Leif

The direction is the road we've always been on and always will be on - quality over sentiment; it's the reason we've been above Arsenal/Liverpool/Tottenham all these years, just like Man City & Barcelona, who too haven't integrated youth in 5+ years.

He offers less to the XI compared to Joey Barton though. Why is there no love for the players who've been bossing our youth system just as long, but aren't English? There's players who're twice as talented, on our books, younger or equal in age. So, how is it a loss? Because he shoved Aguero once?

No, I judge a player off of 40 games, then share his worst moments with you via Youtube, because there is no other popular video-sharing site that I could post here and have work. Are you 15? What do you judge him off of, may I ask? Fifa? Watching him? Other people's opinions?

'He's great'. 'Look at this stat'. Nothing of value at all. No critical thinking at all. Nothing interesting, thought provoking, challenging, different, engaging, enlightening at all. So why even waste your finger energy. Add something.

I didn't painfully struggle to put together this guys worst highlights..I've watched 40 games of the player we're linked with. I'm on Roma forums every day. And they just like me would go back and highlight these glaring games of his, and also highlight how painfully average he is - and that's not even for a top side. There's nothing to love about a bad apple ruining a tightly knit squad. Would you invite Balotelli into the side? If not, you shouldn't invite Manolas.

What game? Stats vs. what you see with your eyes? In this case, Lukaku's better than Messi now; Cahill's better than Christensen. Wylan Cyprien completed more dribbles than Hazard last season, I guess we've found his potential replacement You're trying to create a game to avoid a strong and informed opinion, which you don't have.

Ban me again, i beg.

Why would anyone be motivated to have a bias against a player who isn't ours? How many games of his have you watched to my 35+? Why are you calling him excellent?

There's truly never been fewer reliable journalists in this sport. The few who were somewhat reliable just 2-3 seasons ago, have thrown all of their reputation out the window, willingly, as they've realised the power of social media > clicks > money.

How terrible of me

An own goal even Cahill wouldn't do

The worst player on the day. Not 1 positive trait shown, but plenty of negatives

Nowhere to be seen when the ball is right beside him, again, like Cahill

Lack of awareness & determination; let's both goals happen while just standing

Even the way he uselessly turns his head like he's shaking off a flea is like Cahill

Useless every single time Porto are near their box, nevermind the goals themselves -

And vs. Madrid he's all over the place, don't let the upbeat music fool you - play some sad violin music instead and tragedy is more obvious. A headless chicken who can't do anything but put it out for a throw in or lead the ball to a Madrid player -

I don't understand in which world Christensen - Azpilicueta - Luiz is not enough. Cahill & some sideman would be alright back ups. With Alex Sandro probably coming in, this'd mean targeting an elite right back, instead of shifting Azpilicueta there again (which won't end well; he's proven himself to be a centre back. He never offered much going forward, and he's fine defensively - but he shines as our spine.) I hate the idea of Azpilicueta as the right back, with Cahill - Manolas/Christensen - Luiz being our centre backs. (I presume we aren't changing to a back 4 next season.) That's a laughable centre. But nothing is pointing to us upgrading over Moses - it seems we'll simply revert to our less succesful ways. Not pragmatic at all given our wealth.

No doubt once Conte's gone we'll have a manager who loves this type of player, but Zouma will also be gone, or poorly developed. Conte should be doing what's best for our long term vision, not his short term stint.

Cahill has strength above that of Manolas; he shows more determination & never say die attitude; he's far, far more lethal in the box; he already understands our system; and that's enough to say this would be a stupid signing. Neither of them have very good tactical nuance, technical ability, pace, or awareness. Neither are good enough for us, but one's really, really, really not good enough.

Not to sound bat shit insane, but his movement & strikes remind me of prime Yaya Toure. More often than not, his goals seem to come from running in from deep, past 5+ players. I never see a clip of him waiting to break the defensive line a la Torres, Costa. Never see him stand in line and hassling defenders a la Drogba. Never seen him dribble. Never seen him do anything in a full game or compilation but get the ball very early and start charging like a bull. It's shocking how many goals he gets this way, but, he doesn't get these goals against the top teams..

To be fair it's like being linked to Ronaldo and signing Quaresma.

And that's all we need to know. We have twice the player in him.

Rudiger's a broken player yet Roma would rather keep him. No other top club is interested in this average, poor excuse for a footballer. The fact we were chasing him under Jose, and chasing him under Conte, makes me wonder who's really chasing him. Because there's no drip of doubt about it - Jose & Conte do not both think to themselves, 'boy, that Manolas is talented.' There's barely anything different between him & Cahill, other than the fact this one's a bad apple.

Yup. The Turk wave is upon us.