OneMoSalah

Its a tough tie. They have the winter break coming up which gives them the chance to rest and whatever too. Not sure how much of a difference it will make but them having the possibility for guys like Lewandowski, Muller, Kimmich, Gnabry, Thiago, Coutinho etc to take the foot off the gas a bit before going for it again, it could help them in the run up of fixtures before. Where as we will have a lot of guys playing a lot of minutes in the next few weeks and that can always bring niggling injuries that can get worse too. Although us being at home for the first leg is always a positive but only if we can keep a clean sheet. I fancy them to score in Germany for definite, since changing manager theyve had some good results and the likes of Lewandowski, Coutinho, Gnabry, even Muller have been steadily performing and doing well. Plus I really really rate Goretzka, a guy with real ability and energy in midfield.

Will probably end up going to Bayern along with Werner eventually. Although we should be in for both but again as weve seen with other top German talents they usually prefer to go Bayern and remain in Germany than abroad.

Yeah exactly. If people watched the game back and looked at the way we conceded our goal then theyd maybe stop mentioning that miss. People miss penalties shit happens, if we didnt concede so stupidly in the first place from a freekick IIRC then it wouldnt have mattered hugely. But hey everyone needs a scapegoat. The other match v Valencia and the 4-4 draw with Ajax also contributed hugely to our draw. But again Ross Barkley all to blame because we got Bayern and not Atalanta.....

Frank surely could have used some of the squad players more especially after certain performances from regulars who have underperformed? Not just Alonso. Pedro, Giroud, Barkley etc. Worth remembering Sarri and Conte got the same things said about them too. We have a lot of players, if players underperform in a few games in a row why shouldnt he change them?

This is true but again with Willian, Mount and Emerson especially, Frank could have used other players more when they played poorly. Might not have made a difference in some games where the others struggled but we dont know because he has played them through it. I don't think he should be so quick to freeze anybody out, especially with the ban in the summer window and towards now when theres a lot of games in the winter and you need to change it up to not burn players out/drop out of form players. January coming up is maybe a bit of a relieve if we can maybe get 1 or 2 in to beef up the quality in our 18 man squad in some positions. He has shown he is capable of adapting and learning from past mistakes so maybe once he shapes the squad a bit more in his image (although you could argue Tammy, Mason, Pulisic, Tomori are already shaping it a bit more and gave us a more youthful and fresher impetuous), he will trust some of the subs more than he has Giroud, Pedro, Barkley and Alonso at times. Or I hope he will. Sarri and Conte made this mistake a bit, continuing with out of form players at times than trusting some of the other lads who couldnt have done any worse at sometines (likes of Bakayoko, Barkley, Alonso, Willian all played through some shit periods due to a lack of rotation/trust in other squad members imo). They could have put it down to a lack or quality to swap out but it was also through stubbornness too. Football is a squad game more than ever now a days and trying to utilize 18 players throughout a season is much more effective than just 11 or 12.

Guys like Ramos, Varane, De Ligt, Umtiti, Lenglet, Van Dijk, Boateng, Sule, Romagnoli, Otamendi, Manolas, Koudibaly, Laporte, Militao, Pepe, Gimenez, Maguire, Vertonghen, Bonucci, Sanchez, Akanji in there as well maybe same for Upamecapo and Konate too. Theres probably more, they all fit that strong in the air, fast (for CBs) and can pass for me. Some arent as quick as Zouma but are still fast enough, CBs dont need to be very fast. Not exactly a rarity these days. Even Rudiger and David Luiz last season.

People were talking about us, Arsenal and Liverpool looking at Ryan Fraser in the summer. I know its ironic because he played very well today but last season I thought he was excellent for Bournemouth and IIRC he was in double figures for assists. Real pace and capable of providing assists from outwide, maybe be worth a punt as a squad player here? Someone who could spin a game against tired legs? Not be the most popular choice but hes at a good age, 25, and will only get better. I think having seen how good Andy Robertson has become at Liverpool after showing good signs at Hull, he could potentially be another buy in that mould. Maybe not. Would rather we had him to spin a game than the likes of a Ross Barkley.

Quite worried for this one. We are going struggle to create a lot of chances if the last few games are anything to go by. Also they have got Kane, Son and Eriksen who can hurt us, particularly on transitions. Would take a draw.

Not picking up max points v Norwich, West Ham, Sheffield United, Everton, Bournemouth is very bad. Forget the results v big teams. Regardless of the manager. Could look back in the summer, having missed out on the top 4 because of these sort of games not picking up maximum points. Thats the stark reality. If that ends up being the case, Frank will have to take some of the stick, we all knew what we were getting from his time at Derby where they only managed X amounts of clean sheets. January cant come soon enough to give us a few other options in certain areas. We know we needed this so the real test is trying to regain form to the window and then maybe get one or two in to raise the level. Still optimistic about top 4 but United and Spurs have upper their level and will probably buy in January. Arsenal are still lingering and have the fire power to climb the table. Leicester as well are gonna be in about the top 4 for sure. Even if they drew today. Theyve amassed enough points so far to show this. We have got 6 losses so far this season. So do Palace to put that into perspective. With Spurs and Arsenal coming up who knows what could happen next few weeks.

