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Listening to a sports talk show from Brazil and they were talking about Estevao: they said he's a generational talent and that his skill level is Neymar-like. Came back from injury and changed the game against Botafogo (yet another club owned by John Textor) for LIbertadores cup. Football glued to his feet at all times. 😁

Had we not changed manager, system/formation and half the team, I'd agree with you. They are just too much of a well-oiled machine to be taken for granted. Grealish has hardly played given that Doku is twice the player... and who the fuck is Bobb? 😆 With that said, it's still a good time to play them--better if it was an away match too.

Pretty cool https://x.com/GamingSinceNES/status/1823878060212392327 full version (which has too much Hollywood ) is on YouTube.

in Simple terms, if Sterling were on 10k-a week wages he’d now likely be part of world-wide auction for his services. He’s not tho, so good luck moving him.

Liverpool have a strong squad with strong attacking players sitting on the bench. They are a bit weak in midfield atm, but will likely get a player or 2 there until the window shuts. I have a feeling that United will be slightly stronger this season, so they will also be challenging for top4 which will likely increase the number of points needed to clinch it. My "bet' for this season would've been the same had we not strengthen the squad the way we did. Now it's a different story, of course. The issue will be the new system and how the squad will adapt, or not. That's very hard to predict, evidently.

That's actually a good example and exactly my point--2002 housing crash. People took on those crazy loans betting on a future increase of asset price: so, the mortgage would be our player wages, and the house value the player asking fee. As soon as the value of the houses (player's value) dropped like a rock, it made no sense to pay mortgage anymore and they couldn't sell the houses for a value anywhere high enough to cover the mortgage incurred, so people just stopped paying which caused the cascading effect in the financial & housing markets. That's me talking about finance... sure we have better people around to do that. 😅

What we paid for them is no longer important esp once we put them on high wages. Would be the same as City asking 100m for Grealish right now. It was already overpaid back then. We can ask whatever value we want for players, the question is about demand: who is going to pay that AND then take on the player's wages (in full). They were all big losses... shit happens. Player can pick up a bad injury and his value would plummet.

Think you are missing wages: players can have negative value when they are on inflated wages. I'm not saying that's the case with all these players, but their "value" may be much lower than what is reported/asked due to wages.

Sure, I'm not suggesting he's about to reach new levels... that ship has sailed. What I was referring to was a marginal improvement, even if tactical. Say that he learns a few things by working with Maresca in that new system... stranger things have happened. In comparison, I'd not expect Sterling at 29 to change a whole lot.

Or Brighton? 😅 I'd counter that at this level few players rely exclusively on pace. From our roster, the most obvious case is Mudryk, but Madueke is also somewhat over-reliant on pace, which is the reason I thought he was a limitation as a starter (diff case if rotation/back).

I fully agree on Mudryk, but I'm not sure I see that much difference between (our) Sterling and Felix. They both seem to go hot and cold even within the same match. Felix is a lot younger tho, so there is always that hope he turns a corner. Tbf, Felix is the more skillful player for sure... relies less on pace. Actually wish Felix were a bit quicker tbh.

Is it Evan Fat by chance? Seriously, the Kid looks heavy esp for his age. Young Rooney? Yes please.

Agreed. I was a strong critic of last season's squad and my bet was no top4, but it's a different story now. The severely lacking strength in depth has been mostly addressed, so now it's up to the manager. The new system may become a hurdle esp early on, but we should now have enough quality to reach top4 even without a striker (target man) and a CB.

Indeed. If that's the case, much of the business would be less crazy than originally thought. I still think the over-relying on data analysis in a game like football--even AM football which is not free flowing already makes it very clear--will take a toll, but the squad size and the bias towards younger players (also a bit overcooked) make a bit more sense.

what a duo though: prob my favorite and least fav player of that era (well Mikel kept on "playing" for a few more years). 😁

which means it also targets Trump, or closet atheists don't count? 😅

yeah I haven't seen much of Osimhen, so I trust the little I saw + opinions I read here and elsewhere. My take is that he's a high xG attacker, who's not the typical linkup player I was hoping we'd get. City makes it work with Haaland, but maybe that has more to to with how much a freak Haaland is than the type of player he is. It looks like it's more like a way to make the Lukaku deal go through than real conviction (in the player) tbh.

The issue is not Conor staying or leaving—he’s been refusing to renew due to the role offered. hes going to leave on a free which is not really good for the club.

That was some "bandaid" right there. 😆 Yes, there have been very good signings even without including Kante (which is prob the reason for the arbitrary 5y), which contributed for the aforementioned "bandaid". You seem to assume players will always improve and reach the level we require. The club evidently disagrees considering the number of signings being done this season.

Wonder if Barca will let Vitor Roque (19) leave. Everton have shown interest apparently. He was looking slightly short of Endrik promise in Brazil until he had a bad ankle injury, and then moved to Barca before getting back to full form.

I don't fully agree with @Tomo on Felix, but the lack of work rate in Felix's game is hardly debatable. And I was expecting Cole to be given a freer role with Neto joining. It's definitely an improvement from last season though. I was one of the most vocal about the quality of our wingers, both starters as well as options. I don't think Mudryk is even comparable to Felix in all honesty: one is an elite footballer (even if never fulfilling his original promise).

Heh between Samu and Felix, I'd take the former for characteristics alone, but it seems Felix will happen otherwise Conor won't, which means he'd leave on a free. Felix is just too much of a "firefly" for me. It's pretty incredible to think assets worth millions reach final year in their deals without any planing ahead. Feels like the amateur side of the game is still lurking there somewhat.

I'm not sure tbh. Yes, City has an xG machine, but Real Madrid has historically preferred players, or strikers, who increase the "expected" variable in the expect goals equation. Yes, I see both approaches in the top teams, so I'm not sure there is a single way to go here. With that out of the way, expecting an "automatic" improvement from Jackson can be a bit naive -- football doesn't work like that. So, I was expecting some movement in the striker role, esp getting a target man even if not a starter.

*the kid* (Guiu), which means we've only got Jackson. And no target man in situations where we may need one.

Felix is a player at his peak whose ceiling wasn't as high as once expected, which is the reason he has trouble finding a home. He's also a player on high wages who will likely demand a starting XI role, or at least in the whereabouts. I'm not a fan o the player to be honest and he has nothing to do with the striker position which is one of the weakness in the roster right now: only got Jackson (the kid is a big question mark at this level).