OneMoSalah

These are all top professional athletes who have been conditioned by elite trainers and coaches throughout various ages since whenever most of these join professional clubs at youth level. They’re obviously in reasonable enough condition for this level or they wouldn’t be professional footballers and definitely wouldn’t have survived a Mauricio Pochettino pre-season. Yes they still have to develop and grow but it is reaching at straws to pin it on that. The medical team is a shambles, not to mention how unfit we were last season and the intensity of Pochettino’s training regime throughout season (notoriously tough). Then throw in how many games these guys play every season, how much travelling, the frequency of games. I mean I expected a few injuries - most seasons every team gets a few - even given how tough Poch’s fitness regime is, as many as we’ve had, to repeat suffers, some of these guys maybe also need to take a deeper look at what their doing off the pitch and outside of the training also. Are they eating right? Are they overtraining? Are they under training? Are they drinking? The medical staff is also a shambles. A team of younger players you’d assume would be more energetic, dynamic, fitter, willing to push themselves harder due to the players being hungrier to prove themselves, no? Or do they not have enough muscles for that either

It is just folk clutching at straws for more stupid excuses. If not for injuries, its for results, if not for results, its about recruitment etc, instead of accepting reality: Poor squad planning willingly letting so many experienced guys go so quickly, completely changing the leadership dynamics within the dressing room. Poor recruitment buying so many young, unproven, inexperienced players at hyper inflated prices. Or more annoyingly, buying so many similarly aged and similarly positioned players too in a short space of time, the likes of Santos, Caicedo, Lavia, Ugo…. could have signed one of them and tried to get a more experienced midfielder for example Joao Palhinha from Fulham who was available. Declan Rice from West Ham again who was available. Even signed 2 of them and then used the extra cash to sign someone for a position we desperately need ie. CF. Poor decisions to sack a lot of staff from the previous regime, medical staff, groundsmen, even Pat Nevin for questioning the new ownerships recruitment in a BBC column ffs. The medical department right now I am assuming is Dr Nick from the Simpsons because honestly, wtaf is going on with these constant medium to long term injuries, it is the worst I have ever seen here in a long time. Poor managerial choices, particularly disposing of a world class coach to end up with Potter & Lampard. Irrespective of what happened with Tuchel, the owner, the players - it was a fucking joke. Absolute laughing stock to end up with Potter and then Lampard. And to be honest as soon as we hired Potter a lot of us seen it coming. He wasn’t ready for that. Even smaller decisions like giving Connor the captaincy (although I for one am impressed with how he has handled it, how it seems to have further elevated his performances) ahead of Thiago Silva after Reece’s injuries - which apparently ruffled some feathers in the dressing room (however true I have no idea). I mean taking it back a bit, I still think giving Reece the armband ahead of Thiago was absolutely insane. The guy who has captained Brazil, PSG, AC Milan as well I think. RJ needs to get himself right and just back playing football at his best level. When he has been fit this season, performance wise and even body language wise, he looks deflated, as if he’s got the weight of world on his shoulders. Is that the extra pressure of wearing armband at your local team? Maybe? Maybe not? But still thought it was too soon for someone who has had a hugely turbulent up and down past 2 seasons fitness wise. Maybe they hoped it would push him on. Genuinely just piss poor decision making since Todd and co properly started flexing their muscles last summer. And now these two footballing director muppets have sunk their claws in also, signing young guys almost every player without fail when it is clear we needed some more experience and proven quality. First the narrative was these younger players will refresh the squad and bring a lot of new energy, replace these so called past it or not good enough players, now its folk blabbering on about lack of muscle mass as opposed to just saying a lot of what we have signed/didn’t sell of probably aren’t good enough compared to what we had before. Absolutely clueless. I mean there was far fetched “thinking too hard” posts talking about Reece and his bone structure last week related to muscle injuries. Now its young players getting injured due to having a lack of muscle mass this week. So what will it be next week? We are getting so many injuries because of a rare toenail fungus? Did one of the lads get bitten by a radioactive spider? Is it because people think the earth is flat? And yes this post probably is a bit long and slightly off topic. Perhaps should even be in the Boehly topic. But fuck it.

