Sideshow Luiz

There's a lot of upside to selling him next summer. 1. Mbappe is about to be the main man at PSG. Neymar might not like that so much. Neymar and Madrid are a match made in heaven, they should just get a room together, already. 2. Other clubs can turn his head (if he doesn't sign a new deal). His price won't be terrible if Barcelona + Madrid both want him. If we do sell him this summer, I hope to god that the club have been lining up deals. Nothing like getting a cash inflow and everyone's price goes up.

What's Fekir's defensive side like? Can he play as a number 8?

I get the feeling that Pjanic is looking for a new contract. It makes 0 sense to get him. We just bought a deep lying playmaker.

Noooooooooo. That would hurt more than Hazard.

Could be a true. However, we were forced into this predicament unlike last season God knows what really happens. For all I know, we heard the price, said forget it. Then Roma said "We'll have our guys keep your name in it to keep the price up for Liverpool. Don't deny anything. Cool?" Us: "Yeah sure, fuck those scousers" Maybe we were really in, topped Liverpool, then they matched and Alisson picked them. (actually, this sounds most likely).

I think Fekir is quality, but I see him as a central player (I know he can come in from the wing). More of a Mertens type. I don't know what his defensive side is like, so I don't know if he can play as an "8". I've seen a few things where Sarri liked to play a 442 diamond (4312) at Empoli, maybe that's the spot for him? I was pretty confident that Eden was staying and that Madrid really wanted Neymar, but I'm not so sure anymore. It's an odd feeling, I don't remember having a player that we couldn't keep. But, when we got Eden, he was a promising player, not the pseudo-galactico that he is now. When we got Drogba he was unproven. Same for Lampard, Cole, Robben, the list goes on. On to the next one, I guess. Fekir, Baily, Guedes, Coman, Pulisic, Asensio ? If Hazard is sold (I'm going to be in the minority here), I think keeping Willian and moving him over to the left is a good option. I think he's much better there or centrally where he can cut inside. Still hope he stays.

I kind of had the impression that we Lukaku'ed that, and came in late.

Not having a keeper lined up is really worrying me. Not necessarily in regard to having a keeper this season (don't get me wrong, we need one), but for possibly losing Hazard. There is no replacement, but I hope we're not left holding our dicks if he gets sold. Should have 3 players ready to go for the money that we'd receive, Not having a keeper lined up looks like the club haven't been planning for this (which is crazy).

I'd go for Coman + Bailey + an attacking mid of some sort. Don't really know SMS except for the hype that's been around his name. God, I hope that they've been checking out targets. Ones that we don't know about, not just the ones that the Italian media are telling us about.

Aside from Ake and Chalobah, I've been quite impressed with the money that we've been able to receive from the players we've sold. 170M doesn't seem right.

I hope the club is being super tight lipped about targets, because we haven't really been linked with any wingers. Surely, they've had feelers out for replacements for Hazard (though we seem to be caught flat footed looking for a keeper). The only targets that have been publicized have all come from Italian media and Golovin's mother.

Everyone gets our players on loan. Try before you buy.

That's 2 wingers out, 1 in at a position we're short. I like your optimism.

Not even close. C'mon Madrid, show him you really want him instead of Neymar. If you'd rather have Neymar, then leave us alone and start lowballing PSG.

I think Pedro will be good under Sarri. However, he's not getting younger, so...business is business.

Thiago is quality.

Change option to obligation and we're okay. I think he COULD have a good season (by last year's standards which isn't saying much), but he will always be a back-up.

Coman COULD cost 60M is we bought him now. If we sold Hazard for 200M, the figure would go up substantially. I'm using Dembele as an example. No way he's 120M. But, he is if you sell Neymar for 200 and everyone knows it. I agree that if we sold him, it wouldn't be like for like, because there is no one. You'd have to (wisely) spend it on various areas around the pitch.

Oh, I was 100% against bring back Jose. It was a terrible decision. Worse than AVB and/or Scolari. Yes, we got a title, but we mortgaged so much for it. It had a <5% chance of ending well. I only give it a small number because nothing in life is 100%. Death and taxes and all that. I think that keeping Benitez around for transition would have maybe been okay, if we had a recognized identity as a club, which is what it all comes back to. (having said that, maybe Benitez would have been the guy to have around until we got that kind of thing in place since he's so vanilla). It all comes back to club identity. Hopefully we are on that path now. After Sarri leaves, there should be enough ground work to install another attacking manager without overhauling the squad (again).

I think he's worth far more than 50M next summer. The reason Courtois' value is so low (compared to his quality) is that he's let everyone in football know that he'll only go to Madrid. There is no bidding war, no one to drive his price up. Madrid know that we're over a barrel. Take this small amount or lose him for free next summer. With Hazard, even if it's just Barcelona and Madrid that would want him, the fact that there would be multiple clubs interested will keep his price high. Of course, if he pulls this "only Madrid" shit, we're fucked again.

The issue there is that those players all have risk attached. Next upcoming superstar is all just a guess. Dembele looks more nailed on, which is why he's at Barca already, and why his price is high. Malcom, Lozano, Pulisic, Bailey, Neres, Asensio, these guys all have question marks, much like Eden when we got him. He was coveted, and he had the potential to be this good (I still think he has another level), but it wasn't a given. Dembele and Coman look like solid propositions, but they are already at big clubs. If we sold Hazard to Barcelona for 200M, how much would it cost to buy Coman, assuming we could even get him? Dembele could potentially work, because you're dealing with his club and you have something they want.

I wasn't so against the Benitez hiring at the time. 1. People were complaining, but who was available? As an interim manager, I thought he was head and shoulders above anyone else that was on the market 2. People have an issue with what he said about us when he was at Liverpool. Well, he's going to pander to their fan base, isn't he? However, I don't feel like he should have gotten the permanent gig. I think his strength is getting the most out of a limited squad. The football is safe and boring. The results will be steady, safe, and boring.

Here's a pretty good video of Napoli's loss to City at home in the Champions League last year. Sure, it's a loss, but I'm posting it more for the analysis.

Okay, fair. Not so bad.

I'm not worried about that. i haven't really regretted any of our managerial decisions. Sure, Scolari and AVB did not end up being the right decision. But, no one really stayed too long, IMO.