Tomo

Penny for @Term-X's thoughts. If you know you know!

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My personal preference would be to sign a top class CB with Tomori and Ampadu rotating based on form but in reality Ampadu will probably take Christensen's place as back up.

I'm not really sure the comparisons with Maka are that apt tbh, Maka was a sitter with an underated passing range, he was always going to have a relatively long shelf life whereas Kante's main attribute is his energy, his profile of player rarely last (at the highest level) far into their 30's if atall. Similar comparisons would be Cole and Terry, both the same age but Ash relied on speed getting up and down which led to a significant drop after the double season while JT with his reading of the game and never needing speed was still a key player 5 years on. I think if you put Maka and Kante's career trajectory's side by side (after Kante is retired) i think you will see a similar pattern for the twilight years.

If the Spurs, Liverpool and Everton games haven't shown that Kante shouldn't be starting in this set up and we're a lot more fluent without him then hopefully the board go over his head with the decision. I'm in the minority that feels Frank has done a fine job so far all things considered but he needs to be ruthless with Kante, knowing when a players time is up (especially one with an untouchable esque rep) is the difference between a good manager and a great one.

The thing that's struck me the most through this is the internalized hatred in football, it's not so prevalent here but elsewhere it's intense to say the least.

Wouldn't make any sense given the type of players we're building our midfield round. Only way he would fit in this setup would be at CB.

Versatility also allows a smaller squad and as a consequence a more happy one. That's why I look forward to Gallagher's return, he played in literally every midfield position for Charlton and strikes me as the type of player that could play literally any outfield position to a high standard.

If our two games vs them is anything to go by Arteta is more Simeone than Pep.

What worried me about him this season wasn't that his weaknesses came to the fore, it was that he wasn't doing the things he was suppose to be good at very well either. I knew about and accepted the ariel weakness from day one, the best we will ever get from him in that regard is acceptable, it was his decline in distribution and save percentage that was the huge problem. However I think he will get another chance now as the pandemic has likely slashed our budget in ways we don't want to admit, the Liverpool and Everton games offer hope that his rut was more down to complacency so hopefully that turns out to be the case now he knows Frank will drop him no matter who is the alternative.

I'm probably missing something here but if the season goes beyond June and we lose Pedro and Willian for games we would have otherwise had them available for surely we could find a loophole somewhere to get Hakim playing in games post July 1st?

If we can't find a suitable striker what would be your thought on trying out Hakim as false 9? Atleast in certain situations. Unlike Hazard and Schurrle i think he has the tactical tools to play that role and with Pulisic, Callum and hopefully a new winger we will have enough pace in behind to compliment. False 9 has got a harsh press in recent years (especially within our fanbase) but as Liverpool demonstrate with the right personnel it can be so effective, when Firmino came on in the super cup it genuinely felt like they brought on an extra man. Another reason for my thinking is it will a shame to break up the partnership between Reece and Odoi on the right, I've been blown away whenever I've seen them on that side together, freakish level of understanding.

I know he's playing a character but in reality reporters are still working, some of whom in Covid hot spots.

Happened to me on and off for a while, it's (for me) so irregular i never bothered reporting it.

In terms of volume of players we are miles ahead, as demonstrated by the contrast in results at youth level. For example Lamptey is a bigger talent than Williams, the latter is considered one of United's big hopes while Lamptey left us because there was no room for him. And that's before I mention the chemistry our guys share, youth teams with Sancho, Foden, Saka, Trent amoung others couldn't get near us. If the football financial situation mutates to the point the strength of academy sides becomes the key player to build top teams, we have a huge (borderline unfair) advantage.

Tbh as much as I like Pulisic I think Callum's ceiling is higher.

It's not always about getting the big names, as Liverpool have shown, it's about getting players to suit their system. And who will be at a "different level altogether"? City and Liverpool will drop off within the next 2-3 years especially the latter, Jose will set Spurs back years, Arsenal aren't very good, won't spend the money and don't have a very good youth set up, United look on the up but we have a big advantage with the academy boys which are better than there's. I think our elite prospects naturally growing plus decent recruitment we've seen under Sarri/Lampard and we will build a challenging team.

You honestly think Kovacic, Pulisic and Zyiech are mediocre?

Look at the transfers we've made since compared to what Conte's made at Inter. We've gone after technically accomplished players while Antonio has carried on approaching the same type of profile of player to what we brought in his second season. Less than a year at Inter and he's been aiding United's rebuild more than anyone.

Taking out the window we could be the biggest benefactors of this given the strength of our youth system.

Toss up between Drogba and Ash.

Honestly, fully fit season I think that's absolute minimum return we will get from him. Infact he must be close to 10 assists this season despite the stop start nature to it (for him). I think the stuff with the contract plus his admittedly poor run of form before Christmas has made people forget/ignore just what a talent we have on our hands.

It makes zero sense for a young player to choose his future either way based on what could be 6 games. Imagine not going to City in 2010 for that reason? or Barca in 2003? Or go to Arsenal over us in 2016?

For every one person who's called him the best talent atleast 5 call him useless. I can't speak for any other Chelsea fan but from my perspective it's not just him it's all the young players (apart from James) that are getting unfair stick. Take Hudson Odoi for example, against Arsenal at home (despite the gut wreching result) he was superb, created about 5 clear chances and got a quality assist which was denied being a match winning one through no fault of his own. I went on his thread expecting it to be the main escape from the result and see people raving about the fact we've got such a talent with such elite potential but not only was that so far away from what did transpire I had to defend him against a comment that branded him brain-dead. I don't have a single problem with constructive criticism, with Mount for example I am a little bit disappointed he seems to have lost the creative edge he had at youth level and Vittese, what I take issue with are things like during the live match thread for Spurs away where Mount was comfortably our best player outside of Willian but still getting blasted at will. I have never done that to anyone during or in the aftermath of them having a screamer, not even Torres.

It's been the case with all the youngsters, the only one I haven't had to defend against some pretty inane comments is Reece James, even Gilmour was branded 'a joke' after the United league cup game for having the gall to not have the best game out of position facing a top flight team for only the second time. What makes is worse is these youngsters haven't come in a position of strength. The last time a youth movement like this happened was United's CO92, they had world class players and the greatest ever manager as safety nets. This lot don't have either, they've come straight into a squad that lost its game changer, are trying to do a complete 180 on their style of play and under the guidance of a manager that is in the exact same boat as them yet despite all that we are currently occupying a top four place mainly because of these boys. They've had to come straight in (most of whom playing in a major league for the first time) and stand up and be counted straight away, all things considered the young one's have done stellar jobs, each and every one of them.