OneMoSalah

100% agree. Same as the John Stones situation under Jose. Which for a club of our stature, similarly like United with Sancho, is pretty pathetic - even more so if we don't get him and either go for an equivalent to a Papy signing in that position which scares me or don't get someone at all. If we cannot get him we need a reasonable plan B or plan C. Thomas Partley has a 45m release clause and is twice the player in my eyes. Plus if we do sell Jorginho we are going to need someone in this ilk to replace him who can dictate a game and play through the lines from deeper positions, Thomas is a lot better on the ball and has the physicality, mobility and tenacity you'd want from someone there I feel. I think if is a purely defensive minded midfielder we were after, its a shame Javi Martinez is the wrong side of 30 because he could do a very good job for us for 2 seasons yet I reckon but he has only got eyes on returning to Bilbao and is probably at an age where he isn't a viable option for us - despite getting Thiago Silva who obviously is better quality but Martinez is only 32 I think and has life in him yet. Even then, Wilfried Ndidi is arguably better than Rice and a definite improvement with the ball, why haven't we been linked to him if we are after a youngish DM with PL experience and still potential to grow? It baffles me that we seem to be so set on trying to sign only English players at a huge cost. I know we haven't just done so this window but we have signed Chilwell for a fee of over 50m. We were linked with Nick Pope, Lewis Dunk, Ben White, Jadon Sancho and Declan Rice still etc. I don't know where its coming from be it the board or the manager but there is so many better players out their for better value - some bargains perhaps if you look hard enough - that would fill some of these roles. The other side also, we urgently don't lack HG players now. Reece, Andreas, Fiyako/Fikayo - never get the spelling right -, Ben, Mason, Callum, Tammy, Billy, Ruben if he stays, that's what 9? I mean if Partley wasn't possible or Ndidi wasn't a viable option or any of the other however many DMs out there okay I can see the want for Rice but I can't believe he is a first choice and only choice for us right now - it may have worked for Chilwell but it won't necessarily work for us getting Rice, clearly the desire to leave West Ham isn't as much as it was for Ben to leave Leicester. Its also a bit off topic but its not as if Frank can turn around and say if the seasons not gone as he'd have hoped or come January or the end of it he hasn't been backed with the players he wants or be as frustrated as he was last January at the lack of incomings. Who was the last manager to have been given a window as good as this in terms of recruitment? Jose the season we won the league with him? Even then Costa and Cesc were the only ones who played regularly along with the return of Courtois. In terms of recruitment this is our best window in years and years based on the quality we've taken in. With or without a DM.

Let him go on a free if it comes to it. Not good enough. But has done more than Ruben has under FL tbf. Okay hes off just seen it.

Ruben or Ross plus Rudiger and 30m for Rice. Would be a decent deal in all and all. Still dont think Rice is or ever will be a 80m player but hey ho.

Do agree with some of the Poch reasonings but think his general improvement of Southampton and Spurs as units was impressive as well as the progression some of the players made under him. The likes of Luke Shaw, Son Heung-Min, Adam Lallana, Harry Kane, Victor Wanyama, Christian Eriksen, Jan Vertonghen, Toby Alderweireld etc. all throughly improved under him. Lucas Moura as well sort of rejuvenated a struggling career with him. Even Eric Dier has carved out a career as a semi decent footballer with him. Kieran Trippier as well. Suppose there are the duds but I do think with a bigger budget he’d maybe manage to get one or two players who are better than what he had to sign at Spurs, where their budget perhaps restricted them.

Not bad. Had that iffy moment with a cross but looked comfortable enough. Improvement on Kepa so far, wouldnt be difficult but has to show over course of a season hes going to make a difference. Didnt do anything well in the penalties but neither did Lloris. Some of the worst GKing iv seen in penalties think like 10 were taken they guessed right way twice between them. 🤣

After watching Frank de Boers fall from grace after leaving Ajax, I would be hesitant about approaching Erik ten Hag. Not just for us, I dont think ten Hag would of faired well at Bayern either when they wanted him. I think the demands on him at Ajax are nothing compared to a Bayern or a club like us despite Ajax’s success under him. His CL success was good to see and for someone who likes to see these clubs will lesser resources provide a shock, it was refreshing but I think he still has a bit to go before he will get a job of that magnitude. Nagelsmann, Allegri and Pochettino would all be ahead of him If the club were looking to go for someone else I would think. Its a weird time now because the number of hugely successful coaches around has dwindled. Clubs have to take a chance more than ever now with younger coaches.

