OneMoSalah

Cannot believe we even signed him the first place… I mean you don’t not play and end up exiled from the worst Man United team in history (their current managers words not mines) unless you are either a muppet, or shit, or both. That Man Utd team that is crying out for wingers too 😳 But we seem to have a hard on for these kind of players, always the same reasoning “player X/Y/Z is better than hes shown” “just hasn’t clicked for them elsewhere” “manager X/Y/Zs style of football is holding the player back”… we got 2 of them in the summer in Felix & Sancho and within 12 months they will both be sold/not retained. Simeone & ten Haag will be laughing when we sell Felix & pay £5m to put Sancho back to United 😂

Out of his depth and baffling decisions, been happening all season, hopefully we pull the plug in the summer. Him & 2 sporting directors need to go.

Paul Merson nailed it with his piece on sky. Team selection was abysmal - no Palmer, no Jackson from the start.

It was but I think now it is abundantly clear we have to go for this type of forward signing as opposed to a Delap or Jackson profile of player - young, bit of potential, needing room to grow yet. Same with a CB and a GK. Maybe even a left winger… If that means we have to spend a bit more on salary and risk it, then we have to do that. We need some guys who are proven and going to deliver from day 1. They genuinely tend to want bigger salaries and the very good one’s have plenty of options so if we want to get players of this ilk and ever become a top top team, then we need to bite the bullet eventually. Just look at that DailyMail article above this post, this is going to be the case for every elite player/elite youngster when we have real competition for them. Agree on Isak but generally think he will be waiting for a Real Madrid/Barcelona. Unless Liverpool throw a fortune at Newcastle in the summer if they sell Nunez to Saudi. This project 2030 and transfer approach from BlueCo is going to continue to kill this clubs chance of ever becoming a regular trophy winning side again IMO.

Nkunku’s struggled because 1) he hadn’t been used often enough/in a run of games sooner and 2) because Maresca shunts him out left wing or plays him as an actual number 9. The guys made a career out of scoring goals playing off a number 9 or as a split striker. Disappointing it hasn’t worked out and likelihood he will leave because the ability and sort of numbers he can deliver are very good and will appeal to teams. I know Werner had good numbers in Germany but Nkunku is certainly a different case to Timo in terms of ability, technical skill and footballing intelligence. Positionally Maresca has no idea on where to use him but surely it is not rocket science, you don’t see Pep playing Haaland/Slot playing Salah/Howe playing Isak/Glasner playing Mateta/Frank playing Mbuemo out of position? If the guys a 10 or a second striker use him as one. Don’t try and be too clever or certainly don’t use him as a left winger where the fullback on the same side inverts a lot meaning he is often the one on the touchline providing the width as opposed to getting in and around the box. Granted his season has been start stop and when he did get a regular run (eventually), he really struggled but he had scored 13 goals in all competitions before he made more than 2 consecutive starts for us - which was the beginning of February. Why did it take so long to give him consecutive starts? Jackson on the other hand, missed countless big moments costing us m points and nothing happened. Not dropped. Not rested. Then injured and you’re forced to play a guy you wouldn’t trust to start more than twice in a row after scoring 13 goals prior to then when the other striker who has previous for this, couldn’t finish his dinner at times. It is little wonder Nkunku looks so bad he’s probably thrown the towel in or confidence will be shot. Mismanaged 100%.

We won’t be signing a player of that age on a 7 year deal though. Not a chance. 4 or 5 year deal maybe. Would rather give that guy £88m in wages over 5 years and know we might get some actual bang for our buck in the present than persist with guys like Jackson and potentially Delap or Tel in the hope they might do something in 2/3 years. What is the alternative though? Realistically if people expect us to do anything next season with both Nico and either one of Liam Delap/Mathys Tel then they are dreaming. If Nico had scored the chances he’d missed this season and last we would probably have gotten another 20-25 points since the start of last season. Even the big Swedish lad from Sporting, he isn’t cut out to do it in the PL for a big club for me. Certainly not worth a gamble for the £70-80m they seem to be talking about anyway. Maybe I am wrong but have seen plenty of strikers/attackers from Sporting, Benfica and Porto make these moves to other clubs and struggle to replicate anywhere near the levels they did or people thought they could. Likes of Darwin Nunez, Joao Felix, Jackson Martinez, Goncalo Ramos, Andre Silva, Fabio Silva. Then theres also the guys from Portugal who never make the move to a higher level league where people thought they’d be able to after pissing it up in Portugal, ie Hulk & Oscar Cardozo. Falcao, Di Maria, James, Fernandes, Luiz Diaz are really the only ones after Nani and Ronaldo that I can think of off the top off my head who did well in Portugal then moved to a better league and did well/better. Leao & Raphinha as well.

