OneMoSalah

Just me or does anyone else think playing 2 number 10s from the start was also a mistake? Fair enough Mounts looked good and Barkley was excellent in pre season but none of them are wide players and this interchanging is frustrating both of them as they want to play centrally and Barkley is struggling with Wan Bissaka. Pulisic for me had to be included in some capacity due to his pace and 1 v 1 abilities be it on the left or right. Also Mount has to shoot there in that first one.

Awful decision from Zouma there. Why go to ground. Idiotic.

Weird one he never really ever got going at United despite them tweaking their formation or again afterwards except for the 2015/16 season with Tuchel in charge at BvB. Thought he was a top player at Dortmund though with Klopp, good between the lines and a genuine goal threat. When United signed him though he didnt really seem like a typical United player, they played with pacey wingers and without a 10 (although Rooney played that position but was a striker), Kagawa didnt really suit that team, so maybe explains why he didnt have the best time in the PL.

The race for the top 4 will be very interesting. I think whatever teams that are in the top 6 (other than City and Liverpool who will undoubtedly make up the top 2) around Christmas and January time, if they can sustain a 8 or 10 match run gaining momentum, it will give them a good chance of pulling away. Hopefully we will be there and theres about, obviously we need a good start as well. I do think if we are in and around the top 6 come the turn of the year, go on one of those runs we will pull away from the others. Only concern is I think we lack the firepower and following pre season defensibe stability.

Digs at his weight are nothing new, when he signed here he was the heaviest playsr in the PL already in 2011. Its nothing new. Bulking up for the WC? The guy was already big enough.... swear he must of been smoking crack.

Tbf in terms of how incompenent the board are, weve still managed to refresh the squad a wee bit. Cahill, Luiz, Higuain all 30 and over, all gone. Hazard 28, unfortunately in his best years but wanted to go. Some duds like Morata and Moses have also gone as well as potentially Drinkwater and Bakayoko if all goes well. Integrating Tomori, Tammy, Mason, Reece as well as having Pulisic changes it up a bit and gives us a bit of youthfulness in and around the team. Also, securing Callum, Ruben, Mason, Reece all on new deals by the end of this month would be good for us too. When we can spend again though recruitment needs to be a lot better.

New deal? Seriously? Wtf

Yeah, go to some of the games when I can as I am currently studying in Glasgow with a few guys here who are supporters. Ajer is going to be the next big move from Celtic I think. Signed as a CM player years ago, spent half a season at Kilmarnock on loan playing CB under Steve Clarke and hasnt looked back since. Only thing is, Celtic really dont need to sell now and CB is where they are still a bit short on with Boyata leaving and Benkovic not returning on loan. Think Dortmund were linked with him as well a while back but dont think he will be allowed to leave this season. Comfortable on the ball, quick along the ground, strong, reads the game decent and is a good height either 6 ft 4 or 6 ft 5... whenever he makes his next step, be it this season, next summer or the year after, he will surprise people like van Dijk did at Southampton when he first went. Maybe not go as far as saying he will hit that level like he did under Koeman or what hes at now but if he gets a PL move, he has all the attributes to be a good player in England.

🤣

Arsenal just lost their captain, the guy who organised their defence for seasons, when they could actually have their defence considered meh. They have no leaders at CB. Luiz is hardly a leader either. He captained Brazil in 1 WC game when Thiago Silva wasnt there and look how that went, the guy was exiled from the NT for about 3 years. Cant wait to see him and Mustafi trying to organise their back 4 while Granit Xhaka captains them. Arsenal will finish above us maybe I dont doubt that because theyve got that many match winners in attack but they need to sort out their defence to do anything other than fight for top 4, Luiz isnt the answer but we should be biting their hand off. Rudiger, Zouma, Christensen and Tomori wont offer the same on the ball but other than Tomori who is untested in the PL, those 3 have more than enough to be relied on. His best football came in a back 3 for us when he played in the middle, where he was more reactive than proactive compared to the wider CBs.

He is actually pretty good (not just Scottish bias either). If he played in PL he would of gone for same money as Wan Bissaka if not more. Could argue hes further along as he is more experienced, having competed in the CL, Europa League as well as having been captain of his club and country as well. His final ball is better as well. If he gets his fitness back up, which I doubt will be the biggest issue I dont think his injuries are as bad as made out and think it was also scare tactics to drive Arsenal away, he has got a huge chance of having a successful career in the PL. Hes already at a better level than Andy Robertson was when he signed for Hull, although Andys development at Liverpool has been quite emphatic. Time will tell but I would think in a few seasons people will look back and go 25m well spent.

People were wanting Zouma back after his season at Everton and also wanting Tomori as part of this using youth carry on. Defensively Kurt, (although he can still improve a lot), Andreas and Rudiger are better than David Luiz. That is a fact. Its probably been hard for Christensen and Zouma to have looked solid as a duo when they have played the equivalent of maybe 4 games together. Then as well in most of our pre season games we have been all over the place defensively as a unit. Whole back 4. Luiz arguably been the worst out of all the senior CBs weve used in pre season too. Yes Arsenal are crying out for a CB but we arent selling them Nesta or Maldini are we. There getting an error prone David Luiz, aged 32, on high wages. No sense? What sense is there in keeping someone who isnt regarded as a key player here or who doesnt want to be here without even taking into consideration his football ability. Taking his ability as a defender into consideration, it heavily favours selling in my eyes. Yes he can pass well but what goods that when the other teams strikers are running off him or hes all over the place or hes caught out of position... these arent new things either, these are things we have been saying since he arrived in 2011. Yes Tomori maybe needs to grow yet but being 4th choice and mainly playing cup games, hardly as if we are making him the cornerstone of our defense. Defensive frailties are already on show. Like I said Luiz was all over the place in pre season most matches and our back 4 as a unit was out of sync. The whole back 4 needs to improve yeah but dumping Luiz and building round another 2 younger CBs is an ideal way to move forward. Exactly.

