OneMoSalah

More importantly the attacking players they've signed with Klopp (barring Firmino who was a BR signing) seem to fit a specific profile/have certain characteristics that make them well suited to his philosophy. The majority of their forward players are extremely fast, good dribblers, young enough but having gained enough experience at a relatively decent standard and capable goalscorers, which is a huge huge help. Every successful team that plays with a 433 has inside forwards now over traditional wingers. Plus this has been a huge feature of German football and teams over the years.

End of the day, the excuses or whatever, none of the pair of them are the right fit or more importantly and accurately, good enough for a team that wants to be fighting for the big trophies every season. The Timo movement argument for me, I dont get why you persist with it. I mean okay yes movement is all well and good in the final third but its still gonna be pointless without a proper stream of goals/if the guy flukes the easiest looking chance in the world etc etc. Be it Timo or Romelu or someone else scoring them. Goals is something we are lacking from the forward players and something we also lacked last season. Even the at least he’s getting assists argument, would this argument of been valid for a Torres or a Falcao? Or a Morata? Or well anybody else… I severely doubt it because they are/were goalscorers and thats what we expected with Timo. He does work hard though, which granted for a player who has been through 2 huge barren runs, missed so many easy chances and can’t get in the team really, is encouraging but barring that, just don’t think he cuts it on a footballing level.

We’re missing more than the wingbacks. Could do with Drogba and Anelka coming out of retirement.

Raphinha would be a great buy. I think he is definitely capable of being a top top player at an elite level club. Would happily swap him for any of those two as well either way.

100% inaccurate. But its Lukaku so I can get why its very much anyone but him would do. But again Werner went on like two runs of 10+ games not scoring in his first season. Or something incredibly stupid along those lines. Maybe he had some “movement” in those games as many people alludes to during that run but unfortunately, movement doesn’t win football matches at the of the day. End of the day every attacking signing we’ve made (Lukaku, Werner, Havertz, Ziyech) in the last 18 months, have struggled to inspire confidence and would say more importantly, consistency. I think that video interview may have put the nails in our season, never mind Rom’s Chelsea career. We seem deflated. I know we’ve got this CWC final and Carabao Cup final but we’ve been very very flat and look very deflated for a good while now. I know people will say we had a decent front 3 and system last season but lets not forget those players, when they’ve played this season (albeit not together anywhere near as often - couldn’t tell you the amount of times they have) have done very little individually (Mount has an alright G&A though to be fair) which is even more worrying because based on their levels, its not as throwing those 3 back together for the foreseeable may necessarily make a difference either.

Not sure what to make of all the attackers. Again. People will single out Rom specifically but Ziyech and Havertz, what is going on with them? All three of them didn’t show any real moments of quality today to make me think wow, those guys are Chelsea calibre or we are better with them in the team. And its not like this hasn’t been reoccurring all season for most of them….

Everton were absolutely appalling defensively tonight. The state of those goals were shocking. Keep defending like that and they will end up in the championship. Newcastle out of bottom 3 too, still think this month or two is crucial for them though as they need to keep winning as they’ve still got us, Spurs, Arsenal, City and Liverpool to play again yet.

Yep. Round peg in a square hole unfortunately but its an option we have to use until the summer. If we go back to a 3 more often than a 4 he would be better suited as a LCB though undoubtedly.

Who of our actual attackers/wingers are starting at other top clubs though? Very easy to say its coaching but they’ve been very poor. We wouldn’t miss the likes of Pulisic, Werner, Ziyech etc if they were sold tomorrow. Even Havertz recently, he has been, well, Havertz. Mount also has dipped.

225k? Why are we even fucking about? Lol. If thats what he wants, pay him that. He's been arguably the best or one of the best CBs in Europe this season and also hugely upturned his performances when TT came in. Would be ridiculous if he doesn’t resign because we try lowball him by 25k….. would be near amateur really. For me, getting this one wrong also sets a huge precedent for other players ie. Kova, Jorginho, Kante etc who are all either approaching 12-24 months left on their deals. I know they can say the club has contingency’s for if these 3 defenders don’t resign but the manner in which we won’t get these deals done could be very worrying.

