OneMoSalah

Where are these from? Yeah same here.

Marco Rose really done a fantastic job with them last season (got the job at Mochengladbach this summed) and I am quite surprised that they didnt go further in the Europa as in the matches I seen them play, they looked extremely disciplined, aggressive, more then capable of causing teams problems but Napoli had that little bit extra quality and knowhow. They arent a pub team, not by any stretch of the imagination. Think this is something British football fans and media outlets seem to be increasingly encouraging or giving the idea off because the Premier League is the "best league" or as I like to think most profitable league in the world where clubs like Crystal Palace and Southampton can earn more from TV sponsorships than some huge clubs like Dortmund, Sevilla, Milan etc who actually compete in European competitions. Realisitcally take away the big TV sponsorship deal from the PL and it probably would be nowhere near what it was 10-15 years ago I feel although not neccessarily a talking point (honestly dont think it will ever be as good as it was from 2000 to 2010 period for me anyway). Anyway, Salzburg are owned by one of the cofounders of one of the biggest brands in the world.... I mean they arent a massive massive team like Barca, Real, Bayern etc but people all around the world will see the logo and instantly recognise the red bull part of it and if they are football fans, manage to associate it with them or Leipzig, who are again part of this chain of clubs owned by Red Bull. People probably dont recognise pub teams logos. Also considering how the scoreline probably flattered us at moments in our pre season game with them, I dont see how calling them a pub team is neccessary or how it reflects on the results or performance at all. Even at 2-0 I thought they looked better than us. Frank has a lot to do.

Was really good for Lyon though. Proper all rounder. Not quite worked at Bayern maybe but think it was a shit move for him too with Thiago, Martinez, Vidal, Rudy and Kimmich there at the time (although Kimmich has played RB more genuinely think he is more than capable of starting for Bayern in MF though) and now, Goretzka and Sanches there too, although Rudy and Vidal arent.

Think Giroud will be first choice though because he can combine with the attacking midfielder players a lot better than Tammy and Michy. Plus he has a big physical presence although his lack of speed is a concern for high pressing and getting in behind teams.

Maybe not but him and Luiz were pretty settled together last season. I am a really concerned with how the back 4 has played with each other. And even how the shape of the team has looked without the ball. Everything looks out of sync in the defensive third.

Weve not even seen Mbappes proper level yet, hes only 20 years old. Fair enough he is probably the best 20 year old I have ever seen play. Real Madrid really should have signed him this summer though, he will only get better and cost much more. He is ready to be the lead player for a club of that stature, still has his inconsistencies but in terms of geniune talent and what he has already accomplished, I would say he is going to be the best player in the world in the next however many seasons. Our 2 lads are very good prospects and totally different players in comparsion but I don't think its fair to even put them in comparison to these 2. Its not fair to put many youngsters up against Hazard or Mbappe.

Also regardless of his situation here, I am starting to doubt he was even a Conte buy. Conte already had the likes of Kante, Cesc, Bakayoko, even Ampadu in MF and maybe if the club listened to him, Matic would of stayed and they wouldnt have panicked and felt the need to sign Drinkwater.

