Hughesy

For the first time ever, I'm genuinely considering cancelling my Sky subscription. I never thought I would, but it's just getting harder and harder to justify the cost and I know loads of people in the same boat. Convinced this tv bubble will burst in the not too distant future.

I mean... it's probably a penalty to Real for the shove by van Dijk.

Seems quite cheap - he seemed to have a half decent record from memory?

Totally agree.

I think his run of form has just come a bit too late unfortunately. And despite his recent improvement, people aren't going to forget his disciplinary record because he's behaved for 5 months. Personally I would take him as he offers something no-one in the England squad does, but I'm not surprised he's unlikely to make it. As for why people want in the squad - 1) allows me to be more interested in the England team (I've never been more interested than when we have some representation in it) and 2) allows players to see that they can get international recognition while playing for us.

Based purely on stats and what I've read on him, I reckon Gerard Moreno would be a realistic target for us as a striker. 15 goals in 36 matches for Espanyol this season and 13 in 37 matches last season.

It's not always about how good a player is it's also about how they fit the way the team plays and how they effect the culture of the club. Mbemba and Mitro are prime examples of that. Shaqiri fails on both aspects for me, he doesn't work hard enough out of possession for Rafa and he has an awful attitude, I wouldn't want him a million miles from the club, he's a dick. Not sure his attitude is that bad to be honest - not sure there is a huge amount of evidence to suggest he's as disruptive or as lazy as you are making out. He's managed to score 8 goals and 6 assists in a relegated team - that's exceptional.

Not sure how or why we could turn our nose up at Shaqiri - he's a quality player. And he's only 26.

The idea that you shouldn't buy a player from a relegated team seems slightly bizarre. Clearly you can get good performers in a team that is relegated that will improve your squad.

Get the sentiment behind it, but can't say I agree. Yeah, beating Rotherham et al is fine, but so many matches during the last two Championship seasons felt so... empty and devoid of meaning? I hated Saturday evenings when MOTD was on and we weren't on it. Last season was only bearable to me because we had Rafa. To be honest, I think it's the hope that we could be in the top 6 again (however delusional) is what keeps me going and thinking we could win something. I can't see the enjoyment of being some perennial yoyo club. Plus as someone said - the football just isn't that good below the PL. I want to see us play against the best and beat them, not beat teams full of Clint Hills and the like.

Shaqiri at £12-14m should be a no brainer.

Can't find the exact stats I'm looking for, but from the stuff I have seen on xG, a top quality striker would make a massive difference to our team. Not a huge problem with our attacking play save that we don't score enough. Even in a dreadful performance against WBA, we still created enough to win relatively comfortably.

Would have been pissed off if Jagielka had scored that chance - surely that was a foul on Dummett. Keane was climbing all over him.

No idea how Keane is in the England squad ahead of Lascelles. He's shit.

Going to be a very tough decision - I think Tuchel is the standout candidate for them, but his relationship with Mislintat is likely to prevent his appointment.

Shelvey's proved me wrong over the last few months. I'm still not 100% convinced he will keep this form up and/or that is a permanent change in his mentality and I also maintain that the early season version of Shelvey wasn't good enough, but he's been brilliant for the last 7-8 games. Long may it continue.

Think he looks quicker now than he did earlier in the season. Certainly seemed to be closing players down pretty quickly.

One of the many things I love about Rafa is the certainty that if he stays for 4-5 years, I just feel certain we will win something. He just knows what he's doing.

What a man.

Sometimes it happens with GK's. Schmeichel was 28/29 before moving to Man U. Navas got his move to Real Madrid when he was 28. True, but I'd say Schmeichel was of a slightly different era where knowledge of foreign footballers, even among journalists, wasn't nearly as good as it is now.

It seems weird that a keeper that seems so proficient in pretty much every department managed to get to 29 without a big move or people really noticing him.

Just saw on twitter that Carragher has just posted some video of Liverpool fans singing some song about always winning in Europe and their great history etc and it got me thinking. Isn't it common knowledge that Carragher grew up an Everton fan? I'm sure that if you play for a club for as long as Carragher does, you end up loving that club, but I find it really odd that players are often quoted as saying how much they enjoy scoring or doing well against the team they grew up supporting. Maybe when you're a player, football just becomes a job and nothing more and/or you never have an entire childhood where you are passionate about one club so it doesn't matter, but I can't imagine ever enjoying scoring against Newcastle.

Don't want to appear to be jumping on a bandwagon, but didn't Man City used to have quite good fans? Seems weirdly quiet for this kind of game.

Just been looking through that forum - they hold themselves in very high esteem. No-one else can understand how special they are is the main takeaway.

It will be interesting to see what we do on the striker front in the summer. Could easily see us selling both Gayle and Mitrovic and getting two new strikers in.