The College Dropout

I'm not a Football Club decision maker with several professional scouts. It's not like one of you signed our players. These are professionals working with other professionals. The fact i didn't know Cole Palmer was this good isn't a poor reflection on me at all. But I did want that profile of player and I thought it was a mistake we didn't get a player there.

Don't make me say the other guy man. We could've diligently spend £40m on a RW.

Oh aye. It works because 1 is aging and injury-prone. And the other is picking up injuries.

Yeh and £40m on Palmer is better value for money than £40m on Barnes. He’s 4-5 years younger to boot.

I'm not sure he's prolific enough yet to be their main striker. It took Rodri & Gundo about 18 months to work well together. Alvarez only been a mainstay in the team this season. And in any case... the manager plays both of them when fit. That's the plan he's had for the season. And Alvarez didn't cost £50m. They've started like 6 games together in 18 months. Hardly plenty. With Gordon's form and signing Barnes - I think the plan was to rotate with CL football and otherwise have Isak as #1 with Wilson getting 20-30 minutes a game. Which is all good.

Even Alvarez has more minutes in other positions.

I agree. I suggested A and B is a valid route. To his credit, I think Howe has tried to do B for Isak at times. But his lack of conditioning and persistent injuries persist.

These all play together - not instead. Alvarez moves into midfield when Haaland starts. Havertz plays in midfield in the main (old tired eyes is starting upfront recently - Nketiah on the bench). Garnacho was cheap and plays on the wing. The back-up striker is Martial and he's backup backup. Diaz & Nunez often start together. Liverpool are stacked upfront tbf but they have a weak midfield. Unbalanced squad. Apart from Liverpool's unbalanced squad - no team has two £50m+ strikers that can only effectively play as a striker. We have Isak / Wilson / Gordon It's as good as any of these. Alvarez, Diaz, Havertz, Garnacho - none of these are centre-forwards and get more minutes in other positions. Solanke's a good PL player and will continue to score goals at this level imo. Miggy Almiron had a purple patch.

Why don't any other club have 2 "A standard" strikers? With FFP - it just doesn't make sense. Isak needs to improve his strength and conditioning so he can cope with the physical demands of Howe-ball better - that's route A. He visibly struggles with the pace of it. We also need to rotate more when he does get fatigued but that should happen less often. I don't see how we spend £50m on a striker - then have enough money for RW, LB & CB.

Love away goals. Added so much drama. You can be winning the tie and 1 goal means you're out. We've lost that jeopardy. Real Madrid are the only team that have made the CL exciting in recent years with their high-scoring games and dramatic comebacks. Top level football needs more jeopardy and luck. Top team playing away 1st and no away goals reinforces dominance of the strongest teams.

This won't be resolved for months imo. This thread is going to be boring. What page does Ashworth actually start working for Man U? Page 220 for me. Need Ineos guy to keep talking otherwise it will get quiet in here.

Alonso is building a resume as proven as can be expected from a manager on the up. Unproven but connected to the club is Ole, Shearer, Woodgate etc. Xabi Alonso's trajectory is Real Madrid, Liverpool and Bayern. Even if he wasn't connected to all 3 clubs, based on his resume and playing career - he would be in the running. I wouldn't consider it a stroke of genius - he's the obvious candidate. Also think DeZerbi's doing a better job than perhaps he's being given credit for. Sold 2 of his best players, same position in the league, still in Europe.

No other club has this setup. These expectations are unrealistic unless you think we should sell Isak. We need to sign someone that can play with Isak on the right and perhaps fill-in for him when injured (although I think Wilson and Gordon is fine back-up personally). Solanke isn't that player. Mbeumo is more of that profile. But if Isak was injured I would start Barnes - Gordon - Mbeumo for balance.

West Ham are top 20 by revenue. And above us (until perhaps recently). European football, good gates numbers, good gate prices, PL money etc.

West Ham is in the upgraded model of boat that Palace are. Barely competent owners rising with the PL tides. They had no idea what to do in the summer but managed to land good players. They only got Moyes because they had no idea who to hire.

I don't know man. Maybe i'm insane. To me £50m on a backup striker is crazy. This type of player will still cost £20-£40m like. It's down to the quality of player, their personality and a bit of luck.

Definitely at the expense of Barnes. RW was a more pressing position. Palmer is also more versatile positionally and can play uptop as a false 9 and as a 10. Barnes is a LW only. Left - Gordon, Joelinton, Willock Right - Palmer, Almiron, Murphy Upfront - Isak, Wilson, Gordon & Palmer With everyone fit our best team either has Barnes on the bench or Gordon out of position to accommodate him. Signing a RW would have given the squad more balance. This is not hindsight. This was the prevailing thought at the time for many. Apart from those who don't know ball and over-rated Almiron. If Barnes doesn't get the injury, Gordon doesn't have the same output on the RW or one of them sits on the bench. It's weird squad building.

They won the European trophy they were favourites for. They have far more resources than the teams they were competing against. West Ham are like the 20th richest club in the world and comfortably in the top 8 or 9 in England. They are doing well... but not that well when you look at everything.

Ok i'll say it. Cole Palmer and Mo Kudus were available in the summer for £40m odd. If we wanted them we had a good chance of landing them. I'd like us to try and find the next Pedro Neto or Raphinha or Kudus or Palmer. Under-the-radar type signings. The Pedro Neto one to Wolves kind of smells fishy when you look at it now though but whatever.

It’s dour football and they were awful in the league last season.

Don't make me say their names again lad...

I think so - but he was only 21. Odegaard left Madrid at 22 under similar circumstances. Again, another massive wonderkid. The heights he has hit are not surprising and perhaps a little beneath the expectations he had as a youth maybe?? Still time. The Rooney's and Mbappe's and co. hide that it takes many top players until 23 or 24 to really kick-on. Same thing might be happening with that Kubo lad. He's kicked on at 23/24ish and fulfilling that potential. All that coming off the bench and loan shit doesn't work for every player. Fulham youth like Carvalho & Sessegnon have fallen foul of that. Better off staying at Fulham or going to a midtable club. That big jump often doesn't come off.

Both players very highly regarded as youth players and expensive - wonderkids. Solanke was signed a couple years too early at the time. Ake in particular was a coup for Bournemouth at the time. Solanke was dominant for England at youth level - was highly regarded at Chelsea and Liverpool hence the big fee.

Absolute non-starter.

I agree fully. Liverpool in their prime did play with a natural 10 in Firmino as a false 9. And then they put in more technical/progressive passing midfielders in Thiago and now MacAllister. We are missing that type of guile and finesse. We are definitely one player short there. Our style is a big reason why we can be hit on the break. It requires a lot of numbers going forward (over loads). City on the other hand start with at least 2 playmakers. Sometimes 3 or 4 (Grealish, KDB, Foden, Bilva) and still press.