Think its almost embarrassing that as a team with the players we have we really struggled to hold onto the ball in and around our own defensive third at times today (the contrast in building up tonight under pressure compared to some of Sarris or Contes early games is frightening). Dont think its purely on Kovacic and Jorginho they were given some daft passes but again even the amount of times Azpi tried to play clever passes inside or Pedro coming deep standing 3m away from a team mate who has a man within under a meter of him but still passes the ball there.... or David Luiz doing David Luiz things... some of it was just madness, stupidity and just laziness. Once we get from the half way line up we do look capable of causing some issues but again, I think our best chances of scoring goals this season is going to be from quick transitions and counter attacking situations, although a few moments from Kovacic and Barkley tonight were encouraging, as well as the pass for Pulisic's second goal, who knows. Still in possession in the final third, we can still be improved on, not enough composure and I feel that Giroud will be our main CF because you can fire passes into him and he can just caress it off to near by players, Tammy still a bit raw and bulky if thats the right word at times but again he tried to make a nuisance of himself despite not having much luck in front of goal. Also never want to see Luiz play like that again either. Think that is up there with the worst he has played for us since AVB was here. Not even joking. My main concern though. The season starts very soon and we dont look any better defensively, in fact we look terrible and other than those handful of bad games last season I will stick my neck out and say that our defending has probably got worse. Lampard needs to sort the back 4 out or for all the talk of hard work, pressing, integrating youngsters and getting performances from other attacking players to replace Hazard... he will end up like most of the other managers weve had and that is the unfortunate truth. Its not even just that he cant buy defenders, if those 4 are gonna play vs United (depending on how Rudiger is) they clearly need to do a lot more coaching on the training pitch on the defensive side as they were all over the place. Yes Salzburg have started their season, they might be sharper than us but we are almost in August now and I am really worried by the defence. Also I dont think Kante being in the team is going to be able to completely make up for the defending weve seen in pre season. Fair enough the results arent the most important and weve played nothing special (maybe Salzburg tonight was our toughest match? Barcelona played a B team basically so excluding them) and have kept 1 clean sheet (against St Patricks or whoever the second match was). It is not the stat that weve only kept 1 that has me bothered, its the actual matter in which we have defended in these pre season games. Anyways, Mochengladbach is a bigger team and a more difficult test, still think we will see more of the same when we are defending.

Someone tell Pedro open his eyes. Needlessly selling his team mates short/passing into trouble every 2nd or 3rd pass. Just fucking look. Its not hard. Some better quick passing sequences now, that one that led to Emerson shooting in particular was impressive.

Scoreline flattering us a bit but were settling a lot better. Defence is a huge concern. David Luiz has been fucking terrible so far.

If it was a throw up between him and Bakayoko okay fair enough but if not, fuck knows what is going on.

Solksjaer played 4312 at times last season. He can play that too and having someone like Dybala who can also play in a 2 as a second striker as well as a 10 gives them plenty options and tactical flexibility. I dont think Bruno Fernandes is as close to being done as people think plus hes hardly an attacking midfielder, I think hes more a number 8. Wan Bissaka is much better than Dalot as well, theres no doubt about it but having 2 young RBs instead of 2 makeshift RBs in Valencia and Young is a lot lot better regardless of who will play and wont play regularly I would say. Luke Shaw played almost every game last season and was arguably the only United player who was consistent from the first match to the end of the season. I think if they get Dybala in like being reported as well as talk of Moussa Dembele and Harry Maguire, as well as keeping Pogba and having older heads like Matic, De Gea, Mata in and around the squad they can definitely achieve top 4. Id say they are arguably going to be in better shape than we are in terms of strengthening areas they needed to. The pressings been not bad so far but I am still very much concerned about us creating chances against teams who play with 10 men in front of the ball. Regardless it must be a nice problem to have the likes of Aubamayang, Lacazette, Pepe, Ozil, Mkhitaryan at the top end of the pitch. Ozil and Mkhitaryan havent excelled recently but again I think the signing of Pepe and losing Ramsey gives those 2 players in particular the chance to play more centrally than perhaps being shunted out wide. Aubamayang out wide perhaps a waste but again I think hes still very capable and will come off the line more often than not to come centrally and get into goal scoring positions. I feel that if Ozil plays anywhere to even half the standard he can do having the chance to find the likes Pepe, Aubamayang and Lacazette in and around the box could be big trouble for teams. Think United and Arsenal will surprise people this season and perhaps Tottenham could maybe fall away as there seems to be questions regarding Poch and whether or not hes manager or head coach, for signings etc. Somethings not been sorted since last season, if they'd won the CL as many mentioned and as he did, he would of left.

Promising youngster, good move for him and covers Leverkusen in future for when Havertz moves. Be interesting to see how Bosz does with Leverkusen this season. Promising manager in there.

