Thor

Good. Seriously though, credit for an all time great season, but is anyone else getting a bit of a "flash in the pan" type feeling from this season Salah? I really don't think he is as good as this season indicates, much like Leicester weren't a team as good as their record suggested when they won. I honestly wouldn't take him over a few wingers in the league, but that is just my opinion. Certainly isn't a better player than Hazard IMO.

Willian should be given a go playing in that central role anyway. He always played well as a number 10 with more freedom IMO. Plenty of room for him and Martial here.

Lol he missed the ball the first time and you're giving him credit for amazing control. Sent from my SM-G930F using Tapatalk

Because the rest of the board is the exact opposite. Excuse me for trying to maintain a semblance of balance. Won't bother arguing this any further. One has scored more goals this season anyway. I'll just bump this next season.

Typical of this board. Rag on the same players and give them no credit even when they play well. Giroud had a very average day apart from the goal. No one will bother to mention the chances he butchered, or the ones he failed in creating due to his lack of pace.

Doesn't give his all though. lol...

Why not look for a RB instead?

Morata was better in 10 mins than Giroud was the whole game. Sent from my SM-G930F using Tapatalk

He scored. Just in case you missed it.

I was a bit disappointed the players didn't use Emerson more. A few times he burned his man for pace. I thought he started off poor, but played really well in the middle part of the game and right at the end there.

What good is having Giroud out there not creating anything and thus having less chances? If you have a 60 million striker, and he is still out there creating, and still scoring with his head, play him, let him keep having those chances, and he'll take them eventually. The ball got cleared off the line. It happens. Victim of his own wrong doing earlier in the season, but people need to lay off, really. Comes on and scores and people complain about his performance. He sealed the game off. Nuff said.

He created more opportunities for himself in 10 minutes than Giroud did the whole game. Plus, they scored the same amount of goals...

Morata. Proper number 9. Keep shutting up the people on here talking shit about you in your injury riddled season.

Didn't like him. Created too much. Was always in position. Tracked back too well. Crosses were too threatening. Haven't seen him take one, but I know his free kicks can't be that good. Back to the bench for you mate.

It is your comment I can understand though. Easy for you to come in after a miss like that and spout non sense. How is he better? He is quicker, creates better opportunities for himself, can beat his man, is just as good in the air, is more dynamic and allows us to play in more ways attacking wise than Giroud. I could give a flying feck if he misses that chance this season. He is clearly lacking in confidence, but so is the entire team. He keeps getting into good positions, and he will eventually bury them. None of the things you mentioned make him a better striker. Scorpion kick? Who cares? Better goal scoring record? Not this season. Want me to name you a bunch who had better records than Drogba? Fooled by price tag? No. I just use my eyes. He is the better player. Just because he is in a rough patch, doesn't mean he is utter shite.

Agreed. For me, it was a signing we needed because we've lacked physicality in our midfield for so long. We always get overrun against the bigger teams. Kante is a beast, but he isn't that 6 foot+ brick wall. He is a bulldog. Baka is most definitely that 6 foot wall, and he clearly has skills and the physicality, but he simply didn't put his brain and skills together this season.

Is he worse than Cesc at the moment? I can't imagine him being worse.

In a season where we have been collectively terrible, I'm willing to give him a pass. For as bad as he has been, the first couple of games he had with us, he did show some signs of brilliance. When he gets the ball and carries it out, taking on players, he looks like an unstoppable force. His middle game is just horrible though. As far as being a physical beast goes, he excels, but passing, decision making, and general field awareness is fairly terrible at the moment. If we get an offer, I wouldn't be opposed to letting him go, but at the same time I wouldn't mind if he stays. He needs another chance IMO. First season, and extremely young. If Monaco want him, and we get Fabinho instead... perfect.

Does anyone get a Martial type vibe from him? Strikes me as very similar. Both strong, quick feet, and quite direct. Both seem comfortable on the wing or in the middle as well. Obviously CHO has a little while to get to that level, but their build and style of play is very similar IMO.

Hoping this increases his value a little bit and we can offload him to one of the big teams.

Morata is more than good enough. Slagging him off when the whole team was playing like garbage isn't fair. Giroud comes on and Conte changes the whole formation and tactics to a far more attacking one... Of course we're going to produce more chances. Giroud is a great sub, but saying he is better than Morata is a joke. Just because our manager can't set up properly, don't take it out on the players.

Agreed. The amount of red card tackles I've seen on our players go unpunished... From Tottenham alone this year there were about 4.

We did moan, but Mata has gone to United and played under 3 different managers in that time, and none have preferred him, or found him to be the magician that some claim he is. On any big team looking to win the title, he is a useful squad player. You could get away with having him in your starting line up if you're fighting for top 4, but I just don't see him as effective enough. Where do you see him fitting even if we do have a more attacking style of play? Simply not quick or dynamic enough for me to stick him at CAM.

When we were at our lowest, he was our best player. He just isn't a transcendent talent, or dynamic enough to be a truly big time player. He was great for a season and a half, but I use that term loosely. Cesc was great for us too, but like a lot of these slow, unathletic players, at times they go missing and don't impact the games. Compare him to someone like Willian. Another player who was our best when we were at our low point. Difference is, Willian is dynamic, and can use other assets to impact a game even when he is completely off the mark. In turn, it makes him a better player than Mata. I'm not sure which bit was revisionist... I said he was good when we were going through a rough patch. That is factually correct. He didn't want to fight for his place, which was fine, since we played better without him. Just another player at United? He became that here once the team started clicking. He was the odd man out. It is like when people went mad here when we couldn't get Gotze. Another that fits in the form of the Mata type. These small, unathletic and slow players have a small window of good play in them, and not to mention, it having to be under the right circumstance. A lot of them need the team somewhat centred around them, or the play to go through them, yet they aren't impactful enough to justify it.

He was simply a big(ish) fish in a small pond at the time he was doing well here. He certainly didn't deserve the second player of the year award, but regardless, once the team got better, he was phased out. He was never as good as touted, but was someone who was exciting to watch at times in our transition period.