Fuck me if this continues top 4 is in huge danger imo. I do agree FL has to use certain members of the squad more. Giroud and Pedro prime examples. Not the best players but Pedro scored how many goals last season in all comps? Was defos double figures....

He wont push to leave midseason if he does fancy it although I do doubt he wants to leave at all. I think hed be open to another league, no doubt, he wont be short of suitors but if I were him I would see how this season goes and what we do in the summer first. He is a top top player and nobody would want to see him go but again like Eden, if he feels like he wants that he has every right imo. Hes been a huge player for us since coming and I would hope he'd see out another 2 or 3 years here because he is probably better suited to the PL than anyother sort of football but suppose that lure will potentially always be there for him because he is that good and wouldnt be stuck for options. Bundesliga as well would be very good for him as its more fast paced than Italy or Spain. Anyway. Doubt he would want to go or kick up a fuss anyway. My gran is probably more reliable than the daily star for stories about football and she doesnt even know who Ngolo Kante is 🤣

Loan out an 18 y/o who is rumoured to be on £180,000 a week? Yeah good luck with that. Unless we pay 3/4s of his wages but again loaning him out is not the best move considering the whole transfer request over a lack of playing time. And thats before even considering buying Jermaine Boga back to cover him....

40m plus Batshuayi is a fair deal for Zaha I think. No idea why people are comparing Zaha to Batshuayi anyway. Ones a very decent winger (still better out there for 80m) and ones one of the worst all round CFs in the PL imo. If the ball isnt in the box or straight into his feet 9/10 times he is about as effective as a chocolate ashtray. People say Sergio Aguero hasnt got a very good all round game (not sure I agree) but fucking hell if thats the case then whats it say about Batshuayi. Hopeless. Id imagine Palace would prefer Giroud to Batshuayi anyway. Least you get more.

Huge injury list for them to key playsrs so if we dont get nothing but the three points, it will be a really bad result. Think Ryan Fraser and Lewis Cook will be worth keeping an eye on though can cause some problems for us.

Suppose with all the links to Ake we will see how good he does against us. Would like to see this Kepa Azpi/Reece - Rudi - Tomori - Emerson Kova - Jorgi - Kante/Mount* Willian - Tammy - Pulisic * not 100% certain who to go for, could use Mounts more offensive orientated profile over Kantes because for me right now Kova is undroppable and Jorginho being back in is always useful.

Van Dijk could have made the move from Celtic to a top 4 or 6 team just for the money Celtic wanted (13m IIRC) nobody would take the risk. It was clear to see watching Celtic games that he was far too good, could argue he was never out of 2nd or 3rd gear most of the time but the fact he was in Scotland went against him. Arsene Wenger wanted him but didnt want to pay what Celtic wanted, which Southampton eventually ended up paying after Ronald Koeman made it very clear he rated him and Celtic were knocked out of the CL qualifiers. He improved under Koeman too and became much more vocal/more of a leader imo too so thats maybe helped him accelerate to one of the worlds best in his position too along with his ability. Strangely enough Ajax never tried to buy him when he was in Holland which looking back, seems like madness, going by their scouting departments ability to find gems. Never thought he'd ever be at the level he is now where he is being nominated and coming in the top 5 for Ballon D'ors and for 75m I did think it was a bit much for us to try buy him but he is an outstanding player. Probably the best CB in the PL along with Laporte (who is another outstanding CB imo, arguably playing better than VVD when he arrived from Spain and before his injury).

In my post I said you rarely see those guys now a days though at club level. The more old school captains. Ramos, Chiellini and Thiago Silva, the guys I am thinking of at top clubs these days of the top of my head who are captains. Maybe de Ligt can go and be like that. Captaining Ajax and all at his age, he seems to be in that mould. The captains in the PL towards the top end of the table, Jordan Henderson strike me more as someone in that more classic mould in comparison to at the other top clubs (never thought Id ever say it either because I have always despised him as a player). David Silva at City for instance strikes me as not exactly a typical captain. Young at United. Xhaka at Arsenal before being demoted. Same boat. Azpi is a lot better than those guys as captain material for me. Not Henderson though. But because hes not John Terry or because Cahill wasnt John Terry.... it was a huge issue. Imagine if we made Hazard captain as well with Sarri last season? Theyd be people saying the same or worse... you do need other players in the squad to step up and take responsibility too and be leaders without being captain for say, Jorginho is a guy who is in that mould for us but we havent got many more. It might come with some of the younger guys with experience, it might not.

