The College Dropout

Looking at the best teams in the PL - they don't play with an out and out striker. Even Kane plays v. deep with Son usually ahead. Liverpool's attackers can all play wide as can Chelsea's (Romelu is perhaps best off the right too). I wouldn't mind going for a couple players in that mould. One with a leap and some link up play.

Not qualified at all. their last 2 managers previous jobs were managing Molde and being DOF @ Spartak Moscow. Zero pedigree prior for the job either.

I think the characters they bring in are fine - it's something about that club in particular its currrent culture. Nobody goes to Man Utd and becomes a better player. Di Maria Sanchez Schweinsteiger Matic Ronaldo Cavani Varane All had solid reputations as professionals before joining Man Utd. Different era's - it's the club itself. These are all proven winners - multiple times in multiple countries/competitions. If Thiago Silva joined Manchester United he would have flopped.

Yes Tammy's experience means your paying an extra 10-20m for pedigree. You would like to think there's better value elsewhere but I couldn't give you a name.

I like Tammy's movement inside the box more. Tammy offers less in general play though. Do prefer Tammy of the 2.

Not anymore tbf. Aye he’s very tidy football player all round.

No. That looks a ridiculous decision in hindsight. Targett’s attitude and application is A1. He’s athletic and committed. He’s a 7 out of 10 going forward. Very handy player. Digne has more guile on the balll but he’s inferior in every other way and has a questionable attitude. The best thing about our transfer policy so far is that we are bringing in good lads. Top professionals. Good around the camp. Burn, Trippier, Bruno, Targett all fit that mould. You could see any one of them wearing the armband. SAF built his teams with these type (eg Targett) of lads in the mix - the Neville’s, Welbeck, Fletcher, Park. You’re not going to out run them. You’re not going to our fight them. They’ll train well. Focus on winning. Klopp’s first great Liverpool team too with your Milners and Henderson’s.

Tieleman’s has been turned and burned like that before. Declan Rice did the same thing Willock did to him a few seasons ago. I don’t know if it’s stamina or just being slow but it’s a weakness in his game. Lack of athleticism. That type of thing doesn’t happen to Fabinho, Fernandinho, Milner, Henderson etc. Its the same thing I was concerned might be an issue with Bruno too. Someone said ‘what elite CM has pace’. And I think pace is the wrong word - athleticism is better. Luka Modric, KDB, Fabinho, Kante, Vieira, Pogba, Keane etc. Didnt watch yesterdays game.

Still want Nunez. We aren’t getting the striker that will tick all the boxes. We’ll play on the counter a lot especially away. there were big doubts about Torres when he went to Liverpool too.

I’m never really a fan of a slow CB who isn’t good in the air. But Schar is still canny.

I think we go about it like we did in January. We’ll have our maximum spend on a player by player basis. If Sevilla or Botmans clubs played ball we’d have spent close to 200m in January alone. For the right deals we go big. I don’t think we try to replace players for the sake of it.

Who would buy ASM for £50m? He’s scored 5 goals.

I don’t watch enough European football. id love those 3. I like the look of Nunez. If we could do something about the wages, I would love Werner. He’s been excellent recently has Nathan Ake and id take him too. if at all possible I would get in Poch as head coach.

That was Mike Ashey but I get it. Pardew was a willing puppet like Bruce. Hughton, Rafa - different cloth of man.

We haven't proven anything. Bruno F joined Man U in January and scored 12 goals in 5 months. Bruno G is still establishing himself ahead of Jonjo Shelvey and Joe Willock. Manchester City signed the likes of Joleon Lescott, James Milner & Gareth Barry. Proven quality outside of the top teams. People would snub the likes of Zaha, Phillips & Raphinha. I'm not against going into Ligue 1 for talent but are we getting the very best that division has to offer? There's 4 leagues within the league. Title challengers, European challengers, midtable and relegation. There's a good 7 teams in that top 2 bracket. There's no point in going for anything else. We need to get into Europe ASAP, then look to sign the very best young talent money can buy. Once in Europe we can go for players' that might otherwise sign for Man Utd and the like. KDB was Bundesliga player of the year at like.. 23. He was a serious wonderkid. Salah yeh. I think they were hoping for 13-18 goals from him but he's perfect for Klopp's system and a real winner.

People acted like he was the worst manager ever at the time. then we hired SMC and Bruce and gained a little perspective.

Yes we need to be smart but I remember those transfers differently. Van Dijk was regarded as at least the best defender outside the top sides. The fee was deemed astronomical but he was regarded as the best of the rest at least. Bale was a massive wonder kid and struggled with injuries. In that era Spurs gambled a lot on youth with major success in Berbatov, Carrick, Modric, Bale etc. but misses are inevitable too. We should adopt this strategy. KDB, Bernardo - highly regarded wonderkids.

Real Madrid consistently buy the best youngsters in the world ala Chelsea. And just sell em. Hakimi, Odegaard. The lucky few stay on and go to the first team eg Varane, Vini Jr.

Manchester City spent their way to the top. Yes they did it smartly but if their budget was the same as Leicester City…. They would be Leicester City. In their first full summer transfer window they spent £130m in 2009 all from premier league rivals. That’s £200m+ in this era. Including 3 centreforwards and 2 centrebacks. sacked off their PFM for a proven winner. Finished 5th iirc. Losing out narrowly to Spurs. the next year they built the basis of their title winning side. Silva, Toure, Milner, Dzeko, Balotelli. Mostly from abroad. Finished 3rd. Spent £170m. City got to 4th by making their rivals weak. Bought starters at Villa (challenging for 4th at the time), Man U and Arsenal. Then supplemented with top quality from abroad. We should do the same thing. That’s £300m to finish 3rd in 2010. With Hart, Kompany, Zabaleta already there. Decent saleable assets like Bellamy, Boateng and Nigel De Jong. Best case scenario. We spend £300m over 2 years in 2022-4, we’ll finish 8th. We need to be aggressive.

Yeh that's not enough.

Arsenal and Villa spent 150m this year on transfers. It’s not an astronomical amount. if there’s seemingly good deals to bring in 5-6 first teamers at an average of £40m we should do it. In the starting 11 we have 3 glaring holes (CM, RM, ST). Could easily upgrade at GK, CB and CM. And if the offer is good enough we could do with another forward and CB too.

Well no because defending is not attacking so it’s not like for like. Using your body to block the ball is a part of defending. If your arms are to your body and hits your arm. No that’s not a penalty. Using your hand to control footballs is not a part of attacking.

That's easier to force. You can kick the ball towards someone's hand or your hand can be to your body and still hit your hand when attempting a block. Not a like for like example. Even if it's not intentional, if your hands are away from your body and you block a goal bound shot with your hand - yeh it's a penalty . That's always been a penalty.

Tbf I don't mind the handball rule. When a ball strikes the hand in the lead up to a goal, it often helps the player "control" the ball before shooting / passing. Even if totally unintentional.

Prime Atleti take this to ET. Massive chances at the end.