The College Dropout

You still haven't told me. What's he good at? He can run a bit but he doesn't look Craig Bellamy fast. Apparently works hard on the pitch and whoscored says he's good at long shots (not many goals) and set pieces. Tell me what am I missing? He's giving me Milner RW vibes which isn't a bad thing.

It's pure profit FFP wise isn't it? So selling Gallagher for £40m covers a season of FFP costs for Mudryk and 3 others. With their production line, they could do that 2x a season for the next 3 seasons.

Aye. Barnes might be £40-£50m though but not 2x the cost of Gordon. We've got loads of HG players on our books. Pope A back-up GK Trippier Burn Targett Longstaff Willock Wilson That's 8 before counting the dross. Manquillo might even count.

Based on what? The 3 goals last season? Aye. Most of Leicester's team have finished 5th twice and won the FA Cup tbf. They are proven historically if not now.

Funny enough I was sold on Pope and thought he would be a big upgrade. Dan Burn's a solid player better than I thought with a unique profile for his LB position which is useful. But I think he's limited. I think we need a Nick Pope level signing rather than a Dan Burn.

Given Chelsea, Spurs & Liverpool are having poor seasons it's a great opportunity to capitalise and nab a top 4 place. I think we need 1 or 2 quality players to sustain a CL push. I think without it, we struggle to score and finish just out the top 4. So for me, more of the same doesn't help. We need quality. The club have made good decision after good decision. If we sign him i'll support him. But I don't like the thinking behind it.

https://www.sofascore.com/crystal-palace-newcastle-united/hO Not a single "big chance" in the game which I think is a Xg of 0.3 or above. Schar had a 0.23 and Isak similarly - both decent headed chances iirc. The Xg is down to high accumulation of poor/decent chances. But I agree with you in the sense - we need genuine quality in the attacking 3rd. Movement, creativity, technique, finishing etc.

This is where i'm at. I understand the perspective of Plan A - but better. But that's not Gordon to me, he's not better than what we have. I really want a 8/10 type player and a finished Isak level type wide attacker. There's a week to go and the rumours are poor.

Exactly. Barnes, Almiron, ASM & Willock/Joe as wide options, pretty good. Gordon? Nah mate.

When you only have one, they can be marked out the game. I look at Arsenal. They have 3 players that are great at passing it through the lines from midfield. Zinchenko alongside Partey in 6 areas. Odegaard from more advanced areas. It's just wave after wave. We've only got one. And we don't have the players to finish them off quality wise.

This is it. We need finesse and genuine quality for right now. Is that LW Leicester lad not a more developed version of Gordon?

Sterling has moved twice as a professional.

Good signings. But panic signings. Arteta was a panic signing himself iirc for Arsenal

By end of week i'll be stressed if nothing has materialised.

Based on what?

He is a bit uno. He doesn't have any real footballing "philosophy" and he's a "pragmatist" - which in English football management terms is doing things old school. He's not interested in management again. But his default style is more Gerrard/Lampard than Arteta. He's too convinced of what does and doesn't work in English football.

One thing I love about Arsenal. Partey and Zinchenko. Constantly getting on the ball and zipping it between the lines. Then have Odegaard and Xhaka who can play excellent balls from a more advanced position, we lack those players entirely. And then they have the wide players with quality 1v1 or can continue the attack through passing. We have those players but not the level of quality, we need one more.

Possibly. But i've never seen it in him. I wasn't overly hot on Paqueta before he joined West Ham. But I think he looks a real talent that is ill-suited to West Ham at best and not suitable for the league at worst. But he wants to get on the ball, pass it forward, nice angled passes to break lines, move and receive it back to build play. Like ok I get what kind of player he's trying to be. The amount of time he spends out of possession doesn't suit him. Gordon? I see a willing runner with a bit of pace. That's it. I'm sure many see the same thing. I trus Eddie and the transfer team but they aren't infallible and we are entitled to our opinions. A couple of signings to sustain a CL push. I would love someone capable of playing in a 8/10 role, receiving balls from Bruno to play it into attackers. And then a wide forward.

Murphy's stats aren't any good either.

Quality of "links" has been poor so far. Hoping for better.

He doesn't make sense. He's not very good. We have his profile in the squad already. We need quality.

I thought he was 17/18.

I’d like to see us play with a 10 sometimes. I liked how Isak played off Wilson against Fulham.

True.

Still 4. Need more attacking quality.