robsblubot

Werner was never a problem tho. Understand he had to leave after sterling was signed, but he was a good player winning silverware! D on the other hand… kinda predictable tho (did warn about it).

Defending is in shambles. We will have a hard time winning matches when conceding as many goals.

and yet, in terms of his role, he is an "8"

nothing except that he did not pass the ball and always preferred runs and spins. That's the polar opposite of what the modern game is all about, which is what Sterling was coached into. He also never pressed to save his life, which is yet another advantage Sterling has. I'm being honest here... if I'm playing a CL game against strong opposition, I know which player I'd pick. BTW, think folks here are downplaying his Madrid flop. It speaks a lot about about his mentality, or the lack thereof.

oh wow West Ham signed Paqueta.... The PL is getting tougher and tougher. For the the real special player we missed (albeit last season) was Bruno Guimaraes, but Paqueta is definitely quality and will likely be a top player for West Ham.

It's not that I think Sterling is one of the greats mind you, but because I think Hazard is an extremely overrated player especially around here (not so much elsewhere). The extra flair Eden might have over Sterling is easily made up for a lot more work rate as well as the ability to pass the football (as oppose to take it home).

What's up with this obsession with Zaha? 🙄 He's terrible and there is a reason this 29yo striker left united and spent his career at Crystal Palace chasing nothing.

You are right he’s no eden… he’s better.

Antony is really good and I hope he does not go to United 😕

Italy international, but oh boy no redeeming qualities for me. Folks criticized Alonso, but at least you always knew what his virtues were -- as well as his deficiencies. Emerson however, plenty of weaknesses and no clear virtue in my book. Best of luck, but we are far better server by the current selection of LBs.

I disagree with the overall notion here, but that's opinions. I feel somewhat more strongly about is having both Haaland and Lukaku in the same sentence. 😉

Club to Tuchel, "we couldn't get any of your striker targets except Lukaku -- please talk to him and his manager to see if there is interest." Lukaku will say Tuchel convinced him of something only footballers say, while in reality the money (and Luakaku's agent) did all the convincing needed. 😉

Too slow with transfers; even if you land a target, it will be way too late to challenge for anything as it takes time for players to gel in a new team. Nothing new here, but disappointing to see that we haven't figured this one out yet. I still think we are weaker than the CL season as of now.

agreed although typical early season... think only arsenal are firing in all cylinders now.

Tal Ben Haim raises his hand... 😉 (from post above) "Strikers work on service" yeah but only the bad ones.

I see folks focusing on the missing chances, but tbh I did not see anything crazy. Scoring 2 goals against the good team of Spurs should've been enough esp at home. Defending was piss-poor however.

Very energetic player perfect for the high press. I think he's very different from Chilwell, which is good of course. 2 quality players with vastly different characteristics!

What worries me about Auba is how his presence may hurt our pressing -similar to what happened with lukaku. werner was a diff issue. His pressing was excellent, but he never really improved his finishing with us and sterling was signed. if Auba wasn’t good enough for Arteta, he shouldn’t be good enough for tuchel given the same requirements regarding high pressing.

Yeah maybe a 2nd tier younger striker is the way to go atm. Like a Matheus Cunha, but he's now on united's radar - gotta act fast with young strikers. He's more like a classic 9, but also hard working. He's not going to get you the numbers first season, but could deliver good performances and act as a backup for Kai. At this point just hope 33yo Auba isn't being seriously considered.

His LB price is 10m, but his "striker" price is 50m 😉

My list would be similar with a few caveats. Dembélé I think is just too risky (guy is a bit of a diva like Lukaku). Lewa maybe at the right price, but *way* past his prime and a bit of a choker in CL. De Jong at the right price, but don't see him as an upgrade for us. Same with Marc... would rather spend in the striker pos for ex. Pedri, Ferran, and Gavi YES please! Raphinha too, but he's just joined them.

That thing inside you is not anger buddy. (Eat a salad)

Only players I'd want from Barcelona are the young ones who are likely considered unsellable.

Right but players with the right characteristics give you an edge in that regard. Arsenal struggled with "quality" but lazy players up front like Aubameyang, and will be (another prediction here) much stronger now with Jesus. Auba may be a lot more clinical than Jesus, and yet Jesus is the far superior player to me. Quality for me includes the right amount of work rate, teamwork, tactics, mentality -- all linked. I don't disagree with you. My point is that I don't think we are posed to compete as equals with those guys. When a top player can choose, they never really choose us. Haaland went to City for a reason. The only way we can get there IMO is by betting on hungry players like we did to win the CL.

I hope you are right and I can certainly see the expectation that Sterling will bring what he learned at City and do the same for us (high work rate so we don't lose much there). On the other hand, he may show a different demeanor as the star player now. Yeah maybe I am more pessimistic about the players we've been linked to, and I sure hope to be wrong TBH. Just don't see the type of signings we did before (Koulibaly was a weird signing to me)... IMO we need to bet in a few hungry players even if most of them don't come good.