alexf

Assume today was his first appearance aswell? Excellent

He's on talksport right now it seems.

Not on here necessarily, but your average Joe on the street will have high expectations of him. With the fee aswell, sometimes that can weigh heavy on a player.

ASM didn't get worse due to Howe, but his injuries caught up with him. He looked like he lost that explosive speed that he had during the Bruce era, due to the constant hamstring strains etc. Rarely did he seem physically at his best under Howe. But on the rare occasions that he did he was still one of our best players. That Man City 3:3 home game comes to mind. Best side in the league just couldn't handle him. Injuries just took away his explosiveness. Without it he was just abit frustrating and was right to move him on in the end.

Stick by my original thoughts, that he's not as good as he's made out to be. People convince themselves when there is a large fee involved, just had a decent tournament for England and therefore is being hyped by media, that we are getting one of the best defenders in the world. He isn't. I think he is steady and will make the squad stronger, but he won't transform our fortunes. But for our record signing we sort of need more than that don't we? Happy to hold my hands up and be proved wrong if he helps fire us back into Champions league this season.

If we do walk away. The leaked bids have essentially given away what money we have available to spend to everyone else.

Said when we were first linked, for the inflated price due to Prem experience, recent high praise for England etc that we would have to pay way more than the player is worth. You're reaching Van Dijk sort of money and he isn't a superstar or generational talent as his owner suggests. He's a good player who would improve us. But with the financial restraints put on us currently, not worth the amounts being discussed if it's gonna cause us to miss out on strengthening other areas or cause us to need to sell one of our actual stars next window.

Felt I had to qualify it because it wasn't official that he was carrying knocks etc but it seemed obvious to me quite alot throughout last year he was sometimes playing out of necessity, where as in an ideal world we could have rested him more. So just saying hopefully this year we can protect him more so that when he is playing, he is playing at his maximum. Same for Gordon too 🤞.

What did I say that was funny? Just my opinion, he was rarely 100% fit last season. Seemed to be returning from injury or rushed back often and then run into the ground when he did due to Wilson's injury issues. But he was still scoring goals even during those spells where he looked half fit. Think back to like the PSG away game. He could barely move but managed to bag a goal and play the whole game pretty much. There were other examples where he seemed to be carrying something or managing his fitness. Would be good if he could get the majority of the season where he can just play flat out and then be subbed out when fatigued and not be forced to play when nursing an injury of some sort.

I think playing injury free helps that alot. Wasn't it a groin strain he was struggling with alot last year? Can imagine that makes you nervous to open up fully and sprint at full speed. Also could be the defenders he was up against he knew were slower than him. But like I said above, he just looked confident in his own ability and hopefully that carries through to the season and he can avoid niggling injuries this time 🤞

Hope not.

Wow yeah that collar looks a bit dumb on the players versions they are wearing.

Looked fit and confident yesterday. We just have to get him through the season without running him into the ground and he will be spectacular. That little burst from the halfway line near the end was exceptional, almost Henry reincarnated. He scored alot of goals last year despite rarely being 100% in my eyes. So if we can rotate better this time to keep him fresher I think he will have his best season so far.

That's a bit arrogant. Couple of good signings and new manager can turn any teams fortunes around. As we well know when Eddie came in here. Perhaps these signings won't kick them on any further, or perhaps they will hit the ground running and have a great season.

Saw Sancho played for them in preseason. That all patched up now with Ten Hag and likely to stay this season?

I agree that Solanke is no world beater. However he would improve Spurs and give them a better focal point through the middle. Seeing as they finished ahead of us last year and he improves them, then I would rather they didn't get him, even if they are potentially overpaying.

They are all guessing. They know nothing and will continue to know nothing whether we get him or don't. The only one who got a scoop was Ornstein and now the rest of them are pretending to be clued in when the reality is, they didn't know anything about it until Ornstein made it public. So why would the club suddenly start blabbing to them about bids and 2nd bids etc now.

Hope to never see Dan Burn at left back again. If anything it's unfair on him, he's far more comfortable at CB and it suits him. He should be 5th Choice now behind Hall, Kelly, Targett, and even Tino.

Don't think they will be quite as poor as last season (performances wise) unless injuries strike again. Rashford might decide to turn into a player again plus they have added some depth. But I don't see them challenging top 4 and I think Ten Hag will probably leave at the first signs of thr wheels coming off. Just so annoying that even when they play mostly shite they scote their way to cup wins. Twice in a row it has come at our expense unfortunately. Missing out on the league cup before and then last season missing our on Europe. Would love to finish above them again this year but above all else I want us to get that elusive silverwear.

Yeah heard that. I'm sure there's more to it than just that, but even so, wouldn't surprise me that the "Sky 6" get let off things others don't, as we have already seen it.

Seems a bit mad from Juventus if any of that is true. Surely just drastically reducing the transfer values of your players?

Don't rate him as highly as most. Feel like he was getting over hyped in the euros. England didn't have to do much defending and whenever we did, they conceded quite easily. Never noticed him be particularly stand out in the prem, especially in games at St.James'. Obviously wouldn't bemoan the signing but after the usual premier league, English Tax added in. We seem to shop in a market that is not getting maximum value more often than not.

I guess that's a W for the sports washing critics. Looks like proper Saudi arabia advert that.

No Tino in the friendly?

I think if he plays, this guy could tear it up in the premier league. Annoying that City were allowed to sign him the way they have, but they play by their own rules I suppose.