OneMoSalah

One game against a championship side whos manager said they didnt expect to beat us and 'our right hand side is set for years'. Will believe it when I see this sort of things against PL opposition regularly. Talk about carried away. Probably Callums best game this season bar v Newcastle which is a plus I suppose.

Cavani and Eto'o's situations were totally different though Jason? I mean if you cant see that then I dont know. Eto'o was playing in Russia, on huge wages, past it where as Cavani is still playing for a top top team in PSG and if he would commit to a new deal he would probably be involved a lot more. There is a reason why Atletico are pushing hard to get him. He has struggled with injuries, Icardi's arrival/forn and his contract situation this season has forced Tuchels hand. Was the same with Rabiot last season with the contract situarion. Even then, Cavani has got 5 goals in 12 games and last season scored 23 in 33 games at a much more competitive level than Eto'o played at before we got him. He is hardly past it. If he was playing in Russia then yeah I could see your point but hes playing for one of the top clubs in Europe. I still think he would do the business for many clubs not just us. Id still fancy him as a better option than Tammy. He has got a ruthlessness to his game and even when he misses he always manages to get into those positions to score goals every game regardless. Didnt see this post until last one posted...

I dont think it matters what player or age it is though. If its Cavani, Werner, Isco, Ziyech, player X aged 24 or player Y aged 31, whoever it is, Frank wants to sign the right players. Those will undoubtedly be improvements on what we have in some positions or he wont bother. Regardless of their ages or who is their competition, youth players or not. You need to have some top quality in about the youngsters if your going to compete. The balance has to be right. Or we will end up like Arsenal under Wenger, with the likes of Walcott's, Nasris, etc who "might be able to compete for titles in 5 years time"....

Perhaps but I did expect Emery to do well in the PL. Maybe not win trophies but he seemed suited to change Arsenal more than what I felt Artera could do to change Arsenal. Hes almost the opposite of what youd expect an Arsenal coach to be after Wenger but as weve seen with United perhaps going for someone similar in his ideas and philosophy might have eased the transition. Emerys teams were usually a bit more disciplined, play with a higher intensity and adaptable. PSG was different to that as they had aspirations to be a CL winning team but at Valencia and Seville under him they were very much intense, discplined and very adaptable.

But again, for instance say if we spend say 40m on Moussa Dembele or more on Timo Werner, do you think one of them ade going to come here to start twice a month and Tammy will be happy to start the other 2 games a week? Frank will have the same problem every other managers had here with a bigger squad with more quality players in several positions. Its all well and good saying that, that FL and JM were brought into integrate youngsters etc but you can still do that without playing them from the beginning every week. You can still be patient with them and nurture them even if they arent starting every match every week. They need to play but again the goal here is going to be to compete for top 4, to push on from there and compete for titles etc. We will see but I dont see the harm in a few additions in some positions. Tammy cant carry the goal burden by himself as our number 9 all season. Mason cant carry the burden of being depended on as our number 10 every game all season. They need help. Be it top top players in the mould of Cavani or Isco or whoever weve been linked with or slightly older players who arent at that level yet such as Dembele/Werner or Ziyech etc. This de Bruyne/Salah situation thing is stupid. The difference already between their time here and now is that Frank has already gave youngsters in the mould of Tammy, Tomori and Mason ample chances, its not as if he will sign 3 players and totally forget about them like Mourinho did with Kevin and Mo. I am sure Frank values them 3 more than say Giroud/Batshuayi, Christensen and Barkley who might not survive past this window or the summer. Im guessing everyone thinks that signing 3 top quality players in those 3 positions is not an option purely for the reason they may end up like Mo and Kevin?

That is very true. Its not as if Alisson or van Dijk were virtually unknown when they signed both either. A lot of PL teams had been following van Dijk from his time in Scotland and then when he improved again, us, City, United and Liverpool went after him. I still remember Conte pleaing with the other top 6 clubs to not allow City to sign him. And many people said Christensen was better too...... which looking back on it now, is laughable. Again Alisson was linked with us and Liverpool among others only when he had established himself at Roma. Youd think they signed him from Brazil the way their board are talked about. The real gems and severely underrated signings theyve gotten in this last however many years were Mane, Joe Gomez (Rodgers signed), Robertson, Matip (free)... but even with them they werent good enough to win titles. Which the media forget.

