Pizy

They just look so much crisper and more competent with the ball than us. I’m really starting to dislike Enzo higher up the pitch like this. Leaves a Caicedo alone in midfield surrounded by 2-3 opposing players. Really makes it difficult to play out through midfield.

Jesus, man. We can’t get the ball and string together 3 passes. Has Cole had more than 1 touch so far nearly 20 minutes in?

Get in. Now settle down with the ball!

It’s pretty embarrassing how much more comfortable they look in possession than we do.

Sanchez with that signature straight pass up the middle to the opponent almost giving them a goal. Get him the fuck out of this club, ffs.

With the amount of shot Flamengo and their fans are talking I actually really hope we beat them comfortably. And I don’t really care about this tournament at all. Hopefully our players aren’t sleepwalking from the start since you know Flamengo’s won’t be.

Man, there really is a massive black hole on our left side. We badly need another attacker or preferably two. Genuinely feels crazy that the club is reportedly SUPER keen on winning this tournament and taking it seriously yet they let Sancho leave, knew Mudryk is gone, and have not aggressively gone after replacements before it started. At least 1 left sided player should’ve been signed weeks ago.

Yep, this should certainly be a test of how much our players actually care about this competition compared to the clubs who are treating it like a massive prize. Maresca has already said he’s going to rotate a lot for the CWC so I’m interested to see which areas he does so. I don’t think he’s going to rotate Moi or Enzo. Nor Palmer and Cucu. But everywhere else I can see it. Think we should go with an athletic, aggressive XI.

We’re not in rebuild mode anymore at all, though. We aren’t Man United who need to replace nearly their entire XI. Liverpool needed a few strategic transfers to upgrade in a few key positions. Same as us. Striker, keeper, LW. Is it easier for Liverpool to do their business because they’re coming off of a title win? Absolutely. But attracting top players doesn’t seem to be our issue. A lot of these big names would likely be happy to join us. Our issue is that our owners/directors are penny pinching and refusing to pay the money necessary to get these top players. They will only spend big on teenagers. We’ve made 1 signing and that was ONLY done quickly because he had a release clause. Otherwise, Liverpool and City both will have made 4 signings before we even got off our asses. Two sides that you would hope our owners have ambitions of competing with this coming season.

Barring a season long injury to Salah I don’t see how Liverpool don’t win the league again. They’re having one of the best transfer windows ever to add to a side that already walked the league. Wirtz, Frimpong, Kerkez, Guehi. They have their long term goalkeeper in place for when they allow Alisson to walk with Mamardasvili. And after they sell Darwin Nuñez soon they’ll use that money to probably get Ekitike or Gyokeres. This is what a club that has their shit together from the top down looks like. They’re going to get all of their business done early in the summer and they’re all quality, proven players who will go straight into their starting XI with the exception of the keeper. Meanwhile, we’ve been in the “considering” phase for weeks now and haven’t heard about a single deal making any sort of progress since Delap was signed.

Just thinking a bit more about João Pedro. Maresca has had both Nkunku and Felix, two players who don’t have natural positions and can shift all across the attack, and was completely unable to utilize either of them. What exactly would change with Pedro, I wonder? He’s very similar in that isolated up top as a #9 he’s underwhelming and out wide he can be effective but not natural. Or is the reason he didn’t fancy those two because they are lazy and don’t work hard enough off the ball?

I was thinking Nkunku, too. I had extremely high hopes for both he and Felix.

There’s absolutely a chance that Gittens turns into a very good player. But for me it’s just such a big risk for the price and for where we are currently as a club. My biggest issue with us going for him is that we shouldn’t be taking big risks or chances right now. We’ve done that too much recently and it’s worked out poorly. You can counter that some of the “big names” we’ve signed also haven’t worked out but I’d rather us go for more experienced, proven players. Adding more young development players to a squad full of those just feels so silly.

There’s gotta be a reason that so many of the biggest clubs like Barca, Bayern, ourselves, and Arse all really desire Nico Williams. Gittens meanwhile hasn’t really been sought after by anyone other than us. If he was the better player then all of the top clubs would be after him and especially because Dortmund WANT to sell him.

If Liverpool are allowed to spend £300m in 1 window and adhere to PSR then we should just say fuck it and go crazy again as well.

From João Pedro’s POv it’s probably wiser that he goes to Newcastle where Callum Wilson is/has left and Isak has a spotty injury record over the years. He’d get more playing time as a starter there than here I would think. I’m trying to picture in my head where or how we’d play with him. Minutes as a lone #9 seem unlikely.

Monitoring this, considering that, appreciate such and such player. Just move for someone already.

It’s even clearer now that we 100% need 2 new attackers this window with Mudryk now confirmed to likely never play for Chelsea again, Sancho gone, and Nkunku surely to follow.

Why is this just now being confirmed like a year after we first heard about the issue? I wonder if there’s anything in a player’s contract that allows the club to get out of it…

Yeah, the upside is clear and you can see why Maresca would be interested. But again, he’s someone you’d take a chance on for cheap so that if he flops you can easily move him on. To pay huge money for Gittens is terrible business.

When we were first linked with João Pedro a few weeks ago I was against it because he’s not a natural striker nor is he is a natural winger. That was before we signed our actual #9 Delap. Now he’s much more interesting as a target because he could play WITH a Delap or Jackson at the same time. Though, if we’re interested in a hybrid type, “play anywhere across the attack” sort of player I’d personally take Kudus over João Pedro.

I just have zero excitement about Gittens at all. He doesn’t move me even a little bit. And that’s crazy to say for someone who is going to cost us £50m or something. If the club were going after him because his price was insanely low and they truly feel like he could blossom into a top player that would be one thing. Like if we were taking a punt for £20m for example. But for the money that’s being talked about you should be getting someone who is a sure thing.

For the silly price we’re going to end up paying for Gittens he needs to immediately slot into the team and be impactful. That’s not the money you pay for purely a depth signing who will be stuck behind Madueke or something.

Yep. Literally just throws a hundred things at the wall and nothing ever sticks. He’s a Twitter engagement merchant.

Probably not until after the tournament, right?