OneMoSalah

Why are we fucking around? I know he wants to come here but it just takes a club to offer 10-15M more than us to steal him basically by sounds of it because Leverkusen want a deal done. Get the finger out. Fuck sakes. Id be royally fucked off if United come in and drop the money they apparently bid for Sancho on him and get him.

Have to agree completely. He has such confidence in his own ability as well which helps but his commitment to learning a new position which much like Alexander-Arnold at Liverpool, was the only place he was realistically only ever gonna get a proper chance to come into their team, has been incredible. Much people talk about him offensively but his defensive play and the recoveries he's made this season have been incredible too in regards to the distances he’s got back from higher up and also his timing. Tbf Davies came into the Bayern team when they were really struggling with Kovac due to injuries and performed really well. Hasnt looked back and has got better and better since. Reece has got potential undoubtedly but if he perhaps had the same enthusiasm or drive that it would seem Davies has, he would be a better player. In my eyes as well, Davies has undoubtedly transformed that Bayern team as he adds a huge dimension both offensively and defensively, it also allows Alaba to play at CB and they can play a much higher line. Obviously Bayern and Liverpool with TAA are in better nick than us right now but again Trent started playing in a Liverpool side that still had huge flaws until they sorted those at CB and GK and as I said with Bayern, Davies started making an impression with Kovac (although Kovac did drop him to the reserves at one point).

PL proven is a ridiculous thing to say. All of the current top top players in their positions in the PL 90% came from other leagues and were already at good levels so its hardly as if buying from abroad is necessarily a bad thing. For the price and potential Regulion has to get him for 25-35m euros he would be worth it if he kept improving the way he did this season. People will say he only plays for Sevilla or he didnt play that good v United etc but hes just been voted La Liga LB of the season which when you consider the likes of Marcelo, Alba, Mendy etc play in Spain, all who would probably walk into most PL top teams, that is a mean feat. Even if some maybe had off seasons or whatever, Farlan Mendy had a very good season for Real so for him to have gotten in ahead of him shows he is a good player. Also when was the last time we signed a good English player from another PL team? Barkley? Nope. Drinkwater? Nope. Chilwell is a good player but look at the English price addition, Harry Maguire just left Leciester for 80m the previous season. Thats the benchmark for Leicester. I dont think Chilwell really had an oustanding season either to warrant that cash, neither had Maguire when United got him, although BC did play well at times but the difference if there is one between him and Regulion (again from what Ive seen in La Liga and Europa games, Id argue the Spaniard is slightly better) would be very marginal. If at all. But he's English so he will be the preferred choice I would think because we seem to have a hard on for English players at present hence the links with Sancho (warranted bar huge price probably unattainable this summer for us), Chilwell (if he was 30-40m I would say yes go for it if he is number 1 choice), Ben White (no PL experience for over 40m?), Lewis Dunk (please god no), Nick Pope (think hes had a good year but screams Begovic 2.0 so unless hes a number 2... not so sure). Plus people want Kai Havertz right? Weve already spent closer to 100mn on Werner and Ziyech, do they think we are gonna spend 65+ M on a LB, buy Havertz for 80-90m and then buy another top CB and a new GK as well? We should of signed Kieran Tierney before Arsenal. 100% better than both. 25m was a steal. Yet someone would say he played in SPL I suppose but where do they think we got Billy Gilmour from or where Southampton got Wanyama, van Dijk etc? Or where Hull got Andy Robertson who could have played higher than a relegated team if I am completely honest. Buying from within the PL isnt always necessarily going to assure anything and I am still surprised people have that mentality when you look at how Torres, Barkley and Drinkwater turned out. Fair does Kante and Cahill are opposition to that argument but what top team has signed someone from another PL club where theyve gone on and done very well in the last 10 years? Sadio Mane and van Dijk obvious ones with Liverpool. Kante to us under Conte. Cahill to us with AVB. City with Sterling. Lukaku to Everton then United. Van Persie to United. Top clubs are buying from foreign leagues for a reason: much much better value for money. also if your spending 65m + on a fullback and only expecting 4 or 5 good seasons, buy someone else. The club will be expecting Chilwell if he does come here to give 7, 8 or 9 seasons at a high level. Or at least I would be. 65m is a lot to invest in a defender.