But again, its also easy to say he wouldnt just toss Abraham aside because he came in preaching about using young players and had done at Derby. For me if we had a better 10, CB and CF Id be surprised if Tomori, Tammy and Mason had made as many appearances as they have. Sure theyd still have played but I dont think they'd have played as often as they have already. If we had a top top striker, which is no disrespect to Tammy who has done incredibly well after a poor spell in the PL with Swansea a few years back, I dont think it would be as easy as saying theyd both be rotated evenly or whatever. Strikers like GKs and defences, are positions you dont often see rotated because they build key relationships and chemistry as well as give them a chance to maintain form (when Tammy wasnt scoring he was kept in and while Id imagine due to a lack of options was a reason why, Id say giving him the continuity and chances to play with the same players most week to build up chemistry was another). Midfielders and wide positions are changed more often in modern day football.

Yes he would. He would start ahead of Tammy and Michy and saying otherwise is being incredibly biast.

Back up? He is one of the best finishers in world football and is still capable of scoring 15-20 goals a season at least. Still think he is better than Icardi but he is younger than Cavani and benefits PSG more in the long run. Plus think what Tammy would be able to learn off somebody of his calibre and experience. Its totally different from a Higuain situation too (although if Higuain was fitter when we got him I do think he would of done a lot better because the movement was there). Atletico Madrid are after Cavani, he will do the business for them. I dont think we should be concerned about his age, he is one of the hardest working and looks after himself incredibly well, we talk about lacking top established players in and around this group, Cavani would be one, 32 or 33 or not. Hes won a lot, has scored a lot, wouldnt be a downgrade.

Ziyech would be a clever buy for say 30m. Good value, can play as a 10 or RW, in his best years, will be an improvement on most of our central and wide attacking players. Maybe wont be as good as he has been in that Ajax team but will still do well.

Martinelli looks a real talent. Arsenal with a bit more fitness, intensity and a few good players look like they could be a good side under Arteta. They started poor 1st half but seen enough of then with Arteta to think with more fitness and intensity they could be a good side. Cant believe someone like Emery who has been an established coach and has a relatively successful career couldnt get a performance out of some of these guys.

Signing Zaha would be hugely underwhelming imo. Especially for more than 40/45m.

Taking stats after 4 games and using them is reaching though. Emerson has shown a lot good and bad this season. Same lasy season and he never got going under Conte. His inconsistency will hold him back from ever being more than just a good player. Hes not a kid either. Hes 25. He should be a lot more consistent, a lot more dependable but hes not.

They were concerned about his attitude and application when he was there though as well as his lack of performances in Italy and not to mention his loan spell in Portugal.

Tbf Real have had huge success with Brazilian and other South American nation players in the past. Not everyone is just looking for the next Neymar. Its the next great player in whatever position though but the Neymar comparisons are gonna be about for every Brazilian attacker until Neymar retires. Robinho was a success there despite how his career panned out and he was well before Neymar's time. Higuain was also a success coming from Argentina. Marcelo has been a success. Di Maria was too. Fernando Redondo, Ronaldo, Roberto Carlos... go back far enough and Di Stefano etc. Even more recently Casemiro too. Militao, Valverde, Vinicius and Rodrygo are another few who will go on and forge there own careers at one level or another.

I dont know why the media are continually bringing up Alex Telles and linking him to us as if hes a brilliant LB option. He is better in the final third than Alonso and Emerson but just as bad defensively. £32m or not he would be a short term fix that we would need to replace eventually. I think with the addition of a good left sided CB and as long as Emerson can regains his form, we can perceive until the summer with him and dare I say it Alonso. Ben Chillwell for me would be a good long term investment in the summer and there is no way he leaves Leicester in January. I dont think theres many better options out there who offer both a good short term and long term investment. Telles may be more efficient in the final third than a lot of the LBs we have looked at but he doesnt offer any immediate improvement defensively which I why I feel he hasnt already moved to a bigger club already. I mean our left side is already poor enough defensively and having to use Azpi there shows that. Its much easier to buy higher quality players in the summer. I think we could get a good CF in January though, in the mould of either someone like Moussa Dembele or perhaps stretch the limits and go for Timo Werner. The likes of Sancho and whoever else for the slim chances we have wont happen this month either IMO.

