OneMoSalah

If we somehow structured some sort of deal with them, for around 70-80m maybe but I severely doubt they’ll settle for anything less than their release clause. Even before the WC I would of doubted so. His WC performances have just reinforced their player value. Both Benfica and Porto are notoriously tough negotiators and always have been when they know theyve got huge talent. So it’ll be interesting to see what happens if our interest is true.

Yep fully agree. You can still see clear clear flaws in his game though. He still runs into people with the ball too much and his finishing is also pretty bad for a high % of the decent chances he gets. Yesterday was the first game I’ve seen of him in recent times where he looked close to a reasonable level footballer. But yet again, in the first half, I think most of us on here could of played for us because Bournemouth were that passive and just sat off the boys. Also, is it just me or does Kai have this awful awful habit of pressing people into positions where they have next to nothing on and then fucking fouling them? To relieve the pressure? Its like he’s braindead.

Apparently his personal trainer criticised the club/GP for playing him on social media and him getting injured.

We aren’t going to sign Enzo in January for 120m euros. Not a chance. Also just like we aren’t going to sign Joao Felix on loan. I mean why would Atletico loan out someone who cost them upwards of 100m when it is clear he is open to leaving and they are open to a sale? Doesnt benefit then at all - I mean look at the whole Saul situation here, where we had an option to buy him, they aren't falling for that shite again.

We need to try and get the balance right. This team has a lot of guys who are coming to the end/downwards part of their careers (Silva, Aubamayang, Koulibaly, Jorginho, Azpilicueta, Kante) but you cannot necessarily just sign 5 or 6 18 year olds, throw them in straight away and expect them to plug that gap. They need time to grow. We need some guys who are say 24,25,26, a bit more seasoned and able to carry the can a bit in terms of experience and add/help maintain the culture when certain players leave also because we’ve seen in the past when players such as Drogba, Terry, Ash, Petr left that its not easy to replace them off the pitch. The signings of a lot of younger players is going to be an issue if we don’t get up and going with this multi club model. That is also a concern because it will be difficult to establish as we've already seen. The guys all wont play immediately and there are restrictions for the amount of loans you can do coming into play either next year or the following one.

So we are basically turning into Arsenal. Lots of young players. Unproven at a high level. With the idea of being successful 5-10 years down the line. Big risk.

Was only one full season of football though. But again, people get extremely ahead of themselves because someone under the age of 21, where sometimes they've only had one good season in their whole career, is instantly deemed some sort of star in the making. There are exceptions ie. Bellingham and Haaland but particularly PL based players under the age of 21, people are OTT. Not to say there aren’t good players but the amount of stars in the making comments I’ve seen over the years regarding players who haven’t/don’t become that level, it is frightening.

Shouldn’t matter if he’s durable or not. Was never ever good enough for the money we paid for him.

Theo Hernandez having a shocker defensively. Been the weak line in the France team all tournament.

Seems like he would be better suited to playing for City than Liverpool tbf, although they did buy Kalvin Phillips and already have Rodri there. If Liverpool go for him instead of Bellingham even then - it would be a good signing. Although Thiago sort of does what he does and more but he is younger and a long term signing if done. Also has an aggressiveness about him like most typical South American CMs.

I dont get why. Like at all. Even saying hes a quality manager? Based on what? Barring one treble and a double with Barcelona in a 2 year period with the greatest front 3 they’ve ever had (sure they had 100+ g&a’s combined both of those seasons), he’s achieved next to nothing of any note outside of that as a manager in a career that spans almost 15 years. The other top managers do it elsewhere, or have a historical track record. He doesn't. I mean if he had gone and proven himself at another club since or had a couple of good spells which progressed his career, maybe, but he hasn’t really had success outside of Barcelona. Maybe a bit at Celta Vigo but jesus christ thats like the Potter-Brighton thing here. And was 1 season. I am sorry but his Spain teams also have to be up there with some of the most boring sides in modern European NT history. Like the needless passing it amongst their 18 yard box and in their own half going backwards and square is absolutely balls to watch. Its ball possession for the sake of it with no real intention of forcing the issue.

Lets be honest he’s never looked after himself seriously and based on numerous reports/interviews, never took training as seriously as probably 2/3’s of the players in that sort of bracket he was in prior to his move to Madrid. The sort of just below the best in the world grouping. And in this day and age it was always going to catch him up. Particularly fitness.

Already talking about playing at us or ‘biggest club in the world’ Real Madrid, christ. Just let your football do the talking son - good talent clearly but not interested in all of these ‘oh maybe be nice to play here or play there’ comments. Especially for a young lad.

Even Timo Werner would of scored at least 2 of those 4 big chances he had in that game yesterday. And he’s also quite prone to shitting the bed in front of goal. Horrendous footballer.