Yeah the newly promoted guys not sure why theyre higher either except for maybe the fact theyve done other things in other leagues and have more managerial experience (I would imagine that is why the likes of Emery, Pellegrini etc are in the top 6 or 7 too without being outstanding managers). Silva and Garcia have been tried and tested. Silva has maybe disappointed, although his start at Watford was difficult to maintain. Wasnt sacked at Hull though he resigned. Sacked at Watford though. Gracia has done steady enough for Watford too.

Tbf I am not sure why Ole or Frank would be much higher giving their limited experience in the PL and ESPN have ranked it as many would expect. Ole has more but other than the bounce before he got the United job and that spell at Cardiff still very much unproven. Although same is said for Norwich, Villa Sheffield managers. Rodgers being higher up based off two really good seasons (one with Swansea one with Liverpool) as well is odd, good spell at Celtic, think the job he did there is underrated due to the standard although when you look at European games, he had a poor European record.

Im a bit unsure if its club driven or Sarri driven the move. Although Sarri had Higuain at Napoli and many probably wouldnt of assumed was a really technical player (although he is technically is light years ahead of Lukaku). But yeah a really technically gifted player like Dybala who can play as a 10 or second striker, bags of energy, can score and create, I would have assumed that Sarri would of wanted him to be part of his plans. I would of thought he would have been a really big fan of him.

United getting rid of Lukaku who they dont fancy for cash and Dybala is a brilliant move. Hes maybe not kicked on at Juve in last season or two but he is comfortably better than Mata and Lingard who will be his competition for the number 10 role. Hes wasted out wide which along with Juve building the team around Ronaldo is probably why he struggled at Juventus with Allegri last season but again I cant see why Sarri wouldnt look to use him as a second striker in a 4312 like he used at Empoli and tried to use at Napoli.

The whole overweight thing is a bit ridiculous, still remember photos of Juan Mata when he played here a few weeks before pre season here looking overweight too but there is always gonna be a percentage of players who will be out of shape marginally or a fair bit out after x amount of weeks off from training etc anyway to get a full break, not everyone has the same dedication as Cristiano Ronaldo. Also Marcelo's public comment about Neymar being better (maybe he is maybe not) still isnt what yous expect someone to say about their new team mate. If they said that about Ronaldo there would be absolute outrage but it seems pretty clear to me already Hazard is just another player to them. Same with Bale.

Maybe suits them better for their recruitment. Id imagine if they get that fee in installments certain clubs wont think they have got X amount just sitting in the bank to demand a bit extra for players. Seen they want to sign 3 attackers to replace him and Rafael Leao if he goes. Maybe its just they feel its a better deal too, if Arsenal are willing to pay whst looks like more than the original 72m including bonuses who knows. Crazy they are dropping 72m although in installments and maybe another 25m to 30m on Kieran Tierney. Potentially as well as what I see as a shrewd free transfer of Sami Khedira. If i was an Arsenal fan I would be horrified they havent looked at sorting their centre backs out though. Mustafi is laughable.

At Juventus last season, he played only 11 games, 8 starts as he was injured a lot so I dont done think anybody is realistically going to judge him on that. As I said if they can get him fit I honestly think he will be a good signing for them. Not spectacular or going to propel them higher up the table but dont think hes finished just yet (Pepe would give them that though, will get at least 10 goals and 10 assists from out wide). They dont have much else in midfield and if Torreira goes back to Italy too they will lack a more combative player in there which Khedira certainly can be. Hes not going to create chances like Cazorla did or score goals like Ramsey did but he will bring balance and some physicality. People scoffed when Juventus signed him on a free as well and hes done pretty decent there in all fairness. Hes older now and maybe struggled with fitness last season but the 2 seasons beforehand he played more or less every week. Weirdly enough he actually scored 9 goals from midfield in 38 games the season before last when he was fully fit. In terms of value for money, for a free transfer and a relatively affordable wage its hardly a really bad move for them. Some players still have plenty to offer aged 30 and above. Again dont expect him to single handedly boost Arsenals top 4 chances but again, he will fill a gap and give them a reliable experienced head in what is now a younger squad having lost its biggest midfield player, think people are maybe perceived hes finished particularly at international level (hasnt been picked since after the world cup mayne deservedly so after his performances there) but he definitely has a point to prove.

