Hybrid Angel

People who want Zouma out on loan are probably crazy or drunk. Imagine yourself as Kurt Happy Zouma. You've just played your first season in 'the most competitive league in the world', and had absolute world class performances against the likes of Sergio Aguero, Marouane Fellaini, Raheem Sterling and pretty much been magnificent against the top teams. For me personally, if I got loaned out to a team like Palace after a season like that, I would lose motivation. I think Zouma knows he proved he is better than Cahill in the games he got last season. For him to go from a team where he will learn from the best, John Terry, and a team where he will probably be competing with John Stones (someone like him) for a starting place in the team, most likely get games in the champions league against very good sides to a side where he doesn't belong and are competing for a top 10 finish only, he would be very very sad. I'm sorry but even Valencia doesn't cut it for me. One could easily argue Zouma is ahead of Stones in his career progression. I don't think Stones put stand-out performances like Zouma did against City or Liverpool. Of course I'm not disrespecting Stones by any means as we all know he is a very good player, but I just think loaning out Zouma would be a ridiculous idea. If anything, Zouma should have benched Cahill last season. I don't see any area of the defending game where Cahill was superior to Zouma or a particular period of the season when he was too good to drop. Why not keep JT in the starting XI, demote Cahill to 4th centre-back and let Stones and Zouma fight for the starting place? We could use some rotation between the two as well, something Jose has unfortunately never really been fond of in terms of his back four.

It's a shame we've lost him. The bigger shame is that he never got a proper run in the team. How can you expect a defender to adapt so quickly to a new league when you don't give him consistent chances? That being aside, he was great whenever he played. His link-up play with Hazard and the fluidity he gave to our game would have been priceless against UCL oppositions. Filipe Luis would look like an absolute world class player if he played in a pressing system at the back. I think he would also be world class if we keep playing like this at the back only if he got a proper chance. Managers would get slaughtered if they benched the best left-back in the world in the previous season. I cannot understand how a player like Ivanovic kept him out of the team. Despite being probably the best manager in the world, Mourinho has his favorites I guess...

I love you supporter. Literally the perfect person to idolize, passionate about what you are talking about and always optimistic, respectful, and insightful. Keep it up mate.

Wtf - Dutch flag on the sleeves? Wesley Sneijder to Chelsea confirmed.

Pretty much guaranteed he is staying according to Mourinho. He said he has five wingers and also mentioned it's better for Salah to leave. So it becomes: Hazard, Willian, Cuadrado, Moses, and Traore. Personally I'm happy with this. If Moses leaves and Pedro comes in it would be even better.

Best signing so far in this transfer window.

It really isn't. Cahill looked like absolute shite last season. The only reason he was shining towards the end of the season was becasue we were playing more defensive. For a conservative style of Football where the centre-backs will get a lot of protection, we have the best CB pairing in the world in Terry & Cahill. But, that shouldn't be what we're aiming for. Stones is a defender who could shine in this system but far above that, he shines when the team is playing a counter-attacking side (something that Cahill struggled with big time last season due to his lack of awareness).

Nobody wants Zouma and Stones to start their partnership right now. In two or three years time, I think it's safe to bet on these two as our new starting centre-backs. Not to mention Stones is a much more matured player than his age suggests.

Man, took a look back in this thread in the period he was just smashing it in for fun and the joy the people here including me felt was unparalleled. The best one was Skippers, "Diego Costa is my dad." I feel like it has been ages since I've watched this beast play. I hope he comes into next season fully fit and with a fresh mind not thinking about all the media bs surrounding him last season. Release the beast again!