I’m pretty certain Nagelsmann would be categorised as an elite manager despite Bayern maybe not being as good as people expect them to be at present. I still think his work in Germany has been pretty good all things considered ie the clubs he was at before, his age and lack of/amount of coaching experience and how his careers progressed so far. Personally I think Bayern are in a funny moment. I mean they’ve let 2 serial winners, who were experienced and world class talents in Thiago and Lewandowski leave in recent windows without replacing them with ready made/like for like quality so there was always going to be the inevitability that they’d maybe not be the same team they were without them/performances may drop because they were key players (although Mane is world class but signing him as an out and out CF to replace Lewa is a bit mad). Particularly Lewandowski who I think makes the difference in most sides despite his age. As well the fact they’ve sort of overhauled their squad over the past 4 or 5 seasons with younger players coming in and older ones leaving ie Hummels, Boateng, Javi Martinez, Douglas Costa, Robben, Ribery. Or at least thats how I see it re Nagelsmann and Bayern. I mean Hansi Flick did an exceptional job there without really being regarded as an exceptional manager but Kovac, who is a decent enough manager - not elite though - struggled there and Ancelotti has also struggled there. I would say Nagelsmann is doing better than those 2. Probably the same scenario that Juventus had a few seasons ago, a lot of aging players needing changed out, fresh blood needed, perhaps a new style/adaption of their style needed - but they didn’t do it quickly enough and now they are in the scenario which they are in where if they’d maybe done it sooner it would of been smoother. I don’t think Bayern are in a similar scenario because they didn’t leave it last minute they’ve managed to refresh an older group pretty well over 5 to 6 years.

Apparently so… I mean I doubt it. But here we are. Potter will one day become a good manager but he will never be an elite manager like the Contes, Joses, Peps, Klopps, Carlos, Tuchels, Nagelsmanns etc. And ultimately in the long run, that will only get us so far. So let’s see how things go. I am a bit concerned about the next 12-18 months if I am honest. I mean he doesn’t even have the pedigree that ten Hag and even Brendan Rodgers to a lesser extent have and I doubt we will give him the 2.5 seasons of mediocrity like Artetas gotten (which is by the skin of his teeth - as fans were eager to chuck him multiple times before this season) at Arsenal. I mean the ruthless firing and hiring culture from the last regime, even now with a new owner in place, will always lurk in the background. Always. Because it was successful also - yielding a lot of results. It certainly remains to be seen if Boehly will stick with his plan. Plus with continued investment that will be at City and potentially new investment coming in at Liverpool and Man United at some point in say the next 12 or 18 months or so, it remains to be seen IF enough progress will be made with GP to satisfy it. I mean I am a bit worried that if both United and Liverpool get new owners, new investment, that it could change the game for us again if we waste another 12-18 months fannying about. We are in a position now this season where we are looking at the likes of Man United and Spurs as opposed to us trying to close the gap to the top two teams of last season. Plus Arsenal leapfrogging out of nowhere too surprisingly. Its difficult to see what the goal for this season is atm, is it top 4? is it top 6? Dare I say it…. is it top 8?

Ronaldo, Bailey and Pickford linked with us in the last week. Yep Todd Boehly is 100% clueless. If anyone was in doubt before they shouldn't be now. The guy is absolutely shocking. Is it too early to ask for new owners? 😂

Poor for both goals. In a real bad spell ATM

Bit annoyed at the vast pundits, out in Qatar, heavily criticising Qatar for their cultures and laws (although the culture and law is an absolute shambles and the discrimination and human rights out there are a joke). Talk about hypocrisy at its finest, their getting paid to be there. Surely a bigger statement would be not to go - send a real message. Everyone of them from Gary Neville to Rio Ferdinand to Alex Scott, the financial side of things clearly outweigh sending the right message. Also the FAs who bottled the one love captain armbands are a joke. Don’t say your going to make a statement if your not going to, embarrassing.

He has had a pretty consistent run of games under TT and Potter in the last 2/2.5 seasons who play the same formations and basically have similar footballing ideologies/philosophies though and still hasn’t really done anything where you go “wow” or performed consistently over large periods. Even this season, looking at individual moments, I mean barring the screamer he scored against Salzburg I am struggling to think of any hugely notable contributions/performances. That Calvin Klein advert is… well… sums up his career at the moment. In fact it will probably make his season highlight reel/compilation come the end of the season because I doubt he will do a great deal footballing wise to fill it up. Honestly would say unless he has a good world cup, we will probably end up selling him for 40-50m in the summer.

Selling Kante for 18m would be a mistake. Couldn't believe the reports and if their true, then whatever little faith left in Boehly I have - virtually none existent as it is - will be gone completely. We need to get someone in younger yes but selling Kante outright would be a huge error - still can deliver in big games. Fitness has been a problem but you can see the difference in our team with a fully fit Kante compared to without, its night and day. I think he could be used in the same way Jose used Maka in his last season. Be like the Matic-Bakayoko thing all over again although those two weren’t at the level of Kante and Rice. For me, Matic definitely had another season at least of use here and he would of got the minutes for sure as Conte was a huge fan. Just the financial offer was too great to say no to at that age although even Conte admitted he wanted to keep him. I am still skeptical at how good Rice will be at a top club, considering the inevitable 100m+ price. I mean his progression has been good and steady but West Ham are still a pretty pragmatic team a lot of the time. England are also a pragmatic team too. He suits the profile of what we need though. Its just if he can go and up his game and compete against some of these top top level MFers out there regularly.

Yet “Tuchel didnt know how to build a team” and all 3 of them “should be bench warmers now” if you read half the pages on here. Why when we were tactically at our best under TT did they shine?

What a waste of the best years of a otherwise top career. Stupid cunt.

Should of stuck to baseball. This seasons dead rubber after sacking Tuchel.

We must be the best team in the world at having the ball in the oppositions half at a throw in or free kick and somehow endint up passing it back to the GK. Utter pish. Calling it now - Graham Potter will not be Chelsea manager next season 100%.