robsblubot

I'd never put Werner and Pulisic in the "extremely bad" category. Achievements alone speak for themselves. They don't belong in the same list with the likes of Bakayoko and Drinkwater. Even Lukaku, and to a lesser degree, Emerson, were employable in the right circumstance. There is more to building a team than merely signing players, a lot more, and I'm not sure the new leadership know how to do that just yet. They may learn the in and outs of footy (with feet) at some point, but I'm afraid it will be a painful process.

That's one think Neymar has over Kante plenty: no not skill, injuries! 😰

Fair enough, but once again, it goes into a medical assessment, which I'm far from being qualified to do--even if I had the information, which I don't. Your #4 somewhat contradicts your #3 tho, or at least makes either one of them not very important. I'd stick with he has hardly played, and for that reason, he was a shadow of his former self in the few matches he did play. Now, whether that's it... or was a one-time injury, which ruined him for 2 seasons, I cannot tell, or know. With all that said, nothing guarantees that we will get a player remotely close his level. Considering the latest signings, I'd not be very optimistic about the near future.

Kante is by far my fav player too. And IMO he's by far our best player, and the one true world class player we've got. He's underrated too; not because he's not considered a world class player, but because folks think he's not up there with the greats, but I disagree. I think he's a world beater who, when fit, can absolutely ruin any plans your opposition may have for that game. He'd walk into ANY starting XI... no questions asked. I very much doubt Argentina would've won had Kante been fit. With that out of that way, it's a very difficult assessment to make: if we sell and he comes back to near full fitness, and delivers top performances for the next 3 years, then we will look like fools. If we retain him under big wages, and he hardly plays, well we will look like fools too. Hope the "leadershit" did not fire the last good physios and docs the club had.

My point isn't about specific names, but the expectations when we sign unproven players and that they will perform at the level we need them to. I don't know if Caicedo is going to be good enough -- there is always some risk involved in any signing esp from a smaller club. At least the league is same/strong, but the same could be said of Cucurella who looked pretty good at that level, and yet all that energy is only good enough if followed by enough skill/technique.

The grass is always greener... the idea of a player is always nicer than the player you've got. 😉 Very concerned with movements being rumored: the players supposedly leaving and the level of players we are looking into. Recent signings apparently did not provide enough evidence of the difficulty of making this move to a top club.

one for laughs: https://www.mirror.co.uk/sport/football/transfer-news/mason-mount-man-united-transfer-30136385

definitely start your meals with a nice KOKOLEKA and forget soccer/football is a thing. 😉

Sure he displays that impetus for sure. The first touch part is what worries me the most. That's literally what differentiates the great from the good. That's why I think the "greatness" ship has sailed on that one, because first touch can only be refined, not learned. Yes, a poor mentality can somewhat affect the first touch, but not that much IMO. Players who excel skill wise will just have a natural good/excellent first touch which will provide them confidence--not the other way around.

I hope you are right, but I call the way I see it. I certainly see no glimpses of anything when I watch him play. I don't even know what he's good at, because he hasn't been able to show that he can dribble, shoot, pass... even his first touch has been poor.

Agreed and he's not a 19yo who needs time to develop. He's been getting a lot of minutes and showing pretty much nothing to warrant the investment and expectation around him. It's not that he's been poor... he's been the worst player on the pitch every time he plays. I think he will stay, but at the same time I would not be surprised if he's shipped elsewhere as soon as the window reopens... even if on loan. Right now he looks like a a Bakayoko signing tbh.

Bring the 3 players you all want (FK, DM, and ST), including a top striker and this team will be 4th/5th place consistently. To compete against the likes of City, you need 11 competitive players on the pitch. Madueke and Mudryc are not competitive right now. They may hopefully become with better prep and better coaching, but right now playing them is just asking to lose the match esp against strong opposition. Worried that the new manager is not already at the helm to get a feel for who wants it and who does not. He could be helping leadership with the selection, and he may have his own personal preferences as of style or attitude.

Working on his consistency: he can't head the ball in the opposition's box so... 😢

It's usually the very young who get smoked. Azpi is fine albeit evidently past his prime. I like having a player like him as a sub... can fill in multiple positions and has the attitude and leadership to boot. It's not easy to replace a guy like that. He shouldn't be a regular obviously, but that goes more into the lack of fitness of certain players *cough* James than anything else.

Wouldn't waste a second thought on Neymar: a has been who never were Vini Jr seems to be unhappy in Spain 😉

I know folks are still hoping that Madueke and Mudryc eventually deliver the goods, but they look pretty raw at the moment. Their decisions are consistently wrong. As I said earlier, I don't think they are going to be top players... think that ship has sailed for both, but perhaps can still become good players--right now they aren't.

It will be a single game though, so literally anything can happen: early red card, or fluke goal, anything. We all know who are the fav, but I still have hope. 🙂 This has been absolutely terrible by Modric -- maybe he's finally over at this level? Many errors under no pressure. Vini Jr is in Walker's pocket. And yeah Camavinga has to play in midfield -- way to good to play elsewhere. Courtois is a monster of a goalie. 😢

City is cruising because RM has been unable to match their intensity. Can't really compete with them if you don't do that. They've been trying to slow down the game, but that clearly has not worked for them. How does one pick Militiao over Rudiger is beyond me. 🙂 Real needs this half to be over, or it will be over in the first half with another goal at any moment.

Rather have Reece tell Reece to come back.

Hmm those two will address their main weakness, bit of lack of steel/competitiveness in certain areas of the pitch. They have a lot of flair already, but that only sells tickets.

good one! on the other hand, I'm not sure there is anything that could help Arsenal win the title at this point.

Coun't agree more. It's also balance: England has a much more defensive-minded midfield than most clubs (esp with Rice in there) often with 3 CMs. So, they really need a far more attacking-minded player in that position -- Grealish does not work either because he's a runner/carrier. Ziyech is a more difficult one, but I suspect it's one of those cases of the whole teams playing for a player. Another good enough is G. Jesus... absolutely baller in the PL and plays like shit for Brazil.

dunno, Real is very much alive for the second leg. It's a toss up for me. Yes, the winner will be the fav against (likely) Inter, but reckon they (inter) can beat anyone in a single game if they can repro that first half intensity. IMO Ruiger is the best CB in the world, Courtois is the best goalie, and KDB has been the top CAM (getting heavier and a bit old now tho)... Sad to think they were all Chelsea players at some point.

idk they were both super powerful shots and Vini took the shot quickly, so no prep time for Ederson. So despite the potential positioning err, can't ignore the power/quickness of the shot. Used to play a lot of tennis and would call that a cross-court (diagonal) shot, which demands even more power; that may also have surprised Ederson. Yeah snake might have caught it, but dunno the power was crazy. KDB was the traditional powerful lace shot, but still a sublime finish. All those interchangeable players exchanging quick passes, and it still takes the quality of a KDB to get a goal in.

It was both a pass into the net and a cannon shot... pretty crazy finish