Tbf she sanctioned his signing in the first place. She should be sacking whatever scout recommended the club sign him 😂

True but I think he hasnt left Stoke because they wanted 30mn for him off the fact he was in the English WC squad, which is ridiculous because its not as if England had any truly outstanding GKs either so his inclusion as a back up GK is hardly gonna warrant tripling his price. Stocks obviously fallen as Stoke have gone to shit but as a 2nd GK hardly be a bad option but again, maybe better out there. Lewis Dunk though? Fuck me. Is Lampard trying to turn us into Kenny Dalglish’s Liverpool when they signed all the overrated PL players and British guys? Likes of Stewart Downing, Charlie Adam, Andy Carroll, Jordan Henderson (got to the top eventually though). Also that fuck me reaction is without mentioning the fee, £40M+ For somebody who probably isnt even Englands 5th choice CB. Ben Foster okay for a number 2 yes sound go for it, can see why we would consider it. Also Declan Rice and Ben Chilwell have potential but are hugely overpriced and there are better as well as cheaper options out there in both positions too. Dont go undoing the good work already done with Werner, Ziyech and potentially Havertz by signing Lewis Dunk. I get the having HG players but we’ve how many academy boys in the squad already? Tammy, Mason, Billy, Callum, Reece, Fikayo... plus is Lewis Dunk better than what we have? Wouldnt say so. If he was even then hardly a huge improvement on some of them. Wouldnt say he is better than any of our CBs including Fikayo.

Probably but looking for a solid 2nd GK, why not?

Look at Aguero at City. Arguably one of the best strikers in PL history and he is hardly hugely involved in the build up in the same way some CFs are/were. Is it a problem? Not really because he gives you 20 league goals a season. Fair enough his all round game is good and he can do other things but if your good at scoring goals leave the fannying about trying to be a midfielder getting assists, key passes etc to the guys behind you and do the job, do what CFs do, get the ball, give it to your team mates and just be in positions to stick the ball in the back of net regularly. Ok if your not getting the rub of the green, do these things and yes all the top CFs are more than just goal scorers but still, our problem was conversion for a lot of the season, Werners ability to finish is gonna be a huge plus. Thats why he has to play through the middle for me. He has the pace to remain on the shoulder and get in behind teams. He also offers huge counter attack potential too with his pace. The back to goal stuff isn’t always that important for me because other teams have shown you dont always need that to win trophies if the conditions in your team are right and the players fit the style. Plus we have Abraham and Giroud to swap it up, we have the variations.

65m? Not for me. Regulion better player and 30m cheaper. What the fuck. Leicester will probably go and buy him afterwards and he will do what that young Turkish bloke did for them when they used him after selling Maguire. 100%. But if Frank wants him, fair does, good player potential to be a mainstay for 10+ years but never ever gonna be a 65m full back. Only a few who I would say is worth that cash off the top of my head: Hakimi, Mendy (Real Madrid one), Alex Sandro, Robertson, Alexander-Arnold, potentially Renan Lodi but not 100% convinced. Be others too but Chillwell isnt one of them for me, as I said Regulion be a cheaper and better option IMO.

Jack Butland available for 8-10m. 27 years old, homegrown, would be a good back up. Not starting quality likely but for a number 2, 8-10m in this market would be a very shrewd signing.

Just fucking sell him. No more loan to buy shit. They had an option/obligation to buy him last time and didnt bother their arses. Will we ever learn?

On Ben White: Dont think we should go for him. Think hes got good potential but looking very good in the championship is one thing, lets see how he gets on in the PL this season before spunking 40mn on him. A more experienced, top level CB who is in the 24-27 years age bracket would make more sense.

Pirlo is a massive gamble. Massive. Hopefully he does well and if he does fair play but again as previously mentioned, they need a reshuffle in their playing personnel.

Juventus need a rebuild regardless of manager. Its no surprise even with Ronaldo they haven’t got to a CL final. They have older experienced players who are good but also set in their ways and wont fit a more aggressive high energy playing style which when you look at some of the teams who have had successful runs in the CL getting to semi finals and finals, they have that and Juve need to go that way and the only way to do it is to go down such a path with a Sarri or a Pochettino or a Tuchel etc. Obviously Sarri gone now but they are talking about Matuidi, Khedira and Higuain all leaving as well as getting shot of Rugani and a few others. Pochettino would be my best bet for going in, think he could rejuvenate some of their guys and also blood in some freshness to the team. They desperately need it if they want to go far in the CL, they need to evolve and become more of a functioning collective than solely dependent on Ronaldo and Dybala - which Sarri sort of decided was going to be easier to do than shape them to his demands when he came in so its fair to say not the sort of thing you’d expect a manager as stubborn as he is to do. They signed Arthur so they have him and Bentancur who is a fantastic midfielder to give them a base around and add to with Dybala, de Ligt but they are still gonna need to shoehorn Ronaldo in to the team and get him to function within it because he is still a top player but one who very much plays in his own set way unless you get a Zidane like figure.

