manpe

My coworker lives with his girlfriend and they both fell ill at the same time with the same symptoms. His girlfriend got a positive test and was confirmed to be omicron, but all my coworker's quick tests and PCR test were negative. Both are vaxxed and had covid last january. Can somebody please explain to me how is this possible? Did all those tests really just fail, or is omicron really as contagious as they say? It makes zero sense.

I don't understand what you guys expect from a January window? Would Digne or Dest really be better? Both apparently want permanent transfers, not loans. Dest is also a right-back, a right-footed player... Why is he even in discussion for LWB? Has he ever played that position? Dest could come in as backup to Reece judging by Tuchel's recent comments, but that still leaves our left side exposed. Which leaves only Digne as a realistic option for LWB, but do we want an emergency stopgap on a permanent transfer without trying him out first (loaning)? I would want permanent transfers only for players that are truly quality and are in the club's future plans, not a wantaway who is being offered around to clubs because of his stinky attitude. If we could loan him first, sure why not, but otherwise a BIG no from me. What does that leave us? Emerson or Maatsen, neither are ideal, but probably the best options we got.

Did he? I swear he played some cup games. I think he even played LCB position once or twice.

Tuchel said that he likes him and prefers to have him back because he's already familiar with his system. Makes perfect sense.

Where would that leave Gallagher though? He needs to be in the squad next season, he's good enough. Would also save us from splooging 30mill, which we can use for our CB needs. If we're not going to sell one of Kante, Jorginho or Kovacic, then I don't see why the club would go for Saul. His performances have gone from dogshit to bare minimum of what is expected of him, nothing so far to show why he should stay.

Perfect, his rationality and calmness have been key in managing this. Imagine Mourinho or even Conte handling such a situation, it would have been a clusterfuck. Glad to have Super Tommy Tuchel. Talking about Man United, it seems to me they want to be seen as a hipster club with all those unusual manager appointments. They haven't hired a single world-class manager since Ferguson. How on earth they thought Solskjaer would be it is beyond my comprehension... A guy with only experience managing in Norway and getting sacked by Cardiff within the same year after relegating them. Now they hired a football director from Russia to get them out of the slump. 🤦‍♂️ Long may it continue.

It's behind a paywall. What are the main points from that article?

"I have unfinished business at Chelsea", "My dream is to one day play for Chelsea" yada yada... A slithering snake cunt he is. After only a couple of months he's already given up, weak player, zero mentality only ego. And he says all that after scoring 2 games in a row building some form and momentum, undoes it all by being dropped because of his big mouth. He probably wants back to Italy bc he realized he hasn't actually improved at all, he just looks better in weaker Serie A and will never be a star player in EPL. I seriously hoped it would work out, but just fuck off you one-dimensional fraud.

Lmao Antonio trying to beat Mendy from kick-off

MASOOOOOOOOOOON !!!!!!!!! WHAT A HIT

His confidence is shot, looks lost all the time. I was super worried yesterday seeing that makeshift line-up with him in it, but luckily Tuchel acted quickly and rest of the boys grinded out the result. His transfer wasn't bad, it was worth a shot with it being only a loan with option to buy. If he comes good we can buy him, if he doesn't we'll just ship him back. Smart business with minimal risk. Ruben has anyway stepped up so he can fill our 4th choice spot in MF, which is what Saul was supposed to be.

It's a joke that they didn't whistle the foul when it actually happened. Then had to go back and see it on screen. Absolutely incompetent refereeing.

This is frustrating. How much could we realistically expect to get for him if we sold him next summer or in january? We bought him for 64mill euros, don't think there is any chance of getting that back with his injury record.

And Saint-Maximin, with whom we're linked. Him and Lukaku together would kill all of our pressing game.

Bust. Looks uninterested, too lightweight and easily bullied. Needs acres of space to pick a pass, but can't beat a man to create that space. Sell and buy a proper winger.

