OneMoSalah

A bit Overrated? Good god. Would take Barella here in a heartbeat, not many players who are as good as he is at that sort of box to box role where he can run beyond the strikers. Depends on the system though, clubs that don’t play a 3 man MF, its harder to see him fitting in as he does at Inter and Italy. Wait and see Liverpool will get involved soon enough if its only £50m. The windows only been officially open one day.

True but its not to say that Poch cannot take Mount on another level or get him back to playing as he did under Tuchel either. Its one of those where either we try it or we don’t. Yes he hasn’t been good the last year and a bit or so but he’s had a lot of fitness issues and ultimately we have been piss piss poor. Performances he put in also weren’t up to scratch but he made progress with Tuchel then regressed undoubtedly, but so did a lot of players. I think if he goes to United and works wirh ten Haag, it could have success story written all over it, I really do. I mean look at how the likes of Tadic, van der Beek, Ziyech etc all thrived under him at Ajax particularly in European competitions and then struggled under other managers. We have to be careful also because who do we sign to replace these guys? We need to sell before we buy clearly in some instances but we have to be sure we are going to get a certain calibre of players in and get some of the players that are certainly not good enough out first (would say priority should be getting rid of Kai, Ruben, Connor, Christian, Hakim first).

Wait and see though, no doubt the player will end up saying he would prefer a move to Italy… Bayern’s strategy has never been to buy 30, 31 and 32 year olds either so cannot that happening. Did you watch United at all this season? Or are you going to tell me that stats dictate everything. He played as a 6/8 next to Casemiro most of the time in a deeper more withdrawn role with Fernandes much more free and higher (except not in the big games). Not as a 10 or wide 10 where he had played at Ajax, Spurs and Inter. His passing ability definitely helped United and ten Haag implement and improve their play through the midfield as he can dictate a game and play through the lines. Phillips was a good player at Leeds but should have went to Man United and played every week prior to moving to City. Or stayed at Leeds but how often do y the chance to go to City under Pep? Your point could also be argued about Grealish but he also proved a lot of people wrong this season passed and was one of their key players too. No Mount and Gallagher aren’t superstars but Mount was an extremely key cog in a CL winning side. Gallagher not anywhere near but again, I am defos concerned about Mount being a good player elsewhere.

Yeah we are going to price clubs out of Mount deal I think. If we get £50m, sell him. If not and Poch wants him to stay and we can work a deal, keep him. The clubs not in a position to make huge demands either as we definitely need to sell before we can buy by looks of it. This has only really stemmed from poor planning and recruitment strategies by Boehly, Eghbali and the footballing lads who took more responsibility on in January, clearly. Arsenal want Havertz too, wait and see they’ll offer £50-55m and we will reject it wanting best part of £75-80m for someone with 2 years left on his deal and who hasn’t delivered on what was a huge outlay. We’ve lost that hard to negotiate with, with this new approach and owners in comparison to what we had with Roman and Marina. No doubt we will loan out £100m Lukaku again and Koulibaly at this rate too - despite the insistence we would look to sell players of no use as opposed to loan. But again the position we are in squad size wise and FFP wise - we have it all to do.

Barella close to Newcastle. £50m. What a fucking signing that will be. Wow….. we should be all over this @Gundalf Eriksen not a great deal for United? Don’t be so daft. Was a key signing, Sabizter also solid enough to cover Eriksen who picked up a big injury without being spectacular. Phillips was never going to play ahead of Rodri also - anyone who thought otherwise hasn’t got a clue about football. Verdict still out on Jorginho at Arsenal but we would of been better keeping him as an option ahead of RLC and Gallagher.

Wasn't a CF not our biggest priority a few articles ago? Why not save time and just put that a GK and CF are both essential in one article 🤣

If he is keen in going to Brighton permanently just sell him. Not that I think he is overly keen on it and the twitter shit was taken out of context but still. We complained for months and months about having players who were disillusioned/didn’t want to be here this season so why should it be any different here?