Yeah World Cup winning midfield player has a great second 45 minutes after looking very very average for the first 45. Against a side in the lower end of the championship. Sure lets make a post and call him a midfield maestro…. bit embarrassing. If you can’t do it against teams at that level when you’ve been a starting member of a World Cup winning squad, then I don’t know. Needs to play how he did second half against good teams and regularly. Thats the challenge for him. Scoreline definitely flattered us, took us nearly the best part of an hour to get going fully. Cole or Enzo scoring earlier first half maybe would of changed the dynamics but still, that 11 minute spell deflated them as well as the fact they tired and we stepped up after another pretty poor first half. Far too many moments where you still think, how the fuck are we going to break down much better teams. Felt that Gusto was very good the whole game. The young lad from the academy looked pretty comfortable too, didn’t look out of place. Mudryk pretty much missing again throughout although he assisted Broja. This is the sort of game you thought if he had any real quality he would have shown it. The stage was set. Not just him I expected more from many of them in the first half but particularly Mudryk, I am looking for him to show us something of real quality. I don’t see it. Nearing 40 games for the club now and he looks like he will never arrive at anything more than a middle of the road player. Not having this he has improved his overall game because he can do a one two or track his opposition player when they have the ball like somebody suggested. If he hasn’t shown any large improvement by the summer, cut out losses, he simply has to go.

I see him having the same sort of role Daizen Maeda had at Celtic under Ange. Making a lot of penetrative runs in behind from the wider areas whilst also carrying that huge counter attacking threat with his pace. Even the pressing side of things. If anything, it seems to be a reasonably sensible move as he will fit their more direct attacking style, particularly that role off the left. It just remains to be seen how he does in terms of his goal output. May be an interesting move. Wouldn’t say he won’t make them much stronger because depth wise, he is definitely an upgrade on the likes of Perisic, Solomon & Gil. But his goal, assist and chance creation output will always be his downfall if he doesn’t get going.

Maybe. Hasn’t worked second time round this season particularly for him but he scored a good amount when he initially went back - 16 in all comps. He won’t be playing every week when Son returns I’d imagine. Just depth.

So does Usain Bolt should we sign him too

Interesting move for him going to Spurs. I think he could get a decent amount of goals but how his all round game is, he wont offer what Son offers. His work rate ties into Ange’s high pressing approach though.

No but instead he attempts to pass to someone even more hopeless in Mudryk….

Colwill hits that long ball quite a lot. Does it ever work? Also, does it not defeat the purpose of spending £300m on CMs if you’re going to have your CB try punt it long over the top often?

A corner. Shit. Probably a goal.

Yeah but look at the opposition. A World Cup winning £100m+ MFer should be strolling these games without even getting out of second gear. Looks physically short of whats required for a CB, particularly against the likes of these teams, even there a few mins ago the boy for PNE just knocked him off the ball easily and hes down wanting a foul. Needs to fill out a bit.

Shame though because if he had a much stronger mentality to overcome these moments and spells his career would probably have been considerably better and even more successful. He definitely had the attributes to be a top top CF for me, particularly technically he was very very good. And taking that into considering, to be fair to him, he’s already had a pretty good career as it is. So it’s interesting to think what he could have done if he had been that bit wee more stronger mentally. But looking back he’s regularly scored goals everywhere he has been. 200+ career goals playing in Spain, Italy and England. Ended up playing for Real Madrid (two spells), Juventus(two spells), us and Atletico (two spells) on top of having been a regular with a good goal record at international level for Spain. Won 14 or 15 trophies at club level. Regardless of what people think, he will look back and probably say “yes my career could of been better but I still had a good one.”

Costing £100m is one thing, being worth it is another. Rice, Rodri, Bellingham 100% worth it yes as all 3 are outstanding and leading players in their positions. Likes of Musiala, Pedri, Valverde, Tchouameni, Odegaard bordering towards it. Rest still got a lot to prove before being bracketed as £100m players.

