OneMoSalah

Wouldn't say “no excuse” when AC Milan are only 4 points off and there is still games against Napoli, Roma and Juventus to be played for Inter. Plus Milan have Ibra, the man who seems to be defying age, who is more than capable of bringing them back to the top if Inter do drop points (Ibra is already a huge reason why they probably are up there this season). Inter are in the driving seat yes but saying he has no excuse would be like indicating they are 15-20 points clear or even in the position Man City are in. Its between the Milan teams for the title though, Juventus are out of it unless they amass some sort of huge run but can’t see it and Pirlo seems to be out of his dept slightly but when you have Ronaldo, anything is also possible. I hope Conte and Inter win it though, he is a top top manager, probably the best in Italy by a mile and think once he gets a first trophy they will kick on if they stick with him.

No idea. I am on my phone and I have no clue how I did it 🤣 I also seen the games against Hoffenheim and a few other stinkers they had. But majority hes been good.

Jesus then the German media are incredibly harsh. Would say 11 goal involvements in 12 starts and 9 sub appearances is good. The games I have seen he has been their best player or one of, particularly v Frankfurt last weekend he was outstanding made many chances how they never converted them I have no idea but he was single handedly dragging them back into it. Also games against Arminia Bielefield, Hertha Berlin, Schalke in the first week of the season, against Frankfurt earlier in the season, against Mainz and Freiberg also IIRC.

Aye stick a fiver on those 2 scoring and 2-0 youll probably get a 6 figure return 🤣

That Raphinha for Leeds is a good player. Has so much poise and balance when he gets the ball and drives at people. Has got end product too. Crossing, shooting, freekicks - seems to do something that can affect the game. Scored 5 goals and made 5 assists in his debut PL season which maybe isnt hugely impressive but think he will have more by the time the season ends and their will be a few teams interested in the summer.

Sure there would be many who would say it was more than a month haha but I like the comments he made about learning in bad moments but its all good talking the talk, he has to walk the walk now. Particularly he has to start improving other aspects of his game, like his physicality a bit and the back to goal stuff. Countless times he has gone down or stopped expecting fouls for very little/soft things outside the box and in positions where you’d just want him to try stay on his feet a bit more and hold the ball. Maybe next season we will see it a bit more. Still though 10 goals and 6 assists in all competitions for us. Hopefully starts firing in a few more before the end of the season but was a bit disappointed with him v Atletico.

Think the last two we had were Salah and Mata with Mourinho but yeah for a while, its something we have lacked.

Sane not performing that well? You joking? 11 goal contributions in 12 starts and 9 sub appearances... and if Bayern scored more than one of the several chances he put on a plate v Frankfurt he would of had more. Everytime I have seen Bayern play he has been very good and I try watch a lot of their games because a team with players like Sane, Gnabry, Alaba, Davies, Lewandowski etc is obviously going to be good to watch. Gnabry has also been injured for ages, if your going to make assumptions at least try and base them off facts 😂

He was comfortable the whole game, up against Luis Suarez who evidently still has a bit as he’s shown for Atletico this season, every challenge he had to make was immaculate and his reading of the game made it look easy. Yes Atletico could of played better or been more attacking at times but he still had to do things and what he did, he did very well. He keeps going like he has done under Tuchel to the end of the season, I can see him getting a deal.

Yeah likely. I’d imagine for Haaland if we do go for him, it would maybe be so much % of the budget and then the rest maybe from Roman so Tuchels able to get other guys in. Which if we get him, regardless, wont matter where it comes from.

Thats why I said “maybe” and did say in another post afterwards I didn’t expect any changes bar Silva in for Christensen?? No clue how to put another quote in but the post was ”Werner down the middle. Ziyech/Pulisic/Havertz. Even then WBA just showed what a big CF can do against Maguire and Lindelof so wouldnt be surprised if Thiago Silva for Andreas was the only change. ” Silva isnt fit though so probably be Christensen again.

Get the feeling Tuchel is going to be a real perfectionist in terms of how he wants us to play and that, hopefully, will drive the players on and challenge them. Maybe in the same sort of way we wanted Sarri to do so.

The same Barcelona who sold Suarez, Vidal, Rakitic all very cheap to get them off the wage bill because they were struggling financially? The same Real Madrid who bought nobody in the summer? As I said before, financially, if we make the best offer or match it, we have a chance. His agent has to be included in that offer unfortunately. I think we had some money from the Hazard (not sure how much as no idea how the 130m euros is broken down in installments) and Morata deals but wouldn’t say that Roman didn’t contribute significantly for the signing of Havertz because many doubted we would have the cash to pull it off after getting Ziyech, Chilwell, Werner and the fact we also were linked with Mendy who took the total spend to about £150 m in total at least without including Kai. Then considering that only Nathan and Palasic were the only other players who we sold in the summer, its not hard to imagine Roman putting something in to push that deal through because no way all the loan fees we accumulated either would have given a significant push towards the 70-80m or whatever Kai cost.

