Leif

If this was written today on April Fool's I'd give it a like.

Shevchenko, Torres, Crespo, Costa. I'm not sure who'll be the fifth member, but those players have to be in the top 5 worst strikers of the Roman era. You know what I'd give just to see Anelka step inside a time machine and fire us to the title in glory? I'm not even expecting another Drogba, just someone reliable. *Edit: List revised - Kezman, Mutu, Shevchenko, Torres, Costa. I'm bringing out Crespo, he wasn't brain-numbingly bad.

But some people think that's good enough even after equaling a winning streak Compared to last season? Great season. Compared to what we should've achieved had just 2-3 of our players not had pathetic attitudes? Embarrassing season. One of the most toothless bunch of players to win the league, if we do.

Matic shouldn't be here. Fabregas shouldn't be a starter; not because he isn't technically good enough, but because of his mentality which has clearly changed, and relaxed. That urge to prove himself while on the bench was his purple patch. Now he has nothing to prove.

100%. You simply are or you are not a leader, and he is not a leader. He would work out in a Chelsea team of old full of the likes of Lampard, Ballack, Malouda, Cole, Cech. But in a tender or younger team without so many individual leaders? You end up playing with 10-men whenever you face a team who expect to have the ball more than you.

Jose no longer has a philosophy which is why I think it'd happen. At United, he can relish in the power of signing pretty much whoever he wants, because United have always cared more about big names than the likes of Chelsea, Inter & Porto. Pogba wouldn't have been bought back if he'd been putting in the same exact performances, but didn't dab, didn't have the marketing Adidas(?) have put behind him, & all the social media wankfests run by 15 year olds. If a player is hyped to high heavens, United are interested. I can't remember who it was, but it was confirmed not long ago that they'd bid just around this exact figure for a player a season or 2 ago. They're anxious about not being top dogs; they'll make ill-moves; but they could pay off, who knows. Martial & Rashford have been in the development stage before/during Jose; who's to say he doesn't see this more finished article and think, alright, here's a young guy I actually would give starts to right off the bat, and play him properly. If he sees what we do he will.

Atletico to keep Griezmann. United to get Mbappe. Us to get tears.

28 isn't old for a full back when that full back has played less games than many, many 22 year olds. Off the tip of my fingers, Clyne at 25 has played more full games than Bertrand. Then there's the fact Valencia's 31 and the best full back in the league. The best full backs I've ever seen were around 30, from Dani Alves to Cole to Roberto Carlos to Abidal to Zanetti to Lahm to Neville. In fact the only under-30 full backs to ever wow me were Ashley, Lahm, Alves & Marcelo. Even Filipe Luis' best years have come between 29-31.

Agreed, it's pointless to bring in a better player than we have now, especially if they're English and help with the quota. It's downright shambolic.

Don't get me wrong, I was as elated as everyone, but this signing would equal signing Hazard to me. He was so important & capable in 9/10 games he played for us. There's not 1 English player that'd make more sense to bring in.

I don't know about his current season nor last, but every other season since the very first we were linked to him, he's consistently been Oscar-tier; he vanishes in big games, you get confused about what he offers when he isn't scoring a worldie, and his face is too young for his body, someone should kick him.

We only give him the benefit of the doubt because we want a youth product to make it here so badly. If any of our previous youth products who deserved to be in the team, from Swift to Musonda for example, had actually been integrated, more people would know the true talent we've been fostering, and that RLC hasn't been half the player in any of the games they've played together. I wouldn't hesitate to say I've seen the majority of his games at youth level, and I wouldn't hesitate either in saying all he ever had was the ability to borderline-foul a smaller player, to then sometimes score. If he wasn't scoring or pushing a player over, he wasn't doing anything - and he wasn't doing the former as much as the latter. Even Baker is better, and Baker would be lucky to play for Everton. What we have here is Barcelona's equivalent of Bojan, though that's being generous. It'll be a relief the day this barely-starring, grossly-overpaid primadonna makes way for a new batch of youth to throw our misguided hopes on.

