Ikon

I love Big Joe and would be gutted to see him go. He offers a lot. Having said that, I don’t think he’s good enough in the ball (when thinking further ahead). Hypothetically speaking since it’s probably just shit stirring stuff. At this moment at least.

Better hope so

No thanks! Not a bad player but id throw up if we signed him. Imagine IF our transfer vision was so narrow minded.

André from Fluminese to Fulham? Brazil international. DM.

You are talking this and that and you’re very far from the simple point I’m making and you just don’t seem to get it, or refuse to see it. Let’s just leave it at that

You are absolutely right about many things. But, never forget that it’s quite easy to read up on players to get an idea about a player. Reading on other forums about their own player and what their thoughts are on player X. Also reading reports from people who have seen a player tons of times. It doesn’t mean that you know everything about the player like a professional scout. All I’m saying is that you CAN get an idea what type of player it is, style; weaknesses and strengths.

You obviously can’t judge a players real quality and what level X player is at. However, you are able to get a decent overview of a player as an individual, what kind of style and what their biggest strengths and weakness are by reading up and watching. Not a way of scouting properly, obviously not even near.

Me neither.

You must have heard wrong. Maybe he was low on confidence? And said “I suck, lazy and shit” Seriously though, some fans….

Would do extra well if we had an attacking midfielder that is creative and very good technically that clan find space between the lines to link him and the deeper midfielders together along with our wide men. Unfortunately I don’t see us going this route. We seem to want to go with more like 3 box to box players.

Don’t want to give Chelsea a penny.

Aye, i was just saying what these tweets make it sound like, even though it’s obviously more to it than just that.

The wording often used makes me think “surely clubs have scouted their targets enough earlier”

Relax, I was just laughing at his joke or whatever it was I haven’t really read much of what the two of you have written.

Really like the look of him. The type of player I’d like to see. Even if he isn’t defensive minded.

Watching the Bruno and Big Joe interview now. God they are adorable.

Are you being serious now? Kante was one of the better midfielders around at what he did and offered. He was also very good on the ball and very rarely lost it. He might not have been the most most progressive or “magical” player but he was very good overall as well as composed. He was far far from being only a workhorse and running around without the ball.

Looks a good player from what I’ve seen. Would also give us some depth to play into when playing balls forward to break lines. Has ball carrying ability. As of now Isak has to come way too deep at times. Gap is too big at times centrally in transitions. Both going forward and defensively. Need some playing angles and someone that offers us an outlet once we win the ball in our third. Too flat now.

Messi… Well i wouldnt say no to a good player. I just seem to prefer a midfielder that is better than decent on the ball. We have to be thinking more long term and to become a top side we need better ability on the ball, I think it’s been pretty obvious overall when it comes to our midfield. As the board has said we really need to get most transfers spot on because we can’t afford too many mistakes. So long term I don’t see the point in signing a player that isn’t more than decent on the ball. We have enough of that already. (When fit)

Going forward we need players that are much more than decent on the ball imho.

I agree to an extent. We need a proper CM for sure, we need bodies in and someone sitting a bit deeper. Having said that, I think it’s wiser to go for a player with proper top quality and technical ability, awareness and vision and not one that is a good “workhorse” alone. A midfielder that has great positional sense and technical ability while also being good defensively is what I’d be looking for, even if that player isn’t the finished article yet. We are quite poor at retaining possession overall, especially in our own third once we have won it back. Bruno is the only one we have who is press resistant and has the technical ability to get out of tight situations. He easily gets very isolated because of this and the opposition often wins the ball back easily and we are back defending deeply again. That is why I would be looking to sign a player more for the long term if we can’t afford the ready one now. Having said that, I’m basing this on Ederson being more of a workhorse than a technical playmaker from deep. I haven’t seen him to make a judgement on this but iirc I think I’ve read about him. Could be wrong like.

Isn’t he more of a workhorse? (Ederson)

Hypothetically we would have more options for the left to still be able to rest Gordon when needled. Miggy has been absolutely knackered too at times really. We have failed to strengthen the right hand side despite so many windows. 40m for a backup is a lot of money if the purpose is to be able to back up Gordon. Barnes isn’t really a good “investment” either if we look to earn some great profit for FFP which we seem to have to do to evolve.

I like this approach and it’s the way to go until our revenues are better and we are higher up the food chain within time, whenever that comes. Player trading is unavoidable if we wish to progress. Even the biggest clubs “must” sell their players if for example Real Madrid come knocking and are willing to do all it takes to get player X. Real Madrids approach to signing new players has changed slightly though (going for younger too talent). This is also why I don’t understand the Barnes signing? I have said it way back. He isn’t a player that is suddenly gonna be sold for say 80m in the future. He’s a leftie which we already have options for. Some might argue about Gordon being able to play on the right, I disagree and say no. Yea he can play there but Gordon must play in his best position, end of! I would have understood the Barnes signing a lot more if we were further forward in our development and growth as a club. Because then we wouldn’t still have the issue regarding a proper RW for the 1st team, and despite FFP we could have afforded to sign Barnes mainly for depth and be an option to play when Gordon is injured or needs a rest, or against lesser teams away for example where we will have Moore transitional moves from defence to attack. Barnes doesn’t really offer much different either or isn’t very good in general play or a creative flair player either. Is he a good player? Yes! He is undoubtedly an effective player that scores points. But at the time he shouldn’t have been a priority imo and I also don’t see him as a key player in the future where we will be more of a possession based team in style. This will happen even if Howe isn’t looking to play like Pep for example. As we get better and evolve more and more teams we will have to control possession better as well as be able to open teams up that sit back. To go properly toe to toe with the best sides (especially away) we need players that are better technically and be better in possession overall unless we plan to sit back and look more for the counter and transitional play which I don’t think will work if we aim to get to the very top top level in the PL and Europe. I have always rated Barnes for what he does and offers for many teams, I just don’t think he’s the right buy for us when considering where we are and aim to be. Especially when other areas should have been more of a priority. Having said this, we should always aim to keep our best players as long as very much possible, of course. Further ahead this will be easier for many reasons.