The College Dropout

Ones that zap burglars?

Man City always have a player in the AM position though. Might not be the same player but they often look to exploit that position. It’s poor to see a structural problem in our team exploited on a consistent basis.

He thinks he’s Cole Palmer?

Then Chelsea used that FFP buffer to sign their new talisman. Great idea. We can question the logic behind bringing in a player on an eventual big fee for 3-4 years into the future when we had a demanding schedule this season and weakness in that lads specific position.

We’ve had the issue with the flatness of the midfield 3 and the gap between defence and midfield for a long time. Before Pope’s injury. But I can accept it’s been made worse by his injury. It’s a long standing structural issue. It’s highly mitigated when we can play with top intensity. That requires our top athletes to be fit and in good physical form (Willock, Joelinton, Longstaff, Tonali, the wingers and attackers). We’ve not had that since November. I don’t think it’s strictly a case of ‘being figured out’ at all. We’ve not been able to execute it as intended for months. My frustration remains not trying to mitigate the approach that hasn’t worked for months. I’ve seen the same second half so many times this season. People often say ‘I believe Howe will learn and adapt’ and I don’t see much evidence for that atm. Rather I think we’ll be able to play effective Howe ball soon and with that we’ll get better results. One thing I expect him to learn from is managing load better and taking less risks with injuries. I believe Howe does go against medical advice and plays players if they are willing to give it a go. Schar one in particular. He needs to stop that and take a conservative approach. With that - he needs to be more pragmatic in his approach to attacking competitions too. I’ve got a lot of love for Eddie. We need a massive push after the Villa game. But we need players back and to take it easy with them as they do.

The 3 in midfield flat. Massive gap. Back 4. Smart opposition can place players in that massive gap. 1 simple pass then they are running at our defence. We’ve had this weakness for at least a year. I’ve not seen an attempt to address it.

The goal was everything I love about Isak. Legs went after half time like most of the team.

I would just attempt something else. Anything else. I’ve seen that second half 5 times this season. Each time… Eddie just hasn’t responded. At 2-1 the commentator said we might bring on Lascelles for Bruno. That didn’t make any sense to me but I would’ve welcomed the attempt to change the music.

5 minutes into the second half I knew exactly how it would play out. Its no coincidence we concede a lot of late goals. It’s the same problems again and again and no attempt to change it.

I see what you've done here.

The physios don't decide when players come back from injury. It's the player and the manager.

A lot of premium signings.

Chris Wood scored 10+ goals in the 4 previous seasons to joining us. He's scored over 150 professional goals in the English game. At a certain level. He is a proven goalscorer. He is proven. Enough to keep a team in the PL. He is proven. Clubs have seen him as a low-risk choice who will score goals. Again, run the filter.. current PL players that have scored 10+ goals in 4 different seasons. It's a short list. Miguel Almiron has had 1 good season in 5. He's not proven. You can get lads like Anthony Elanga for £15m... 21 years old.. why would you sign Miguel Almiron? His age doesn't give you that track record of delivering goals or assists.

A 29 year old attacker who hasn’t consistently delivered at a high level. On big wages. I set the profile up. Name me another - his age - his wages - his track record. That’s gone for more than £15m. If he has another purple patch this season. Sure - that might convince a buyer.

Doesn’t matter. If an attacking player proves himself in the Bundesliga - he will get a big money move. There’s a dozen examples. Some work, some don’t. But the fees are big. If Miggy had 3 great seasons in the Bundesliga - he would move for big money too. But he hasn’t.

Danny Ings is well regarded in the game. He’s been bought for over £10m four different times in his career. He has over 100 league goals in the game. He’s had multiple good seasons in the PL. And he went for £12m (not 20). How is Almiron going to go for more than Ings? He’s not.

Thats 1 season out of the 5 he’s been here. Most of those goals came in a 12 game purple patch. Again. People know this in real life. Timo Werner scored over 100 professional goals in a top 5 league before the age of 25. Including 78 league goals in 4 seasons. He was recognised as a top talent in European football. What does that have to do with Miggy Almiron?

Name 5 Paraguayan internationals. Ever if you like. That doesn’t mean much I’m sorry.

And yes Miguel Almiron is not in the same league as Granit Xhaka. In what world is he in the same league? Xhaka was signed by a CL club in a top 5 division. He almost signed for Roma the previous season. When Miguel Almiron leaves us - he'll not join a team the level of Leverkusen or Roma I can guarantee that. People know he is not a top player in real life. That is my point.

Use the following filter: Remove those that are 30+, this has a massive impact on resale value (as Miggy will be this summer) Remove those on high wages say.. £50k+ (Miggy is rumoured to earn £60k p/w) Remove those that are proven at a high-level What do you have left? Genuine question, I've not bothered to look through your list but I can guess most of these are 27 or younger with resale value, on low wages. If not - they will be proven performers at a certain level. He's too old. On too much money. And hasn't delivered enough at a high level to demand a high fee. IMO anyway. Edit: You are bigging up a 1 goal in 6 winger. Is everything ok?

ASM was our best player for 2-3 seasons. People recognise he has a lot of talent. People know this in real life. That is not the case with Almiron. People are not as stupid as you think they are.

For the milllionth time. No club is going to pay £20m for Miguel Almiron. We’ll be lucky to get £10m. You could probably get Oscar Bobb for £15m and less wages. Why would you buy Miggy Almiron?

It’s going to get to a point that few clubs can spend and the transfer market really slows down. It took City buying that lad from Wolves to keep Wolves on the right side of FFP. In the PL - City are the only team that can stimulate the market. The others can’t or are unwilling. Saudi are slowing down. That leaves about 6 clubs from Europe.

It's not 2013 anymore. Proven Prem players at PL clubs cost a bomb.

When we have enough players fit and rested - I really believe in Eddie and his Plan A most of the time. But without big Joe I really think we need another approach to get results.