Not sure on international front. If thats the type of player he is, and he can cut it playing for a bigger club, thats fair enough. I will try and watch some Stuttgart games at some point also before seasons finished to see. I mean if I had singled you out fair but I didn’t single you out. I said I doubt many people here have watched him… or maybe heard of him outside of recent links which generally tends to happen with a lot of these players or players in purple patches that come from nowhere. Can you shed some light on him as a player? I’ll be honest, I think the way you do it going on from YouTube to matches etc, building it up, its much better and definitely much more thorough than solely going off youtube. I quite like trying to watch games as you can see all the aspects of the players/team, the good and the bad. As opposed to highlights. And thats for any games. I used to download the games around the time of Jose’s second spell first season when they were available through links on here IIRC and watch them just to try and see a bit more into what we were doing as a team/where we weren’t as good or where we were excelling. Also made it easier I think to look at what players like Eto’o, Willian, Matic when they arrived and were played etc were like as opposed to going and watching a highlights reel from previous clubs or previous seasons or in match highlights that generally show red cards, clear cut chances and goals. For players, I think its much better to make an assumption of their capabilities that way too by seeing both sides, the good and the bad and your more likely to see that watching the games at home or if your lucky enough, live. Thats why I think Youtube alone can be very dangerous just to form an opinion on a player, usually you just see highlight after highlight of what you would perceive as good things (granted they probably are) but you don’t get to see any weaknesses or points they maybe are decent in but not quite all there. Plus (although I suppose this is the same for all players) then you also have to consider the level/quality of opposition/quality of the team their in. And then you’ve got the people who also speed videos up amongst the rest of the other things haha. Some nice points on Sosa, I will try and watch some Stuttgart games if I have the time. Would like to get a look at him. Also great post. Perhaps it does come across as a bit narrow minded. In hindsight maybe I should of been a bit more clearer. I think its more just impossible to truly turn around and say that a player is this or that without maybe taking time and trying to keep an eye on them in matches where you get to see the good and the bad things. Also even things like how they are positioned, how they take the ball amongst other things even if its followed up with basic actions or a poor pass or a shot or whatever because even things like that can sometimes be telling of a player’s quality. And things like off the ball movement even if they don’t get a pass or anything too, highlight reels usually don’t go quite as deep as to show say a 20-30m run off the ball which could be a good one but the ball stays ok the other side of the pitch etc. I suppose again, its all everyones own opinions but I just don’t really think that they are completely telling and just tend to show the flashy things.

Don’t see this as a bad move as he is a very good player but why are Barcelona all of a sudden going for older players such as Aguero, Dani Alves, Aubamayang and now Brozovic (think hes maybe 29 though and thats probably not as old but definitely not like their previous age group of players they went after ie talented u23s or guys who were around 25/26/27)? Just because they were free or? They've already got aging guys like Pique and Busquets also.

I tend to agree. I would doubt many people here actually have watched Sosa or even had heard of him outside of say FM or the recent links. Or there may be the dreaded good old Youtube highlight reel which shows the good things such as skills or dribbles or whatever and nothing bad usually at about 1.5/2 x the speed of a normal game 😂 Never know, he could be a very good signing but again I think it’s definitely one to wait and see how it plays out in the summer. Wouldn’t say Sancho was a flavour of the month, good player with huge potential just vastly overpriced and overhyped a bit too soon. What boxes does he tick exactly though, I mean have you watched him play? And not just the YouTube compilations which make everybody look good? What sort of player is he exactly? I mean I’ve never watched a Stuttgart game in all my life and he only has 5 caps for Croatia at 24 years old. Ironically he is my starting LB for Roma on Football Manager 22 but had no real clue who he was prior to the links to potentially coming here last week 😂

Tbf on Mata, as confused as many were when we sold him at the time, he would never have played regularly in Conte’s or Sarri’s teams either after Mourinho, which again he didn’t really fit the team at all. Technically a great player but just never had the athleticism to play in those sort of teams in those wider attacking positions. Obviously he could unlock the door in tight moments in games from the bench but I couldn’t see him playing as well as the likes of Pedro or Hazard in those managers systems or starting anywhere near as often. Plus Eden was always going to start usurping him as the most important player in that team when Mourinho came in, either 1st season or 2nd and the team was always going to be much better off geared around Eden’s game than Juan’s in my opinion. Roma had a option to buy him included (probably became an obligation after a certain amount of matches played like most Italian teams tend to do) in the loan, so ultimately whoever decided to make such an agreement cost us the opportunity to see Salah as a Chelsea player at a much higher level we seen before. He was originally meant to spend the 18 months on loan at Fiorentina as part of Cuadrado deal (they also had a buy option which Salah rejected) but only spent 6 months and Roma agreed a loan with purchase similarly to what Fiorentina did the winter window beforehand. I’m sure Fiorentina tried to report us and Mo to FIFA at the time.