Would be a bit extreme and a tough start for the kid. I mean we can still theoretically go through here so I doubt Lampard is going to go and play a handful of kids who haven’t played in the league never mind the CL against a team who have won 21/22 games in 2020. Obviously James, Mount, CHO are gonna be involved and maybe a few other academy boys make the bench because of Alonso and Jorginho’s suspension alongside Tammy but we have to put out a strong team. So for the GK I think it will be Kepa or Caballero 100%

Guardiola may have finished 2nd but again City have had a better season. Not lost as many games or conceded as many. Nuno as well at Wolves, they've had a very very good season. Rodgers at Leicester, ok they'd tailed off but in terms of their season, who thought they'd ever finish 5th? So you could argue he would deserve to be in there more also. I havent seen who's up but Klopp, Wilder, Nuno, Rodgers all ahead of him for such a nomination surely? Looking at it, if it wasn’t Frank and it was another club, how could someone who manages a top 4/5 team lose 12 games and had a goal difference of 15 be up for manager of the season? Not to mention the frantic finish after being 11 or 12 points clear of the top four in the first half of the season. We did alright (vague term because for me, it should have been better based on the first 6 months of the season, young team and all but tactically it was as if we went backwards) but wouldn't say he should be in the running for manager of the season.

Being nominated for Manager of the season is a bit of a stretch. But hey ho, young English manager, done an alright job, not surprised one bit. Only one clear winner: Klopp.

Okay but how much money did we spend in Conte’s second season? And then under Sarri? Hundreds of millions between those guys? We were exclusively cup teams those seasons as well lets not kid around. And under Villas-Boas, Di Matteo and Benitez again, cup teams more or less. So it is a bit odd to say that that’s underwhelming for Atletico when say out of the last 8 seasons we’ve been much more a cup team more often than not, okay weve won 2 leagues but again is winning the PL as tough as trying to beat a Barcelona or Real Madrid to La Liga where they have I dont know, 5 times the budget plus probably 2 of the greatest players in football history for the majority of that time? Not a chance. Its not as if we’ve challenged every season either. So to say they’ve underwhelmed I am guessing you have got the same opinion on the majority of the last 10 years here? Even including a CL win and 2 Europa Leagues? If Atletico didnt concede in the 95th minute in 2014(?) CL final their trophy haul would have probably been near identical in terms of having a league, a few domestic cups and european cups. Even without a CL, where they’ve been to 2 finals with Simeone, a La Liga, Copa del Ray, Supercopa Espana, 2 Europa Leagues and 2 UEFA Supercups in 9 years is impressive. Would be downright snobbery to say that isn’t impressive for any team, never mind Atletico, 7 cup wins in 9 years. I suppose it does depend on who they appoint after but Arsenal is a bad example also, since Wenger retired again, they had 1 good season with Emery then flaked away and while Arteta looks to have a very good idea and way of playing he needs players too where as Wenger was able to get them in the top 4 regularly not spending huge sums and maybe he should have done a bit more but again, he won trophies there also such as FA Cups and the Community Shield thing. I dont think Arsenal are completely out of the woods yet. Even if things look ‘better’ but is their recruitment any better? Is their league position really better? Wheres the likes of these Nasri’s, Cesc’s and van Persie’s coming in cheap and growing with the club? He signed their two best players at current, Lacazette and Aubamayeng and without them theyd be pish pretty much. Bar Leno, Tierney, Ceballos, Pepe and Martinelli the after Wenger signings have been poor. Even then Pepe not done enough and it took 6 months for Ceballos to really get going. It will take more than just a good manager to take Atletico further, they change their style they will need to change a lot of personnel because some are going to look out of place in a non Simeone team where the organisation, work rate and intensity isnt the same.

Great talent. Has a real potential to be a top top LB. Still remember watching some Madrid games where that caretaker bloke played him ahead of Marcelo and he looked talented but raw. Seen a few Sevilla games this season as well as EL games and he looks a bit more fine tuned, has real athleticism and always makes an impact in the final third. Probably cost 35m euros max, no brainer if LCFC want 80m for Chilwell.

Tbf for a team who has never had any actual real world class players bar Falcao, Griezmann and Oblak during his spell there theyve always been competitive and achieved a lot still, more than people give them credit for. Also to have won La Liga, in this era, with a team such as Atletico I dont think you understand how big a feat that is. Really it was massive. Not as big as Leicester under Ranieri but its not completely too far off that if I am honest. I mean I am guessing you think something similar of Klopp who won Bundesliga twice at BVB then never done anything of real note after? Or..? A lot of people dont like his style, maybe (personally dont think its that bad) but at least you know your never going to question these guys in their effort and commitment each season which you cannot say about very many other teams who can be very good one season then completely shite the next (weve had it a few times now as have City, Spurs, United and Arsenal). In my eyes, If he ever leaves Atletico and a new manager comes in to that squad, they will not do as well either, similarly like Moyes at United going in after Ferguson. Basically same team but will never get the same out of them, so I would imagine Atletico fans would be very wary of replacing him so easily. I mean those players, what he got out of some of them who then moved on and havent done half as well sort of clarifies how good a manager he really is. Arda Turan at Barcelona, not even a 10th of the player he was at Atletico. Godin at Inter? Not even half thr player he was there. Peformances that he got out of Juanfran, Gabi, Filipe Luis, Diego Costa... nobody ever seen them reaching those heights either. Griezmann was a good player before but he became world class under Simeone. One of the best managers around for sure.

