The College Dropout

I would prioritise genuine potential young stars from abroad (Botman & Bruno fit this description). And the best of the rest from the league (Raphinha, Rice etc.)

They'v been so poor for so long. Lingard has massive motivation to play well. He's a favourite of Southgate. If Howe got half a tune from Lingard I would be so much more confident of staying up.

Fraser/Almiron to Lingard or a midfield 3 of Bruno, Joe & Lingard is transformative.

We'd need to get Abraham in the summer otherwise Chelsea are likely to use their buy-back clause. For the 70m it would take, are there better options? I would love to take Raphinha. I'd pay 80m maybe more to get him in.

Does he start for any team in the league? If we released him, would another PL team pick him up? We are in too much of a bad situation though. We should have made an exception for at least another great signing. A Lingard or a Botman significantly changes our odds of relegation, even if we overpay by £10m. Sometimes needs must. Big teams sometimes overpay to get the right player that can be transformative.

That's not true. Almiron isn't even PL standard. Lingard scored more goals for Wham than ALmiron has in 3 years.

Also in a relegation battle for a team that sit deep. I think composure and aerial ability are massive. Neither are particularly composed but Lascelles is good in the air. Teams will have to go through us and that's easier to manage with bodies.

Aye Schar also has a tendency to give fouls away andd then not being v. good at defending the next set piece. In a 4-4-2 Schar is a bigger weakness and has less positive assets than Lascelles.

Lingard's a good player and makes most PL squads better. He would've been a great short-medium term signing for us.

Zidane same thing but with success. He managed that squads egos so well, he got a good tune out of players that were unhappy (Bale, James). He didn’t have to banish them to the reserves because they couldn’t be around the squad. I don’t think Ancelotti fancies Bale or Hazard but I don’t expect any major fallouts.

Decent man management is a big factor in Ole lasting so long at Man U. He only lost the dressing room right at the end. He kept a dressing room of big egos pulling in the same direction. if he had the man management skills of a Rafa, he wouldn’t have lasted 3 months because he had little else going for him. The proof was in the pudding. He was tactically inept and limited as a coach which ultimately was his fatal shortcoming. He didn’t really know what he was doing. But he never seemed to suffer from widespread dissent in the camp or consistently unmotivated performances.

Which is why i've been sceptical about how we've done business. Overpay by £20m in January saves us much more long-term in the light of relegation. We've faced most of our relegation rivals at home already. Had we lost to Leeds, would people be so happy with our business? The line is too fine with so much at stake.

Not PEA. Ozil was in and out with Emery as well. Another manager who isn’t suited to managing elite players. Rafa was never good at it which is why he failed at Real Madrid and Inter. Managing ego’s is a dying art in management. Zidane and Ancelotti standout. Tbh it was one of Solskjaer’s biggest strengths and a major reason he lasted so long. Ralf’s come in and struggled with egos from day 1.

There's also something about Arteta/Arsenal that he can't get a tune out of established top players consistently. PEA's attitude and professionalism was good enough to tear up the league for what 3 years and become captain? Not long with Arteta and the wheels fell off. Same with Ozil. 3 good years, then falls off a cliff with Arteta,

Joe's passing has been v. good imo. Forward, nice weight etc. think he has the hallmarks of a fabulous 4-3-3 number 8 type. Just can't shoot.

Aye in our position, you want quality to see us through. But we've got a manager and most of our signings that people wouldn't bat an eyelid if they got the drop. Add in a Lingard and our strongest team team upper midtable and can take a couple players not hitting the ground running. As it stands. It's going to be ASM, Wilson & Wood to keep us up.

3 of our signings are in their mid 20s or older and have spent much of their careers in the lower half of the PL. They aren’t the signings that make me feel we can pull away from the battle because we’ve added real quality.

Have we significantly improved the spine of the squad? GK Burn Bruno Wood imo no. Wood brings in much needs depth but he’s no better than what we have. Arguably doesn’t even start when everyone’s fit. In a 442 I’m not convinced Burn is significantly better than what we have. Bruno is potentially a great signing but that’s it. He’s not going to score or assist loads. We needed to change the dynamic of the side. Imo that’s central defence and attackers. We needed an ASM level attacker minimum. Then we start to look a real dangerous team. likewise a real solid CB changes a lot. I wasn’t convinced by the Sevilla defender but if we thought he was the one we push the boat out, pay the premium this one time to give us the best chance possible of staying up. At the moment we have a lower midtable team that are in a relegation battle with most of the squad knowing their days here are numbered. Imo we should have used financial might in this window to stay up. Then play it smarter in the summer. I am glad we didn’t go the Everton and Villa route of signing players on the way down mind. If we stay up I like the type of players we’ve been after. But we’ve left survival to chance.

4. We are desperate but we haven’t don’t he business like a desperate club - to our detriment. I think we should have paid the premium for our first choice CB or attacker. Those positions are transformative to a football team. we went from a mid table team to title challengers signing a LW and CF. We may pay for this with relegation.

We are desperate but we haven’t don’t he business like a desperate club - to our detriment. I think we should have paid the premium for our first choice CB or attacker. Those positions are transformative to a football team. we went from a mid table team to title challengers signing a LW and CF. We may pay for this with relegation.

He’s a back 3 CB. He’s an upgrade on Dummett but that’s it.

Gets in at RM and RCM easily. I like the look of a a Bruno, Lingard, Joe midfield.

Is Dan Burn our CB signing? we are in trouble. I thought he was brought in to play LB/LWB

Lingard’s biggest issue is kids being picked over him. because you would think with Martial, VDB & Greenwood gone he’s the next one up in attack and worth staying.

Doesn’t have to move far? More likely to be a long-term transfer as Everton more likely to be able to afford the transfer fee and wages. And obviously a bigger and more ambitious club. but I really like the Palace project. It suits the club perfectly. It’s a working class area, unfancied but also cool. For the elite there’s always going to be better options nearby. But for young players on the rise, with something to prove it’s an excellent choice. Likewise with managers.