Magic Lamps

There are doubts about his overall quality. He is not very athletic and technically unclean. but he is combative, hard working and a leader with good defensive instincts. Dortmund and other clubs passed on him before so he is not exactly the calibre of player we would usually target. But with virtually 0 DMs at the club rn he would improve us.

We had TT still in charge when we were in for him and still he did not want to come

Potter and Cucu obv were absolute brainfarts. Caicedo might well be the real deal so could be worth it biting the bullet here but Sanchez is just an average goalie you have dozens of in Europe. No need to allow ourselves being bend over here again. How much are they even quoting?

He has only played dm once for a couple of mins. YouTube comments are often misleading. Yes from his highlight reel he has good ability on the ball and can hit it from range but he is not the first CB with a versatile skillset. Would surprise me if he played anywhere besides CB for us

You are right. 45m is pricey. For the future yes he might become starter but for next season I expect it to be Silva + Colwill or Badia as our CB pairing. He is for some reason super slow in fifa but irl he does not look slow at all. Not super fast but there are videos of him skipping past players when driving forward with ease so can’t be a total slouch.

Wow usually I am checking the forum every few hours but completely missed the Dsasi signing. Not really paid too much attention to him before tbh but he looks like a solid CB with decent attacking instincts. Got a wicked shot in his locker , confident on the ball, strong as a bull and looks composed under pressure. Surely been bought as a backup and sadly will probably signal the end of Trev. But he is the perfect age and experience bracket so good job by scouts & board to make this signing in stealth mode.

Actually by winning vs Wrexham we already got the mighty Florida Cup so we are on the triple already 😂

Next season is probably another write off. All our signings are clearly aimed for the future. Even if we sign Caicedo and Kudus or whoever. Players this young are far from making an instant impact. Even if they knew the league, they still have to get used to the immense pressure, teammates, tactics etc. We are not even in for experienced players. The unwillingness to even look for an experienced GK or CB which are musts for a top 4 challenge shows that the owners want to grow this squad over years and do not really care about winning anything the next few years.

Barella is ok but not what we need. We basically need a defensive body guard for Enzo to free him up. Barella is tiny and not a DM. He could be backup to Enzo but not a partner. But the overall point is true. It is ridiculous we have no alternatives to Caicedo lined up. When are willing to drop 80m on a DM, the market literally becomes every goddamn DM there is. In fact, it is way more difficult to spend more than 80m on a DM than it is to spend less on one. This is like wanting to buy a quality compact car, going to the car dealership and saying "I want the electric Mini SE Convertible and I give you 40k for it" - "well it's 52k" - "Ok here are 45" - "It's still 52k" - "wHY dO i HaVE nO oPtIOns" In fact just as with the compact car there is almost no point to spend a ton of money on a DM (that is not prime Makelele, Kante or Viera). Just go buy fkin Golf, it will do the job just fine.

I think it is important that even if he hits a barren spell we do not start doubting him as long as he keeps his great attitude. This boy clearly has it all in terms of ability but obviously will need time to mature and get used to the tempo of PL . As opposed to Timo or Kai or Morata and Lukaku who simply were not good enough all round irrespective of their measly goal return, this guy is. Does not mean he will be a sure hit. But if he continues with this attitude and mentality he deserves to be given time.

Disgusting thread. Never gonna watch a minute of head chopper league. Can not understand how anyone in Europe who has been spoilt with footballing tradition and the best leagues right at their doorstep would even care about that desert retirement home. If North Korea would buy some asscracks like Penaldo and friends would you watch it? At some point bone saw sheik will lose interest in sports washing anyway

Looks like a more creative and athletic version of Darwin Nunez. It’s only pre season but you don’t often see young strikers with such a well rounded skill set and turning in consecutive all action performances. You can see how hungry he is. Fingers crossed he can keep up the run when it matters. Will be telling how he reacts when he misses badly at some point .

