Tomo

I've said it a few times but I'd say Pedro was a more apt comparison (to Mount), could also explain why Lampard preferred Willian out of the two when Conte/Sarri opted for the Spaniard.

Funny thing is on the continent we kicked their arse even pre Roman.

2-0 down at home to Villa and sitting deeper than us in Nou Camp 2012

He also plays players out of position in ways i've never seen before. The only real frustration we have with Lampard in that regard is Mount sometimes on the wing. Arteta has off the top of my head played Willian upfront (LOL), Willock on the wing, Auba permanently on the wing, Tierney at CB, AMN and Saka LWB. Not to mention a series of strange decisions like dropping Lacazette when he was on a hot streak, freezing out their only creative source, bringing Mustafi out of exile, preffering him to the supposed Mbappe of CB's Saliba AND offering him a new deal (could you imagine the carnage if Lampard did that with our equivalent Drinkwater freezing out Gilmour in the process), playing Belerin, selling Martinez etc... Also on a separate note the Arsenal situation is exactly why i've been so pro only 1 year extension to over 30's, Auba and Willian look like they are badly bottoming out and Arsenal are stuck with them for years.

Hypothetically Mou would bench Docherty and do his usual one fullback bombing on (Reguillon) while the other tucks in. Or if Reguillion gets recalled to Real, Docherty right Azpi left. Either way it's a moot point he won't go there, Arsenal at a push but no way Spurs.

That's definitely my choice (unless he badly bottoms out) the only question mark would be whether he would accept that.

So with RJ's explosion this season that will hopefully (touch wood) carry on the way it's been going, what does the future hold for Azpi? Will he accept a more reduced role going forward or will he eventually want to leave to play more regular football? I reckon the former could be the best move for him in terms of maxing out his career (and ultimately his earnings), he's pretty much played non stop ever since he's got here and there's been signs over the last couple of years that it was starting to show, so a more reduced role could now be the best thing for him as he enters the twilight phase of his career. Whether he see's it that way however is another matter.

I think that was used more as an argument as why he should be above Emerson as opposed to being numero uno.

Apparently Sergio Romero is training alone and will be leaving United on a free in January. If he's happy to do another stint as a number 2 we should be all over that!

He has shown form like this for us though, his problem has always been he's ridiculously streaky. That said i do wish we had him as a back up to Mount and Kai.

Yes but you think that would be countered by the fact you appointed Moyes' old assistant and play like Pulis (playing out from the back aside).

Genuinely don't understand why he's being/been so hyped, what are people seeing that i'm not?

I hope Arsenal win the league cup so it keeps Arteta in a job longer!

It's a poor record but there was an underlying reason to most of them. The two losses under Mou were because for some reason Pardew knew how to nullify his sides. The 15/16 draw was well 15/16, the 3-0 in 17/18 Conte threw in the towel by then and we had half an eye on the FA Cup final, we won there under Sarri and last season like i said wasteful end product plus Kepa throwing one in.

There is if you live alone, been the case since it was introduced back in June.

Part of the reason we signed him was for this type of versatility so he can co exist with Tammy.

We lost because we kept making bad decisions in attack and our keeper practically threw one in at the end, neither of which should be a problem this time.

The behaviour from Arsenal fans was truly bizzare, they acted like they took prime Hazard off us and DT even implied both Willian and Luiz forced their way out of here to them like it was a German club to Bayern situation It's the equivalent of us in the early 00's getting Kanu (when he was winding down) on a free while Arsenal got Samuel Eto'o, imagine gloating about that

Yeah that's what i meant we'll dodge Bayern aswell as those 2.

Even our version of Pedro was better in my opinion and i was far from a Willian basher. He's started much better at his new club aswell by the sounds of it.

I appreciate Willian's service and effort for the club down the years but he's not better than Pedro let alone Ziyech.

I agree with that it's not so much winning it but a deep run will be such a boost going forward, we need to start chalking quarter and semi appearances back on the board as a minimum. That's why finishing top is crucial in my opinion, avoiding Bayern (along with City and Liverpool) in the RO16 will be massive.

Would be typical if it does as i have to attend a wedding on the weekend of our last home game It would proper blindside me if it actually happens though, i had us as a title contender the minute Conte was announced back then and was 90% sure we had it after the United/Saints/Everton games but it genuinely isn't crossing my mind as a possibility this time tbh, i still feel we need time to properly gel,

Callum lives alone IIRC so he'd be allowed a "support bubble" where he can mix with another household. So even if this was past lockdown, nothing to see here.

Silva out will make it harder but we should have far too much attacking quality for them this time.