I can see the point regarding the cruciate ligament ruptures to a degree but also if its not a massive deal for Bayern, who have a very good injury record and medical staff and tend to play him every week, I doubt it should be a major concern for us. He’s hardly injury prone, just its part of football, unfortunately players suffer major injuries at times. We had Callum and Ruben suffer from ACLs and stuck by them - would imagine it has more of an impact on younger players as they are still developing and growing physically. Also Gilmour injured his meniscus last season and had 4-5 months out. Its not as if we would he signing someone with one leg and half a hamstring or someone who regularly fails to complete 10-15 games a season. Will agree though there are probably better CBs out there but are they attainable? Also would say Sule’s probably a considerable improvement on Zouma and Rudiger but thats also not exactly a huge achievement as they are good but nothing spectacular.

Aye it is all good saying that after he’s went to Liverpool had a good start and scored the 7 goals he has in all competitions. Nobody even mentioned him at the time last season or in the summer and lets be honest a lot would not have done. If he hadn’t had the impact he had there before his injury, I doubt many people would be that bothered. Good player yes but was a surprise to many he went to Liverpool and an even bigger surprise he had that drastic an impact. Whether or not it was just an incredibly good start that will settle out as he returns or the expectations he’s set for himself, who knows? I doubt many people seen it coming either way. Would that basically not be the same for any pacey attacking players then, not just strikers? So clubs should just avoid buying from those leagues 😁😂? I think regardless of who picks them, the signings ultimately have to fit their recruitment strategy, which since their owners took over whenever it was has probably been largely based on younger players with potential to grow and with resale value incase they decided to leave (ie Suarez and Coutinho in the past, Sterling from the academy) although now they’ve won a few trophies they’d probably want to adapt that approach. Which I think they did spending larger sums on van Dijk and Alisson to take them to the next level. But it was the only logical next step for where they were at at that time. I think with Klopp other than Klavan and Thiago most of the signings they’ve made have fitted that sort of age range of say 20-26. Not that they signed to resell but there was rumblings about them being cautious about signing Thiago due to his age which goes against their recruitment strategy. I think now like most clubs, the manager probably has areas that they want improved upon but generally the transfer strategy is probably made up by technical or sporting directors or whoever based off a criteria and positions, then they go from there bringing the manager back into it saying we think option x, y, z may suit this position or that one based off these scouting reports or analytical data. Managers are changing that commonly across Europe also so I think clubs maybe have to take things i to their hands a bit and maybe make managers work with less of a say in transfers or recruitment as 10-15 years ago.

I know its more just to link the stat you mentioned and add the comparison, more for others who keep constantly making the comparison. Perhaps but theres other attackers who can also do more. Unfortunately its just Mount people chose to focus on for end product when its quite clear we wouldn’t get into some of the positions without the other things he brings. Him and Callum’s combinations v Atletico for example were very promising and its a shame the final balls never worked out.

Hes only 22, playing for a top club for only his second season, people seem to be forgetting that. The goals and assists will come consistently. Just like James, CHO, Gilmour, Tammy etc will become more clinical/decisive in their decisions and roles in the team. Last season many of them made a good first impression but the up and down nature is to be expected. We seen the bad side when he was overplayed through a poor run but I think the general improvement in his all round game has been very noticeable this season. Obviously as you’ve said a goal every 6.7 games or whatever, yes that needs to go up but boys like Maddison, who is always in comparison with Mason, in 89 PL games has 20 goals, a goal every 4.5 games, thats not very impressive either but it just shows that goals and assists stats can cloud judgement because even then we still know Maddison is a very good player. The worst of it is though, teams like United and City have got De Bruyne and Fernandes which everyone now expects every attacking midfield player to be as good as they with a few others in Europe, set the standards but Liverpool won the PL comfortably without a number 10 who scored or assisted that sort of numbers, very much having a midfield consisting of players who you would consider more as “dogs” or hard workers because they do the hard miles and aren’t particularly excellent at scoring or creating goals. Also, not saying Mount should aim to be that sort of player, he should definitely try to be more creative because his general play is good and this is the one area which when he hits a bit of consistency with his end product, hes easily going to be a top top player.