Well if he does the business, its money well spent. Lets be real. We are paying Reece James a minimum of 250k a week, who barely plays more than 15 games a season. Not to mention the wages of Lavia and Fofana also on top who NEVER play mote than 15 games a season. If we offload Sterling also who is on 250-300k a week. And Kepa. More wages free’d up. On top of the wages we have saved since BlueCo ran us from CL winners to Conference League wankers. You have to pay top dollar for top players if you want to go far. And I think the fee for Oshimen will be a sticking point as it is anyway, so we won’t get to negotiating. Wait and see, Liam Delap for £40m on 50-55k a week.

Liked the fact he left a bit in on Bellingham too. Young guy playing against Madrid, looked very unfazed, looks a lot more senior than he is in terms of his age and his performance. Maybe he’s played like that for Arsenal a lot, I don’t watch a lot of their games because I find them to be quite a boring watch without Saka IMO. Think you know what to expect from them in the first and second thirds of the pitch. But then final third without Saka you never really know. Also like the young CB for Madrid, ok they conceded 3 tonight but he looked very assured, aggressive in the right way… he has got something about him. Again, not afraid to leave a foot in and make his presence felt. Have seen him play a lot more often than the lad at Arsenal. A lot of young players can be a bit tame with the likes of that things. I think I recall Rooney talking about Bellingham doing that to him in the championship too and how he was impressed that he left a bit on him.

Think Madrid in Spain, even at 3-0 down… if anyone could, they could 😂 Even if they get 1 goal tonight. Both Bellingham and Mbappe have been absolutely shocking in the second half though. Bellingham’s contribution has just been fouling people. The whole game.

Courtois defos the best shot stopper in the world. Always produces in the big moments. Arsenal need a second goal to take to Spain for sure

Without Saka, Arsenal would be so boring. Like it is crazy. Martinelli and Odegaard both good players but do not offer anywhere near enough attacking thrust. No wonder Arsenal will win fuck all.

Maybe. With Spurs and Man United, there’s definitely something going on between the players and their managers ie. players struggling to deliver what their managers want tactically. And issues with mentality. I don’t think Postecoglu or Ruben Amorin (still think he was a bit overhyped) are bad managers by any stretch of the imagination and the squads that Spurs & United have are also better than their league standings, for sure. Lacking quality but still considering their league finishes last year - huge change. Here, its a bit of that but also our recruitment has been that bad over the past few windows with so many average/ill thought signings in similar positions or players the manager has no intention of using (Jorgensen, Felix, Veiga, KDH, Nkunku…). Not to mention another manager who is about this stupid meaningless possession philosophy at all costs. Diff league but the best example of what a top team should be is Real Madrid. Like, why do they seem to end up winning the CL or big trophies most seasons despite not playing incredibly well in a lot of the games? Particularly when it comes to certain big games in Europe? It is because Ancelotti put’s winning above playing styles/abiding by these daft Pep knock off philosophies. Yes they have excellent players (their recruitment is outstanding over the past 10 years) but Ancelotti’s so flexible tactically. Low block, high block, counter attacking, possession - they can do it all. And yeah 100%, City is end of an era in the same way our 11-12 team was probably but obviously City higher standard and won more. They are changing sporting director also - so it is interesting to see how recruitment goes for them too. Pep is also getting to the point where maybe he has to look at slightly tweaking what he is doing again and changing with the times a bit also as sterile possession football is sort of becoming more of a hindrance than a help - look at them without Haaland who allows them to go more direct from Ederson to play off a second ball higher up the pitch, just very very slow and predictable. Needs more energy and legs in their team again too.

Maybe. United look nailed on favourites for him apparently. If we end up with Liam Delap in the summer as our big striker signing, we are finished before a ball is kicked next season. Would get it if it were the likes of Everton or someone signing him but clubs like us, United, Liverpool and even City (been links as they have a buy back)? Absolute insane - although he’d be bench warming at City.