Would say not being concerned about a cup would be a luxury we could afford if we were going to win the title or something or if we had already won one or two this season but its a trophy and realistically this group needs to win something together to get the taste for them. Packed fixtures or not. Because we most likely arent going to win the CL and aren’t going to win the league unfortunately. Not that we dont have an outside chance but we lack the mentality and quite frankly dont have the ability to win these gritty games that championship winning teams do when they play shit. FA cup or Carabao cup would be ones that would build this group a bit and push them on.

Perhaps but its all superficial to say that. Attack we were predictable. Again 2nd half two big chances and the execution was poor. We could have won 1-0,-0, 3-1, 6-4 or 18-6 but the common thing is we are still conceding stupid chances/goals due to poor organisation and that will continuously follow us wherever we go if we dont sort this. That Emerson mistake is something we would probably of seen in Villas-Boas’ side here. As Ive said before all these individual errors, which are happening far too regularly, wouldn’t happen as often if we were better organised. Yes we have some players shitter than others but do you think if the defensive shape was better some of these things wouldnt happen? Because I certainly do. Also Lamela has run past Kante from MF IIRC, MF runners are hard to pick up as they make late runs but how nobody noticed him is alarming.

Too many individual mistakes since last season is concerning. But if the team was better organised these mistakes wouldn’t happen so commonly IMO. Could have the best GK, CBs, FBs, whatever but in terms of being hard to beat if, you’ve not got that, your going to see guys make mistakes regardless or if their Sunday league teams or CL teams because they will be thinking if I don’t do something then its a chance or a goal.

Unfortunate. We didnt deserve to go through though probably. Why didnt Werner take one though? Wait he was subbed NVM.

This is brutal. Both GKs - theyve put 5 pens same place and theyve never changed their direction once 🤣

Azpi to change it up? Nvm. Get in though.

Was this as bad as Sarriball? Or is it worse? I think its worse if I am honest. I think this season in terms of performances we generally couldn’t have started any worse. Suspect in every game defensively. No real cohesion in attack either, everything’s down to individual qualities as opposed to being worked upon by looks of it. Jorginho, Werner, Tammy and Mount will be taking 4 of first 5 I would imagine.

Cant say it hasn’t been coming. Theyve been much much better than us this half. Genuinely have had some quality in the final third unlike us. Regulion making a decent contribution every time he gets within 30m of our goal.

Hudson-Odoi there. Had to hit the target at least with that chance. Or pass to someone else who will. Fanny. Also Mount SMH telegraphed that pass to Werner.

Emerson for Chilwell? such an underwhelming substitute. Need a change in midfield or attack.

How was first half? Second half so far looks very much like we want them to get back into it. Bergwjin looking likely to cause us issues everytime he gets it.

I had seen Something on twitter from before the season ended. Maybe misread it. So he passes left 4.6 percent more than forward. And 2.3% more forward than right. Still. Stats aside. I cant imagine our build up play and getting into the opposition half will be better with Rice there holding than Jorginho if we go for Havertz and Mount as the advanced 8 like everyone seems to believe Frank wants to line up with. Rices tackles, interceptions, recoveries etc would be a boost maybe but again anything over 40-50m and weve been had because he doesn’t particularly offer anything particularly good with the ball and we will have the ball the majority of games, lets be honest. Kante when he’s on song - albeit he’s struggled and needs a back up - he does all that and more also. Rice would add height to the team.

Obviously. All midfielders do at some point but the high percentages of Jorginho’s passes are forward and he normally plays one or two touches when he can. Plus when he plays our ability to get up the pitch quicker is clear to see. Rice’s passing isnt as progressive and quite frankly dont see how he improves our team in all reality. All he does is add height but still, take more than 11 6 ft plus players to sort our defending set pieces.

If we are going to move Jorginho on for Rice that is probably as close to undoing some of the good work of this window in terms of squad building we will get. Personally I know many wont be thrilled to watch Rice passing it sideways 90% of the time and small teams just letting us have the ball because he isnt progressive enough to play through the lines. Also under pressure he isnt great so imagine him v a City or a Liverpool? Unlike Jorginho. Unlike Kovacic. Even unlike Kante. So if Frank goes to this heralded 433 like City played last season, which many believe with Rice holding, Havertz and Mount more offensive, does that mean those two will have to come a lot lot deeper to get the ball out of our own half into the more forward players? Unlike at City where De Bruyne and Silva where always positioned in half spaces because Rodri and Fernandinho could find them further up and find other players also?