Bit unfair. He is a lot better than both Michy and Giroud imo. Typical number 9, has the physique and reasonably good technical attributes. Watched him a lot in person when he was at Celtic, the move to Lyon has given him more time to play at a better standard and he hasnt disappointed. People got excited about Michy who had scored 17 goals in the season before we signed him but his general play was severely lacking. I can see why people are perhaps questioning another CF from Ligue 1 but Dembele is much better. Hes got 10 goals in 18 so he is more than on course to make 20 goals this season. Hes only 23 as well and has got 100 careeer goals at club level. Not bad. Celtic will get a 10% sell on fee so Lyon will want more money and I cant see them affording Girouds wages or be that interested in him.

Tbf, Allegri would of been my first choice when it was clear Sarri was going last summer. Whether or not he would of wanted to come here is another story, as hes been linked with Real, Barca, Bayern among others.

I used to think that too about managers but I do believe there are too many managers out of work/in work who would be willing to take it on if they could move. Allegri and Pochettino are the big two right now out of work but there will be other up and coming managers as there always is.

Still the point stands. It doesnt matter who you are or what youve won, if the board arent happy they will 9 times out of 10 sack the manager if there is a better/another option avaliable. Perhaps but Pochettino is as good as many of the top managers out there.

We sacked Jose, Carlo, Conte, Sarri and Villa Boas who had all achieved more than Lampard as a manager. If the board arent happy with results they will pull the trigger regardless. Dont be fooled to think otherwise, Lampard may be one of our greatest ever players but Di Matteo got the same treatment to be replaced by Rafa Benitez.... half a seasom after winning a CL and FA cup, nobody is unsackable here. Thats the harsh reality.

Not as bad as I thought. Still not good enough for a club of this stature.

More dropped points. 1 win in 8 now is it?

Well I suppose thats true but there were a lot of rumors he wants out at Arsenal too. Plus Aubamayang had been at Dortmund for 5 years and was consistently one of the top goalscorers in Europe every season and undoubtedly had previous offers to go but didnt/wasnt allowed. Sancho is 18 months into his career and has barely achieved anything in the same regard as to what Aubamayang has there. I could understand a 27 or 28 year old getting more frustrated having been at a club for 4 or 5 years, having won trophies and scored 98 goals in that time, as opposed to a 18/19 year old who had been there a year and a half having won nothing. There was also talks of false promises etc regarding Aubamayang leaving or staying or new contracts or whatever. The fact of the matter is Dortmund are increasingly more open to selling Sancho but all this other bullshit coming up about discipline, fines, being late whatever, it makes me wonder will anybody want to pay that 120m+ for him? Okay some of the clubs like PSG or Real might without hesitation but the likes of us or a Man City or Barcelona might not be fully convinced due to all of this. Its maybe just me being a bit over worried with the price and the off the pitch stuff but I dont think I am the only one.

Yeah smart move selling 2 LBs to sign only one. No thanks. One LB out after getting a better one in yes 100% but not any other way. Attitude being questioned, missing training, being fined, late for team meetings.... yeah sounds very promising. For somewhere in the region of 120m+ I would definitely say that is too much for a player who has been deliberately acting up the last half a season to get a move. Lampard has established an incredibly strict fine list here to encourage discipline and focus among the group. Somebody who has had huge discipline and commitment issues in the last 6 months isnt exactly the most ideal addition. Did Pulisic kick up such a fuss to move here last year? Did he get fines, miss meetings etc for half a season? The talent is important but also the attitude and dedication. This season has shown a light on a side to Sancho that makes me wonder is he worth that extravagant fee if he comes with all that.