Pizy

He's nearly 30 and would be the ultimate luxury player with no defined position in Conte's setup. Makes no sense. Only place I could imagine him playing would be the Fabregas role deeper in midfield.

Yeah, he looks about at his level there at West Ham. I'd rather us target someone who has been playing as a wingback for years and is totally comfortable there. Someone who equally solid defensively as they are attacking.

He's a nice player who has obvious qualities that you know Conte must admire but I'm not sure he's good enough for our level. Plus, he's got the same problem Moses has in that he's good going forward but is not a natural defender and can get exposed against the better teams. Most concerning of all when reading the West Ham forum is that many of them are saying he's got very poor technical ability. Some of them even make it sound like he's terrible at everything but heading in goals.

Is it more embarrassing for us or for Michy that he cost more than Diego Costa and Eden Hazard yet has to go out on loan half way through his first season here? If he is to go on loan, though, I wish it were to a better club than Swansea. At least send him to a club like West Ham who can maybe take points off our rivals with Michy playing for them. He'll get shit service and be surrounded by shit players at Swansea.

All game, really. I get that he's super frustrated but he can't let it affect him. Anyways, Leicester is the perfect opponent for him to maybe come on against with Diego. They could cause havoc together against the sluggish Huth and Morgan.

Without Mahrez and Slimani, yes? No excuses here. Hopefully Costa and Hazard come out angry and just run at them constantly. Their defenders are old and slow.

Looked really mopey today. Like maybe he knows he going out on loan?

I just have a really bad feeling that we won't even try to get him and he'll end up making a huge transfer to one of the two Manchester clubs. Most likely United. He and Pogba in midfield...man... We have this enormous sum of unexpected money meaning it would cost maybe £20m net to sign a player with world class ability and talent. Why not just test PSG and see if he's interested himself? Instead of going for Kessie or Bakayoko who are complete unknowns when it comes to their future, why not get a sure fire superstar who Conte even knows very well? It just makes perfect sense. We're a richer club than we ever have been and are front runners for the league right now. Make a statement signing!

Wish this was televised here... Theyre showing fucking Liverpool instead.

I think they're both good enough to at least be in contention for a place. RLC is the one I think many of our fans overrate and overhype. I have my doubts as to whether he'll ever be good enough for us.

Ake now & Cristenson in the summer. We may not even need to buy another defender after all. If we can also now get a midfielder this month we'll have all we need for the rest of this season.

I'm seeing that Eddie Howe essentially confirmed it. I actually feel sorry for him and Bournemouth fans.

You have to think he's going straight into the XI or at least considered a serious option if Conte wants him back. Otherwise it would be a waste for him to just be another RLC who just sits on the bench every week. I'd prefer him as a CB than a wingback.

£33m for a striker who scored 17 in France last season and we may loan him. Then bring in a 31 year old who hasn't looked class in a couple of years now and isn't even pulling up tress at Swansea. I trust Conte, but this seems like absolute madness.

This is a stupid move. Reminds me of the business we've done in the past few seasons that I thought we were now past doing. Like Falcao, Pato, Cuadrado. Someone who was really good elsewhere a while ago but is just a super short term stopgap. I predict he'll come here, get a handful of sub appearances, and be gone in the summer having done nothing at all like the players I just mentioned. If he comes in it'll be 100% confirmation that Batshuayi wasn't a Conte signing and he doesn't fit in his preferred system.

Imagine someone telling this forum a few months ago that both Oscar and Mikel would be sold in the same window. We would've thought it impossible.

Yeah, my bad! lol

Really? I think that's his strength. Even yesterday he put in a few excellent crosses. It's his pace and defending that are subpar and not good enough against top sides. He's passable against decent or poor sides where he isn't facing top quality wide players that can expose him.

Not that he'll panic or anything, but I wonder if Conte will accelerate any moves in the transfer window after seeing some of our weaknesses exposed again. I think a dynamic midfielder and Van Dijk especially would take us up a whole level. Van Dijk partnering Luiz would see us have a dominant back line and another threat on set pieces. We have the money from the Oscar sale to easily pay what it'll take to sign him.

Yep, and honestly, there are maybe only a couple of sides in the league that have the caliber of player needed to win the midfield against us. That's why I'm not too bothered yet.

So, so disappointing to concede 2 identical goals created by the same two players. They drew our CB's towards the ball and isolated our two shortest defenders. You just cannot allow a player with the passing ability of Eriksen yards of space at the edge of the box. You must close him down and deny him the cross. We got absolutely nothing from our attacking players this match but overall it was an even game. We weren't played off the park or didn't have a number out on us. We were well in the game. Got nothing from Pedro or Willian, Hazard couldn't get going, and Diego would receive the ball in positions where he couldn't be dangerous. Fortunately, I don't think this'll be a demoralizing defeat that will cause us to drop our heads. We didn't play poorly, they just played a bit better. Sadly, though, this result means that the title race is well and truly wide open now.

CANNOT allow them to come out and look way hungrier and more intense than us. We have to match their energy and desire from the open ending whistle. Please no zombie, timid football where Hazard and Diego are totally out of the game. The leaders on the pitch for us like Luiz will hopefully have our lads super fired up. Probable title winning result here if we get 3 points! Must treat it like a cup final!

Shitting it here!!!

True, but it's got to be difficult to drop Willian after what he did against Stoke.

Anyone expecting a surprise from Conte? Fabregas starting maybe? I doubt it. Wonder who he chooses between Willian and Pedro...