People more than likely probably would have said the same about Andy Robertson when he first signed considering he came from a side that got relegated. Jamal Lewis does look in the sort of mould of fullback that Klopp likes and honestly I really dont think he’s any lesser a player that Reece James is imo so for a back up he’s ideal, plus hes young and still has huge room for improvement. Yes refresh but he doesn’t need to overhaul the team hugely. You look at Alisson who is 27, Trent is 21, Joe Gomez is 23, Robertson is 26, Fabinho is 26. Still plenty of life in those guys and they will undoubtedly form the spine of their team. Also even van Dijk at 29, the very very good CBs tend to last to their early 30s. Okay they need may to refresh the XI a bit in midfield but I really cannot see Salah and Mane slowing down for another 2 seasons minimum due to how often they’re injured and how well they clearly look after themselves. Firmino again, is he hugely reliant on his physical attributes as a footballer? No not really so again maybe another 2 seasons at least maybe more. Yea they’ll need replaced eventually but this when someones approaching 30 and will automatically decline is ridiculously naive because you have to look at how often these guys have been injured over the years, how they prepare and look after themselves, what their playing styles are, how their teams play and everything else. Going by the 30 plus logic Lewandowski would of slowed down years ago, Robben and Ribery wouldnt have ever managed to play regularly under Pep. Ronaldo has probably gotten better after turning 30 and so has Ibrahimovich. Its got to be done case by case. Mane and Salah are both world class footballers as well and arguably so is Firmino so you wouldnt be half surprised if they kept going at a good level to 32 or 33. Their issues are that Keita hasn't ever done well enough on a consistent basis and neither has Oxlade-Chamberlain. Origi isnt the best player to start games but has he not scored some of the biggest goals in their CL win? Minamino probably needs more chances. Even then if Klopp wants to retain the title and focus more on the short term and go for that, the CL, the cups next season, he doesnt have to go and spend the 250mn on players who are early 20s and will grow into longterm replacements for those players approaching 30. Maybe Thiago arrives for 30mn, maybe another CB, maybe a LB and maybe another forward player. They dont have to all be amazing amazing squad players. Good and dependable yes but don’t t have to be world class/top players. I mean look at City, how many top players for each position? Is it necessarily useful? Perhaps in some positions (forward areas) but everytime they’ve won something they've primarily used the same 15 or 16 players regularly throughout.

Thats true and it is hard to see teams retaining titles unless they invest heavily but they realistically cannot improve their first 11 bar in MF with someone a bit more creative imo. Its just depth they need maybe, more at LB, CF and wide perhaps but finding good squad players who are willing to be squad players is difficult.

I think Fulham will not last long again. 1 season and back down. Leeds have got a bit more about them. They'll need some better players but if Bielsa gets them, with his innovation and ability to improve players, I think they could remain in the PL for a bit. hopefully not but out the two I think Leeds are better equipped for a longer stint in the PL.

They dont need much in all fairness. If they can keep the majority of the big hitters fit and playing in 90% of the games they still will be top 2 easily. They lack a top creative midfield player and a couple squad players maybe but what about if Klopp plays youngsters instead to replace the likes of Lovren and Lallana? They've sold Lovren but the likes of van der Berg and Hoever can both play at CB and are both highly rated u18 Dutch internationals and Lallana again I mean his contribution last season was near non existent so a youngster can surely use up those minutes 100%. I mean weve all just spent a season lauding our manager for dumping David Luiz out the squad for Tomori, Luiz is a better CB than Lovren. Maybe they should of pushed for Werner more, I thought he would of been their top target, as they need a better CF/wide forward to back/rotate/compete with those guys maybe. Have no doubts he’d of played regularly there unlike what the likes of that crackhead Robbie Fowler and John Barnes came out saying after we got him. If they get Thiago in midfield, who would fit in at any club in the PL and improve them as well as a good back up CF/winger, they are still gonna be right up there. I still fancy City to do it this year but I dont think anybody will break that City and Liverpool top 2 next season but the gap will hopefully be closer or at least the gap between us and wherever.

Is he though? I know he had a knock but did FL not say he was available the other day?

Willian not being included today at all was a huge mistake. If its to do with his contract and not fitness that is. Huge rookie error.