Pizy

Hear so much hype about this kid but have admittedly never watched a second of him.

Not a clue. That's the big issue. There isn't really a huge pool of top quality wing backs.

Any significant injuries or suspensions for Everton?

Everyone here knows how desperately I wanted him in the summer but tbh, after hearing how massively his form has dropped off since then I actually wouldn't be bothered if we don't get him. Especially for mega money. Certainly still need a new LWB for competition with Alonso, but I wouldn't be devastated if it wasn't Sandro. Should be the priority position of strengthening next month.

Yeah, I'm not saying he was poor or anything. Just that it was hugely obvious it was his first appearence in our defense. Guess the biggest positives you can say are that he didn't look phased or panicked at all at just 17 years old. Bit like Christensen.

See a few people raving about him on Twitter. Am I the only one who wasn't that impressed with that game from him? Of course, he's only 17 (fuck me, I can't believe I'm 10 years older than a Chelsea player!) but it's not like he bossed the game or anything. His passes were almost exclusively sideways or backwards to Rüdiger, Cahill, and Caballero. His positioning and interceptions were decent I guess. I think it was pretty clear that he's not a trained CB. Didn't really look like he knew what he was doing which is why he kept it so simple. Doesn't look like a natural defender. Like RLC, hopefully Conte doesn't try to shoehorn him into the wrong position.

Considering how awful Batshuayi has looked and how poor the false 9 looked against an actual decent team in Southampton I'm not looking forward to this one. Was expecting us to win this relatively easily had Morata played since Everton are shit. This has all the makings of a drab 0-0 or ugly 1-0 from a fluke goal for either side.

Great.

I swear every one of his yellows have been stupid like this one. Just totally pointless cards not even during play.

Easily the worst we've played since I can remember. Two great goals but otherwise a dreadful performance.

What a turgid first half. My word was that boring! Sideways and backwards with the occasional awful forward pass. Probably the most Mourinho-like we've looked in a long time. Willian and Pedro are so average and I'm sorry to finally admit Batshuayi is awful. He desperately needs a good loan. He reminds me of Lukaku without the goals. Awful first touch and clumsy as hell.

Pretty surprised that Morata isnt starting after the slight injury he had. Would've even been cool to see he and Bats together up top.

So thankfully a heavily rotated team. With Everton picking up a bit of form under Big Sam (though they still looked completely awful last night) we need our best players healthy and fresh for the weekend. Hazard, Kante, Alonso, and Morata should all be rested. Ideally not used at all in Hazard and Kante's case.

I think the very top clubs (City, ourselves, United) will be scared away by his previous stint at a big club but someone like Spuds, Arsenal or even Everton may see him as someone with massive upside. I doubt Arse will be able to sign anyone near Sanchez's level to replace him so may look to Zaha who's a very similar player in terms of playing style. If Liverpool weren't already loaded with attacking players he'd be perfect for them as well.

I'm sure Spurs will pursue their interest in him once again Yep. Think he'd be deadly there with his high energy. Perfect Pochettino player.

I think if he continues for the rest of the season the way he's played so far he'll definitely be on his way back to a big club again. Could see him at Spuds or Arsenal if/when Sanchez leaves.

I mean, we saw in their title winning season that when his team are all playing well he was unplayable. I have to believe that if he's got other top players drawing attention away from him here he'd return to that level. I'll put it this way, I wouldn't be over the moon or creaming myself if we signed him because he's not a world beater but I'd be pretty excited.

He's definitely got a bit of Özil about him in that when his team is playing well he's amazing but like today when his team is struggling he also goes missing a bit. I'd still take a chance on him because I think he'd be even better and more consistent with much better teammates.

Same. Couldn't care less if we went out, tbh.

I'd start Morata only because he needs to regain sharpness. Wouldn't even have Eden in the squad. Hazard, Kante, Azpi, and Christensen should all be either on the bench or out of the squad.

We really should get a head start on next season in the window next month. Rather than basically starting fresh next summer and taking who knows how long to bed in new players once the season starts we should bring in several new faces in January and bed them in this season. That way we can hit the ground running in 18/19. We'd theoretically see benefits this season and next. Arsenal have absolutely no hope of winning the league and aren't even in the CL. Alexis' head is clearly elsewhere and Arse will certainly lose him for nothing in the summer. Why not test them with £50-60m in January? This is the sort of player we need to go up a level as well as convince Hazard of our ambition so he stays. We add an Alexis Sanchez who's revitalized after moving clubs and we can make a huge push in all competitions. Then he's settled after being in our team for 6 months and ready to go right away with Conte's ideas set.

I hate to sound like an Arsenal fan here but you have to look at net spend with us. True, we may have spent a lot on new players but they were almost entirely funded by player sales. City on the other hand already had a great squad and spent mega millions on top of it. They're also shopping in a completely different bracket than we are. Whereas they can go and buy 5 different players for £50m each, it's like pulling teeth for us to spend that much even once. How long did it take to bring in our new striker? Months. Money is absolutely no object to a club funded by an entire country. Unitl that changes and we're basically willing to pay whatever it takes to bring in top quality we can't compete.

When you really go player by player it isn't like City have world beaters in every position. They've go a brilliant coach and brilliant players in just the right positions. For example, the likes of Fernandinho, Otamendi, Delph, Mangala, Stones are good but not great players. I wouldn't swap any of those with our starting players. Hell, their two primary wingers Sterling and Sané are super talented but still very inconsistent. They benefit massively from the team and system they play in. Like us, they've got between 2-4 genuine world class players mixed with a bunch of good ones. We need quality additions in key areas and we're there.

Unless ourselves or United go ballistic next summer and spend huge money like City do it's hard to see anyone stopping them for the next couple of years. I get the feeling that the embarrassment of seeing their Manchester rivals dominate like this will pressure United to spend like maniacs again next summer but I'm not sure we will. We have the coach to compete with them and many of the pieces are in place. We just need about 3-4 top quality players (another attacking player, LWB, RWB, second striker) and we are on their level. That's assuming we keep hold of Hazard, of course.

I think it's pretty obvious that we are best suited to 3-5-2 with our current options. With only Baka and Kante in midfield we don't have much of a decisive eye for a pass from deeper and without Morata's excellent movement, runs, and aerial threat we look blunt against decent defenses. The 3-4-3 with false 9 can work against minnows like Huddersfield where there's a massive gulf in class between the sides, but Southampton and clubs like them who have solid players and are well drilled it just isn't effective enough. Fabregas is a must start player for us to be at our best.