1. Kepa Arrizabalaga

[Jase 43,476]

2 minutes ago, OneMoSalah said:

I said isnt our biggest problem. Not that he isnt a problem. 

He is a problem but hes further down the list for me. If we dont improve without the ball defensively or at set plays (maybe he is a reason as I said) or convert more chances into more goals it wont matter if we have Kepa or Oblak in goal. Sure Oblak would save more but a team conceding too many chances is never good. Even if the GK can bail them out. You dont want your GK to have to make a lot of saves. 

We don't want our keeper to have to make a lot of saves, sure, but at the same time, we also want a keeper who can makes saves when called upon and Kepa very, very rarely did that in the last couple of months. 

[OneMoSalah 7,744]

3 hours ago, Jason said:

We don't want our keeper to have to make a lot of saves, sure, but at the same time, we also want a keeper who can makes saves when called upon and Kepa very, very rarely did that in the last couple of months. 

Yes but I think your missing the point.

Improvement in the organisation and defending as a whole has to be our number 1 priority next season as it was a huge reason as to why our season had that slump midway through and uncertainty towards the end (along with chance conversion - when the Havertz deal happens then I think its fair to say that issue has been almost resolved or so you would think looking at us on paper). Even with Havertz, Ziyech, Pulisic, Werner if we don’t improve the structure and organisation as a whole unit, teams will continue to create plenty of chances be it from corners, FKs, open play whatever against us. Its not necessarily just personnel that needs to change as we’ve mentioned so many times this last season its more than just one or two players, it comes from the way we try to play and the naiveness of a young manager who is trying to make his mark at times (mistakes will be made we cannot say that isnt going to happen but it has to be reflected on and changed in the longrun and set plays/fks/transitions were a huge issue last season).

I think thats got to be more a realistic priority as a collective with the signing of a LB and maybe another a CB first and foremost than trying to offload a 71m GK 2 years into a 7 year contract in the middle of a financially crippling global pandemic, dont you? I think Kepa will get replaced but its not going to be as easy as okay Ajax heres 35m for your GK now we have to try offload a high earner with 5 years left on his deal who cost 71m 2 years ago who will undoubtedly not want to sit on the bench. If we are to replace Kepa I think a club has to make a move first to come and get him, theres plenty of talk the club still have faith in him and expect him to turn it around and pay back the investment. Whether you believe that or not I dont know if Frank or the club will think at this moment replacing a GK is top of the list. If we get this triple deal yes then absolutely but we still need to wait and see. I do expect him to be replaced but I dont think its our number 1 concern right now. 

[Jase 43,476]

7 minutes ago, OneMoSalah said:

Yes but I think your missing the point.

Improvement in the organisation and defending as a whole has to be our number 1 priority next season as it was a huge reason as to why our season had that slump midway through and uncertainty towards the end (along with chance conversion - when the Havertz deal happens then I think its fair to say that issue has been almost resolved or so you would think looking at us on paper). Even with Havertz, Ziyech, Pulisic, Werner if we don’t improve the structure and organisation as a whole unit, teams will continue to create plenty of chances be it from corners, FKs, open play whatever against us. Its not necessarily just personnel that needs to change as we’ve mentioned so many times this last season its more than just one or two players, it comes from the way we try to play and the naiveness of a young manager who is trying to make his mark at times (mistakes will be made we cannot say that isnt going to happen but it has to be reflected on and changed in the longrun and set plays/fks/transitions were a huge issue last season).

I think thats got to be more a realistic priority as a collective with the signing of a LB and maybe another a CB first and foremost than trying to offload a 71m GK 2 years into a 7 year contract in the middle of a financially crippling global pandemic, dont you? I think Kepa will get replaced but its not going to be as easy as okay Ajax heres 35m for your GK now we have to try offload a high earner with 5 years left on his deal who cost 71m 2 years ago who will undoubtedly not want to sit on the bench. If we are to replace Kepa I think a club has to make a move first to come and get him, theres plenty of talk the club still have faith in him and expect him to turn it around and pay back the investment. Whether you believe that or not I dont know if Frank or the club will think at this moment replacing a GK is top of the list. If we get this triple deal yes then absolutely but we still need to wait and see. I do expect him to be replaced but I dont think its our number 1 concern right now. 

Oh no, I am not missing the point. That the defence needs to be improved is well documented at this point. I myself have talked endlessly about it. But those problems can't be used as excuses for Kepa's own individual flaws. 

And yes, I am aware that moving Kepa out is not easy. That has been reported by the media as well but it doesn't mean we can't try to do so. The club are certainly trying to make moves on it.

[MCM4PR3Z 409]

Kepa just costed too much. He is the most expensive goalkeeper in history. We have to rely on our scouting and give him confidence and hope he just needed a lot of time like De Gea. We don't have another choice imo. I don't think he will ever be Cech or Courtois level, but he can do a lot better than now.