John McGinn is not ready for Man United in my eyes yet but again, I thought the same about Andy Robertson with Liverpool (despite being a huge fan of his since he played for Dundee United thought it was maybe a step too far to go to Liverpool). I think he and even Ryan Fraser could be two Scottish players who like Andy Robertson could potentially be a surprise at bigger clubs. That 50 mil fee is a bit much for him still. Khedira on a free is a very good move I would say considering theyve lost Ramsey and theres huge doubts about Torreira staying. Much different to signing to Lichtsteiner who was there to be a back up. SK is vastly experienced, has won a lot, more than steady enough player, offers something different. If the likes of Wolves were to sign him like originally linked it would be viewed as excellent business but think its just as good for Arsenal. If they can keep him fit, he will bring experience, winning mentality and leadership to their team, which they lack. If they get Nicolas Pepe and Kieran Tierney in as well as keeping some of their youngsters, I think a lot of people will be surprised by them this year although the CB area of their team is a disaster.

Basically some patterns of that play and combinations is what we seen with Contes 343 here, especially that ball round the corner from the fullback/wingback and the other one to get the striker in behind. Interesting to see how that rule will work in the long run.

If Napoli get him and James Rodriguez they will be class this upcoming season. Dont think their enough to bridge the gap to Juve but they will comfortably (if they werent already) be the best of the rest even with Conte at Inter. Koulibaly, Manolas, Insigne, James, Pepe, Fabian Ruiz, Allan, Mertens.. very good players all in their own right.

As a Scot, I have no idea what to make of McTominay, I seen some of their game today and he looked good. Same with the game against Barcelona in the CL he looked good but then there is time I've seen him and hes looked shite, for instance I seen his Scotland debut a few years ago live at Hampden and he was fucking horrific. As for Ndombele I think that, unfortunately for us, he will be fine at Spurs and in the PL. As I've said before I think he has everything to be a huge player in the PL in his position. Pre-season is pre-season too and in terms of performances to a degree its hardly something to fully judge someone on as it is more focused on building fitness as an individual and as a collective unit. I do hope he doesn't do well at Spurs but the times I've seen him, I honestly can't see him flopping.

I honestly wouldn't say we are that much better than Arsenal. Arsenal have got goals upfront in 2 strikers who can score 20 a season. We don't have that. Ultimately goals win games and having 2 strikers who can deliver that will help a lot even if your slightly weaker in other areas. Fair enough we maybe have better players in other positions but its not like we are that much better if we are as a collective, hence the fact we relied a lot on Eden last season. Plus, as ironic as this may sound right now, I think Emery is a better fit for Arsenal than Lampard is for Chelsea at this moment in time. Also, this we are better than Arsenal thing just now means nothing, it hasn't been proven under Frank, we haven't played 1 competitive game and Sarri was in charge last season. Also I think United and Arsenal will surprise people this year, they've had 1 year (half a season for United) with their managers so they are more accustomed to how they want to play and how they work where as Frank has come in and instantly changed the system. Race for top 4 is going to be extremely interesting. City-Liverpool then youve got us, Spurs, United and Arsenal all going for 2 places. I would say, if you are able to cut it for Arsenal I think you are more than likely able to do so here right now. Willian, Callum and Pedro arent exactly lightyears ahead of Zaha if at all. Zaha wouldnt be the worst move as of right now or even 12 months down the line. Fair there are better wingers out there perhaps but I think we have got 2 bargaining chips to use with Palace, Batshuayi who they want and was there last year as well as Reece who they are keen on (although if Zappa goes he has to stay to back up Azpi or if he doesn't go then send him there on loan).