OneMoSalah

Not a serious injury, we will see… can’t write it off with this guy though, give it a few weeks or a few games later be another issue. Not necessarily his fault perhaps but something has got to be wrong with either what we are doing with him training/workload wise or what he is doing away from the club training/workload wise. Hamstring injuries don’t just repeatedly happen this often. Galo at RB though - excellent signing and option there. And more comfortable inverting although again, showed time and time again last season he was a real threat on the outside. Lets hope Maresca gets some balance right between him & Cucurella to give both the chance to thrive.

Even if we only clear 6-7 we will have about 30 odd players still. Club clearly not learned from the Potter situation when we had 30 odd first team players. Ok some of these guys are u21s and dont need to be registered but it is still retarded as fuck.

United looked quite neat and tidy in attacking play at times today. Few sharp one touch moves. Wonder if this has anything to do with Van Nistelrooy’s appointment as was heavily hinted at he would be hugely involved in the attacking drills. Oscar Bobb also looks like he will be the next big one to break through at City.

Not necessarily. Depends on the players attitude, circumstances etc. I understand Lukaku & Kepa 100%. Talk of Broja too perhaps banished and barred from first team facilities but falls into same category as Trevor for me, maybe a bit on the extreme side, particularly given we have 40 odd players, some who have never actually played for the club with access to these facilities and they all won’t be remaining either. Same sort of thing was also talked about with Conor when the team returned from the US tour. I get both clearly aren’t in the first teams plans but there is a way to do things. Which is probably more what is riling people up and rightfully so, no? Does put the message across though yes but Trevor was already told to remain at Cobham already as he wouldn’t be going on the US tour because he had no future here. And they were desperately trying to convince him last summer to go to Forest IIRC, like Maatsen to Burnley & Gallagher to Everton when Dyce took over. So maybe thats more of the outrage? I could get that no? Just seems like double punishment when they already made the message clear a month ago, after the writing was perhaps on the wall a year ago. I can see why people are onboard with that article. It is a matter of interpretation - and sometimes other clubs also take this approach but doesn’t mean it’s right and defos varies on a case by case basis. Very rarely do you see academy lads who have come through the ranks banished from first team facilities… at any club…. barring some severely extreme circumstances. That is the point.

Cant see how Mudryk is ever going to work in any football system for any team in a half decent division because that would actually rely on him thinking.

I think Sanchez maybe being that bit more experienced, home grown and by looks of it more comfortable on the ball/willing to take the risk (I know scary given how de Zebri turfed him out the team so quickly) puts him above Petrovic irrespective.

Petrovic probably was only brought in because he came from MLS though, well maybe. I mean it looks more and more like it. Like I don’t see the footballing logic as to why he would have been signed from what he showed on the pitch. He isn’t a more modern ball playing GK as such, has a half decent penalty record fair and had some decent enough games last season but never a number 1. Certainly wouldn’t want him anywhere near first 11 if we had a reliable solid first choice who got injured for a prolonged period. Like imagine having a Courtois or Alisson and they got a 4 month injury and we had to put Petrovic in. Sanchez is the same though too, seen as we recruited half of Brighton’s transfer gurus and he is ex Brighton, the data wankers at the club will love him irrespective of if he is conceding 90 goals a game or 0 goal a game.

Last 4 or 5 seasons is proof enough he can’t though. For whatever reason. Definitely a talented boy though & maybe on second thoughts £54m for someone of that talent IF he was fit the whole time would be a good deal. Surely when we are considering buying a player their injury record isn’t considered though, we will be the first team ever to have a first 11 and 9 subs in the treatment room at this rate 🤣

He’s had repeated hamstring injuries last season. Big knee and knee in separate seasons too. All whilst at Wolves. He’s easily missed like 100 games in 5 seasons. £54m too. 3 goals and 11 assists. Lost the plot. Signed another fucking GK too. 8th one on the books no clue who’s better than who, have a starting 11 of GKs soon.