[BlueLyon 9,359]

Will be interesting if we buy a new GK or give Kepa one more chance. 

[MCM4PR3Z 409]

13 minutes ago, BlueLyon said:

Will be interesting if we buy a new GK or give Kepa one more chance. 

You can't throw away that much money. With FFP we have to give Kepa another chance. If we'd have an unlimited budget, we could take a 50M loss on Kepa. Now it's impossible.

[Jase 43,476]

5 hours ago, MCM4PR3Z said:

You can't throw away that much money. With FFP we have to give Kepa another chance. If we'd have an unlimited budget, we could take a 50M loss on Kepa. Now it's impossible.

I don't think the club are concerned about FFP at all especially when it's relaxed this summer because of the pandemic.

The problem is, finding someone to take Kepa, be it on loan or just outright buy him. The former is obviously more likely at this point but there does not seem to be any takers. 

[Magic Lamps 10,413]

1 hour ago, Jason said:

I don't think the club are concerned about FFP at all especially when it's relaxed this summer because of the pandemic.

The problem is, finding someone to take Kepa, be it on loan or just outright buy him. The former is obviously more likely at this point but there does not seem to be any takers. 

I dont even think it makes a difference. Even assuming FFP was still in full force and we were forced to keep Kepa around we need to sign a 3rd senior keeper, which will cost 30m max. That keeper should be expected to challenge poor gks like Willy and kepa anyway so while we are at that we can as well sign a proper one.

[Puliiszola 519]

2 hours ago, Jason said:

I don't think the club are concerned about FFP at all especially when it's relaxed this summer because of the pandemic.

The problem is, finding someone to take Kepa, be it on loan or just outright buy him. The former is obviously more likely at this point but there does not seem to be any takers. 

Its relaxed only for this year. The same FY will be counted in the next window. Infact the next monitoring period will have 4 FYs. So I think the club will take FFP as seriously as they have in the past. We have not got in trouble with FFP, and dont think we would want to in the future

[NikkiCFC 6,589]

So Cech said that club still believes in him and that nobody is writing him off. 

Kepa will stay and fight for his place with new GK. 

[bigbluewillie 1,512]

We don't only need a new 1st choice keeper, we need a decent 2nd choice well

[Jase 43,476]

6 hours ago, NikkiCFC said:

So Cech said that club still believes in him and that nobody is writing him off. 

Kepa will stay and fight for his place with new GK. 

Cech wasn't going to come out and say Kepa is shit and is up for sale in the public, was he? 

[NikkiCFC 6,589]

9 hours ago, Jason said:

Cech wasn't going to come out and say Kepa is shit and is up for sale in the public, was he? 

Yeah but he would not say we hope he has big future here. It is clear now he is staying, it is up to him for how long... Nobody is saying same thing about Michy, Emerson... Because they are 100% leaving.

[Special Juan 26,196]

Really bad from the club if Kepa is not moved, whether it's loan or sale. He is absolutely not the goalkeeper to have at this club going forward, his mentality is shot, his ability as a goalkeeper is rank poor and if we are to stick with him and he continues like he has been we deserve all the flack we get. He is absolute middle of the road, and if we are continuing to move forward with buys like Havertz, Werner and Ziyech and we keep him then I am sorry our improvement will be stagnated.

Get fucking rid.

[Laylabelle 8,790]

Exactly our issue last season was letting in a ridiculous amount of goals..and the goals we let in some were also stupid. That isn't going to change unless the goal keeper has changed. For his sake also his confidence was shot. Players could tell weren't happy...

[Tomo 20,982]

Aslong as we have a new keeper it should be win win (unless the new one turns out bad, not worth thinking about).

If he's up against Frank's choice of keeper he's going to have to do ridiculously well to even get a sniff.

[Jase 43,476]

1 hour ago, NikkiCFC said:

Yeah but he would not say we hope he has big future here. It is clear now he is staying, it is up to him for how long... Nobody is saying same thing about Michy, Emerson... Because they are 100% leaving.

Different circumstances no? One is the most expensive player in his position while the others aren't in theirs. There is also currently a market for the likes of Batshuayi, Emerson etc while there is not an obvious one for Kepa at this moment. So, it is not surprise Cech is making sure we do not leave ourselves exposed by making us look desperate to get rid of him. 

[Strike 6,170]

Cech did hint at a GK signing

[NikkiCFC 6,589]

Matt back from vacation.

[Hutcho 8,443]

If we can't find a landing spot he will have to stay and fight for his place and I hope he does do that (if he stays) as at least then he may work harder to be better. But Frank clearly doesn't have faith in him so it will be a hard task. But if he can fight and wins the job back then cool. He can't be worse than last year