kingxlnc

They were linked so much with Bruno too. Haha. It's good to see they got Gabriel Jesus and Fabio Viera instead

Ashworth was very accomplished speaking wise, he sounded like he had a plan and philosophy etc, the centre of the wheel etc. Look how he turned out. Not too great at his role - given the PSR debacle. I'd rather Mitchell stutters his way through press conference embarassingly as long as he is great at his job and brings in great players etc.

And Freedman

Think there will be a big refresh this Jan/summer Trips, Wilson, Almiron, Lascelles, Targett, Dubravka will all leave for sure. That's a lot of wages and first team space. Can see four big first teamers come in plus James Trafford. A ST, RW, RCB for sure, and perhaps DM

Even at 75M plus, he will be 27 this year I believe so we've had 3 good years from him, he's at his prime, and still more than doubling original investment. But can't see it now he's captain

Maybe a hot take but I would let Bruno go at the end of the season for 90m+ and let Tonali replace him as that central midfielder. Not sure if they can play together but when one or the other play they do really well.

Saw clips of Mason Greenwood on the weekend, he's killing it in France. Plays that RW position, where he comes inside and shoots. Does he have too much baggage / is he good enough for our RW?

Callum Hudson-Odoi is by far the better more talented player He plays LW though so not needed

We may not even have a RW issue if Gordon stays on the right as we have Joe and Barnes who can play there well. Murphy / Almiron is decent backup for RW

Well West Ham rejected him as they were unsure about his suitability for the PL. And they haven’t got a great track record of foreign managers themselves so for them to back away does show a slight red flag

Honestly, he needs to play as a number 10 with a proper ST being up front. 4-2-3-1 Pope Tino Schar Botman Hall Tonali Bruno Gordon, Isak, Barnes Wilson Subs: Joelinton for Barnes (LW) Willock for Isak (10) Osula for Wilson (ST) Murphy/Almiron for Gordon (RW) Longstaff/Miley for Tonali/Bruno (CM) It's really as simple as that.

Mourinho has said he always performs best when he has an African striker up front. Benni McCarthy, Drogba, Eto'o. Would Isak's Eritrean side count?

No - THIS window just gone is the issue. Last summer was still decent in terms of calibre of player and future proofing positions. This summer, we could have had Marmadshvilli as 1st choice - got Vlad as a 3rd choice instead We could have had Chiesa for 10m. We could have kept Minteh and Anderson. We could have had Simikan for 35m instead of Guehi. We could have gotten Tosin if we acted quicker and more aggressive. We didn't get Olise, but could have gotten Madueke had we acted quicker We could have sold Wilson, Almiron, Trippier, Longstaff, Targett We didn't get a better striker than Osula. We didn't get an athletic DM. This summer was a major flop. The beginning of the end was actually Man U winning the FA cup because if we had Europe to contend with, we would have been much more aggressive early on I would have thought.

It definitely is. Being able to add Minteh and Anderson as first team options to this group would have yielded us a couple of extra points for sure, versus what Osula or Kelly have added to the team.

I think we're missing Trippier's influence more than we think. He was so central to the way we play, he's effectively another purple. We haven't figured out how to replace his creative influence. We didn't need a 10 because he was so creative from his position. But if Tino starts, then we need more creativity in the team. I'd be tempted to bench Joelinton and put Willock in. Or even put Hall into midfield and play Kelly at LB.