OneMoSalah

Have to he honest, completely disagree re the pressing. In terms of G/A yeah their better, better than most teams in Europe and many top teams who have won titles before but that could be down to a multitude of things. Maybe KK has lost a yard of pace as he has aged but do you not remember how high and aggressively Napoli pressed and had their defensive line under Sarri for 3 seasons? Where he was an ever present? They were one of the most effective high pressing possession based sides in Europe in that 3 year period.. On Napoli - I think Kim is a pretty good player and they are an outstanding team to watch but whether or not they follow it up next year is another question. I mean look at AC Milan and Inter after winning Serie A. Spalletti always been an intriguing coach, who has always tried to play decent offensive football and it just seems to be working at Napoli for him.

Need more consistency in performances and results now. 3 games is 3 games, Everton & Villa next another 2 winnable games. Then Liverpool squashed in after them before we play Wolves & Brighton, who again, we should be looking to beat. If we can build up some momentum and promising performances people, including myself, may be a bit more optimistic about next season but again, the managers nowhere near out of the woods yet for me - needs to finish strongly this season. Still been a very poor season collectively and I don’t think how he’s handled things has been entirely convincing.

Not sure why we would need to sign him now. Granted he could play with Enzo a bit higher but I don’t think his profile is the correct type for us now. Particularly if we continue with a back 3 as well because we’ve still got Kovacic and Kante. Plus Mount if he isn’t sold if we revert to a 3 man MF. He seems to be the opposite of what we need in MF. Also no more attacking midfielders please… focus on CDM/CM, CF and look for a top top GK if possible. Even then, 27, still playing in Brazil, that screams red flag to me instantly. Brazil cap or not - surely he would be in Europe by now if he was that good (as ignorant as it may sound).

Fofana and Enzo great. Mudryk much better - international break now though utter shite. Leicester still created some big chances but wins a win.

😂 Hmm why would he include road tripped across the Scottish highlands of all things. Like it gives him credibility… As somebody from there, wouldn’t exactly be shouting from the rooftops about road tripping it on a football website, so many other interesting places to go - although it is nice in the summer (on the odd chance when it doesn’t piss of rain in May/June/July). Certainly hope he wasnt watching any football up this way for sure be enough to scare him off and so much better places to go see football 😂😂

Never heard that. At all. But who knows - hard to speculate now because its just been said to be about his private life so could mean anything.

Is he really that good? I mean for the £40-50m which he is apparently going to cost if Southampton stay up? I get that against us he looked decent but who didn’t for Southampton that day. I know there was a bid for him in the summer too after Southampton signed him (which I didn’t understand considering they got him for £14m at the beginning of the window - why did we not just go for him then?). Not seen a huge amount of him but I am a bit dubious, was even dubious after the 35m bid (IIRC was that or 40) in the summer. Also would be surprised if City go for him considering they have Rodri and Kalvin Phillips who are more defensively minded. I would much rather we went for Declan Rice or even Bruno Guimaraes out of the names I’ve seen that we’ve been linked to for MF players recently. Players with a bit more experience and who are proven but still young enough and can still improve to be a long term part of the team. Rice in particular is at a point where he’s pretty decent in a lot of facets of his game and I think he could progress a level or two here. Granted his performances for West Ham have been mixed and he has still got issues to iron out in his game but I think he’s ready to play here or at a United or at a City or at a Liverpool etc.

Ultimately we still have to win games. Unless people think focusing on finishing in and around 10th place when theres still what 10 or 11 games to go is ok and would be beneficial as long as we play the new signings….. Yes technically their might not be much to play for like trophies or CL spots as I think thats out of our grasp but the manager isn’t out of the woods yet and the team needs more than 2 wins in succession. I mean ideally, he should probably stick with the majority of the team which have featured in the last 2 games. The performances haven’t been fantastic but you cannot tell me chopping and changing now after going periods without getting any results, with the injuries we’ve had, the change in system and clear signs of some players getting more confident, would be a good thing to do? The last 2 matches Mudryk or Madueke haven’t played from the start so why shoehorn them into a winning team ahead of the others ie Raheem, Havertz and Joao Felix? I mean if Raheems injured ok take him out but no point rejigging the whole front 3. I mean ultimately we’ve not seen enough consistency from any of the front 3 regardless of personnel but Havertz scored and played his best game in a while, Sterling scored and for sure Felix has shown much more than Mudryk or Madueke so not sure what the insistence, particularly for Mudryk (it seems to be every prematch on here - his price tag shouldn’t dictate he starts and I can’t remember the last time he started and wasn’t subbed of for playing poorly), on putting them in the team unnecessarily is. Theres only 8 points between us and Liverpool. Its not impossible to close the gap and we should be prioritising trying to leapfrog some of the likes of Brentford, Brighton, Fulham and Newcastle in the table at the very least.

