McCormick

Why?

Well yes and no; in different parts of the play you obviously have to shift your defensive block. That's true (and there's nothing wrong with a very high press, Liverpool do this with great success), there was quite a high press during goal-kicks and throw-ins in their defensive third. What's your point? I'm just trying my best to have a balanced discussion on tactics and, by your own admission you didn't watch the match.

This is going to be a very unpopular opinion on here but, much to my surprise, i thought we looked- tactically- relatively good against Arsenal in the first half. We honestly did look quite drilled with our mid block pressing just after the half-way line and doing well retaining the shape while retreating to a flat low-block when Arsenal's attacking play sped up (and were able to get through the lines). Our compactness off-the -ball did go some way to limiting Arsenal's chances in that first period. The one stark criticism you could make is that our 3-5-2 formation, with our full-backs lying so deep, meant that in order to cover their over/underlapping full backs and wingers our midfield pairing had to go wide to cover, leaving a lot of spaces in the middle for a good passing side to exploit. This is where Rafa's 5-2-2-1 shone out of possession; you had Almiron and Perez covering these wider areas so the team kept its defensive shape a lot better during transitions. Much like we were under Rafa at times, we were quite poor in possession and our attacking play was quite predictable really; it was dependent on Almiron breaking and trying to pull the defenders away to make space for Joelinton (who did very little wrong with his limited service) . The second half was tactical shit-show though in parts. The shape changed when Willems was brought on; you could be generous and say this was because he didn't have a lot of time to train with his new team-mates, or you could rightfully slate Bruce for not effectively communicating his role to him before he came on. Ritchie's naive pressing in midfield was also comical, and meant we were always exposed in the transition as he was never where he needed to be. He was literally just chasing the ball and getting pulled all over the field. All in all it wasn't a terrible performance. Yes, it wasn't the strongest Arsenal side but they were tactically very astute and had the benefit of working under a system and manager for a longer amount of time. I'll be very interested to see how we fare against a Norwich side who are very well-drilled offensively, but maybe lack the defensive nous at this level to consistently keep clean sheets.

Saw on some news site that he got 145 on an IQ test

If it wasn't a Bruce-managed side, you could very easily say that this is a better team, talent-wise, than the one we started last season with. Despite his lack of tactical nous, I imagine a back 3 who've had at least a year or so of Rafa drilling them defensively coupled with Bruce's naive high-pressing style; we should, at the very least, see some more entertaining* football as well. I reckon we'll stay up. * In the "I'd rather see us lose 4-3 than win 1-0" sense.

If someone told you we'd be signing a player with 23 goals in the championship, at 15 million, to play 3rd choice we'd be pretty happy with that. Check out his goals this season on youtube, some really quality touches and finishes.

I've no doubt Rafa would have moulded him into a top-class centre/left back; he's already so composed and clever with his positional play while being quite an athletic defender. Unfortunately the only place I can see him in our team is on the left of a back 3, where he's got Dummett, Lejeune, Fernandez and even Clark to contest with. Really don't see him being an effective attacking threat as a wing-back in our current system though.

He's pretty good tbh, not an attacking full-back by any means but really solid at the back and a real steal at that price (considering the team he plays for and the fact that he's so young). Rafa was really keen on him iirc.

Think with him in the team we might finally get some penalties, especially with var coming in this season.

Great signing (St. Max would be another one); the travesty is that they'll be managed by Steve fucking Bruce.

Under Rafa I'd be buzzing at this.

He's a really good player though

No it's not, he's a very good player. Good at everything really; decent dribbler, good target man, eye for a pass, power, great work-rate. 40 million is a bit on the high side, but I really like him as a player and it's nice (all things considered) that we've finally made a move for the top target on our list for a change.

Any other season, with another manager I'd be insanely excited by this. This kid has everything in his locker to be an outstanding player.

Very good signing. However how many of the new signings will be starting? If they have 5/6 new players starting could be a big ask for it to gel well. Completely different approach to Fulham though apparently Fulham are a massive anomaly though. Almost every other team in the last few years who have come up from the Championship and spent large amounts have stayed up (Watford, Brighton, Wolves and Bournemouth to name a few). As much as I hate the club, they'll more than likely stay up with points to spare.

He's in Qatar, not Abu Dhabi.

He doesn't have 18bn, man Anyway, I'm done pissing on people's chips.

only worth £18bn the daft cunt There's no way he's worth that much. I could be wrong but are you not mixing him up with Sheikh Khalifa?

Yeesh, saw the last name and almost wet myself with excitement. Saw the full name and now I'm pretty deflated. Not a big fan of this guy tbh...

aye be fucking madness to sell him At any price? How much is the minimum you'd sell him for? Not trying to be obstinate here but the guy has had, what, 10 games of top-flight football? Fwiw I really like him as a player, I just think we'd be mad to not consider selling him for over 30 million. It's not about raw numbers but the abdication of hope that such a move represents. Being unable or unwilling to hold on to the rare good talent that comes from an Academy like ours - whether or not it should be a rare thing is another conversation - is perfectly in line with the Ashley protocol. I agree with the sentiment but the reality is if we can improve the team by selling an overvalued asset it's a sensible thing to do imo. This is obviously in some eggs in moonshine world where we would use all the money to actually improve the playing squad... Hope?

aye be fucking madness to sell him At any price? How much is the minimum you'd sell him for? Not trying to be obstinate here but the guy has had, what, 10 games of top-flight football? Fwiw I really like him as a player, I just think we'd be mad to not consider selling him for over 30 million.

I agree it'd be a shame but 30-40 million is Tielemans money. I guess it would depend on how highly you rate him off the back of half a season...

?

Although he's looked great for the most part, it's his first season in the top-flight and he'll be 22 soon. Romanticism aside (local lad etc.), for anything close to 30 million we'd be stupid not to sell him; for our current situation we could find a better player for that kind of money relatively easily.

Hate to say this but fair play to Pardew on bein sports. Not spouting the usual cliched nonsense despite Keys' loaded questions.