OneMoSalah

I hope not. That would be moronic by all accounts from the manager to board level and above. It is clear Frank doesnt rate Giroud or Batshuayi so why is the club sitting on its hands, doing fuck all? He should be pushing them too saying look we are short in this position, go get X, Y or Z. Also with the talk of selling Giroud this month it makes me even more baffled. Frank and the club didnt have to buy in the summer except Kovacic but I am not expecting that Frank and the club hasnt drawn up a list of players when he came in and since coming in he likes... even more baffled that this Moussa Dembele talk has taken Frank by surprise despite the rumor we made a bid. Its looking very confusing. Almost contradictory.

I know but that is still only the equivalent of what like almost 8 PL games. Out of 21. Considering the amount of times FL has used a back 3 as well and Christensen hasnt been in there either, it makes me wonder. Ake links dont make sense either if he really rates AC.

Frank likes him as a player? He has played under 700 minutes in the PL this season. He has used him sparingly more than Sarri did but I dont think he really rates him considering the constant links to CBs and talk of him leaving.

Wonder if people will think hes past it, like Cavani, bevause hes in his 30s.....

Wait and see we dont agree a fee and end up keeping him for another 6 months. Why are we haggling over a 33 y/o player who FL clearly doesnt want?

It was and it wasnt. As you said we maybe needed a match for sharpness and it was for a good cause but again, the pitch and location was horrific and playing somebody who has always struggled with injuries/fitness continually throughout his whole career on that pitch was always gonna be a risk. Hopefully he finds a way to combat this fitness problems and can feature for longer than the usual 60,65 minutes he would do when he stayed fit because he can have a huge influence on this team imo. He brings a real physicality and presence, like Yaya Toure did for City. Okay Toure was light years ahead of what Ruben is and he is a totally different player perhaps but Toures physical presence was a huge plus for that City team. Everytime we played City and he played I thought thank fuck I am not a professional having to play against that fucker lol, he would just boss games and bully teams. Except for when Matic bullied him when he signed for us.

I would severely disagree regarding Felix. Felix is really struggling at Atletico, probably due to the step up in competitive level but at least he is playing regularly because Simeone has clearly got patience and trusts him (also he is their marquee signing at 130m euros). If he had went to Barca or Madrid or Juve, he would be sitting on the bench not playing so hes hardly made a stupid decision. Its not purely down to Atletico's set up either which people are just assuming. If you watch Atletico games you will see Felix isnt at the same level as last season despite showing glimpses of his obvious talent at times. DS has said about him needing time. Just like de Ligt now at Juventus, where he hasnt featured as frequently in the last month and when he has played, has played poorly compared to the previous season at Ajax. They both just need time to adjust to a higher level of football, again, both are also in different countries and at much bigger clubs too where the demands are much different. Felix will definitely get better once he is fully settled and will definitely be able to get a bigger move again if he can do what he did at Benfica for Atletico. I mean Griezmann eventually got his despite many thinking he would be too expensive for Barca to buy from Atletico or that he had been there too long.

Dont think Bayern would be the greatest move for him either. He would be more able to compete with Gnabry, Coman, Muller than Callum when he was linked but it would still be interesting to see if his inconsistent end product would hinder him there like I feel it would here.

Good move for him I think. He needs to play more to get accustomed to playing first team football. The championship, if he can get in the team, will give him a good experience particularly physically as they play a lot of games and there are a lot of direct and physical teams.

You must be dreamimg haha. AC Milan may be interested in Andreas but they arent daft, they will have been tracking him and seen how he has fared this last year. They want him on loan with an obligation to buy so they obviously want to see if he can make an impact before committing too. No chance they would accept such a fee and Andreas for their captain who is a very good player. Would be like offering 40m and Caballero for Donnarumma...

Fell out with their manager.

World class being thrown around again regarding our youngsters. I know we havent ever had 3, 4 or 5 youngsters breaking through at once in god knows how long, which is exciting but when will we not get ahead of ourselves? The same with the right side set for years article based off a FA cup game vs a second string Notts Forrest team. Even Andreas got the whole best young CB in the world after 3 months with Conte and look at him now. When they are world class then say they are world class. Let them develop. When they get there then yeah fair enough. It is great news hes signing a new deal, hes impressed me in stages this season so hopefully he can continue to play and kick on as he still has a lot of work to do to fulfill his potential. As do the rest of the youngsters.

And the people who thought that, there are a few words for them, ungrateful being one of them and stupid being another.

Gedson Fernandes, Wilfried Zaha and Issa Diop. Not completely sold on any of them but out of the three, although Diop has huge potential. Fernandes has fallen off the radar a bit after a promising start at Benfica when he broke into the team, he reminds me of Renato Sanches in terms of how his career has gone. He started well at Benfica and now has fallen out of favour due to a bust up of sorts with their manager. Zaha is a good player but not sure if he is top 4 material, his end product still leaves little to be desired although in 1 on 1s he is good at taking players out of the game. Diop, huge potential but again a young player, I think if Christensen is to be going to AC Milan or somewhere else as reported, then having a more established player replace him would be more sufficient unless Zouma is going to be a long term part of Franks plans here.

They outdid us tactically at Old Trafford because they sat off us, we didnt take chances and we were incredibly vulnerable on transitions (arguably still are), like against most top teams this season. Not so sure about the second game but probably similar, we didnt take chances and then they hit us on counters.

