Jorginho with Declan Rice crushes my soul in every way possible.

Speaking of which were are those guys now? I know where PVA is obviously but honestly have no clue where the others are.

Out of the one's being promoted by United and Arsenal i think Greenwood and Martenelli are up there with our boys, Saka next level down but all the rest are planets below. Tariq Lamptey would be one of the star prospects at Arsenal but with us he had to leave as an even better prospect is ahead of him.

They're clinging onto their youngsters for hope but I don't see it. Maybe my standards are too high by watching our boys but the only Arsenal one's I think have potential are Saka and Martenelli (and the former appears to be running down his contract). Willock, Guendouzi, Nelsen and Nkietieh don't look like players who could become good enough for a top side.

Basically unless Arteta is as good as been reported they're truly fucked. When teams like us and Dortmund were that far down it was basically down to fluke circumstances, this Arsenal side are genuinely midtable stuff.

I actually think his general football knowledge is very poor. For example he always moans when players aren't thrown straight in the side back in the lineup (returning from injury) and instead eased in off the bench. He goes with the line off "if they're fit anough to be in the squad they're fit enough to start" without factoring in the fact they may not be ready for 90 minutes and lack match fitness, that's a criminal lack of understanding of football basics. Troopz is actually quite knowledgeable once you learn to ignore the blud and fam and focus on the actual point he's making.

With so much time off, I have no idea what to expect from us tomorrow. The only thing worrying me is they have a match already under their belt, if we can strategically counter that somehow I think it will be one of the most comfortable wins of the season.

Thierry Henry was initially a winger but circumstances gave him a shot up front and the rest is history. Whether by accident or design is largely irrelevant, the point is he's gone up a gear since playing there. Anyway i don't think this will be our problem, i pray he doesn't end up at Liverpool as he's the perfect Firmino successor.

He has injury issues but is always picked when fit. Didn't he arrive really young though? I tend to class players as a academy player if they play for the club at development level.

Joe Gomes too. The main reason they're where they are is their defense, which is a combo of big money and youth (and Robertson).

I think most people want a balance between the two (star signing's and youth promotion), that's how Liverpool have become what they are. Furthermore, if Havertz did end up signing and my hunch of him being CF is correct the only academy lad that is affected in terms of game time is Abraham, who the majority don't even think is good enough to be the main man and see him as a rotation player. To add even further not all our lads have to be bonafide starters, some horses for courses Darren Fletcher esque types are perfectly fine too and will allow us to focus on star signings in the market over squad fillers.

Absolutely @King Kante you're about 10 years out of date with that one

Ofcourse but that's always been conditional to game time, that's the most important thing to him, he crossed a rival divide for that reason and came within touching distance of doing it again. The contract first and foremost was to prevent us from losing a(nother) player in the run in while giving Giroud a guaranteed years income during such uncertain times.

Oli resigning was extra security for both parties, he could still be gone this summer.

He was half as good playing CM/CAM compared to ST, would be a criminal waste if he was signed to be a midfielder, not only in terms of his game but we are massively stacked in that position.

We had a lot of draws though, those two went on crazy winning runs that were sustained for about 2/3 months.

Time will tell but I think Lampard wants a versatile set of attacking players that can switch off the cuff for what any particular game needs or who needs resting, the way Mount has been both LW and CM this season. Kai has gone up a level since he's been made a CF it would be nonsensical if we signed him to play any other position.

But then I can flip that and say Arsenal and United only ran us close because both had extended periods of title winning form. Ultimately 72 points is usually enough.

Was similar last season. We'll make it.

I don't think Pochettino's sides were that great to watch tbh. The two season his sides (sort of) challenged for the title were one of the best I've ever seen at forcing errors but the general aesthetically side of their football was pretty meh.

Havertz will be a CF if we get him.

Reminds me of Liverpool under Benitez and Dalglish. The less actual football played the better they became.

Agreed, in an ideal world we could keep him as a horses for courses player (in other words games where we won't dictate possession and don't have to break down parked jumbo jets) but given his wages and value combined with the fact he would still get in similar level sides to ours mean it's pretty much straight forward, he's either an undisputed starter or he's sold.

Anything on Reece? (didn't see him in any pics vs QPR).