OneMoSalah

Giroud... not having much luck 🤣 another half decent ball in

True but again if he could show this sort of performances more often than not he would be very handy to have around the squad to make the numbers up as a backup/rotation option. Still undoubtedly better than Emerson. Alonso seems to have a decent connection with Pulisic when hes on the left. Obviously has his flaws but most of our defenders do. Most of his crosses tonight have been alright. Few blocked as well.

I think Atletico are building another good team though and will be much better next season compared to earlier this one. Felix has really started to up his game and is looking more like the player he was at Benfica. Plus theyve got the experienced heads still and Oblak is one of them, I doubt he will be looking to move. As nice as it would be to get him here. Thomas probably the most likely to move from Atletico this summer.

While that is true most of the time tonight he’s been one of our best players, picking good positions when we are attacking and has been very solid defensively.... if he played like this every week he would have a real chance of staying.

Good play down the left again. Giroud is having one of those nights though, could of had a hattrick by now. Zouma also should have done better with his chance. Willian and Ruben have been incredibly disappointing but Alonso, Pulisic, Kovacic and Azpilicueta all doing well imo.

Alonso has been unlucky with his final ball, defenders blocking him well but he is always in good positions. Pulisic also unlucky with that chance Krul made a good save. Hopefully get something in next 5 before HT.

Think Lindelof has really improved with Ole tbf. Was never overly keen when we were linked with him at Benfica but has improved a lot since in the last year and a bit. Joachim Anderson is a very decent player. Done well in Holland with Twente and Italy with Sampdoria and now progressing again in France.

Must admit I am eager to see how Cantwell does, really interesting young player. Also Buendia who has looked decent for them but think hes on the bench? they started well but think we should be looking to win comfortably. great ball by Alonso there

Thats workable then. I think we will struggle to offload everyone that is surplus to requirements on loan but if we can move say 3 or 4 on it isnt too bad. Suppose Pasalic is already going to remain with Atalanta and Morata will sign permanently at Atletico Madrid too. Kenedy has been mooted to sign for Getafe on a permanent deal too.

Hopefully get a result. The pressure is on, never ever thought playing Norwich would be a pressure game for us but its more to do with the fact United and Leicester dropped points in games you'd expect them to win. We cannot afford to drop anymore this season. Hopefully we see a big change attitude and effort tonight because that Sheffield United game was a joke. Like we were going through the motions or on holiday already despite the fact nothing is certain about the CL. Another loss and there will be more questions than answers imo, about Frank and about the squad. I think a poor end to the season will bring on a lot more media speculation as well about how we had managed to go from what was it, 11 points clear of the others before 2020, to struggling to get over the line.

Max of 6 players loaned out surely? Doesnt mean we will necessarily get rid of everyone I think there will be a few who rot in the reserves for a while.

I doubt we will sell 11 players in one window. Plus isnt Kenedy’s contract expiring this summer?

I have no doubt that this will not happen 😂 He didnt want to come here 2 years ago and I don't see it now. He would be an unbelievable signing though but the chances of it happening are practically 0.

Two good goals so far. Martial did brilliantly there with a real optimistic pass from Pogba. Be a couple of goals yet.

He was always under appreciated when Ronaldo was there but he has emerged as a key figurehead for them since he left and the last 2 seasons he has been doing what he does best. His general play has always been fantastic for me, like having a number 10 upfront, similar to Firmino at Liverpool. He was a big reason as to why Bale and Ronaldo worked so well with him during the years they were putting up insane numbers even if Benzema’s werent as high as they could have been. True but again, as we have seen with Ozil, James (loaned to Bayern), Di Maria, Morata. Madrid will sell/get rid of players if they feel the need to. Regardless of how good they are. Brahim Diaz is also a potential casualty for them this window but his career has stalled since going to Real. Jovic may have a better season next year at Madrid if he stays, it wouldnt surprise me but it also wouldnt surprise me if they offloaded him as he is a sellable asset to get someone else in. Leicester have been linked to Jovic in the last week or so.

Madrid need to sell players before buying to raise funds for players such as Pogba or Havertz who they are monitoring. Hakimi was another one they sold for this reason (as well as he didnt fancy being second choice) and James, Jovic, Brahim Diaz and a few others will be the same if a suitable offer is made.