As Magic Lamps says, big moments you cannot fully count on him being that clinical player. And at times when the game is going against you he tends to struggle with some of the more basic things you want your CF to do when your under pressure. Young player who needs to learn his trade a bit more, should be a number 2 with a more established player to sort of guide/mentor him. As a number 1, not for me. Don’t expect this other bloke to be much better, if at all. Relying on 3 young CFs as your 1st, 2nd and 3rd choice for a club with ambitions of European football isn’t suitable. But the make up of the squad has the problem in virtually most positions. I think in 2 seasons we have pretty much seen this. We need to get some more established quality players to take the load and actually allow some of these guys to come out the firing line and maybe have a bit less pressure on making it as players of various qualities. Still question marks around various players regarding quality irrespective and thats why some more proven and established guys would help us 10 fold. Nkunku will help and Sterling really should have been also but in goals, defence and still in attack barring Cole, the quality and whether or not these guys will ever be truly good enough as first choice for the level we want to get isn’t clear at all.

In the real world, Guiu would of been loaned had we signed Oshimen or any other top attacker anyway. A top CF relegates Jackson to second choice. Broja is clearly going to the exit door too. Looks like Omorodion, Jackson & Guiu will likely be our striking options now though. So 90% likely that whoever between Omorodoin and Jackson will be our first choice. Which doesn’t fill me with hope.

Yeah fully agree. Too much like common sense, all our next signings now depend purely on outgoings too I would think. Because we have about 30 thousand players.

Surely get through either one of them? Well I suppose you never know. But still, surely to fuck…

Based on Guehi’s development the last 12-18 months and this summers Euro’s performances, why aren’t we interested in him? Particularly if Palace want Chalobah? He is without a shadow of a doubt head and shoulders above all of Disasi, Tosin, Badiashile and probably Levi at this moment in time. And definitely at a stage where a move like this would be based on merit, would be able to come in and play at a good level and have some room to kick on again over the next 18-24 months. Wasn’t it not reported when Clearlake came in they felt the previous regime selling Guehi was stupid? Or now are we really stupid enough to believe that Tosin, Disasi, Colwill & Badiashile will be enough? Particularly after last season where they all were already here, bar Tosin, and we conceded so many goals? If so then we really are in for a hell of a season defensively.

I think what he is saying and the impression I had before about it being too risky/early for him getting a job of this magnitude is looking like it is going hand in hand. Maybe he is not directly using these things as excuses but also seems like he is making a big point still. Fully agree it isn’t on him re the club spending, selling, sacking, direction they have gone etc, absolutely. He has taken the the job though and talking about tours, travelling, scheduling etc which he should know from his time being on the coaching staff at City, most modern day clubs of a certain scale participate and have these issues. Inter may only be pre-season but with the PL games kicking off just round the corner, these last couple of games a few good results merited by good performances would of given us a bit of momentum too. A bad result though means 1 win v Club America and a draw v Wrexham. Irrespective of if its for match rhythm/fitness/trying things out - these sort of results and particularly defensive performances, won’t necessarily help this group or the manager.

Maresca will be gone by either Christmas or next summer. Simple as. Don’t care how your team plays if they defend this badly so often you’re always up against it. And its not improving with the shite we have got in that position. Simple as. And Maresca saying its habits from the previous season then that sums his mentality up for me. The talk of things such as travelling, US tours etc, most big clubs do these tours now. What did he expect when he took the job? God forbid when the UEFA Conference League games kick off? And the other domestic cups too? If he’s coming with this nonsense then maybe the job is going to be too big for him. Improvements on the ball in certain aspects but was the same under Lampard in his first pre-season. Conceding horrible goals left right and centre. Inter coming up next before kicking off to City, be a really really bad start to the season coming if these 2 games go as I think they will. Pastings.

Reece should really only play RB, RWB or RCB in a flat back 3 system. This inverting would make sense if he was say a Zinchenko or Cucurella but he’s not. Exactly. And people with previous managers made a point of saying he should play in CM to preserve himself as well. A position in which players generally tend to cover 9-10km+ game on average and are involved in most physical duels….. If he cannot get himself in a position in which he is fit enough to play most weeks or ever for larger chunks of the season, then unfortunately, he is another one who you think like Jack Wilshere, just going to continue to be start and stop. I think now, given how the club have had him at a hamstring specialist surgeon in a bid to stop him getting continuous hamstring injuries, maybe he really needs to look at everything he is doing off the pitch as well as on it to try and see if there is any underlying issues or problems that are coming from that also. Also things like what sort of extra work is he doing whilst not at the clubs training ground etc. If he has another hamstring injury it would be like his 8th in 4 seasons.

