Zero

I think it is fair to say Rafa doesn't mind losing in order to make a statement "give me funds or I will guide this team to relegate." I can't see Ashley bows down though. He may just keep the money and prepare for relegation.

I can't see him bowing down to any pressure to be honest.

Gayle is good at running for spaces for himself but he is very bad at running to create space for others.

It's easy to guess. Next week is end of transfer window, isn't it?

I think Rafa is very controversial, but so as other top class manager like Jose Arsene Pep. They have their belief and always confident that that's the way to succeed. I agree with you, Rafa is not free from criticism. Just that we have to accept his bad as well as his good.

Ashley probably reserve the money for relegation. That's my guess. He does not want to gamble anymore - if we spend the money and relegate, we would take another huge hit. So to him as long as the money is reserved he would be safe - relegation cost covered, or further investment cost saved if we survived. He is a massive cunt for sure, but it's kinda rational if you ask me, because he knows we won't be getting any decent manager if Rafa walks and we must relegate. That's why I wonder whether Ashley really afraid of relegation this time - he seems like preparing for it already.

The money is there, it is just a matter of "spend in advance" or not. That's probably what Ashley "tricked" Rafa, but that's controversial in finance sense. Anyway, it is not about trying anymore. We basically need to survive first. Ashley need to take a gamble by allowing Rafa to spend in advance or else we are hot favourite for relegation. That said, I start to wonder, does Ashley afraid of relegation anymore?

No, he did try to have a go by playing on the deck at first half. That's why it is a complete failure. Those aren't hoof, those are clearance under pressure, which is even worse.

I hope it is bollocks.

Lol ok, let me rephrase, we aren't good at counters, but we are even worse when we attack by other means. Anyway, that's Rafas choice under limited budget, that's my point. No.10 is never his priority, and that's why he bought in so many defenders and pacy wingers but not a traditional creator.

A solid defence playing a deep line ( like we do) needs players who are good at counters. That makes absolutely no sense. We are good at counters. We almost score against Spurs. Or you think we can play possession football and able to do the same?

Rafa actually should be credited to be able to build a solid defence line within very limited budget. We just give Huddersfield one clear chance and get punished. Other than that we are fine. Yedlin Clark both come at very cheap cost and Lejuene looks like a gem. And we still have Dummett Lascelles and Manquillos that all can do a job. It is fair to say we have the best defence among our relegation rivals, even if our gk is shit. Rafa deserves huge credit for this. The other side of the story, however, is that the players aren't good at building up plays in top level. They are good at counters. We look a lot more dangerous vs Spurs because that's what we are good at. We aren't a team that is good at building up plays because we lack good attacking full backs, Hayden aren't technically good enough and most importantly, Gayle is not this type of forward. However, Rafa is brave / arrogant enough to try to play like a technically superior team, away versus Huddersfield, and that's when the no.10 problem got exposed. In a way, Rafa should be praised to try to have a go, but it is a failed experiment. However, to play like a strong team and dominate the game is not his priority. Solid defence and counter is. That's why he didn't spend his money on no.10 because at worst we can just go defensive every game from now on and no.10 is useless. In a way, Rafa is similar to Jose. Defensive first, attack second. Full back has to be pacy and not get exposed, and there must be two defensive midfielder to cover the space in the middle.

Lol sorry typo, good at counters.

No, I disagree. Rafa is a very defensive minded manager and his priority must be a solid defence line, and players that aren't good at counters.

To add on to it, Schick has a 30m euro release clause. The issue, however , is he failed 2 medicals this summer and that's why Juventus quitted.

Rumour on the street is we are scouting Schick instead of Praet.

Well he is not a wing back so fair play to him. The question is whether he should start ahead of other CB we have. To me I think he is better than Lascelles.

??‍♂️

You better don't have high hopes - Mediocore for Sampdoria in Series A.

The only positives is seems we have one more 10m signing coming.

Aye, if that fails we will be adrift at the bottom of the league. Drop Perez now! He gives us very little going forward and his closing down, work rate and ability to keep possession are abysmal. I would be happy to drop Perez if we have real alternatives. I don't think Rafa will play two strikers upfront anyway e.g. Gayle and Joselu. The problem with Perez is he needs space to make anything happen, and he is too weak to hold up the ball under pressure. Thus it is very tricky to play him as no.10, and that's also why sometimes he played a lot better as a lone striker - he just move and run freely and find space himself, instead of forcing himself to survive in that no.10 position.

Aye, if that fails, we have to move on, say try Joselu / Gayle or de Jong.

I think we should try Joselu / Perez partnership first. It may works like Mitro / Perez like last year. In fact any combination other than Gayle / Perez would be an improvement. Gayle literally cannot create any space for Perez.

I hope Rafa start Woodman to give him some hope here, and bench Clark for preventing injury. We can't afford that.

This. Full credit to Rafa for getting this player. It's his first competitive debut in his career in top tier football to be fair. His time at Dortmund are limited to rubbish matches FYI.