Same guy who came on in the CL final and looked very comfortable? Not his biggest fan but he is a far superior CB than both of Rudi and Zouma. Nothing worse when folk write articles like this. We paid the fee for the release clause and he turned us down. Not surprised either hes apparently the highest paid GK in the world at a club who developed him and gave him a chance, not even Benfica played him and they are notorious for developing talent and moving it on for huge money. It wasnt a matter of £16m but some idiots will paint their own narrative with such bullshit clickbait articles. Like saying if we spent an extra £25 million on any other player who we probably tried to sign and they turned us down, as if it would make a difference 😂 like Virgin van Dijk or whoever. Also @NikkiCFC have to agree, Angelino is a very decent player. Still surprised Pep didn’t try him more as he is very much the sort of fullback he likes. Also he is homegrown having spent 3 seasons in City’s academy prior to being 21 IIRC. Only 24, still has plenty of growth also but think Leipzig will keep him.

As I said I think TT could change Giroud for one of them but he probably wont make radical changes meaning both likely wont start. Id be surprised though if its more than Silva who comes in, dont think he will be desperate to make a lot changes, seeing a lot of people wanting Jorginho and Mount out the XI despite the fact they will miss the return leg v Atletico. Also a lot of people mentioning Ziyech and Havertz looked pretty good when they came on, not sure where they managed to make this impression from. Havertz played only like 3 minutes plus added time considering he came on in the 87th minute and Ziyech 16 minutes plus added time. Granted both looked fitter but they didnt do anything of particular notice that stuck out as to why they should be included in the starting 11 for the game. I think if one was to be included from the beginning it wouldn’t be the worst idea but the impressions that they should both come in and start ahead of other players who are playing better is beyond me. Even then where has TT probably changed the most in our team since coming in? Between CHO/James at RWB, Giroud/Abraham upfront and having to take Silva out for injury we have barely seen it anywhere else. Havertz (although was injured) and Ziyech played v Wolves then both never really got a start in the PL games.

Werner down the middle. Ziyech/Pulisic/Havertz. Even then WBA just showed what a big CF can do against Maguire and Lindelof so wouldnt be surprised if Thiago Silva for Andreas was the only change.

Same team as v Atletico. Maybe only Giroud out and Silva back in. Dont see why he would change it radically after our best performance under TT. Calling for major changes after that performance is just daft if I am honest, more so Jorginho and Mount who are suspended v Atletico so may as well play them here as theyve shown they are key components under Tuchel so far.

Realistically though we have got Havertz, Ziyech, Kovacic who are all capable of being creative and passing forward. Mount also is in this just needs to iron out inconsistencies in his end product. Gilmour also is more than capable and Jorginho go longer and in behind teams at times although not a lot. Not expecting them to all pump out 10 chances per game but the notion we aren’t capable of being creative baffles me. We’ve seen now under Tuchel we can get into these positions in the final third but we just need to take a bit more care with the final pass, once that clicks, I think we will be much better in terms of goals. Lets not forget Tuchel has only been here for 7 games and we have went from a team who were struggling to keep clean sheets and had no ideal style, to a team who are more organised and haven’t conceded many shots against us per game whilst also showing a clear identity. I think getting this quality at first is better than creating 10 chances a game. The creativity will come and I think TT knows this is still an issue, you can see his frustration on the sideline when the final ball is poor because he expects better. The whole Cesc thing, it is true but there aren’t as many players like this in world football now. Because everyones too safe as they don’t want to lose it as football has become so heavily fixed on keeping possession. Verratti maybe is close and perhaps a handful of others but its a slim list.

Jesus you’d think Mount played for Scunthorpe or something reading this thread. Some of you need to wake up and watch the games, not choosing what you want to see, which is Mount “not playing well” The only inconsistency in his game right now is his end product, everything else is at a more than suitable level, as is the same for most 22 year old attacking midfielders or even footballers, bar the odd exception. Beginning to wonder about some of yous...

He wouldnt get a game regularly at Leicester. Vardy is maybe 34 but still has 2 years in him at least I reckon. His physical attributes are phenomenal. Just let him go. Has shown he is a reasonable squad player but not the sort of striker who will win teams titles.

The biggest issue is going to be as it always is with Mina Raiola’s clients: money. If we can match the best or make the best offer, we will be in with a large chance of signing him, CL football or not. Its obviously an additional factor yes and if we finish outside the top 4/5 in positions 7,8,9,10 it will be a huge disadvantage but it will not massively be the deciding factor If say we finished 5th IMO (which is below the minimum achievable goal for the remainder of the season I would think). Obviously we want to be in the CL not just to boost our chances but for the financial side of it for the club and to be playing the top competition of European football. Honestly think still its going to be more the financial side of a deal for Haaland that will make the ultimate difference and that will include a large agent and large signing fee. As was the same for the Pogba to United deal, de Ligt to Juventus, Lukaku to United and Inter and Ibra’s moves to Barcelona and PSG. The financial package and wages/sign on/agent fee were huge contributions to why we didnt sign him from Salzburg as Matt Law reported but we will have to swallow our pride and make a big offer if we are truly interested.