Tbf the links to City and United are interesting, United more so because I can actually see him playing there. Then obviously, the big ones, Liverpool and Klopp, makes sense. Bruno Fernandes has played a lot of big games this season on the right with Weghourst dropping more in the 10 role, Rashford playing upfront and Sancho on the left. Perhaps Mount could feature there centrally as a 10 and Fernandes could also play on the right still? Then allows chance that EtH uses Rashford as an actual 9? Or there is possibly every opportunity that Mount could feature in tandem in that sort of wider right or wider left role like Fernandes has done with another attacking midfielder. I do think he would definitely play a lot for United as opposed to at City but again, particularly think he will play most weeks at Liverpool under Klopp if they were ro sign him. The United links actually make sense as they haven’t got particularly great squad depth and Mason is definitely someone who if he gets back to how he was playing last season, will be more than a valuable player who can start a lot of games. Could be dangerous actually as Ten Hag could potentially push him on, I mean look at the output and improvements he’s got from players such as Rashford, Sancho, Luke Shaw, even Wan-Bissaka looks like he resembles an alright footballer now. City - I don’t see it entirely but if Bernardo Silva were to leave as well as Ilkay Gundogan, if Mason were available for a reasonable price in their eyes, who knows? Although I’d expect them and Liverpool to be wanting Bellingham first and foremost before prioritising any other players. And really? Tielemans and Rabiot? I’d be pretty confident in saying either won’t be going to big clubs either - or definitely not City, Liverpool or United. Not a chance. Maybe they’ll get a team in the bracket below the top 4 teams in the PL but doubtful. I think in particular United could of signed Tielemans to cover for Eriksen after his injury but instead went for Sabitzer on loan - so for me, that speaks volumes. Sabitzer not a bad player but wouldn’t say he’s a great one. And no chance we will sell Kovacic this sunmer, surely. Would be a dumb dumb move but after selling Jorginho to Arsenal who knows. Could have easily kept Jorginho to the summer for depth instead of relying on/using Loftus-Cheek in games.

Interesting. Wonder what it is. I mean if its about his private life though then it also begs the question, how bad is it to have been a hugely deciding factor that caused the club to sack him? I mean its not as if we haven’t had scandals before regarding private lives. For example, the Terry-Bridge situation and that was a pretty intense event at the time due to media coverage of it so it would have to be vastly catastrophic you’d of thought. Even the whole Abramovich-Putin links and sanction talks after that nerve agent attack however many years ago and then Russia-Ukraine more recently. Was a lot of noise and ultimately led to Boehly & co taking over. Eventually. Theres talk that at this hearing in Munich, there is a lot of doubt about how true his ex-wife’s claims are. She had apparently put them in an email and sent it to him (to blackmail him maybe?) but I suppose we will see how it unfolds. Maybe she was jealous because he’s moved on as I think its been heavily journalised in most British papers since his divorce? Or maybe she does have something that Thomas did that is truly despicable, who knows? I suppose either way the injunction could be a form of damage control because even if these things are untrue, people may think what if he did? Maybe damage his reputation and affect him getting future employment? That last season was hugely uncomfortable for him. The Lukaku interview, his marriage falling apart & divorce, the Russia-Ukraine questions, sanctions questions, ownership questions, will the club seize to exist etc all in the space of say 2 or 3 months so I think whatever the reasons, these things maybe contributed and wound him up. But until we know what the reasons are 100%, its only speculation.

Every Benfica player will be expensive. Particularly someone who has a goal a game basically at his age. Not to mention he was productive at the WC too.

I think he could have a similar relationship with somebody like Rashford although granted Son is borderline world class (or for me at least). Not only that, he would have Fernandes who would take the creative burden off him he has at Spurs and allow him to perhaps just focus more on goals. But is pushing Spurs out of the top 4 worth it if means it further strengthens United? Who are nailed on for top 4 already and will probably reinvest again? Spurs much less of a concern than United IMO because they will never invest the same or attract the level of players. Perhaps but they will get 2 or 3 very good seasons out of Kane at least. Depending how he looks after himself maybe a fourth. Ultimately its hard to tell for sure but I can see him going strong to 33 or 34 minimum because he’s never really been about pace or even physicality although he can offer it.

United getting Kane would be dangerous for teams so preferably they don’t. He would be better staying at Spurs than going to a United or whoever he may want to join to in the PL - for everyones sakes. I mean If Rashford in particular keeps up these performances and keeps kicking on (I think he will now he has a proper more than competent coach), him playing with Kane has the potential to be similar to what Son and Kane are.

Still get the feeling there is more to come from him. Times where he makes it look easy but then there are times where it looks like he’s going through the motions. I do think he is a future captain here though, as mentioned above, leading by example is just as vital in a captain as shouting and being boisterous around the park. The being more vocal/talking through the game more often will come too.