My thoughts on last night A reality check can’t hurt. There are good passages and streaks were we just lose it. Inexperienced team shows Cucu is just shambolic in this form. His positioning is awful. He seems to have the right attitude but his ability as a footballer both technically and tactically is just horrid. Pope showed that even a decent goalkeeper can make a difference compared to an average one like Kepa. No idea why we never went in for the former when he was available for peanuts. He seems alright for a top 4 side. Not sure about maatsen. He clearly is not a LW and did ok as LB before. It seems, Poch has yet to figure how to use Nkunku and Jackson together. If he wants nkunku to play as no 10 he is on the wrong track. He is not a midfielder. If they play together it is more a 4-2-2-2 than a 4-3-3 or 4-2-3-1. If there ever was a time to play with two strikers again it is now. Give Enzo a proper partner and they can dominate midfield even as a duo.

Exactly. They are both roughly the same quality . Should cost roughly the same but bc the one is being sold by us he is 25m and the other is being sought after us 45m. Same thing as buying Lukaku for 100m and giving him away for 40m. if we really pull this off we will be the laughing stock of the league. Money burning machine. Thought we had turned a corner but this is the same degree of stupidity as last summer window again.

Ofc. I d be pissed as well. Imagine having a squad bursting of potential world class talent in attack and one single midfielder who can be trusted on this level. Everyone on this forum has been banging on for weeks how we idiotically have no midfield options lined up. But knowing Poch he will surely find the right tone. frustrating thing is we have been splashing out 600m+ for players not necessarily needed without hesitation. now we are in a position where we are just an experienced gk, dm and cb (overall cost probably less than 150m) away from almost certainly logging in top 4 and suddenly start penny pinching around.

In other words, probably be loaned to Strasbourg and never to be heard from again lol

Not true. Trippier, Schär, Wilson, Pope, Almiron. Their team is mostly proven PL veterans. Average age 27. Surely more experienced in than what we have rn. just noticed they signed Harvey Barnes. Wtf I thought he had gone to westham. Great signing tho.

Tchou fits us better anyway. If there is a chance to get him for less than Caicedo we should try.

Selling Chalobah or Gallagher is understandable in isolation but doing so without replacements lined up after the predictable Caicedo snag and the Fofana injury while continuously shopping for attacking players like Kudus, Cherki (esp after securing all the Brazilians ) is asking for trouble. Our squad is so top-heavy already.

Got you, mate. 100% agree. My disapproval was towards the quote in the tweet with Poch speaking about Nkunku as no.8

Please don’t. Nkunku is best as second striker right behind a CF. He can play as lone striker and as left inside forward as well. Pls don’t put him on the right or in midfield. I do think he and Jackson can be brilliant together. we should try a 4-2-2-1-1 again RJ-Thiago-Colwill-Chilly ——Enzo——Casadei—— Madueke——————Mudryk ——————Nkunku————— ——————Jackson————— Super versatile can be very wide with full backs pushing up as well as very vertical with Enzo spraying it long and early for Jackson to lay it off to Nkunku. With those two being fast, good off the ball runners as well as great on it in tight spaces we should constantly be looking to play them into feet or in behind early whenever we regain possession. risky vs teams like Man City but vs all others we should be able to slice right through opposition midfields.

These Olise links have to be taking the piss . He is decent. But we have enough young talented attackers already. Surley we have to think about Caicedo alternatives by now. Clear as day even in pre season where our weak spots are.

Pretty sure Kane would swap that face of England pedigree and even the PL goals record for his first ever title. Time is running out for him and he probably does not want to enter history as a the tragic figure of a great goalscorer with 0 trophies

I think it’s academic. what don’t you believe about the Bayern talks? Hoeneß has publicly confirmed the negotiations. He also said Kane himself had confirmed his priority is Bayern. Kane’s wife is in Munich looking for houses atm He has been their dream player for years. The talks have been ongoing forever but the feeling is it will eventually be agreed. Levy as usual has been doing his best to extract every last penny from Bayern. but if it’s true that the owner has put his foot down there will be a deal soon enough.

He already did for Watford, 2 years back. Really should have kept tabs on him more.