Tomo

I would say tactically (in terms of in game battles with other managers) Tuchel is ahead of Conte. Conte has a really good system that is perfect for league football but in head to heads against other elite or even just good managers where small details win or lose games he often gets found wanting, hence his record in cups.

I haven't seen much of him at Barcelona, but if the time I went to the Camp Nou to watch Barca was anything to to by his decline is Torres, Alexis territory.

With Rom, multiple reasons. 1. The traditional fox in the box striker is dying out at successful clubs, it's no coincidence teams with more fluent interchangeable systems are becoming more and more successful, City won the league playing false 9, Liverpool won the league and UCL doing the same, likewise us UCL. Bayern and United improving ten fold after selling/dropping Gomes and RVN respectively examples further back (not to mention United's own improvement since selling Lukaku). 2. He has a very very big history of disappearing in big games, Havertz and Werner's contributions en route to the trophy alone trump anything Rom has ever done on the big stage. 3. His attitude. He left us because we wouldn't adandon the Costa signing to make him number 1 at 19. He left United as soon as it became clear he had to fight for his place (under Ole) as opposed to when it was handed to him under Mou. He also has a tendency to moan at his teammates when he doesn't get a perfect pass (even when he could have got there with more clever movement). He has the ego of CR7 without being at an appropriate level to back it up.

@Vesperwould Jonathan David from Lillie be a decent alternative to Haaland? I must admit this is a lazy suggestion as I've just faced him in career mode he's playing for City (five season's deep) and he's developed into a world class striker so I'm deferring to you for an opinion on him in reality. His goal record (so far) is a bit meh but if he's leading the line for the Champions in France he must have something about him.

Not to mention Tuchel seems very content, I know the training videos are very small sample size but this time in 2017 we were already starting to see/hear about ominous tell tale signs with Conte. I think the crucial difference between Mou/Conte and himself at previous clubs is he loves the squad he inherited here, and what's looking like a world class or bust approach to the market (what we should have done in 2017) seems to back that up further.

Fantastic news.

I mean that's the (rumoured) alternative, if (as is looking likely) we won't be able to sign Haaland is that alternative actually any better than what we've already got in house (ala Broja)? We never know who will have a breakthrough season (Diego Costa 13/14) and become a perfect fit for us almost overnight. My actual preference early this summer was Aguero, because i really like the style of play with Kai as a hybrid 9/10 and this way we'd have had a proven scorer as a safety net if for whatever reason it failed.

There's no bigger seal of approval than players giving us their prime years then going there to wind down or in Tammy's case going there because he can't get in the team. It fully confirms if it hasn't already exactly who is the bigger club now.

You've kind of answered your own question, all those players named were brought in by Conte/the club (some of each) because the first choices weren't attainable. Wouldn't you rather wait until a suitable option becomes avaliable as opposed to potentially eventually adding further to that list of players that need to be sold? For example, that Stuttgart striker we're lined with as an alternative to Haaland, is he any a safer bet than Broja let alone Havertz? January 2020 is the major example, people were raging here because our rivals signed the likes of Bergwijn, Cedric, Pablo Mari and Ighalo, could you even imagine the state of our squad right now if we signed them or players of similar ilk?

The net spend trophy is coming home!

That's my worry for the Arsenal game, they had next to no one in the Euro's so they will probably have a big match advantage against us. Even though the game at Stamford Bridge was effectively a dead rubber I don't want another defeat against them.

Sterling would be an elite wingback if he furfills his potential. Big if after so much lost time but I'd rather try it and see how it goes as opposed to signing a Zappacosta type.

When I said regular starter I meant in the context of Conte's system, even if he was successful he'd have probably still been dropped under Sarri with his technical demands.

I understood the idea of signing him in isolation. Proven partnership with Kante, was very good at sharp balls over the top on the counter attack and compatible with the type of system Conte played. The Drinkwater of 15/16 would have probably been a regular starter and was very much an upgrade on 2015 onwards Matic. The part that was inexcusable was the wage, surely he would have accepted something along the 60-80k line and if he didn't that should have been a red flag straight away.

https://www.totalrl.com/contract-extension-for-drinkwater/ Contract extension!

God, i really thought the days of panicking we were going to resign Lukaku were over. Yes he will score goals but we will be a worse overall team (compared to what we've seen under TT so far).

With the (long running) rumours of Broja being in the squad this season and now the smoke about Sterling's inclusion this season it seems like Tuchel unlike Conte is prepared to improvise a bit if he can't have number 1/ideal targets. 100% the right way to go, especially now as we have a first team line-up that are already top notch and on the up.

It probably means either a) Lamptey is going or b) his injury issues aren't getting any better.

People must only be looking at the name at this point, like with Liverpool under Dalglish. If someone mentions Arsenal then they should be mentioning Villa and Leeds aswell.

Rightly or wrongly they may think it was a Lampard/transfer ban thing, that plus we had a lot more holes in our squad then compared to now. Now if Tuchel brings someone through that will (hopefully) change the mindset of other players when they end up in this position.

Sancho and to an extent Pogba have set a precedent unfortunately. Aslong as it was a game time thing instead of a club issue we should be able to get them back if they become the business all be it at a cost.

Yes, largely due to a meltdown from a manager who's long gone. Factor in TT's time we're second. As for Arsenal this no Europe thing is massively exaggerated, it "worked" for us because we already had a title winning squad who had a fluke bad season due to a variety of unprecedented vectors, Arsenal don't have that luxury. Free midweeks training Rob Holding, Ben White and Hector Bellerin is no different to free midweeks training James Tarkowski, Ben Mee and Matt Lowton and that's before we mention Arteta tax.

Hopefully immediate minutes was why they moved as opposed to any internal issue. If it was the former we should have a chance of getting them back in the future if they become the business, all be it at a cost.

If we are fighting for top 4 again with this squad (now more settled) then Tuchel wouldn't be any better than Lampard domestically. The title is a different debate but unless it requires late 70's points (and even that's me being pragmatic) I just cannot forsee a top 4 scramble.