KaKa

@Froggy what on Earth is the deal with van de Beek?!

He did so well for ten Haag at Ajax. Thought he'd be straight into the team, but Fred and McTominay are ahead of him.

No manager ever puts him on the pitch since he joined. What's the deal?

Just now, HTT II said:

I’ve always liked him, he’s probably one of the best British managers in the PL era, not a high bar I know, but his teams were always exciting to watch and without his time at Spurs, they wouldn’t be where they are today as a top 4/6 regular European team.

Absolutely. 100%. Took Spurs into the Champions League and had a good run in that period.

Pretty sure he was the one that turned things around for Bale too and pushed him further up the pitch. They had stopped playing him at left back even, because he had this weird thing where they lost every game he featured in.

Not to mention also that team he put together at Portsmouth that he won an FA cup with.

1 minute ago, HTT II said:

Redknapp was 20 times the manager Bruce will ever be, to be fair.

Man gets no respect. It's unreal.

20 minutes ago, nemtizz said:

 

Heard he's hating life. Imagine up rocking up to train with Neymar and Messi everyday.

I do find the 'getting to train with ...' thing very funny.

 As if every player that trains with these top players suddenly becomes them.

Bet those Man Utd players are having a blast getting to train with Ronaldo everyday. What a privilege that must be at the minute.

1 minute ago, Kid Icarus said:

Nothing makes sense, wasn't our rejected bid more than that? I can't keep track 

It's difficult to know who is really in for him at this point. 

Portugal news outlets man. My God.

Speaking of Ekitike I wonder how he's finding things.

Was listening to some coverage of the tensions between Mbappe and Neymar at PSG, and it sounds like a toxic situation.

Just now, Gallowgate Toon said:

Scoring 9 in a season from out wide/withdrawn in the Championship at 18 really isn't to be sniffed at, like. 

 

 

 

Don't even bother man.

If we sign him, I'm pretty sure our time will come.

1 minute ago, SUPERTOON said:

 

So someone in Portugal doesn't know the difference between Southampton and Newcastle, and claimed we were in discussions last week? Well that's just great.

6 minutes ago, SteV said:

Probably harder to score in the Championship than it is in the Portuguese league (especially if you play for Benfica)

Right? ... Ramos is only playing in a team right now with the likes of Rafa Silva, David Neres, Joao Mario and Alex Grimaldo creating chances for him.

Just now, The Prophet said:

Am I right in thinking that Ramos is more of an out and out striker than Pedro?

Well Ramos is never used out wide, but Pedro plays all across the front three. So from that point of view, yes.

Wow, didn't even realise Casemiro was 30 years old already.

24 minutes ago, Donut said:

 

 

 

 

Going for another long winless run to start the season

17 minutes ago, Teasy said:

 

If we had £40m left we wouldn't be offering £30m for Pedro.

Or as is the case with almost every single deal nowadays we won't be paying anywhere near the full £30 million fee from this year's budget because it will be a structured deal.

Just now, relámpago blanco said:

It'll play out eith the bid being rejected and us moving onto another target

4 minutes ago, B-more Mag said:

Might be worth noting Watford's manager seat since he signed for them in January of 2020:

 

Nigel Pearson
Hayden Mullins (caretaker)
Vladimir Ivić
Xisco Muñoz
Claudio Ranieri
Roy Hodgson
Rob Edwards

That really is crazy isn't it. Not the most stable of environments at all, and none of those really got long enough to develop any kind of decent play.

And yet the fans have seen something, as well as the scouts. It's all very interesting. I'm looking forward to how this will all play out.

I really like where it's heading.

7 minutes ago, toontownman said:

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/football/2022/08/14/joao-pedro-watford-forward-no-one-talking-yet/

 

Good read. Started off as a DM. The anti Joelinton!

 

Also another good one in the athletic about how Watford were trying to keep him under the radar by selling Dennis and Sarr.

 

. 

Quote

Finally linking up with Watford in late 2019, the world soon went into lockdown. Joao Pedro hired an English teacher and a personal trainer to move in with him. Initially, then-goalkeeper Heurelho Gomes acted as translator, but Joao Pedro now performs that role for others. And he gained seven kilograms of bulk, helping him adapt to English football’s physicality. 

He did this when he was 18 years old ...

We're going to have him under Howe and with Joelinton and Bruno to look up to?

Now is the time to just be quiet, observe the rhetoric being thrown about and wait patiently.

11 minutes ago, Happinesstan said:

Despite looking exactly like that when on loan, and the reason we signed him. Another example of Bruce seeking the easy way out. I still say Willock benefitted from Bruces lack of a plan as it gave him the freedom to express himself. I don't think he expressed much, but what he did do was learn how to play with Maxi. How to exploit the openings his hard work would create. He's just not doing it with Bruno. Like I say he needs to assert himself again.

Man City could be his opportunity to shine, no room for casual observers this weekend.

Yeah, so I agree with that. It's a similarish thing to ASM.

They both benefited from Bruce's lack of a plan, but now have to figure out how do provide the best of what they did previously within a more team oriented structure.

9 minutes ago, Thumbheed said:

I would really like Gallagher but these links to midfielders all seem to suggest that Howe sees Bruno as a number 6 rather than the number 8 role he thrived in last year, either that or a formation change. 

To be  honest he played both he 8 and the 6 last year and thrived in both spots.

I agree with you that with Gallagher it would point towards him playing more of a 6.

I think Joe does a great job on the left helping to cover out wide for ASM as well as protect the full back, and adding similar on the right hand side, particularly to help support Trippier defensively would be good.

Because both Joe and Gallagher are very workman like it would also allow Bruno a bit of freedom in that 6 position, as those two would have his back.

10 minutes ago, Gallowgate Toon said:

Agree that on paper it looks well balanced. Gallagher is a real grafter too.

 

Feel a bit for Willock but he's shown very little attacking instinct since his scoring run - we need that from midfield. Most of his good work since has come box-to-box.

Yes, they're all grafters so it would be a real nuisance for opposing teams when we're defending.

Willock's time will come. Just doesn't seem quite ready to be a consistent goal threat from that position week in and week out. 

Gallagher really showed that ability last season and did so in a variety of ways, scoring from both inside and outside of the box as he has a great shot on him. We really need one of those midfielders to be a goal getter. Willock can rotate into the team in that same role as he continues to develop more consistency with it.

4 minutes ago, Theregulars said:

Don’t think he’s a lemon. This one is all about psychology. He needs a very particular type of manager and situation to succeed I reckon, and had it at Spurs. There will be managers who can extract it, but his move from spurs was crucial. Everton was an awful option for him - I think managers like Howe/Potter/Frank would be his right kind of landing spot. A manager with empathy and great people skills. If he was on a free or thereabouts I’d pounce like a randy puma. No expectation of playing immediately but a few months to sort his head out. 

Great post man. You are very wise.

1 hour ago, bowlingcrofty said:

He’d be a perfect “Howe” style player and would complement Bruno and Joelinton superbly imo.

 

If we got him in then we’d have some real strength in depth in CM.

Each of their areas of strength mesh really nicely. Bruno's ball playing ability, Joelinton's drive and Gallagher's goals. Lovely balance.

I knew this day would soon come. I'm prepared for it.

They wanted a villain ... so here I am.

People shouldn't worry about Pedro's goal scoring record as our backup striker. 

We have Chris Wood. He has a really decent goal scoring record in the Prem and that's all that counts right? It works out perfectly.

Well wouldn't you believe it ...

We've gone from complaining about the club not paying fees to now complaining about them paying too much.