I don't like how our game plan has changed to be so one-dimensional. Now we seem to have one plan A and nothing else: Find Lukaku at whatever cost and hope he makes something of it. Last season we had that as plan B/C with Giroud, but it was never our main game, we relied on high-pressing, combinations and movement. Now we're static because everybody starts looking for Lukaku with his back to goal the moment they get the ball. Decent teams can suss out Lukaku fairly easily, that's not news, but in such cases we need to have backup plans. If hoofing the ball to Rom doesn't work in 1st half it likely won't work in 2nd either... then change things up like we did last season. Play Havertz and Werner interchanging with each other, making movements into channels and runs behind. Havertz actually produced his best form playing false 9, we won the damn UCL with this strategy. What is it with us and super stubborn managers? Too early to call that on TT yet, he will have his chances to mix things up, but if he doesn't it will be his downfall like all the previous managers. Lukaku mustn't become undroppable, he is very useful against certain teams and situations, so use him wisely but not all the time!

Brought on RLC and Barkley instead ffs, what was the point of Ross especially? He was clueless and good for nothing other than holding onto the ball for too long and making easy passes. We had nobody making runs in behind which Werner could have done, instead we kept on passing between our 4 midfielders and defenders until the ball was hoofed to Lukaku and lost. 🤔 Some baffling decisions there.

Yeah I also think fatigue is a bigger factor than him being lazy or complacent. WB is the most exhausting position to play, they need rest and have good cover. We've seen this many times before, he plays consecutive games really well and then falls off... it's a sign of fatigue more than anything else imo.

Well last season Chilwell played well there, but this season he's been pants everytime he's played. I see why TT doesn't trust him yet, he isn't at the same level he was and a fully fit/fresh Alonso is actually a decent player. He needs to pick it up quickly bc he and Reece are by far our best options for WBs when on form. I wouldn't mind to see a back four line-up like this at some point: Mendy James - Rüdiger - Silva - Chilwell Jorginho Kante - Mount Pulisic - Lukaku - CHO Some real grit, strength, directness and pace in it on paper. The biggest issue would of course be Jorginho at holding MF, could make us sus defensively against certain teams, that's why we would need two workhorses in front of him (Kante and Mount). Our only true wingers are Puli and CHO so they kinda pick themselves (we need to sign a winger if we want to go back four full-time, Pulisic can barely be counted on as he's in the infirmary more often than not).

The EFL game against Villa was a back four, wasn't it? Looked like 4-3-3. So whoever posted that has had their wish answered. I however would like to see more than one match like this, the back 5 is going stale like it did under Conte. Hopefully TT shows some flexibility. Problem is we didn't sign anyone that would allow us to play with a back 4 consistently (a decent DMF, maybe try Chalobah there against easier opponents?).

A club can loan out a loanee?

KANTE WHAT A PLAYER! GOLAZOOOOOO! We are 10 times with stronger with Kante, what a difference he has made. Mount was woeful. Also now that we're playing 3-5-2 (good decision with spurs trying to outnumber our mid) I think it would be the perfect time to try Werner up top with Big Rom.

Bring Chilly and Havertz on!

Mount has been so wank. Major improvements needed 2nd half.

9/10 Fixed our midfield. We now have 4 starter quality (theoretically, need to see how Saul adapts) midfielders, each with their own unique skillsets. Tuchel will be reveling in the tactical options he now has. On paper our midfield looks unreal, who would have thought some 3-4 years ago that we would have Kante, Jorginho, Kovacic and Saul all in our squad. I still remember how people on here were dreaming about and how unrealistic it seemed to sign any of them, but here we are... Also finally got a proper striker in Lukaku. Even with Giroud and Tammy gone, we still have Havertz and Werner as striking options. None of them are remotely similar to each other, so here again Tuchel will be presented with several tactical choices and rotational options. I'm gonna keep it short, I think this transfer window has made us champions. We're gonna win the whole thing, I can feel it. 🙈