Koulibaly is in his 30s though. You can buy players over the age of 21 and under the age of 30….

Isn’t the whole point of trying to sign Robert Sanchez as a GK for his ability to also contribute in build up as well as be a solid GK? Yet we’ve got the Brighton manager not picking him for months on end due to not understanding or being able to do what he wants in that aspect. Avoid. Please. Also Mbappe saga is on again. Fucking egotistical little cunt. He may be an unbelievable player but what he has basically convinced PSG to do for him is mental with that new deal - a option for a third year that only he can trigger? Mental. He will be a Madrid player though eventually, it’s written.

Fuck me you really contradicted yourself. Give it a rest pal. Wouldn’t know up from down going off the nonsense you’ve put in here regarding Scottish/British politics, maybe stick to the Greek ones eh?

I am sorry but how would you know? Do you live in Scotland? Do you follow the politics here? 🤣 Your going off of old statistics from almost 10 years ago and have plucked up this 6% yield nonsense out of thin air. As someone who lives in Scotland and has done their entire life let me fill you in on a few things. Since 2014 there has been a lot of things that have happened that have changed the mind of many who didn’t want Independence then. Brexit/leaving the EU being the main one as Scotland didn’t want to leave as well as multiple broken promises after the first Indy Ref - which most seen coming. The want for Independence has certainly increased since 2014. This last year has maybe strained that a bit with the SNP in the spotlight due to these allegations but even then, Brexit definitely accelerated the want for it. Younger folk in Scotland are much more politically active now which will undoubtedly push the numbers but there are no doubt people from the 55% who will be for it now. Whether it happens or not is a different story and personally I am not that bothered either way (just like in 2014) - as there is still a lot of questions to be asked/answered but sometimes maybe it is best to face those things in the moment than to ask about them beforehand. Bit of advice, don’t talk about what you don’t know. Using 10 year old stats and phrases like “likely yield” and “American revolution” when talking about politics in Scotland or the UK just makes you look like a bit of a clown if I am honest.

Reading too much into it. Far too much but thats what happens when you take everything in mainstream media as gospel. As a Scot, the feeling here has been that and always been more about her husband and another bloke who was the SNP’s chief executive and treasurer being involved. If the bloke wasn’t her husband it wouldn’t of had the media coverage it has had either - and probably would of been wrapped up by now or at least proven. Still not 100% sure how its taken this long and basically 0 progress has been made. But seems the Tory’s, Labour and the media are trying to throw her under the bus to try and ultimately dissuade or tarnish the SNP and/or the idea of Scottish Independence - which she was the face of for years and years. She resigned in February but again, why has she been arrested months later? Then not charged with anything and released on the same day pending “investigation” …. it is ironic as they’ve been investigating her husband and the other fella for ages. In fact they’ve been investigating these missing funds since 2021. It is also convenient timing as it has happened at a time when there seems to be a lot going on with this Yousaf bloke and Keir Starmer of Labour due to the differences in opinions and issues going on with the deposit return scheme between Holyrood and Westminster. An Independence vote being top of Yousafs list was also mentioned not too recently if things didn’t settle in a way that suits the SNP. So aye very very very convenient timing. Sturgeon has always split the board in Scotland but the feeling I’ve gotten is that she’s maybe guilty by association as opposed to committing what they are accusing her husband and the other bloke of. But that means so are a lot of other people.

Swapping a striker we paid near £100 mil for and a CB we paid £30 odd mil for to get a GK we could have signed on a free transfer a year ago would be the stupidest move ever. Regardless of what we think of them as players, or what their wages are, it would be ludicrously stupid. But it has Boehly & Clearlake written all over it so it will probably happen. Although he has just said he wants to stay at Inter…. And no doubt Lukaku and Koulibaly would go on and have excellent seasons for Inter whilst Onana would be an absolute bomb scare here. Its just written isn’t it?