Let them have him. Average.

And wait and see, the only bigger club who will consider buying him is us due to a buy back clause. No chance Pool or City will sign him as a regular player. He counts as home grown which is a plus and he will undoubtedly be a squad player at those teams although even then is he better than Van Dijk, Joe Gomez or Joel Matip or Laporte, Nicolas Otamendi or John Stones? Who would be his competition at those clubs? Zouma had a good few games before this bad spell. Yes hes not the right answer in the long run either is Christensen as such unless he dramatically bulks up and improves. Zouma has limitations on the ball and positionally but Ake is far from "brilliant"..... if he couldnt be a mainstay at Bournemouth I would seriously be questioning his ability. Their goals against record since being in the PL is pretty bad. We should be going for a top end CB, not someone who is better than Zouma or Christensen but someone who is arguably at Rudigers level or better than. Ake is certainly not.

Fuck me not this ridiculous captain bullshit again. Almost as bad as the Cahill shouldnt be captain bullshit as well. Swear when its all going well Azpi is the man and if not hes this, that and whatever. Hes worth criticism for performances yes but do you think he would of retained the armband under Sarri and Lampard if he wasnt fit for it? When will people realise that the captains in the mould of Terry, Ramos, Kompany etc arent as common as they were 10 years ago either? Footballers are changing, mentally they are softer than theyve ever been. I mean if you look at the likes of City whos captain is David Silva, who you wouldnt think of as a natural leader or Ashley Young at United, Xhaka was at Arsenal etc. In terms of captains we arent the worst. But typical Azpi isnt playing well so the shit captain thing comes to fruition again.

He would of been a squad player for Liverpool. I would argue Joe Gomez is the better option for their 3rd CB and hes already there.... just fitness that is preventing him from kicking on. You said Ake is brilliant, he is not brilliant, he is average. Im done with us buying average players and everyone else should be. Batshuayi, Bakayoko, Zappacosta, Drinkwater, Barkley... for me Ake fits right in there and our underperforming defenders dont make him seem any more attractive an option in me. Southampton werent great defensively with Van Dijk? They were good enough defensively before van Dijk. Did you watch them under Koeman? Before van Dijk they had Toby Alderwereild and Jose Font at CB? Ryan Bertrand and Nathaniel Clyne at fullback. Fraser Forster in net. Wanyama and Schneiderlin in MF. They were very very solid, finished 7th and conceded only 33 goals. The first season they had van Dijk, they finished 6th again conceding 41 goals. Season after with Claude Puel finished 7th conceding 48 goals. His last season they struggled but he left in January and had clearly outgrown them. I really dont think Ake has outgrown Bournemouth at all. Anyway, like I said, you said Ake is brilliant but now your saying he is not so what is it? He isnt a real improvement on any our of CBs imo. Christensen was the second coming of christ when he came back after his loan spell in Germany. His performances under Conte at first were better than anything Ake has produced in his entire career. Zouma last season at Everton looked every bit better than Ake. Rudiger is miles ahead of him. Maybe hes an improvement on Tomori or Guehi but they are kids.

Brilliant? Honestly? Based off what? Hes decent but hasnt really had such an effect at Bournemouth that theyve tightened their back line up, their defensive record despite spending big money for a club their size of CBs and LBs is very poor. Ake is solid enough but he is not an improvement on anyone we have, thats the harsh reality. For 40m we are better keeping who we have in my eyes. He wouldnt get a game at United, City , Liverpool or Spurs.

We still have to play Spurs and Arsenal as well in the next few weeks IIRC. People were writing United and Spurs' top 4 chances off far too early.... Arsenal are still in and around the mix as well. Dropping points v West Ham and Everton have cost us a lot of ground.

Thats nothing new on here. Used to log on and avoid checking out the Mikel, Willian, Alonso and Ivanovic threads for a good while. While there should be a degree of patience towards the younger guys it doesnt mean they should escape criticism of any level. The over the top stuff is ridiculous but thats just how it is. Even the Alonso thread, people bringing up that nasty business with the car crash years ago as if it was completely relevant to his performances as a footballer for us in the present day. Just mindblowing. Obviously it was an incredibly unfortunate situation that he was responsible for but in terms of reasons to get rid of him or whatever for performances, mindblowing. Theres no doubt Odoi will get it tougher than any but he put the club through the ringer for a new deal. Got the mega money and his performances have been below par. Mount has struggled last wee while and maybe should be dropped but has shown enough in the first few months of the season to show theres something there.

Id say 343 is maybe worth a go. Kepa Azpi Christensen Tomori James Kova Kante Emerson Pulisic Abraham Mount/CHO/Willian Must win.