Disagree. In recent times: Diego Costa, bit of a prick for opposition teams but on song, ice cold and we probably got the best football of his career out of him with Mourinho for 6 or 7 months and then another 6 months with Conte. Although he was also v good at Atletico prior to signing here for a season and a half. Fabregas - one of the best midfielders in PL history IMO, just look at his stats his career will always be underrated but he has 350 PL games, 50 PL goals and 111 PL assists (2nd highest behind Giggs IIRC). Pretty much tells you everything you need to know, CM player getting that much assists is rare, more than Lampard and Gerrard also. De Gea - arguably best GK in Europe for a few seasons regardless of how you look at him now David Silva - wasn’t a flashly player but top top player, spacial awareness, final pass, close control everything Azpi - rock solid and that fee makes it even harder to argue how good he is and the buy, not many better defenders over the period hes been here. Torres (Liverpool) - no words needed he used to score against us and United for fun every time we played them. Xabi Alonso - another hugely underrated MF when he was here IMO, top top player and his successes at Real and Bayern proved that. Just a pity he didnt play under a more offensive minded manager in the PL. Pepe Reina - love him or hate him very good for them cunts for a period, not everyone’s cup of tes or world class as such as some in this list could be considered but pretty good. Santi Cazorla - another underrated buy, two footed, excellent in close areas, final pass, very good signing maybe if he was a few years younger people would of realised how good he actually was. Mata - pre United move one of the best playmakers in league and Europe. Just a pity he lacked pace or the ability to keep the ball better under pressure at time as he could have adjusted to playing as a wide forward or wide 10. be a few others who did well but not as well as those.

City getting Ruben Dias will be a good signing for them. Potential to be an excellent CB with a bit of fine tuning. Also Arsenal going after Aouar is also a good signing for them. Very gifted technically and will provide a more offensive threat to their midfield. Spurs getting Skinriar will also be a good signing. Mad Man United haven’t looked at him or even us earlier in the window. Both of us are crying out for a long term CB with potential to grow into a key figure in the team and already at a very good level. Interested to see how Koeman does with Barca too. Depay, Dest and Garcia would be decent signings as well as the refreshing of their squad getting rid of Vidal, Suarez and Semedo among others and focusing more on building their midfield around De Jong in a deeper position compared to where Valverde played him. Actually think Koeman will do a good job there and may tempt them to hold off on appointing Xavi, I know Koemans not exactly a top top manager but his experiences around various leagues with varied levels of success and his past experiences as a player there will give him a good platform to go from. I really think they are too driven on this Pep approach of football and also the promoting from within, footballs moved on from Pep’s style then, he has slowly altered it and became more tactically flexible to the point where City look different to his Bayern and his Bayern looked different to Barcelona while also retaining the basic principles of his philosophy.

Barkley maybe. Hes made an impact in every game hes featured this season. Ruben hasn’t. it is only like the 4th or 5th game of a season, lets hope Frank doesnt heavily rotate as our new players clearly haven’t gelled yet. If we were 20 games in and had played the same guys week in week out for weeks on end yes can see why he would rotate but 4 or 5 games in I hope he doesnt rotatet too msny players. Hopefully see a few swaps maybe but nothing crazy. Mount has to play based off tonights performances as does Havertz, Thiago Silva and Werner because they still need to fit into the team and accumulate minutes. Pullisic and Ziyech if fit would he nice to see some minutes for also as well as Callum who probably showed with his goal tonight he can do more. But hopefully the team will be similar bar maybe Jorginho in for Kovacic or Kante as I feel he will give us more control and maybe see Callum start.

Barkley and RLC? No thank you.

Hopefully they do rotate in attack but again, I don’t think they will change that frontline too much plus predominantly they have Lucas Son Kane Alli Lamela and Lo Celso with Bale out injured so it will be a strongish attack somehow compared to a team of kids. Even if it is mainly a B team in other positions attack theyll be relatively strongish. And yes Frank has outdone Jose but if we play anything like Brighton and today Spurs will exploit those weaknesses and tactically naivety. Sunday league teams would exploit those mistakes thats how bad some of them are. Even with a back 5 as weve done both times we beat them. These are the sort of things Mourinho’s teams analyse and look to exploit in their game plan and based on how proficient they were v Southampton who played a extremely high line I wouldnt be surprised if its same again v us because they will entice us to have the ball and dictate the game so we will push up and play into their hands. Was same when he was here both times round as well as at any other club. We need to tighten up a big deal. Or we really do risk them putting us out. Franks set up and tactical naivety is arguably looking worse. From last season I didnt think it was possible.