Great so take someone who’s scoring goals off the wing/as a 10 and put him as a false 9 instead of just keeping him where he is and using an actual CF ie. Broja or Jackson. We are already struggling for goals as it is never mind moving our most prolific player to play as a false 9….. a position which he has never played at senior level. Caicedo as a CB next?

Exactly. But at this time last January, umpteen folk on here - some folk had wanted to sell Kante for years as he was “done” despite miraculously being 100% fit since leaving here (shock horror), some who didn’t think Jorginho and Kovacic had anything else to offer at all - were all sitting there thinking it was too good to not do what we started then. Then to quote many on here this summer “Enzo, Lavia and Caicedo would be amongst the best MF 3 in the PL/Europe”. Now they’ve changed their tune and there is a lot of “we need to sign an experienced midfielder”? We had 3 of them that would of all done more than sufficient…. Poor planning from the board if we do go and recruit an experienced midfielder for a huge fee. When you look at any player irrespective of their position, for fees of £105m and £115m - you are 90% of the time expecting goals and assist contributions and we all know this isn’t any of the reasons why we signed either of them. Or for them to be the very best in their positions. They may become very good players but it is very rare midfielders are ever going to be worth £100m+ particularly in this modern day and age. The likes of Zidane, Modric, de Bruyne, Iniesta, Busquets, Gerrard, Lampard, Kroos, Scholes, Xavi, Xabi Alonso, Pirlo etc are amongst the very very elite midfielders who would be worth £100m + now from a period of the past 10-20 years. But these were/are the very best of the very best. Caicedo and Fernandez have literally 150 games between them and honestly I am not particularly impressed with the pair of them at all this season. If I am honest, I do find it incredibly likely that they will never be worth the £225m we paid between them. But it’s hard to justify how they will ever be worth that based on what we have seen. They don’t score goals or get assists regularly, they don’t create a lot of chances, they don’t particularly function well as a pairing. Doing well in Portugal for Benfica and for Brighton who did excellent last season is one thing but to do what will be expected of them, for that price tag, year in year out, it will be tough for most players. Has been the same for Mudryk, as it was the same for Havertz. Was likely the same for Torres at the time in 2011 too. Price tags unfortunately dictate the expectations of players from clubs, managers and fans irrespective of if we want it to or not. Simple as that. You simply don’t drop £100m + on a player if you don’t expect them to do well from the off. Why would you?

If Ugo is rubbish then it really doesn’t say much for Santos or Casedei as Poch decided to loan the pair of them but retain Ugo after evaluating all 3 in the States. Think selling Gallagher would be a huge mistake as well. Potential to drive a wedge between Poch and the footballing department too if the club try force him out the door despite Poch wanting to keep him. It is unbalanced but I think Caicedo has to do some adjusting to play the role Poch seems intent on using him as. Or switch the system entirely. I think the 433 with Connor, Enzo & Moises worked better than this 4231 malarky with Palmer and Nkunku as a 10 in front of the pair of either Connor or Enzo & Caicedo.

Santos and Casadei will probably be sold on lets be honest. Something has to give. With the Lavia signing, there is no clear path for any of them to get in to the team. We have Moises, Lavia, Enzo, Gallagher & Ugochukwu all between the ages of 18-23. Too many similar profiles and ages for them all to make it. Simple as that.

I mean given the fact we are going to give virtually everyone relatively new we’ve got time, we may as well do the same and see what he does next season with Poch if we keep him. If he doesn’t do well second season he has to go though yes. I do think he will only be a squad player unless he does something drastic though - the improvement will have to be huge and not to mention if Silva goes in the summer (likely), he has to step up and demonstrate some leadership qualities (was captain at Monaco).

Tbf he hasn’t looked great but I think playing him Badiashile or Colwill as a pairing would be better as opposed to Poch using him as a right full back or with Silva. He isn’t a bad player for say and isn’t a particularly great one but first half v Palace him and Badiashile looked pretty comfortable together I thought. Struggled second half but the whole team did. Not completely given up on him but yes we have too many CBs if we sign the lad from Nice this window.

