KaKa

1 minute ago, hakka said:

Glad I turned this off half time. Sounds like we've got shitter.

Thought England had moved past these kind of completely abject performances. Been awful.

9 hours ago, Flip said:

 

I'd say AC Milan, one of the most classic clubs in world football with new owners is also quite a project. I think we'll see plenty of players turning us down until we get into a Champions League spot. 

If I'm a young up and coming talent and I have the chance to go to the premier league, that's where I'm going, especially to a club that has just been taken over and are ambitious with finances to work towards challenging, at a time where the premier league looks like it could be quite open bar the top 2 teams.

Taking all that into account and the fact I will get paid more, at a point where I'm still young and coming from France, and so haven't really started earning top wages yet, it's a complete no brainer.

Completely different argument from players that are already top players, that have been earning major money, and are due to get major money wherever they go next, choosing to pass up on the opportunity to go to a more challenging environment.

18 minutes ago, JonBez comesock said:

I agree , 

 

southgate loves two midfielders in that position , basically doing the same job 

 

They rarely run forward and look one paced 

I'm not even sure which current England midfielder can do that job.

The one guy that was developing into that player, and who was very good at moving to receive the ball, getting it under pressure and turning away from the press to get moves going was Harry Winks, but once Pochettino left and they started bringing in more defensive minded managers in, he got kicked out of the first team at Spurs and then lost his England place.

From what I can see until England can sort that out, they'll never get the most out of all of the fantastic attacking talent they have, because they won't get the ball up to them all enough.

Hungary look far more convincing moving the ball around and progressing the ball up the pitch through the lines.

England aren't playing with a midfielder that can drop to get the ball off the centre-backs and then start to build up play and get the ball further up the pitch.

Rice and Bellingham barely even move into space to make themselves available to receive the ball. Very very poor.

Mbappe wreaking havoc 

This is reminiscent of what has happened in the NBA where star players like LeBron go into teams and start calling all the shots. Never ends well.

9 minutes ago, SteV said:

Has a player ever left an established league for a ‘money league’ for a couple of seasons, then returned as good, or better, than when they left?

 

Sure there are examples, but can’t think of any of the top of my head.

Think most leave when they're older, so it's not typical they come back to top leagues.

GeordieDazzler mentioned Carrassco, which is a great shout.

Regarding Perreira its just been one season, and he's still just 26 too, so I can't imagine he's too far gone or anything.

11 minutes ago, Cronky said:

 

It would be interesting to know.

 

I suspect he was one of those that couldn't cope with success. 

Nah, not at all. He's actually quite a good pro.

His body just failed him. Just had a succession of injuries all the time. Couldn't go a few games without breaking down.

Such a shame because he was absolutely top class when he could manage to get on the pitch.

Was thinking about left footed right wingers we could get and I just remembered the Brazilian Matheus Pereira who was at West Brom when they were last in the premier league.

The guy had 11 goals and 6 assists in his one premier league season, and always looked a real threat. In his championship season to help them get promoted he had 8 goals and 20 assists!

His premier league stats compare quite favourably to Raphinha's and they are both the same age and height.

Thing is he left West Brom for Al Hilal in Saudi of all places, and so we can even have a chat with the owners to make something happen there!

2 hours ago, STM said:

https://www.transfermarkt.co.uk/bertolucci-sports/beraterfirma/berater/724/plus/1

 

A list of players, who are from the same sport agency as Bruno. From the looks of it, Brunos agent was an intermediary between the Agency and Newcastle for the deal.

 

From the players on that list Ibanez of Roma sticks out like a sore thumb but is he part of the Brazil squad?

 

Just looked an it appears he wasn't in the Brazil squad. Although I know nothing about him, he ticks a lot of boxes that we have been recently looking at, young, brazilian, centre back.

 

He's also been linked with Madrid, Spurs and Liverpool in the last 2 seasons.

 

Pure conjecture but if it happens I'm claiming it. 

 

 

 

We were linked with David Neres in January, before he joined Donetsk from Ajax. Left footed right winger.

Ended up not playing a single game with them due to the issues over there, and now a lot of those folks might have to leave, and are looking for different clubs.

He could be a possibility I think.

1 hour ago, 54 said:

 

Um ... so whatever you do, do not watch the 'Amadou Haidara - High Level of Technique' video on youtube, or you will not be able to get over this guy. My God!

21 minutes ago, kingxlnc said:

The one thing some of the Bournemouth posters have said on here is that Howe has always had a mean eye for a young player, he tends to get most of these decisions right and he knows who he can work with and improve - and to be fair he's got a very good record in doing so. 

 

Even some of the so called flops such as Solanke eventually came good. Ibe is the only out and out flop I can think of. 

Usually a player being 19-20 and not having any history in any of the international youth teams would suggest there's not much of a pedigree and we're paying the premium for one decent season and therefore taking all the risk. But Howe knows the score and will have gained a lot of goodwill from his work so far. 