That is madness because you see Inter being linked with Vidal, Eriksen and Giroud who are a much higher quality of player than Young. Surprised Moses hasnt been talked about either then. Maybe Conte wants to recreate the Man United team with Sanchez, Young and Lukaku.

See if its Issa Diop from West Ham.... a young CB isnt what we need, a more establishes CB is.

Pretty sure they loaned him to give them numbers to cover John McGinn who picked up a 3 month injury a few weeks ago. If he does well maybe theyll keep him (hopefully)...

Good.

Dont jinx it.

Just depends how you look at it with Sanchez, he started okay for Inter, fitness stopped him playing more then he got some involvement before picking up a suspension and injury. I think hes maybe got 150 minutes for them since going there and has been involved in 2 goals. Its not exactly the most to back the move up but I do think Conte probably got the same judgement when he signed Tevez from Man City. Although it was different reasons that Tevez was available, still look how that panned out for Conte and Juve. Like Tevez for Juve, Sanchez was a huge risk for Inter. It hasnt paid off yet but its not exactly fair to say its backfired because the guys hardly had a chance to show what he can do. I mean even look at Lukaku, that move has paid off despite the fact United and their fans couldnt wait to see the back of him. I think if he was backed here and got the likes of Alex Sandro, Kyle Walker, Rom Lukaku... he might still been here to this day or have faired better in his 2nd season. Maybe not though because we did clutter the squad with shite such as Bakayoko, Drinkwater, Zappacosta, Morata etc but I dont think its as open and closed as he cant be trusted in the market. I dont think he was solely responsible for Bakayoko or Drinkwater despite him saying he wanted them because months later he said he doesnt have much say on signings and that the board did. He also wanted to keep Matic. So there definitely was something conflicting there. Why would he of wanted to keep Matic if he has just signed 2 MF players he wanted?

I agree that maybe the injuries would be my only concern but the pace and intensity of the PL really wouldnt be a problem for him in my opinion if he was match fit. Again we keep talking about needing a few established/in their prime age/older players in and around this group to improve us as well as help guys in similar positions like Tammy, Mason, Tomori... Cavani would fit that mould. Short term or not, a top player who has been a top player for the last 6 or 7 seasons, wouldnt be a bad role model for Tammy who would pick up a lot from him... yes the club has that over 30s policy but it should be looked at on a case by case basis, being 30 or over doesnt instantly spell the end for every footballer in existence which youd think it did. Cavani would undoubtedbly do a job and be worth a 2 year deal minimum for sure if we were to pursue him. He would be one of the better CFs in the league still I think because his game isnt focused on pace or dribbling or whatever, he is excellent at making the right movements on the shoulder of the defenders or in and around the box and his finishing is very good (although he has missed some sitters before but it doesnt stop him getting goals). I dont think we will get him but youd think he was a second rate player the way youve mentioned him in earlier posts, even more so the if hes happy to be 2nd choice behind Tammy one lol. Providing context about the league. Wouldnt matter if it was Spain, Italy, Germany or the French league, my point would still be the same, Cavani is still a top player playing at a top club who is capable of doing it for a top club. Hes scored lots of goals in Italy, France and in the CL as well as at world cups and whatever. The French league isnt as good as those leagues maybe but its hardly dead rubber.

This may be questioned by many but here we go fuck it. From 2009 onwards. Matic and Cesc were tough to leave out but for me Ramires (was a huge favourite of mines) and Lampard deserved places. Suppose a bench would have Courtois, Cole, Matic, Cesc, Willian and Mata maybe 😂 Cech Ivan - Cahill - Terry - Azpi Ramires - Kante - Lampard Hazard Costa - Drogba

Yes they are at the same age but it is clear Cavani is still at a much much better level compared to what Eto'o was aged 32/33 although what Eto'o did wasnt exactly poor either. Regardless of how good or bad the French league is (its hardly that bad), the standard is still good, much much better than the Russian league which Eto'o was playing in prior to coming to us. Hes hardly needing to rediscover his best form, its not as if he hasnt been scoring goals when he is playing. Other than this season which injuries and contract issues have halted his playing time, he has scored over 20 goals in the last 8 or 9 seasons. Injuries aside his form and ability has nothing to do with anything, he is still a very capable goalscorer and even at his age, he still has more than enough to offer which is why us, United, Juventus and Atletico are all heavily linked. Maybe he wont come here but I dont think for one minute if he was to be made available at a decent price this month/free end of the season that we would instantly say no because we have Tammy playing for us every week or because he is 32 or 33... Plus if the French league, as you said, is a weak league then I suppose us going after/being linked with the likes of Moussa Dembele, Houssem Aouar, Boubakary Soumare or Youcef Atal, they should be instantly dismissed based on your judgement of the competition they play in? Its a bit of an arrogant comment to make, its not as if the league is made up of non league teams. I suppose the Italian and German leagues the same too then?

Dont think he will ever be/was on Suarez's level as Suarez is a much more technically gifted and has that sheer unpredictability where he can turn a game. Do think Cavani's in much better physical shape than Suarez these days and if he keeps himself in this condition (except the muscle injuries hes encountered this season) will play at a higher level then Suarez will do over the next few years to they both retire. Think Suarez days at Barca are numbered despite him very much being their number 1 CF, I think the MLS or South America will be his next move, but that depends on Barca if they replace him or want to keep him as a second option.