Yep typical stupid fans social media accounts. One photo from when he was here and they put 2+2 together and get 81636

They were saying that in the summer too I am sure. Yeah was a good GK but probably past it for the level we want. Sanchez no use either. Re: Jean-Clair Todibo - could be a good signing. He’s 24 years old, has around 3 full seasons worth of games at Nice, few caps for France, brings height, certainly fits the profile of players we should be looking at more than the 16-21 year olds we are seemingly insistent on buying. Probably is ready to make that next step. Although Fofana, Disasi, Silva, Badiashile, Colwill… have enough bodies there unless we were to get rid of 1 maybe 2 of them. I think Spurs or United will be ahead of us in the cue though for the lad as they need CBs urgently.

Caicedo isn’t necessarily a defensive midfielder or a number 6 as such but we are probably asking him to do that role. It is weird though because sometimes he can look alright in possession but then other times he is just so negative and slack in possession. Or takes far too many touches. Him and Enzo have been huge disappointments this season. Can’t deny that. And MC was never going to be worth £115m ever. And never will. But we paid it. Enzo probably fall into that bracket as well. But still not wrong to expect much more from these 2. Brighton and Benfica were both no doubt ecstatic with the deals they got, as you would expect them to be, £220-225m between them for 2 players that had played 150 odd club games between them. As anyone would be.

We wont get any of them three. Plus as said before, where would Barella actually play if we were to sign him? He isn’t a 6. He is an 8 or more accurately a ‘mezzala’ as they call his role in Italy in a 3 man midfield so he would have to play instead of Enzo or Gallagher, not Caicedo or Lavia. Quality player but would be pointless signing him considering Enzo arrived for 100 + million and given Gallagher’s importance to this team at the moment plus the fact we usually play 4231. Then you’ve got Nkunku and Palmer who have been used centrally as a number 10 so thats another thing to take into consideration because particularly for Nkunku, it would mean shoehorning him into a stupid position ie off the left or as a false striker - which isn’t where hes has success in his career. He’s always played off a CF to great success. Pahlinha should of been targeted instead of Lavia for me in all honesty. Been very good for Fulham. Proven. Experienced. Gives them balance, height, a bit of leadership, more than good enough in possession. £55m spent on Lavia would probably have gotten him. Or £60m I think was Bayerns bid. I wouldn’t be surprised if Liverpool go for him or Bayern don’t try go back. He would give that Liverpool team what they need IMO.

All well and good but maybe focus on getting things right here first. New directors of football, new medical team, some experienced guys to help the squad. Once we start getting some progress here then maybe think about feeder clubs.

I think it is one thing to do it for City as their system he isn’t necessarily an out and out left back (or wasn’t meant to be). Another thing doing it in a team trying to play with actual fullbacks like we do (or will when an actual LB is available). I think on paper Gvardiol looked an absolute top buy because most thought he was a massive upgrade on Ake and that he would take his place in the left side of the defence in that 3 2 4 1 shape they used very successfully last season, where Stones pushed into midfield next to Rodri creating a double pivot with Akanji, Dias and Ake effectively becoming a back 3. They’ve not looked as solid this season though but they have also reintroduced Kyle Walker into the starting and had regular injuries to Stones who probably played some of his best football last season in that role. Not to mention Kovacic and Nunes have been thrown into the team also so they’re not using Stones in there either. Would say from what I’ve seen, Gvardiol has played much more often as an out and out left back than actually in that role Ake played than I think most folk assumed he would have done. I don’t think he’s done badly but I think he maybe hasn’t done as well as most would think. Its not his most natural position but he is still more than capable of slotting in there. He can dribble the ball well under pressure (another thing Pep has added to the City team/squad adding him, Nunes and Kovacic all players who are good at ball carrying under pressure/when pressed) but think CB is still his best and where he will end up long term. Genuinely would be surprised if City don’t revert back to that 3241 shape that served them so well last season because it gave them so much more defensively and also added height to their team whilst not necessarily losing their dominance on the ball as the likes of Akanji, Stones, Ake, Rodri, Dias are all excellent on the ball. I am a bit baffled they’re back to more of a 4231 with fullbacks playing as fullbacks. Because they don’t have a great deal of pace in that area bar Walker. Or an actual left back to trade.