KaKa
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Posts posted by KaKa
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17 minutes ago, Conjo said:
Cringed a bit reading about the inspirational quotes posted around the area which I get massive Karen home decoration vibes from
Other than that though, what a job Howe has done. He's definitely in the mix for manager of the season imo.
I did like the "Never be too big to do the small things" quote though, but would prefer that to be an ethos of culture instilled into the club/squad rather than being displayed as tacky kitchen decor.
I hear you on this, however, I think that sport is the one place where making use of quotes like that is just about acceptable. Just to try and keep minds in the right place.
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17 minutes ago, ManDoon said:
The chocolate thing is legit Call Centre stuff. Terrible
Everything with Bruce was centred around getting more calories in. The man has no shame.
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2 hours ago, Paully said:
This is epic man ... the club is on it's way now. It's going to be incredible.
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Just now, duo said:
No VAR? Looked off-side
I thought so as well. But apparently the check was over quite quickly.
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1 minute ago, Yorkie said:
Meh, that's that. All blighty final it is.
Yeah, maybe. Both Spanish teams are going home for the second leg though, and might have the extra push to turn things around. Just need Villareal to get this to just a one goal difference.
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Damn it.
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Offside.
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Urgh ...
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1 minute ago, NUFCPAUL said:
Anyone else glad they didn't get Emery watching this?
He's a more structured and defensive minded manager for sure, but it doesn't always necessary look quite this negative, but he knows he can't take too many chances against this Liverpool team, especially as his team just doesn't have anywhere near the level of talent.
Really thrilled with Howe though, and think he was ultimately the perfect manager for Newcastle.
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1 minute ago, Yorkie said:
God, come on Villerreal. Would be so mint if they dumped these lot out of it.
I really like their chances.
All they need is a break away the other way, with Liverpool either committing too many forward or losing concentration, which is going to become more likely as the game goes on, and they'll get them.
Danjuma and Chukwueze upfront are very dangerous players to have breaking the other way in space, and if they get the opportunity to do so later on, Liverpool are in for a world of trouble.
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Incredibly impressive from Villareal and Emery.
The fact the new owners at Newcastle ended up with Emery and Howe at the final stage of their review process for a new manager, is really promising for their approach to things going forward.
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22 minutes ago, The Prophet said:
Having seen him play a couple of times, he looks very raw. His hold up play and general ball retention need some work.
Beto you mean? If so, I agree to some extent. But that is likely why we'd be able to get him somewhat easily at this stage, and so we'd have to determine if he can still be effective right now, while we then continue to develop him further. He has an incredible set of tools for the premier league and I think in the right situation, with a manager like ours, he could turn into a terror of a striker.
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3 hours ago, Ikon said:
Regarding Gabriel Jesus, is he definitely leaving City at the end of the season? No clue about his contract but how much would they ask for him do you reckon? Likely destination? Not really read anything about his situation.
Apparently he'd be open to leaving to play more regularly, if as expected, Haaland joins Man City.
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3 hours ago, Hanshithispantz said:
Not sure tbh, haven't watched much football the past 2 year, I think Zapata is pretty much the perfect striker for what we need but he's over 30 and will cost loads. So anyone like that I suppose.
Been described as a mix between Zupata and Lukaku ... and we are said to be monitoring him.
Udinese's Beto. Having a really impressive first season at Udinese and has just turned 24 this year. 6 ft 4 powerhouse striker with pace.
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26 minutes ago, WillDanceForChocolate said:
This is tricky. There's no doubt for much of his time with us he was wedded to the 4-4-2 (or 4-4-1-1 to be fairer to him) but that was a legacy of the lower leagues and the squad. He did dabble with some other formations in the Premier League but almost always quickly went back. This was his big challenge. He had a group of players that came up the leagues with him which he knew he could rely on to play in a certain system and deliver results and he couldn't change the whole squad overnight so had to buy players that could work within that framework who may later be adaptable for alternatives. You could see the way he was recruiting. David Brooks, for example, was never a natural fit for that system. Danjuma as well, he's perfect wide left in a front three. I'd say the same goes for Solanke. I don't have any proof of this but I think he was trying to create a new squad that could play a system you see more in the modern game. However, when things were tough he reverted to what he knew worked to get us out of tricky situations. In that relegation season we had five wingers on the books. Brooks, Stanislas and Danjuma were injured virtually the whole season (ignore appearance stats, none of them were fit when they played). This left (on loan) Harry Wilson and Fraser and he had no choice but to play them both. Wilson wasn't at all suited to that role (he was terrible there in fact), another sign he'd maybe been brought in to play something different, and as he himself admitted Fraser stopped trying. I don't care about players not having ability but when you can see with your naked eye a guy isn't trying even though his manager is forced to pick him it really. I'll leave that sentence so I don't descend into profanity.
It's hard to know for sure but if we'd have been injury free (or not injury decimated), I think he would have dabbled with a 4-2-3-1. That's what the recruits he brought in feels like he was aiming for, he just never got a chance to give it a proper go. It's a shame goal line tech let us down as the following season would have shown where his ambitions lay, tactically. The rebuild was nearing if not completion then at least readiness to give a proper try.
My feeling is he recognises that 4-4-1-1 isn't the way forward at the very top of modern football. That's where you're aiming so building a team to play it wouldn't make sense. And now he has the funds to rebuild a squad in a different image. If I was to be harsh, if he went for his old favourite formation I'd be a little disappointed. I understand the constraints that made him use it so much with us but you have other options.