Feel so bad for Ibe as I remember him coming through initially at Liverpool and showing some really exciting ability. He ended up struggling off the pitch with some mental health issues that messed things up for him at Bournemouth, unfortunately.

4 hours ago, CaliMag said:

Watched his highlight clips and his lanky build and technique remind me of a cross between Sammy Ameobi and Ayoze. 

I am unconvinced he is worth the price (from my own bullshit youtube scouting), and I hope I am wrong. 

The thing I noticed was how surprisingly effective he was at holding it up despite his slim frame, and it's because he plays with a lot of competitiveness and also receives the ball very well with some delightful first touches and flicks.

Really like the personality and flair he plays with. Think he'll be successful, and a very popular player.

He's not going into the first team initially. He's the young striker the club always mentioned we'd be looking to bring in.

I think Howe really likes his play and further potential a lot, which is why they were happy to spend so much, especially because he is still so young too. I also remember reading that a big part of Howe liking him is his defensive contribution, which stood out as being very high.

24 minutes ago, Flip said:

 

Was thinking we should sign him actually. Only 25 and can play multiple positions. 

He deserves to be given a chance in his preferred position and role somewhere, and not be moved about so much. 

Where exactly is his strongest position, attacking midfield I presume?

Just now, Kaizero said:

 

He left a cushy job and what would have been a cushy payoff if sacked and brought international attention to the issue (and himself, admittedly).  

Ah yes! Of course, yet more attention brought to the issue. Sure that makes everyone feel warm and fuzzy inside.

I wonder if at some point a hard line will ever be drawn with sort of thing. I doubt it. But we'll keep kneeling, making t-shirts, and creating organisations that end up stealing from everyone, and now PFMs will conveniently use it as a ruse to get out of their mess. Happy times!

2 minutes ago, Neil said:

Zinchenko is so good.

Can't believe a player with that kind of ability in the middle of the park, would settle for being a part time left back. Absolutely shocking.  

What a waste. Get the hell out of Man City man.

1 minute ago, Kaizero said:

Regardless of if he thought it'd be good PR for himself or not, it was the right thing to do and I wish more people did what he did - even if they do it for their own selfish reasons - as it sets a proper example that racism won't be tolerated. Credit where credit is due.

None due. None given.

All that has to happen is that the game not go ahead. Dock that team points. And ban their fans for the next few games.

Make that the standard response every time and lets see if this keeps happening. Will never happen though.

10 minutes ago, JonBez comesock said:

Agreed 

 

He is a work horse in midfield and very strong 

 

up front he looks like bambi on ice 

Still they doubt the phenom from Brazil. Next season a new chapter ....

1 minute ago, Joey47 said:

 

This is just my personal opinion and it's all speculation but...

 

Various things make me believe that he wants to at least have the option of going 3-4-3 against certain opposition:

• He had success with it at Bournemouth against Conte's Chelsea.
• I think he wanted to play it more at Bournemouth but didn't have the right personnel to do make it work.
• He very often speaks of wanting players who are versatile (Dan Burn who played for Potter as a left CB in a back 3, a LB in a back 4 and even a LWB  I believe)
• His first game as Manager (vs Brentford) he set us up in a 3-4-3. This was nothing like Bruce's 5 at the back formations the game was too hectic and back and forth and we had no control. After this he got us playing 4 at the back again because he saw for himself that we didn't have the players needed to play an attacking 3-4-3.
• Even after this failure against Brentford he tried it again against Chelsea as you have mentioned.
• If he wanted to only play a back 4 why would he want to sign Lodi (can play in a back 4 but most say he is defensively suspect) while it would be so easy to sign Targett (a very good LB but not LWB) for a bargain and just forget about the LB position. The only reason I can think of is that he wants flexibility to at least be able to play various formations including his 3-4-3.

 

 

Think we played that way against Brentford and Chelsea this season because they themselves play 3 at the back, and so he was matching up against the opposition. Conte has always played that way too, and so he matched up with them back when he beat Chelsea with Bournemouth.

Well worth having players to be able to switch to that setup, because a number of other teams line up that way now, and so sometimes it is beneficial matching up with them.

That Tsygankov has an outrageous record of goals and assists in Ukraine for Dynamo Kyiv, and is still pretty young. Surprised no one's taken a punt on him.

McGinn and McTominay man ... a PFM's dream.

Run all day and charge about non stop, but so little quality to show at the end of the day. 

11 minutes ago, pedro111 said:

Forgive me but how do you pronounce his name?

Eccle-Tea-Cake

Now they're trying to make themselves feel better by charging in on players ... such small time shit man

1 minute ago, triggs said:

Ukraine are embarrassing them

It's crazy, honestly. Ukraine shouldn't be dominating Scotland like this. It's disgraceful.