Tomo

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.

I won't name the person as innocent until proven guilty but from what I'm hearing it isn't a player for the Manchester clubs.

The period I was referring too was not when they were a title challenging side. It was his early spell (also pre Robertson and Trent too) where his team were conceding goals like no tomorow and despite that he still resisted relentless calls to sign any Tom, Dick or Harry to "fix" it. And unlike us in the forward department those players didn't really have the scope to improve.

Then doesn't that bring the argument that we should simply do a Klopp/us in 2020 and wait it out if genuine upgrades aren't attainable? For example, if we can't get Haaland is any of our realistic striker options at present less of a risk than playing Broja let alone Havertz? Who knows who will have a breakthrough in the next 12 months, the former himself could be one. Likewise since Hakimi has gone my preference has shifted to promote Livramento.

Because he suits Tuchel's system a lot better and most importantly, Tuchel doesn't rate Tammy (by comparison there's been smoke for months that he wants Broja in the squad). If we can't find a new home for Tammy he will likely play a similar role to what he has done so far under Tuchel.

I think Broja will be above Tammy in the pecking order.

Thing is though The Glazers don't care about winning stuff. Aslong as Ole is keeping them in the top 4 reasonably comfortably I think/hope he's as safe as houses.

United under Ole have repeatedly bottled it when the medals are on the line, and that's in the second rate competitions. They're like Spurs under Pochettino, they have enough quality to keep getting top 4 but have a massive mentality issue when it really matters. If they get Conte in THEN all bets will be off but Ole's United have a massive trophy mental block.

But their manager isn't, so until they upgrade on him they're out of the equation.

Long overdue, if anything it should be even more.

I don't think it's as one sided as you think, it's probably close to 50/50. Regarding Conte, his spell was the easiest to spot which players were board signing vs which one were his, his selection patterns was one step below announcing it in the presser. The board signings were largely ignored bar when we played scratch Xl's (Michy, Drinkwater, Barkley) whereas signings he wanted got chance after chance despite underwhelming (Baka, Morata, Zappacosta, Alonso in season 2).

Yep, while we absolutely should not fall into the trap of thinking Tuchel can work miracles with any and every player he's given we've appointed an elite coach who should be able to fit some players into his system. Klopp is a good example, how many of this UCL/PL winning squad would we have had a meltdown about had we signed them?

I don't know why all this "other teams fucking up has helped us" is considered ground-breaking. Further down the league you go the more you rely on it. Infact unless you get 109 or more points you're technically at the mercy of other teams not doing their job.

I'm fairly confident Kai's numbers will go up. Last season he moved in a pandemic, caught the thing (and unlike most footballers not aysmptomatically) and then returned in the middle of the Lampard meltdown period (who to add insult to injury didn't know what the hell to do with him). He only really had two months fully fit and under Tuchel and he produced his best football. I think it's next to impossible for him not to improve without all those above obstacles. He will have a (close to) full pre season, will (hopefully) not be struck down by Covid and will have a full season under a manager who clearly knows how to utilise him, I'm not exactly sure how anyone can look at those factors and come to the conclusion he won't have a better season this time round. Werner is a bit more complex, while I'm not under any illusion he will suddenly become cool as ice infront of goal the sheer law of averages should mean a healthier tally next season. Although not to the same extent as Havertz, Lampard's use of him was a problem. If we can get a close to sure bet forward fine, but there's not many of them out there, especially as we will likely have to break up a hugely promising system to accommodate said striker (the type of short termism Mou was slated for). For example, two years ago almost everyone on here was adamant Luka Jovic was the striker we needed. Infact (I've asked this a few times now but no one has yet given me an answer) did any of our even slightly realistic options outside of Haaland score more last season than Werner and Havertz do the year before they signed for us?

Sorry I meant to say inferior.

City don't appear to be any closer to making signings than we do,unless you've seen something I've missed, likewise United bar one signing they should have got 12 months ago. If we signed Ramsdale, Neves and Ben White this place would be in absolute meltdown so why on earth are they being considered potential game changers for Arsenal? Also this 6 point thing is ridiculously misleading, the gap became that "close" because we had half on an eye on a CL final while they as usual strung a few wins together when there was no pressure. Also if they will improve based on signing players fighting relegation last season shouldn't the same logic apply to us having a full season of TT and our big investments being more settled? Also if the title was won in the window, why didn't we walk the league last season?

If we finish 6th that would basically mean Tuchel is no better than Lampard (who achieved 4th with a much superior squad to this).

Isn't he on loan from Fiorentina?