I’ve seen it reaches £40m with performance related incentives, £20m of it upfront and then another that it was just £40m. But again, could be anything. Nothings ever really a free transfer these days because even if it was, I’d imagine his wages probably be a good scoop, he’s on 100k a week apparently which is top 3/4 earners in their squad. And I don’t ever see him being the player he was before so it seems a risk. Actually excited to see VdB play because at Ajax he was a very interesting player. Patterson interesting move for Everton, talented clearly but wasn’t even a regular at Rangers who’s captain is their RB (albeit he’s like 30) and still performing well. Long term investment for Everton if I am honest, Coleman is god knows how old now and a shadow of the player he was.

Jesus christ, I know you dislike Alonso something hellish but Matt Targett is pish 😂

Yeah don’t see why he will be a ‘big miss’ in and around the first team as he's only been involved with the first team for about 2 and a half seasons since Frank promoted him. Clearly part of a hugely successful academy set up but again it was a huge collective effort and its not as if it were a one man job. All in all, the likelihood of this situation just frees up space for Tuchel to take one more coach in that he’s worked with previously at either Mainz, Dortmund or Paris or, potentially, what about if he tries to tempt JT to take a position? So again, will he really be a big miss? Or is he really a ‘top class coach’ because in all likelihood I doubt Simon Phillips is any wiser than the rest of us regarding whether he is or isn’t …. No idea…. I mean I’d imagine he did something specific but what that was, who knows.

How the fuck have Spurs got 40m for Dele Alli? Forty fucking million for a player who is utter dogshite. Jesus. Lampard’s good transfer record out the window already 🤣

Exactly. No point signing someone the same level as Alonso for the sakes of 3 or 4 months…. hence why we probably tried to recall Emerson instead of going and spending an extravagant sum of money in the worst possible time to ever buy. If the right players aren’t available, don’t panic buy. Dembele is a really interesting move, a really interesting profile of player who plays both sides, extremely quick, very good in 1 v 1s and the final pass. Just needs to get his career going again properly after he had those very 2 promising and productive seasons at Rennes and Dortmund. No doubt he’s showed flashes at Barca despite the consensus ‘he’s done nothing in Spain’ or ‘always been injured’ but it is still potentially a calculated risk. Tuchel did say he was one of the most naturally talented footballers he has ever seen so probably this, the fact it won’t be an absolute fortune as Barca want shot of him and most importantly the fact our attack is well whatever it is, its not necessarily move. I mean can he really he any worse than what these mob are doing for us just now in the final third?

Would be delighted if we made a move for him. Top player. But would mean that surely someone’s leaving in attack?

he shouldn’t be near a professional football club again*** Anyone convicted of rape and domestic abuse/assault shouldn’t have any sort of career in elite sports. Has to rot in a jail cell for a period of time. And ironically, the number 11 shirt at Man United has been donned by another massive cunt again.

Was he that bad? Maybe I’ve got the games mixed up but thought he did not bad v Juve…

He did well v Juventus in a false 9/central position did he not? He can’t have it both ways.

Top signing for Liverpool if it goes through. Fuck.

This is spot on. I am sorry but any other manager under the same circumstances, we would of been expected to get top 4. I think your lying to yourself thinking otherwise! We got rid of Conte for finishing 5th and effectively pushed Sarri out the door for finishing 3rd yet people really believe the club would of sat down at the beginning of pre-season and thought something along the lines of ‘you know what, Frank, we aren’t expected to get top 4, so if we don’t, we don’t and if we do, we do’. Bullshit. Eden and Luiz there or not, that squad was still capable of getting top 4 for sure and the youngsters only strengthened the squad IMO, James despite having some ups and downs was clearly better than Zappacosta, Mount was clearly better then Barkley, Tammy better than Batshuayi and you could easily argue Tomori did much better than David Luiz, who looked absolutely pathetic in the pre season. Even if by some minor miracle, blowing a 12 point lead from midway through the season and only managing to scrape top 4 on the final day of the season, I don’t care what anyones expectations were, that is not good enough (or it wouldn’t be for any other manager). Once in such a position, to blow a 12 point lead due to tactical naivety and poor performances, very disappointing. So if we didn’t finish 4th that season having been in that position, it would of been a disaster. How anyone calls it a major achievement is beyond me. It was purely because it was Frank Lampard that it was an achievement and I’m still sticking to my guns that Sarri would of done a better job from prior to Frank’s appointment because at least he had an actual style and you could see what it was. Barring 2 good runs here, Frank’s team didn’t have anything of the sort.