Thats the 3 monthly decent performance done, wait and see nothing else decent to the end of the season now. Why can’t he play like that more often? I do suppose thats why his future will be under scrutiny in the summer and again, rightfully so. Cant afford to rely on players who only show up once every blue moon when they feel like it.

Personally think he suits the European games better than the PL ones. The tempos slightly slower, not quite as quick as the PL but he did do pretty well tonight along with Cucurella. Still consistently doing it now has to be the key. He was decent in the first leg v BVB too tbf to KK.

Well thats the thing, what good is it beating Dortmund if we cannot show up against lesser PL sides? Fair enough beating big teams is good but to make progress we need to perform consistently every week and beat every team in front of us. Thats why I am wary of thinking we will turn any corners under Potter, he will probably have felt we were underdogs going into this tie despite having a superior squad. Wait and see back to usual v Leicester because we will crumble being favourites. This team is still very very fragile as we seen in periods tonight before and after the goals.

Also inadvertently just because we’ve won, can see people maybe starting to get excited/Potter in. I wouldn’t. We aren’t out of the woods yet. Not even close. As we seen after beating Milan twice earlier in the season, things can change. Plus bits of performance has not convinced me that we are going anywhere any time fast. We will play better teams than Dortmund, who over the 2 legs still had plenty of good opportunities to score against us, so lets see who we get and then go from there. A proper proper top team would of killed us over 2 legs but we also had plenty chances to score also. Be back to the same shite at the weekend now wait and see.

Another result to paper over the cracks. Not convincing throughout the whole game bar the odd 10-15 minute spells, luckily Dortmund were pretty tame going forward. Lets see what happens v Leicester now. A step in the right direction result wise but performances still leave a lot to be desired as their patchy in terms of consistency. Also can we stop the “why isnt he playing Mudryk/he will ruin Mudryk” I mean cmon to fuck, he done fuck all for 3 games in a row which he started. It’s absolutely criminal you’d think he was Messi by how you lot are going ok about him. If theres one thing Potter has gotten right is using him sparingly because he’s not shown anywhere near enough in the previous games. And even then, it could be just because of what the squad is. I mean we are in this position with a lot of players because of the club so its going to play on the manager. Boehly wouldnt loan Pulisic in the summer despite Tuchel’s insistence he wasn’t part of his plans (TB believed to gave vetoed it for “marketing reasons” of having US mens team world cup “star player” as part of the squad obviously hoping he and they would do well) then we fucked up getting rid of Ziyech. Not the managers fault he has 7362 attackers to pick from.

It won’t happen obviously but should have been done months ago. A scrappy 1-0 against Leeds and even going through tonight won’t hide the fact performances have been abysmal under him bar his first few weeks. Not to mention the win ratio he has in comparison to other managers, its poor. Its clear snd obvious he’s out of his depth looking at that. I think its likely end of the season we will be looking elsewhere, despite the rumblings they want to give him a pre season. I mean Boehly & co cannot be serious about becoming an elite club with this guy in charge.

Not sure what to make of Enzo and Kova partnership so far. You’d think we would have more a foothold in the game in terms of possession but we don’t really. And thats meant to be their strengths, getting on the ball and controlling games (particularly Fernandez that was the big lure for buying him because he could do that and play forward).

Typical. Knew De Zebri would be in the running either way. Honestly I think Boehly-Clearlake should of just bought fucking Brighton.

So would we all but even the likes of Badiashile and Enzo (in some games), both January signings, have looked a lot more ready and contributed more than Mudryk has. Different positions but consistency is key. He was always going to need time but people seem to think he is some sort of world class player and should be playing regardless for whatever reason. He is not. He is a good player but he is severely out of form and capable of playing much better than he has done. I think people are extremely keen to see him do well because we got him ahead of Arsenal. I mean Graham Potter has a lot to answer for this season but he’d given him a fair good number of games in a row after his Liverpool cameo where he looked good. Playing in his favoured position. I’m certain he was subbed in most of them. This would usually mean the player has not had an impact in the team, meaning he was dropped for someone else the next week. Hardly a bad managerial decision if I am honest. I only wish he’d do it with Kai also.

Mudryk at LWB and Cucurella LCB? Oh boy. Honestly not sure of what logic is behind playing Mudryk at LWB but it does seem like people have a hard on for shoehorning him in the team/playing him from the start when he’s done fuck all bar a cameo v Liverpool. I mean he did get a run of starts and looked off the pace, resulting in behind subbed in basically all of them IIRC. He didn’t have much impact in the previous game v Dortmund either bar maybe one half decent moment.

Madrid long been mooted with tracking him also though and with Benzema ageing, wouldn't surprise me.