KaKa

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.

Can't get over how bad Scotland are man. Don't understand why they can't manage to put together a better team with all the managers and players that have been involved in football in the Prem through the years.

16 minutes ago, Joey47 said:

 

Saivet, Thauvin and Riviere disagree 

The club was such a mess that I'm surprised we had as many pan out as we did. 

I think it's impossible to know if these were really just not good enough, or if the managers we're so bloody clueless about them, and how to get the best out of them, that they had no chance from the outset.

5 minutes ago, SUPERTOON said:

Joelinton should play where he is now or not at all imo 

I'm good with whatever Howe decides on. That man really knows what he's doing like

For what it's worth, I wouldn't be surprised if even if we go with Joe pushed further up, he still then has him drop deeper defensively so we then defend in the 4-3-3 we had this season when we don't have the ball.

2 minutes ago, Joey47 said:

 

You seem to be 100% convinced Howe is going to play a 4-4-2  

 

I think a 3-4-3 or sticking with our 4-3-3 is more likely but I guess all we can do is wait and see. Fuck, I'm so excited for next season!

Yeah, it's just what I see him going with, but we'll see how things play out. Really looking forward to it too!  

41 minutes ago, Keegans Export said:

We aren't going to spend £30m+ on this guy then another big chunk on another CF.

 

Hopefully he does the business 

Think it all depends on what we do with Joelinton. 

My gut feeling is that he will be pushed further up the pitch to play as a support striker/attacking midfielder, similar to how Josh King was used when playing with Callum. If Howe goes that route then it will be Joe and Wilson with Ekitike being another option to Joe, and Wood being another option to Wilson. This would keep Wood further up the pitch like at Burnley when he played with Barnes, and looked much better, and so he'd be much more useful. Couldn't see another striker coming in, in this scenario, but instead a wide forward for either wing, depending on where ASM ultimately plays on the left or right side.

However, we might also see Joe put on the left, with ASM moving on the right, if we don't manage to get in a wide forward we like. In which case we'd likely get another support striker to go into the first team to play alongside Callum Wilson. 

Anyway, really glad to see this deal get tied up, as I read somewhere Howe has really been pushing for it, as he really likes Ekitike a lot, and the kid has been the most productive of the young strikers we've been looking at.

With how quiet this had gone, and recent links to Joao Pedro and Broja, I thought maybe Reims were being difficult, and so we had moved on to different targets. Good to see we had different options lined up though, as that might have put some pressure on Reims.

5 minutes ago, ManDoon said:

He’s falling apart imo

 

Should just enjoy his holiday, and not tweet in the middle of it, if he gets wound up so easily

1 minute ago, wormy said:

 

Careful, mate. If he sees this you'll be reported for abuse of the poor lad. 

 the guy seems so childish.

3 minutes ago, nbthree3 said:

Now he's upset 

 

This guy is something else man. Perhaps needs to find a different gig.

3 minutes ago, nbthree3 said:

 

Completely wrong about Ekitike playing mostly wide. He mostly played in a front two, dropping in behind the other striker and also moving into the channels, and also played alone upfront. He can play on the left too though.

1 hour ago, Shak said:

 

If they think those three aren't any worse as options than the other players we have on the list then by all means get them.

 

However, the focus should be on getting the best player, not the guy we can get a bit cheaper. If the choice is Asencio for 20m or spending double that to get a player that we think is genuinely top class then I expect us to go for the better player.

No man ... you buy the best players you can get in relation to what your budget is. The three I mentioned are top players that just happen to be in their last year and so they are available at really good value, which means we can get even more quality into the squad. No chance they're just looking at them because of the price, as they would obviously have to rate them as well, that goes without saying.

1 minute ago, David Edgar said:

I'm not buying it.

 

Leaving because some of the fans are racist?  He would have known that had he done due diligence beforehand so I very much doubt that was new information.  

 

Looking at his results, I honestly reckon he has taken the easy way out to get some credibility out of a situation that didn't look like it had a long term.

 

Unless something happened behind the scenes where club officials wouldn't condone the actions of the minority of racist fans? 

I was going to ask if these were the first set of black players to ever play in the league

Slimy Pardew, finding a way to slither off, while drawing attention away from the crappy job he was doing. Absolutely typical of this fraudulent mess.

Interesting read. Moving players on is going to be a big issue and could affect FFP. This gives further insight into why spending can't be too crazy this summer. Fat Mike and his stupid contracts to players we didn't need anymore, so he didn't have to spend on transfers to thank for this.

Love this guy's character man. It was such a gutsy call. Absolutely thrilled it worked out so well for him, and now he gets to be the face of the team going forward.