50m bid incoming from BlueCo no doubt How bad is the standard of the top and bottom teams in the PL though wow. Sheffield and Leicester both been absolutely pathetic and rightfully relegated - like two of the worst sides I’ve seen in recent years. Then throw in how bad us, Spurs, Man United, Man City have all looked too at times this season it is absolutely incredible 😂

Leicester just put on a 15 year old v Newcastle. Wait and see Chelsea line up £50m bid tomorrow mornings papers.

Been the case for years. Technical and tactical side of the PL has always been overhyped. Look at how many big players leave the PL to go to Spain or whatever and say that its purely only more difficult physically. Simply put, if you want to watch good football, don’t watch the big games in the PL. All these Pep disciples/wanna be’s like Arteta, Maresca etc are also a big reason as to why PL football is getting poorer too. Everything is so predictable, so robotic, so boring… they’d sooner see their teams pass the ball backwards and sideways for 90 minutes because ultimately their philosophy is more important than winning - or it seems that way. Or have fullbacks inverting to give them a box midfield and then their wide men are crossing the ball to one maybe two guy’s in the box because their fulbacks are playing as number 6/8s, they have midfielders who don’t really break into the box and their wingers are doing what their fullbacks would of done in the past instead of coming and getting in the box….. The young guy at Brighton and (pains me to say it) Arne Slot have both been a breath of fresh air in terms of philosophy/style of football IMO. Possession orientated still but quick attacking play and huge emphasis on attacking transitions at most opportunities. Even Forest this season, sort of throwback playing a low block but a hugely effective attacking transition with Elanga, Hudso-Odoi, MGW etc. Ange also last season was a breath of fresh air for the PL with his fullbacks as number 10s effectively (different from what he did at Celtic) although now Spuds and him are getting pasted left right and centre 😂

Fuck knows, hopefully somebody… Marseille wanted him in the summer IIRC? Or was talk of a move there anyway. Gonna say it. Shouldn’t of signed him in the first place. Was very very vocal about his signing for that fee particularly from day 1 when the links first came by. He had played 40 games in the PL…. and like with Maguire going to United from Leicester for a scary fee, they played us like they played United.

But Villa being Villa, no doubt Emery will somehow manage and get something from those games despite the odds. They have 9 draws and 8 losses this season yet still sit 6th, 2 points behind, so based on how us and City have done this season, they will very much believe they have every opportunity. And why not? We still have got Fulham, Everton, Liverpool, Newcastle, Man United & Forest remaining. And after today, it’s very hard to know what to expect. Would anyone actually be surprised if we draw or lose at either/both Fulham and Everton? The most likely winnable games for us? Then who knows what happens with the Liverpool, Newcastle, Man United & Forest games.

Still not good enough for an elite club which is what we should be aspiring to be. Although a lot of our signings clearly aren’t.

Offload ASAP.

This season if we do finish top 4, will very much be like the first season under Lampard. Got going and were right in amongst it, almost made a cunt of it and then finally got over the line. Not to be celebrated, big changes will be required this summer to kick on irrespective of if we do or don’t get the CL. Manager included.

Us finishing outside the CL though would surely mean those 2 fannies who are the co-sporting directors and Maresca would have to be replaced. Which will need to happen sooner than later anyway. If we get top 4 then Boehly & Eghbali will actually think we have made progress…..

It could be ok yet…. we may not qualify 😂 Not entirely convinced we will be 100% finishing in the CL spaces. Forest got a good win v United to consolidate their position in the top 4 and Newcastle, City, Brighton and even Fulham are in very close enough proximity to make it interesting.

Who’d of thought? And now, we are lumbered with him 😂 You don’t burn through spells at as many big teams by his age if you are any good. But yep, another one we shouldn’t have signed. Even the first time round on loan. Ludicrous.

The PSR machine will sell him. Wait and see. £20-25m and he will be forced to leave only to be replaced by another foreign player of the same age bracket for double the price and half the ability. Dreading the summer window already because it is going to be another shitshow. I mean Baleba links already happening… ok yes looks a good player but what was the point in signing all of Caicedo, Lavia, Ugochuwku, Santos, Amougou & Essugo if we go drop another £100m+ on another more defensively minded midfielder (would be fair to say that regarding him)? Just baffling this club is littered with fucking morons making big decisions from top to bottom.