The College Dropout

He's better than Dubs for me

This lads eaten very well from Newcastle United.

Eh? At least Inter got all of their money back and more. And Ronaldo wasn't a selfish prick.

Anelka wouldn't have worked imo. It would've been too much pressure for the lad. Needed to be a star in an ensemble cast.

Liverpool have added good depth in defence and have avoided key injuries. Konate has reduced Matip's workload. But Robertson, VVD & TAA have barely missed 6 games in total between them. City are genuinely light at fullback which doesn't help.

It was tempting.

That's not true though is it. When he's attacking his fullback I have zero confidence he'll beat him. His quality of crossing is often poor. In recent weeks/months it's starting to all come together. In the box he's looking v. decisive. Quick shifts and incisive finishes or moments. He's much further behind in his development than Vini although they're the same age. Vini's a star player with 30+ goal contributions this season. At his best, he's proven to be unstoppable. Vini's output this season proves he's the more consistent player at this point. Even with his doubters, Vini has always been ahead of Rodrygo in the pecking order. Rodrygo's behind Asensio in that starting line-up. Next season is interesting. Vini's become a star player and Benzema has had his best season yet but Mbappe is a game changer. I assume they go Mpabbe-Benz-Vini. Rotate a bit more. But Rodrygo needs to be above Asensio and get a lot more game time. I can see them taking a £10-20m loan for Rodrygo actually - pay Mbappe's wages for a season!

The excellence of the Rodrygo header is underrated. Asensio’s touch is so close to Rodrygos header. I’ve long wondered what Rodrygo is good at. But his co-ordination, timing and movement for the last 3 goals in the CL have been brilliant. The volley for the Chelsea goal was superb too. Losing his head and diving in like that for the penalty is the difference between Dias and VVD. VVD doesn’t lose his head like that.

City and Liverpools biggest stars work hard on the pitch. Or at least don’t make it look like such a chore.

They’re not a clinical team because the attack are all essentially midfielders. They don’t have a Salah, Jota or Mane. The closest they have to that aren’t fancied generally or as clinical (Sterling or Jesus). Relying on KDB, Foden to shoot them to CL finals. But aye there was a reason Benzema had a big smile after he scored the 4-3 and it ended the same. Madrid knew that was a good scoreline. But also bring 2-0 up essentially on 89 minutes and the other team haven’t had a shot on target. They were through. Everyone thought it. But when a Pep team goes, they GO. Likewise Madrid are like sharks to blood. It’s in their DNA.

They wasted time from the first minute. Taking forever at goal kicks. A big reason for bringing on Grealish is to win fouls imo. The flaws here are structural and fundamental rather than tactical imo. Pep is obsessed with controlling football matches as much as possible with the ball at feet. All the players have to buy into his philosophy 100%. He doesn’t sign any players that are blessed physically, it’s all this narrow way of working and improving this particular machine. Everyone has to differ to Pep and the system and they therefore lack a bit of individual character. They can’t rely on character to get themselves out of a hole. And Pep hasn’t wanted a serious plan B. Signing Haaland is a positive step. An individual. But Peps sides are always going to vulnerable to not being able to cope when control is lost. The final is going to be contested by the best teams at thriving in chaos. Rather than the 2 best teams period. Future looks bright for Madrid. Courtois, Alaba, Rudiger, Militao, Mendy, Camavinga, Valverde (this lad reminds me of Klopp’s PED boys - one of the most athletic players I’ve ever seen), Vinicius, Rodrygo then add Mbappe. With that they just need another central midfielder and some depth at RB. Camavinga is an amazing talent. He can rotate with the old guard for another year. Their recent policy of big bets on teenagers/youngsters and established stars on frees or a year left on contract has largely been successful (Hazard the obvious exception).

I wonder how Odegaard feels. A lot of his generation at Madrid have come up big in the CL run and have been given more game time. Vini, Rodrygo, Valverde really coming good now.

I almost stopped watching. Real gave absolutely nothing until the 89th minute. City totally controlled them. In retrospect those Grealish misses are monumental. At the time it seemed insignificant. It’s telling that they lost it completely at ET too. Didn’t create many chances at all. Rush of blood type foul for the penalty. Foden kept shaking his head and looking dazed. Their heads were gone.

Owen is the worst for me. Because of the gap between expectation and the result. He was meant to be our new 9 and talisman. We broke our transfer record. Massive wages. Massive expectations. About 60 league starts in 4 years. Joelinton made that many starts in half the time. Refusing to come on during our relegation battle that saw us go down. He’s absolutely despised and rightfully so. i think every club has a number of Alan Smith type signings.

Kilman would be excellent. I love a tall centreback with some pace that can play a bit. Massive contract though - might be expensive. Sarr worried about his injury record.

Schick would also be in the 50m region.

If we go abroad we have to go "the next big thing" or someone we've identified as a real top talent if we're spending £30m+. I'm not sure if I trust our scouting to find the next Sadio Mane from Austria. And if we do, it needs to be as a rotation option for less than £20m odd. I'd rather the likes of Toney & Abraham before Patrick Schick.

Strike early and fast. Good wages. At 25 and 2 years in the PL - he might fancy going straight into a CL team. He's proven himself as much as a Grealish, Jota, Mane did to get a major move. Don't want Tielemans. Lacks athleticism. What Willock did to him, isn't an isolated incident. Fofana would be an excellent signing. Would want him to have a more experienced partner that isn't Burn though.

Those 3 also give you great work rate off the ball too. I'd love Raph at Newcastle. £50m-£60m good deal. Any less is a bargain.

Andy Robertson's fitness and athleticism is crazy.

I mean Rashford is a similar profile of player to Mane - except his movement is far inferior. Mane and Jota make playing wide or central easy. Even Wilfred Zaha has been decent up top or wide. I don’t think Rashfords issue is the position thing.

I remember Jeffers and Zenden were our first options ahead of Robert & Bellamy. Lucky escape there.

Is there that much difference between being a wide forward and a striker? The Liverpool lads make both roles look easy.

I don't think he needs a team to be built around him. For Belgium Hazar & KDB have been the focus, allowing Lukaku to sometimes play wide or just vary his game more. Like I said, if he was willing to press, Lukaku suits Liverpool's style of play. I agree that his overall cost seems too high. The wages and fee are just astronomical. It's the wages that put me off all of the Manchester United, Chelsea players we've been linked with for a fee.

Agreed. I'd say the last 2 managers are as bad comparatively as Bruce was here. So you're seeing the players perform well below their level. Not sure I agree. He just needs a team that can play a vertical game. If you watch Chelsea, the build up is slow and short. He would fly in any Conte system as he did at Inter. I think he would be good at Liverpool if he was able to press, they are always looking to play balls in behind and that suits his game. He would alternate between CF and RF. At Chelsea he never runs the channels but he did that at Inter, Belgium and Everton. He's particularly devastating from the right.