Exactly but again the question is, is Casadei on that level? Is he ready to play regularly for a team in the top half in PL? Like Reece and Mase were much more geared up for? Not so sure. Aye granted I could be wrong but the lads only played 15 games in the championship for a side that got relegated. He looked decent in certain games, scored some goals as well as having done well for Italys u21s but I think these things can be very deceiving. Particularly u21s football. Pre-season is also not exactly going to be a good barometer to judge him on, particularly looking at other past years and years of young players being involved then being shipped out on loan/never used.

True but is he as good as Reece? Or Mase? I think he needs a bit more time - could be argued Reece and Mase were thrust in due to the transfer ban but would of made the cut eventually IMO (particularly if Sarri stayed) as their talent was evidently clear but there was also frustrating moments with both. Casadei is definitely a different level to what they were, as in a step below and he played in a side that got relegated, not promoted/in the running for it. He is probably someone who may need to take a bit longer, like Conor Gallagher maybe, who for me was always going to need another season on loan after Palace but we kept him and look how his season panned out/the perception of him. Wasn’t ready. May never be ready. I think Poch will maybe use him preseason like he will use a lot of players but if a good championship loan comes up where he is 90% likely to play every game in comparison to a Villa/Brighton where he would more than likely be a squad/rotation player, then its clear which is better. The boys only 20. People need to think about taking this using him to acquire Caicedo idea out of the equation and look at if Brighton is realistically a team he can break into? I don’t see it. From what I’ve seen he is physically good but maybe the technical and tactical side of things, could be improved upon. Maybe playing there he would learn it but wouldn’t think he would be a regular there. Plus they are usually 3 or 4 steps ahead recruiting wise and I’d imagine they will know who to get/have similar players lined up for Caicedo’s departure and Mac Allister already.

Seems to be huge emphasis on sending Casadei to a PL club as if its the only option but the jump from Championship to PL is absolutely huge. Wouldn’t necessarily rush it if he’s not ready for it or won’t feature a lot. U21 football’s quality is also concerning and difficult to judge in terms of gauging in comparison to first team football. If he has a future here also, shoehorning him into any deal for Caicedo would be stupid because who says he would even play at Brighton? They’ve started using Gilmour more often and I would expect him to come in to his own next season under de Zebri now that he’s kind of got over the whole issues he was having off the pitch, as well as announcing the signing of Dahoud. Undoubtedly as well as per their recruitment and planning, they will already have guys who may replace Caicedo and Mac Allister at the club too. Just seems all too convenient but that is the slight arrogance of our fan base to think everyone of our players could slot in easily at these clubs to “sweeten the deal”. If he went there and wasted a year as opposed to getting another loan in the Championship playing every week again, would it really be worth it? I mean that is going off the impression that he is someone who is considered to have a future here. Ok Caicedo would be a good signing but again, for the player himself, its a tough one. The next loan has to be right for him to keep playing, going to Brighton and playing sporadically as opposed to another club and playing every week would be moronic but because it “would sweeten the deal for Caicedo” I suppose people wont care. As a club though, I thought the direction we were going and these signings were geared up more in mind with them making the first team as opposed to being used as chips to trade like they were under the old regime. And even on loans that people felt were good but turn out being bad moves. I still remember when we loaned McEachran to Swansea in 11/12 and the initial reaction was that it was a very good place for him to go because of how they played, the manager etc but ultimately he didn’t play and wasted 6 months of his development. He probably played less there than he did in the first 6 months of that season under AVB.

“The task was easy” fuck sake, it is never easy 🤣 After watching us win it twice I thought you’d of grasped that no? I mean if you thinking winning the CL is easy at all then I don’t know. I mean nobody thought Inter would make the final. Nobody thought AC Milan or Napoli would make it as far as they did. To come out with this absolute drivel is mental. PSG, Bayern, whoever may not be as good or complete as they once were but you still have to beat these teams. And over 2 games anything can happen. Much worse teams than that City team have won the CL and teams almost as/as good as that City team haven’t won it. Its the hardest competition to win in Europe. This is why. Once you get to the quarter finals, all the teams are pretty good.

