Theregulars

This is pretty poor, we look scared to grab the initiative.

Big time

That’s a sitter for Botman

too timid here.

Literally almost scored a goal which would have been in contention for goal of the month, if not season, 10 mins ago. Come on

Why do you think so?

Because his employer demands it, literally that’s the answer

Morrison “why did you not send him though?” - never would have credited him but that’s good journalism straight away, and hilarious in his accent.

Right?! I genuinely believe that club embodies institutionalised cheating. No matter the era, player, manager, weather, occasion etc, they always manage to grub their way to profiting from breaking / bending / stress-testing the rules. Arteta is a total creep in my view, and i so want him to be found out.

Infantino must feel particularly female today.

Post of the decade.

I think the answer is simple. Just another crass automaton who has likely risen to the top of an organisation due to a total lack of conscience and morals and an absolute obsession with money and perceived power. As long as organisations continue to rely on sociopaths / psychopaths / people with severe personality disorders to be the face of their organisation - because they’re that grotesque and stupid that they’re able to be the meat shield - more and more of this is going to happen as the world wakes up to what the capitalist class is doing to it. It’s really fucking entertaining I think. Fuck him, he’s cornered and he’s too much of an imbecile and narcissist to concede. Guaranteed downfall on a growing bed of hubris. Passez a moi le popcorn.

I got 10 mins or so with him before the Philly event, I really enjoyed speaking with him. Obviously a man who speaks corporate and plays that game well, but didn’t come with the normal feeling of vortex of poison and malevolence when you’re near suits. Very amicable and happy to answer all questions, and seemed interested in what I had to say. If it’s an act it’s a convincing one.

If it’s true I really hope he gets a massive send-off. Seriously underrated captain and bloke. I accept it was probably a great deal for him and his talent level but he did some very useful things in some very shit times to stop things getting shitter.

While I certainly agree that it would be extremely difficult given your sexuality, I don’t think it would be hell on earth for footballers. Some of them are devout Muslims, some come from insane poverty which we can’t begin to understand, some will just enjoy sunshine and living in new lush buildings like living in a holiday resort. It has genuine appeal to people - I don’t personally feel the appeal, but I get it fully. And that’s before the nuts money is thrown in.

I disagree. I am giving the transfer window a rating on the contribution it has made to the squad, that being the primary objective of actively participating in the transfer window. It would be a better transfer window, in my view, if we added another player or 2 in positions of use to the squad. It would have been worse had we added less to the squad or added inferior players to the squad.

I'm not sure there is an objective numerical answer. Even if we assigned the window a "10" on grounds of (presumably) buying more players and keeping ASM, we wouldn't know whether ASM would have continued to be peripheral (likely in my view given obvious defensive limitations and, to my mind, equally obvious physical limitations) or whether all the signings would have worked out. I think essentially it all depends on your expectations, which are inevitably tempered by excitement and a steady diet of inaccurate information and boredom with daily life. My expectations and hopes were a bigger squad which was obviously better than last year's vintage and capable of competing on 4 fronts. I'm happy we've achieved 2 of those 3 and it remains to be seen re: the third.

Completely agree - we've significantly improved.

Sorry - perhaps I didn't make my point as I intended. I meant to say that those players have earned the shirt and the right to play such that I don't think having rotation / better competition for them now is an immediate priority (in the same way that another midfielder was, and cover for Trippier was). I completely agree that the ideal scenario would be more competition across the squad to raise levels, but (regardless of what we think of them) clearly there are spending and acquisition limits. I think it all plays into what @The College Dropoutis saying: 7/10 is reasonable simply because 10/10 or 9/10 would mean the squad is closer to flawless / 2 purples for every position. People who expect that perfection or close to it will always be disappointed - the owners and manager have said evolution not revolution etc. I do think a lot of it is shopping syndrome - more is better.

This is all accurate, we gambled and got lucky in that regard. With that said, I don't look at our CM options now and think we're going to be light unless there's an unpredictably high concentration of injuries in that area.

Yes - my mistake - Anderson did start.

I undertand and to some extent agree with your reasoning: in theory we're light at competition for right centre back. My hope if we don't get one (and I still think it's an if) is that Howe will have Lascelles in the best possible condition to deputise. I acknowledge a bias but I'm really happy to give Lascelles that opportunity for what he's given the club in his time here. If we get shafted in a match as a result then I concede defeat. The Burn criticism I think is based less on watching him than just thinking "he's a CB at LB". I think Burn has been brilliant and felt a bit uncomfortable with the idea of buying a starting LB to demote him. Again it's an area where rotation will help - hence Hall - but I think Burn is plenty good enough. Re Murpphy - as someone who has slated him in the past - he's totally adequate competition and back-up. He understands the system through and through, is fit as a fiddle, carries out instructions and has goals and assists in him. You've got to have capable players who are happy to sit on the bench for most of a season and still give you everything - he is that, and is therefore such a valuable squad commodity in my view. I think, overall, we're a rotational squad defender light for a 4-fronted campaign. Proceeding without reinforcement is a small, but not insignificant, and in my view justifiable risk.

Was it not just 1 game (Chelsea away) that we had a patched-up team? The game against Leicester our starting midfield (IIRC) was Bruno, Longstaff (carrying a knock) and Willock? I understand the desire for improvement but is there not a part of you which thinks Schar, Burn, Miggy etc have earned the right to start this year and try themselves at highest level? Each played out of their skin last year and improved as things went on.

It went well, we're obviously stronger and deeper than before. Shame about ASM but the logic is completely plausible and defensible. Arguably 1-2 players light but find me a squad not called Manchester City who aren't.

To what extent is Anthony Gordon actually Anthony Gordon? I’m sure I’ve seen him with a different hair colour.