Are people really outraged about selling a 32 year old who obviously isnt first choice for 8m? He is on over £100,000 a week and has a 2 year deal. Do the maths, 8m transfer fee plus not having to pay a minimum 5m salary for another 2 years. Sure we could have maybe gotten 10m or 12m or 15m but he doesnt want to be here, isnt the managers first choice, theres 4 other CBs at the club and really other than his passing he isnt quite good enough.

Sell him. Hes a fanny at the best of times. Rudiger, Chrisensen, Zouma and Tomori will do nicely. Hes only gotten worse in the last 2 seasons. Experienced or not. Also for all the games Tomori or Luiz if he stays now this season based off the talk not being guaranteed to start, I would rather he got that game time than Luiz.

Weird to me its taken all this time to get him sold. These youngish guys can still do a lot in their careers so being part of the loan army here for the likes of him, Piazon and Palasic etc is pointless. 5m for him is hardly a fee would of been haggling over either. Good luck to the guy, maybe not a CL level player but hes been a regular for Nigeria since he was 18 so he needs to keep playing, playing in La Liga isnt bad move either.

Shown little so far true, although surely they must realise the talent he has and I thought Juve would of rather seen him grow there considering as well the fact they usually try sign the best young Italians from other clubs as well as promoting from their own academy but the ultimate thing for me is, why the hell is Sarri keeping Higuain ahead of him after last seasons below average spell here? Where as Kean, 19 years old, scored 7 goals for Juve in 17 games last season. 2 goals for Italy in 3 matches too. I didnt realise they had first refusal but thats still a silly move from them. Along with swapping Cancelo for Danilo, selling Dybala and wanting Lukaku, been a ridiculous window for them all fairness. Still got de Ligt, Ramsey, Rabiot and Demiral in tbf but getting Lukaku, selling Dybala and selling Cancelo whos a vastly superior player to Danilo to someone who will compete against Juve in the CL? Its weird.

Yeah. Firstly selling Kean, then Danilo replacing Cancelo and now this. Absolutely baffling. Sarri must have something stronger in those cigarettes.

I will be when he resigns... 🤣

True but again firstly the reason was Sarri why he wouldnt look to sign, weve changed manager, he has raved about him in the press and realistically its still not further on than what it was 3 months ago. If it was any other player, it would be a bigger issue. Yes theres been talks but until hes pictured signing that contract its not done. Which is why many folk here are anxious, maybe he just fancies leaving?

Sure lets play against a team with plenty of energy and mobility in the middle of the park and pace without him. If hes even 75% fit he should start.

They wouldnt pay it which is now why there looking for loans. If Ake did end up going for 75m then modern football would have gone to fuck. Well it sort of already has.

Spurs agreed 70m euros fee according to Sky Italy. So take with pinch of salt but impressive signing if it happens. Really rate Dybala.

Every team that actively has 8 players in the opposition half will be suspect defensively. Not just Peps teams. Sarri had same issue here. Wenger had it at Arsenal... his way of football is still the most effective way in terms of preserving energy in the modern day. You run less keeping the ball, only really exerting a lot of energy recovering the ball. Other teams tire quicker because their exerting more physical effort chasing. Its not the only way to play football but in terms of how effective his way is, just look at his career and all the trophies hes won and all the players who want to work with him or clubs who would approach him in a heartbeat. CL is harder than domestic leagues, PL teams get fucked by the FA in comparison to other European teams who rearrange fixtures regularly but thats their choice and the FA are too busy taking television money to give a fuck about rescheduling. Fair enough Peps had issues at Barca, Bayern and City with the CL but hes also won 2 and did it in 3 years and made countless semi finals, for instance it took Mourinho 5 or 6 seasons to win 2 CLs and Sir Alex Ferguson 8 or 9 seasons to win 2 CLs. The team that beat Peps sides normally go to the final or win the CL too (Inter in 2009-10 - won it, us in 2012 - won it, Bayern in 2012-13 - won it, Real Madrid in 2013-14 - won it, Barcelona in 2014-15 - won it, Atletico in 2015-16 - finalists, 2016-17 and 2017-18 didnt get as far last 16 I think and then City lost to Spurs who made final last season), so his record is hardly anywhere near as bad for instance as Antonio Conte's or even Joses in recent times in the CL. Getting beat by the team who go on to win the CL is hardly the worst team to crash out to either. Think Peps career speaks for itself, hes not just am innovator as he has spent bucket loads of money at Barca, Bayern and City but his lack of European success after Barca isnt down to just him.

Yes but weve been hearing for weeks ever since Frank came in the door he would resign. I dont think anybodies panciking, I think its more just annoying now. If he wants to stay (which I would imagine je would considering FLs comments and the 180k a week) surely there should be an urgency to get it done quickly? Just strikes me as odd. Particularly after FLs comments and the whole wanting players who feel the club comments.

Zouma. Definitely agree on that. Luiz is probably gonna be an undoubted started too....