Diego's goalscoring record is equal to Sturridge's despite the latter only starting half the games Diego does. Their goals-per-game ratio is very similar, but Sturridge's minutes-per-goal is vastly superior. From Sturridge to Lukaku, just on our own soil there are better goalscorers around; nevermind strikers who can do other things better too, from link-up to heading ability. There's nothing Costa can do which others can't do better. However, from Mbappe to Dybala, we finally have a new generation of strikers who are the absolute best at what they do in their position (in this case awareness & dribbling). To be the very best at a trait is what I want from a striker. I wouldn't expect this if I supported Everton; but as a supporter of the league-leaders, in a very demanding sport, I expect the best.

Belgium have notoriously been known for having only 1 or 2 decent strikers to choose from. Their best WAS Benteke for a season or 2, then Lukaku took over. But during both of their best periods for their national team, levels weren't near their club form. However, they've always been the best of a bad bunch, which shows how crap the rest of the country's strikers are, including their 3rd option. Bats was introduced only because there were literally no other Belgian strikers playing for a club of note in the top 5 leagues. Never in his career has Michy been praised as being a great player. If Belgium value quality over who's with the biggest club, Michy will be dropped ASAP and Mertens will be their leading man.

Illarramendi deserves another chance, if he was cheap, and this was football manager.

Bench players. Experienced players. Familiar players. Why presume Conte doesn't want one? Not every transfer is supposed to be geared towards getting 'the most talented player out there.' If raw talent is what teams needed to win Arsenal would be top dogs. Without the experience of 30+ year old players, Chelsea & United wouldn't have won half of our trophies, nor Juventus under Conte. Our manager clearly excels with experienced players. (2 of our 3 most consistent this season, Luiz & Pedro, are both 30 this year.) And surely nobody expects this current team to win the CL? Surely again, it can't be expected more-so if we bring in young talent who're barely exposed to the competition, & the demands of long, full seasons around tougher players. We had some of the best young players around for 5 seasons; we didn't go on a great CL run with those players, though. I've far more faith in our team being elevated if we bring in a player who's seen and done it all, putting in consistent performance after consistent performance for a decade, as opposed to bringing in a new gem which we have to carefully nurture. It's pretty black and white; you either bring in experience or you bring in potential. We don't need more players with potential. We need results next season, not almost-good-enough results 5 seasons from now. Experience is key and we've been losing experienced players in droves. Now is the time to sign some players the manager trusts to come on and shore up or influence a game. You're missing an opportunity if you choose to turn down a model professional. He's one of the few players we can target who'd inspire the young ones around him simply by always having his head on & a proactive attitude, like Fabregas. For what we needed then, Meireles was a good buy. For what we need now, Marchisio or any level-headed midfielder with heaps of experience will be a good buy. There's no coincidence the only Juve players from Conte's tenure that he seems interested in are 30+. He doesn't care about bringing in any of the many talents they have at or under 21 years old. He knows. So get to know.

Dream squad player IMO. One of the few players you can bring on without needing to change your shape, tactics, etc. Most of our bench players equal a drop in quality once they come on since they're not integrated with the team properly. Marchisio doesn't need integrating, he's that dependable.

Indeed, every very-attractive offer seems to instantly interest him for months on end. You simply don't want players like that around long term.

To compare Costa to Drogba is like comparing Suarez to Messi. The stats may say they're in the same league, and heck, maybe they are, but there's the intangibles. Most of us would cry for Drogba. A personal loss of his, any sort of devastation, even him leaving, it'll cause wet eyes, and it's not just because he scored goals. Exactly the same with Messi. Absolutely untrue for both Costa & Suarez; though if they played for Atletico & Liverpool still, there would be tears. So what I'm saying is, they've already bonded and given themselves to other clubs. They're loved by other fans more than their current fans do; they contributed more to their previous clubs than they do to their current (that shows how great Costa was for Atletico), and their hearts are owned by those that first showed them true love. Costa's heart was already won before coming here; we could do nothing to turn him into a legend a la Drogba. There's no romance. For Drogba; we set the stage for him. For Suarez, Liverpool set the stage for him. We won't have another legendary or universally-loved striker until the context is different; until we aren't counting on a mega-sum signing, and instead, being hopeful over a youth product or cheap wunder-player from elsewhere. That's where the romance is, that's where the bonds are formed, and that's where the loyalty is honed.

Damn Spike, back at it again with the facts

And Ibra's 35. Is he too old to be coming off our bench?

Emerson is apparently being watched by everyone, and is Roma's only other jewel beyond Naing. It'll be him. There's no way Conte could be into Rudiger, we'd get better defending from an end-piece of bread.