Tbf Benzema is enjoying a renaissance of sorts this season having got 23 goals and 10 assists as well as 9 MoTM awards so far so its clear to see why Jovic isn’t playing, regardless of the off field stuff. Fair Jovic has had some issues off the field breaking lockdown protocols but so has Kyle Walker, Hudson-Odoi, Jack Grealish among many others off the top of my head. Jovic has also had injuries at Madrid which haven't helped and I think he has maybe not expected the difference to have been quite as severe when he moved to Madrid based on what he had done in Germany before.

Was always inevitable. Even more so when you look at the success CAS have had with overturning transfer bans etc. Money talks, bullshit walks. Time to roll the sleeves up and get over the line securing a CL place.

Maybe it is easier to integrate young attackers yes but they still their own issues. I feel for the other positions it is slightly harder for young players because if you make a big mistake in goal, in a back 4 or in central midfield they can be more likely to lead up to a chance or goal being conceded and these things can knock a player, ie: Andreas after his mistake v Barca under Conte. Sure attackers can have this but you always feel in the right team they will always get another big chance and then people forget that miss or this miss etc but as a GK or defender particularly these things aren't forgotten as quickly. I mean even established players in those positions, look at Jamie Carragher and Richard Dunne, both had long PL careers with varied levels of success but people still remember Dunne more for scoring the most own goals in the PL more than what he actually carved out which was a decent career. Carragher will be more remembered again for a few own goals and being made a right cunt of by Gianfranco Zola near a corner flag by opposition fans. David Luiz for the titles he’s won throughout his career, will likely always be remembered for his bad performances at club level and in particular than Brazil Germany game as opposed to the outstanding season under Antonio Conte or good performances he had with Benfica against Liverpool and some at the beginning here with Carlo. Also, the thing with United is that they have a real tradition of bringing through youth over the years and it is something engrained into the clubs DNA so to speak. Similarly like Ajax. We have to try go down that route, then maybe people will change their opinions towards it a bit and accept their will be issues with young players as there always are. Regardless though you need high standards as well good pros/players in and around these young guys to guide them, bail them out or tell them to get the finger out. Especially at the likes of a club of our stature where the history of the Roman era has been built on winning trophies. Being young shouldn’t necessarily mean they are immune to criticism but it has to be construction as opposed to plainly over the top.

Good feet for second goal which is surprising as he is often stumbling around in games as if he is wearing lead boots. Done us a big favour 😂

Actually, Jose did want to keep both but they wanted to leave as they werent playing and the Euros was coming up. He stated this during that window and in the next season. Plus if your going to turn around and say that selling those two to fund moves for Matic and Salah wasn't a good move at the time, then it wouldnt be true. We were arguably one of the most effective teams at maintaining the FFP rules in that time (ok its not exactly something to shout about completely but still...) and while they may have gone on to do very well (KDB and Salah as well a season later) you cannot keep players who do not want to stay 9 times out of 10, at any football club. De Bruyne was insistent on being sold and not loaned. Mata wanted to be played more regularly and got his move to United which after 2 seasons of playing regularly and doing well, looked a mistake in terms of how his career has gone IMO. Yes managers have gotten what they have wanted to an extent here in terms of players but you cannot say that the club havent also made inputs through Emenalo or others or made decisions that have ruffled a few feathers.

Ivanovic caused that for a reason that made sense to a degree until he started to decline rapidly and it is something we severely lack now: an effective aeriel presence which was useful for attacking and defensive set plays and a target for kickouts from the GK to get higher up the litchi when building from the back wasnt as effective or would take longer. Although I do feel we missed a trick not having Luis and Azpi as our starting fullbacks, as we did have plenty of height and physical presence in Cahill, Terry, Matic and Costa.

True although I do think overtime, he wouldn’t be the sort of signing that the likes of a Skriniar or Koulibaly or someone in that mould would be. It is true there is a lack of top top CBs throughout Europe and the ones that are top are either basically unattainable or aging out. I do think Ake would be better than who we have in terms of how we play with the ball but in terms of pulling the defence together and tightening the ship, so to speak, I dont think he really has that mentality or level to make a considerable difference.