The truth is though, he's not afraid to ignore received wisdom and if he thinks he can get a team challenging for the title with his old formation then he may well go for it.
Amazing, thanks
Can't wait for the summer to see what direction he ultimately decides to take us having fully evaluated and worked with the current squad now, should be really interesting.
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9 minutes ago, WillDanceForChocolate said:
I know what you mean but I doubt I can be any help. I know many football fans watch any football they can. I more of the breed that is generally only interested in watching my club and so I rarely see other teams play. I might watch a match here and there if I've nothing on and it pops up on the tv but I would never make a point of it so my knowledge of non-AFCB players is pretty limited.
I will say this on transfers. He had our club absolutely sewn up so that it wasn't uncommon that the first time a player was linked was the day he was signing. I imagine that will be a lot harder with you but don't be surprised if a player or two turn up out of the blue and you wonder why you knew nothing about it in advance. That may be less important for you but I think he didn't want teams alerted in advance and trying to muscle in on the deal since we would likely have lost out.
Thinking about it, he does like to have players he knows so I wouldn't put it past him to go for Danjuma. Sadly, injured for pretty much the whole relegation season (in his appearances he was mostly unfit but we were desperate), he absolutely ripped the Championship apart last season, moved to Villarreal in the summer and I've heard he has scored a bunch in the Champions League for them. So, with my scant knowledge, if I was going to put money on a player you would sign it would be him. Don't waste your cash though as that's mostly based on ignorance! He is also an example we hadn't been linked with anywhere until he signed.
This is all so interesting. Really appreciate it.
One more question if you don't mind. Eddie consistently played a 4-4-2 with you, with one striker dropping in deep and one looking to get in behind, and two narrow inverted wingers, with full backs that overlapped aggressively. I really enjoyed how he made it work.
He hasn't really been able to setup this way since he joined us due to the lack of personnel and time to really implement it. I think with a full pre season and with a full transfer window over the summer he'll get what he feels he lacks and will return to that setup.
Any thoughts on that at all? Do you think it's a system he's quite sold on as his preference, or is that not as set in stone?
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10 minutes ago, Manxst said:
new defender linked- Evan Ndicka
Another young left footed physical specimen of a defender to go with Botman and Badiashile. Probably a more realistic signing if the other two don't pan out due to their much bigger profiles.
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2 minutes ago, NUFCPAUL said:
OK What about someone like Mason Mount? Chelsea are desperate for money.
I think he'll be one of the untouchables at Chelsea. They have a ton of other players they'll move on first.
The likes of Gallagher, Loftus-Cheek, Barkley and perhaps even Pulisic and Lukaku (!) will likely be shown the door well before they even begin to think about Mount.
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3 minutes ago, SUPERTOON said:
Must say it’s a nice conversation to be having, enjoy talking about these possibilities than the ones we would have been talking about without a takeover and with Bruce.
Absolutely man. I mean the summer is going to be so much fun, and what a joy to know we actually have a manager in place that will put any signings we do make in the best position to succeed. After what we've all suffered through for so many windows it's going to be a treat.
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5 minutes ago, NUFCPAUL said:
Why not, if Arsenal dont get top 4 they will be in no better position than us? We have the money too.
Even we can't afford those two, and they love Arsenal and are leading the re-emergence of their club together at such a young age. Complete no go in any capacity.
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Just now, SUPERTOON said:
So would you be willing to pay the massive price tags (Rashford I assume would be upwards of 50 million) based on their form over the last year or so ?
Great question, and this is ultimately the crux of the matter.
I think with how things have gone for them at Man Utd, particularly with Martial, there could be a chance we could get them for a bit of a steal, if Man Utd decide to blow it all up and go for a full rebuild. If that's the case, we should be monitoring their situations. I'd not bid more than £30 million for Martial and no more than £40 million for Rashford.
Think their contracts are both up in 2024 and so they're going to have to make a call on them both this summer or risk having to let them go for much less next year as they will be going into their final years.
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2 minutes ago, SUPERTOON said:
Martial isn’t currently nor has he really shown he is an elite level talent, what he and Rashford have shown is an awful attitude and we would be better off looking elsewhere imo.
Wew ... I'd have to disagree man. They are both top tier talents, ability wise, but in my opinion Man Utd have done a poor job with them both. I mean Martial was bought for £54 million back in 2015, and there was competition from a lot of top clubs for him at the time.
Regarding their attitudes, from what I have seen that has mostly come about from their frustration in being in and out of the team, and continuously being swapped between playing up front and out wide. It's not been great for either of their development.
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25 minutes ago, HTT II said:
It’s called grooming!
This made me burst out laughing man. Chill!
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Just now, tgarve said:
I think contrary to popular belief lingard is the one to stay away from in them 3 - he’s probably had 10-15 good games in his career and he’s 29
Yeah, Lingard is the one I'd pass on due to his age. Rashford and Martial are elite level talents and are just 24 and 26 years old respectively, with a ton of Premier League experience, European competition experience and international experience.
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Watching that Chelsea and Man United game, with the right signings, dare I say we could be right around them both next season?
Chelsea still look quite good, but there's going to be a bit of an exodus this summer, and they've completely messed up with Lukaku, and so still don't have a reliable striker up front, which really costs them.
And Man Utd are just a complete and utter mess at the minute, and will really need ten Hag to be really exceptional right out of the gate, which is possible I guess, but I'm not sure it will happen at all, as the club is in such disarray.
Going to be such an interesting summer and upcoming season.