Pretty tame opponents 🤣? Fucking hell. Yes nobody wanted to see them win it but there sure has been some nonsense regarding their win. They beat Inter, Real and Bayern in the run from quarters to final. Hardly tame opponents, probably 3 of the toughest teams you can play in European competitions or you’d think so. As well as having Sevilla and Dortmund in their group who are also no pushovers. I mean when we beat Dortmund under Potter over the two legs it was a “great” result for us so yeah to say that they had tame opponents along the way, nonsense. Inter had their chances but they are a top top team also, they didn’t have chances by fluke. They had earned their place in the final also, having Bayern, Barca in their groups, beating Benfica & Porto as well as AC Milan. Both teams had difficult paths and games to overcome so both deserved their places and you’d think after having seen us win the CL twice that there truly are no easy routes to the final.

Yep. I think it’s arguably a better treble than United’s one also which will be the inevitable comparison. On paper at least, that City team is better then the United 99 team.

Nobody may remember the final but they will certainly talk about this treble for years and years. Like the United one in 99. Unfortunately.

Was always inevitable. Lukaku cost Inter not once but twice also. What a shite footballer, if only his talent was as big as his ego. Not sure how their treble compares to the United 99 one but an impressive impressive feat none the less.

I am sorry but you are well off this with I’m afraid. Doing the boy a disservice calling him a bulky version of Connor Gallagher. Couldn’t be more wrong and not even the same type of profile. He is more than 10 times the player and someone who now should be considered as someone who can actively contribute in a bigger team. Its no surprise Arsenal, Bayern, United are all after him. He’s got a level or two where he can get to yet also but he needs to play in a better team with better coaching to get that. Yes maybe price will always go against him but personally I think after spending £100m+ on Enzo Fernandez - again will be a great player in the long run but for me, based on the current crop of players out there, no midfielder in the world is worth what we paid for him bar a select few - it doesn’t really matter what we pay for him because he is the type we need, its the same logic as the Enzo deal, we ‘needed’ him. I’d take him over Caicedo in a heartbeat. Especially when you consider both are going to he wanted for at least £80m and we missed out on Ugarte, although again he isn’t on Rice’s level atm but the price was better and profile suited what we need. Definitely more difficult to look a top player in that West Ham team than it is in the Brighton teams of the past 2 seasons IMO.

80m 🤣? Who the fucks paying that for him? Pretty sure he has 2 year left on his deal also.

Ffs don’t want to sound harsh but enough with the 18-22 year olds replacing hugely experienced and established guys who have done it all here and sign some more experienced player’s particularly for such an important part of the pitch. We’ve already got Enzo and Santos, who by the sounds of it will be given a chance here this pre season, coming who are 22 and 19. We need to target one or two midfield players who are in that age bracket of 24-27, with say 100-150 starts as a first team player at a competitive level particularly more than ever now Kante is off and it seems we are willing to sell Kovacic. Not to mention losing Jorginho in January. If Boehly & co’s masterplan is turning us into the most expensive rip off of RB Leipzig then we’ve had it. Not that I expected us to be overly competitive in the next season or two but there seems to be too much focus on the long term. This squad isn’t a million miles away from being in the top 4 if we can cut out some of the stragglers and fine tune it with some ready made players. But it seems to be again, lets gear up towards this 2030 vision. Wouldn’t be surprised if spend £40 or £50m on Lavia and in 2 or 3 years probably go and sign the next 18/19 year old of the same profile or position. Gonna end up with a 25 man squad which the majority will be 18-23 year olds who need to play every week aren’t we?

Bit rich saying about PL tax for those when we paid £100m+ for someone who whilst he is a v good player and will be here for the long run, was still quite over priced. But thats modern day football. Theres not a lot of bargains these days. Mac Allister smart signing for that price but honestly don’t see him being an exceptional player for Liverpool or any top club tbf. I get the feeling he’s just a cut below that level.