Ivanovic can't really be considered as captain material. He is too crazy. I still remember his verbal fight with Cech from a couple of seasons back. Not a chance in hell I would consider Cahill captain material. He has shown no signs if leadership and tbh if Mourinho didn't trust him so much he would have lost his place in the starting XI to Zouma during last season. For me a proper leader is the silent one. IMO Matic is the best option for now. Some say he is shy but I disagree. I think he comes about like that because he is still new to the team but I really beleive he can lead the team. Azpi is next for me, but he seems shy of the pitch but inside it he is a warrior, imo our best defensive player by far as well. Zouma is an interesting option. Popular in the dressing room and I think he has captained French u21 team in the past, but I still have my doubts about his leadership skills but I have no doubt he will learn a lot from the master that is JT.

If he is good enough he is good enough. The money is not being taken out of our pockets, and it's not like FFP matters anymore. He has a contract till 2019, is one of the only two senior centre-backs Everton have so of course that will raise his price a lot.

Don't think he would block Zouma's path. Zouma is just as good and probably has a brighter future. I think Jose was pretty clear with his trust in Kurt last season with the way he used him in big games and the run of games he gave him during Cahill's absolute nightmare period of the season. I havn't watched Stones so may I ask if he is a proactive defender or not? If yes I'm all in.

Liverpool to finish higher than Chelsea confirmed.

Not even worth 30m. Dodged a bullet. Thank fuck for that.

We're missing out on a massive, massive player. Out of the many players we didn't sign, this hurts the most. The fact apearantly we weren't even interested in him makes it worse. Now we have to just stick with Ramires as our B2B player. Fucking great.

30m euros. Thats like 21m pounds and that's not anything Ridiculous for a proven winger who still has a lot in him.

Playing there as if it would be his regular position in the team from now on? That is no no for me and I think the majority of this forum would agree with me on that. It's obvious as day we need Cesc deeper to control the tempo of the game. The only reason he gets pushed up to the #10 role on big games is because he gets pressed heavily when is playing deep. He isn't very impressive there either because he doesn't touch the ball very often. Signing Aranguiz would be very good because he can take the pressure away from Cesc and those two have the intelligence to play in a two-man central midfield. Imo Cesc is only good in the #10 role when we are playing a defensive/weaker team.

That's very harsh on Willian. He is more than capable of playing in the #10 role. In fact he has been at his best whenever he has played there.

The point is the Schweini we all loved was an energetic box to box player but that player player has been missing for a couple of seasons now. Van Gaal is going to use him in the 'Carrick Role' and that should worry United fans because he hasn't adjusted well to this position in the last two years. Not to mention he is coming to a much more physical league as well, a league where he won't get the time off during Christmas that he was so used to in Bundesliga. You talk about the World Cup but I say just look at the previous season where he has been poor. He has had a lot of injuries in the past 2 years and that's not going to help either. Maybe Van Gaal's knowledge of Schweini will eventually end up with him rotating the German and Carrick throughout the season sort of like how Fergie treated Giggs and Scholes when they were losing their legs. Maybe the enthusiasm for the new challenge will be good for him but I don't think he will be 'the one' who can take United a step above. If this signing means United won't be buying Schneiderlin then they've made a huge mistake. Schnederlin at the moment is at the very least superior to Schweini. To sum it up, this would have been a dream move a few years ago but not now. Bayern would have never sold him if he was still that all-around beast.

Don't see us changing our approach in big games unless we sign a top, proactive centre-back. We get slaughtered in counter-attacks every time Jose decides not to be conservative and it's mostly down to Cahill's lack of awareness and him simply not having the qualities of a proactive defender. I would love us to sign Otamendi though. He has modern defender's traits, love it.

With the luck he has been having for the past two years, just wait until Adam injures him for a year in the first training session.

With the luck he has been having for the past two years, just wait until Adam injures him for a year in the first training session.

Those who say Willian is a liability in Attack must have been watching another player in the second half of the season. It's obvious as day how much is decision-making has improved in the last 6 months. I think he was our most consistent performer and best player alongside Hazard in the 2nd half of the season.

"If you arrest me, you'll fuck up Chile" Vidal was right. He again showed how good of a player he is.

Saw your username before I clicked. Hoped for news and was not disappointed.