I think the hold up is more from Conor himself, as the clubs agreed a deal pretty quick as soon as it was made clear we wanted him out. Hence why Atletico have another midfielder lined up from Valencia incase Conor doesn’t make the move. In all honesty, I find it strange he only flew to Spain in the early hours of Monday morning when the clubs had agreed a fee a few days beforehand. Not to mention theres some deadline they have to meet or the move will be off. Just seems like it may fall through. Not sure CG deal affects Alvarez or their CF coming here though. After all Atletico owners are minted.

Must mount a title challenge? Eh? We are going to be fighting for top 4-6th at best probably, maybe even 7/8th positions depending how it goes because there is still too many unknown quantities in the squad, if not more now with this window. I mean the blokes mentioned the point about the sum invested which technically yes, usually should be thinking when you spend that sort of money its to compete for titles but a large majority of the players we’ve brought in aren’t ever going to justify those prices. And large % of them are ever going to be pretty good players yet alone great ones.

Still a lot of talk Connor hasn’t accepted Atletico’s proposal also, although he went to Spain yesterday. And Atletico agreed a deal with Valencia for another central midfielder incase he doesn’t go as the deadline is coming up. But yeah Alvarez and Omorodion deals seem to be virtually in tandem.

£81m in total where ~ £20m is add ons/ performance incentives in this market for someone like that is a good deal still. I mean also depends if they are realistic add ons too or not. Similar to us putting qualifying/winning CL clauses and possibly a Ballon D’Or clause (not sure if that was 100% true or not) in the Mudryk deal. But think him playing every week with Atletico will truly unlock him as a player. Showed at City he can be a key player, particularly when they had injury issues with Haaland and De Bruyne, so have no doubts about that move working for him. Think he is a weird hybrid sort of player, not a natural 9 but not a pure number 10. A 9 and a half if that is still a valid term in the ever changing language of football 🤣 But he has virtually played as a left and right winger, number 10 and number 9 under Pep

Omorodion. Good god. Not an ounce of sense, another project player…

Probably waiting to sell Broja before ending up buying Eddie Nketiah or Danny Welbeck 😂 Irrespective we need to recruit a top striker, we cannot go into the season with Jackson and Guiu as our only options. I mean this window hasn’t been one to get excited about but a top CF and top CB would make it much better. If we are going to rely on one of Disasi and Tosin as our first choice right sided central defenders we will be fucked. Trev will be gone too. Realistically, any fee we could get for Disasi would be great business granted we could get a top CB in as a replacement. Badiashile maybe deserves another season but has looked a mixed bag so far.

I mean its clear he will be leaving. I think him staying would have saved us needlessly spending £30m on KDH that could have been spent elsewhere. Also just like Chalobah and Disasi last summer. Needless spending on players that don’t make a real improvement on what we already have for whatever reason. Based on what I saw v Club America from KDH he just looked like a link player between midfield and attack, looked to run beyond the attackers at times and get in to the box. Tell me what role did Conor play last season? More of less the exact same one. I suppose when we sell Broja we will probably spend whatever we get for him on a homegrown CF of the same calibre too? The whole way that people are turning this into a Gallagher is being greedy/wrong/should be grateful he even got an offer narrative etc when he’s being actively forced out the door is ludicrous though. I mean if this is how the club are going to continue treating academy players to comply with financial issues due to scattergun spending then they deserve every bit of criticism they have and will continue to get.

Maybe he will be a poor fit - don’t necessarily think that as such - but regardless there is a way of doing things. Sends the wrong message dicking him about with this daft 2 year contract offer that realistically no professional footballer of his age with an ounce of self respect would sign. Was the same shit with Mason in February 2023 with that 200k p/week 1 year extension offer - although was a bit different as he’d made it clear he wouldn’t resign for wages on offer. The club tried to spin it as a way to take pressure off of contract negotiations and said they would renegotiate further down the line which was bull, they just wanted more leverage to demand a higher fee when it came to selling him. Its blatantly obvious what they are trying to do with Conor and looks like they will finally get what they want - although not for £50m - as Atletico move sounds like it may happen. Lets just hope that it works out but the club are more than likely trying to save face by informing the media about how it was a top financial packages in line with other high earning players at the club etc. I mean why else would details like that miraculously make it to the press 👍? Again missing the point…. And even then, Conor was one of our best players last season so not sure what you’re trying to prove here with such a statement? Could say if anyone of our players (barring a handful) had the same season they had last season for another club ie. WHU or Bournemouth, we wouldn’t consider signing them for £35m or £50m…. and some of these guys cost a lot more than that!