He has pulled that shit everywhere he goes. Even at Celtic where he had huge domestic success and raised those levels, in European competitions he continued to use the same nonsense after getting pumped by Barcelona, PSG, Bayern etc when the harsh reality is he has no plan B when things do not work or for playing much better teams. I see that as a reason why someone, who is nowhere near as highly regarded as Neil Lennon who is back at Celtic, will always outdo him as Celtic manager in Europe as he can get teams to punch above their weight. Its not just at Celtic, look at Michael Laudrup at Swansea and look at Klopp at Liverpool, they were a bit more adaptable and that made them a better team - although Klopp needed more time to sort the Liverpool squad, which had really been carried by Suarez, Sterling and Coutinho, as they had invested poorly after selling Suarez. It is also why I feel Rodgers will never truly be as successful a manager throughout his career and win trophies with any other clubs at a more competitive level than Celtic. His stubbornness and one way attacking playing style at Liverpool was ultimately their downfall the season they finished second after looking like they could go on to win the league. He had also said some ridiculous things about defensive football being easy to coach, when we beat them 2-0 that season at Anfield although he has shown time and time again, his teams downfall is their defending. If he had adopted that ideology that defensive coaching is easy Palace would never score 3 goals at Selhurst Park and effectively scrap their title chances and probably made things clear to their best player of the last 10 years that he had to go somewhere else to win trophies. I mean yes tonight Bournemouth got some luck but some of the play for the last 2 goals, Leicester were dallying around trying to play out with ten men and getting caught very easily. They've been doing it all season, playing out and all it takes is a team brave enough to see that with enough pressure they can be rattled. I mean even when we drew with them earlier in the season in the league, our goal from Mason came from pressing them well when they played out and he robbed Ndidi outside the box before scoring.

Personally I think where we were with the 11 or 12 point gap we had much earlier in the season and where we are now, when the season ends regardless of where we finish if its 3rd, 4th or 5th we will look back with regret at the points we have dropped. Perhaps that seems harsh but in all reality we should have picked up at least between 10-15 points from the 11 losses and 6 draws. That would have us at either 70 or 75 points which would have easily secured top 4 and had us sitting second potentially. Even more frustrating when you see the points Leicester have dropped and the fact United may leap frog us as well as the fact the team has clearly regressed in many aspects that were working at the start of the season and havent gotten to grips with the errors that were continually being made at the beginning. Before a ball was kicked, yes absolutely, finishing 4th and getting CL seemed like it would be an achievement but basing how the season went and the scenario we find ourselves in now where its 3 games to go and we could still drop out the top 4, it is no surprise people are concerned. I also wouldn't say there hasnt been patience with the young guys, there has been plenty of good and bad performances but as it does with senior players it gets to a point where you realistically have to look at the performances and go some have dropped off hugely - James and Abraham in particular - and have been a hinderance in games making costly mistakes, not finishing chances or offering anywhere near as much as they could do comparing against previous performances that weren't even their best this season. Even Tomori who at times was caught out at times and using his pace to recover as opposed to originally being better positioned or reading the game better but again, at the time, he was still doing well enough that people werent hugely concerned. Or Abraham who wasnt holding the ball up as well in certain games but was managing to still score goals. If you want to be critical of any player, which you can still be even if the team keeps a clean sheet or the strikers score a few goals etc, its fair enough, that doesn’t mean that theyve played a perfect performance or done everything right. For a team to improve as a whole and a player, you have to look at these things although you have leeway for mistakes and inconsistencies with young players but again if you had thought Abraham and James would look so out of sorts after how they had performed earlier in the season as well as Mount and Tomori to a lesser extent at times, then you will have seen something many didn’t. I dont think anybody thought it would be plain sailing but since Reece made his debut I didnt think he would ever perform as poorly as he has in the more recent games he has played. Also, with Tammys lack of form, I didnt think he could end up playing as poorly as he has done but he has. Obviously some people take it to the extreme as we have seen before and also with very many senior players throughout the years but I think it is also fair to be critical of any player, regardless of their age, if they have dropped off considerably to the point where the standards you would expect aren't there. Obviously it is a learning curve still for many of these fellas and a tough jump from championship to PL but they have also shown a lot of promise in phases this year that indicate that they can perform better than they have been doing.