triggs

Any idea at all as to why he was hired?

Would've said so when he was at Everton but his last two jobs have been terrible. He had a settled thing going at Everton and I'm not sure if he has what it takes to go into a club and succeed immediately especially with the shortened pre season he will have there

Pressure from his agent as well

This is gonna be funny

I see the FA chief said they don't want a "short term mercenary". Is that just another way of saying they don't want a forrin?

Not sure I totally agree with that. It depends how flexible he wants the players beyond those two to be. If we are playing a rigid formation then you may be right, but if we're going to have interchanging attacking players throughout games then it could work well. Someone still has to play the ball into those players, it would be just like England at the Euros where you had a load of players looking to either score or run but nobody playing them in. There's never been a 4231 that worked where at least one of the two was able to put the 4 in front into good positions when they receive the ball. It's one of the reasons Arsenal fell apart at the end of last season once Cazorla went down, they had nobody playing the ball into Ozil and the likes. Especially because I presume a lot of teams in the Championship will be more defensive against us. I think Shelvey will be a very important player for us this season in that respect

That's why I said "if you have to". I do think that being built like a brick shit house in the upper body isn't really important for a striker. Obviously strength work in your legs is very important for speed and explosiveness. I'm not saying it's easy either by the way. It's difficult to do things like this but if you look at the likes of Ronaldo, extreme example I know, when he was a kid he was like a twig and he turned himself into a beast of power and explosiveness in what felt like just a few years. Also not saying everybody has the same capacity as Ronaldo to completely transform themselves either

Say that you want someone to get a bit quicker and fitter and the reaction is like you want them to transform themselves into Usain Bolt ffs

I want him to be fitter. Lose a small bit of strength if you have to because we shouldn't have to rely on bringing back Cisse in order to press effectively. Diego Costa is a similar type body shape who can press effectively. I'm not looking for either player to totally change their body shape, just some changes that could make a big difference to their game

Well when you're managing to look as bad as Jack Colback in midfield a lot of the time I think its worth losing a bit of pace to add a bit to the weakest part of your game for your position I mean I'm not coaching the guy, I don't know exactly how it works but I think if the club wanted him to bulk up they'd give him a diet and training regime which he'd follow. Aye and I wouldn't be surprised if Rafa's done that, or else maybe he sees him only as a full back now. Couldn't imagine any of the previous managers he's had here going into that kind of detail so he would've had to have taken the responsibility himself

Well when you're managing to look as bad as Jack Colback in midfield a lot of the time I think its worth losing a bit of pace to add a bit to the weakest part of your game for your position

So there is nothing he could possibly do to get stronger?

Don't know why anyone bothers so. If you can't be a midfield powerhouse you might as well be weak as fuck. There is literally nothing inbetween those two points

Aye that's similar to what I said

It's a bit of a stretching of the truth to say Mitrovic scored 9 goals and 4 assists in 22 starts given that 3 of his goals and two of his assists came off the bench . More accurately he got 6 goals and 2 assists in 22 starts with one of those being a penalty I think. He was much more dangerous off the bench in general last season. Also one of his goals and one of his assists were in that dead rubber game against Spurs

Going off on a bit of a tangent here but anyway I'll just go along with it. If Anita cared so much he should be working on his overall strength for the last three years or so since he joined the club, maybe if he did he wouldn't get so utterly dominated when he plays in his preferred position of midfield. Lascelles is fair enough because he's in brilliant shape really and hasn't made many errors so far. As for Mitrovic, I've been a bit hard on him in the past at times and think he should do well this season but if he cared as much as people say he does he should have been working on his speed and fitness all last season so we wouldn't have to resort to playing Cisse instead of him in order to close defenders down effectively

Think he gets on very well with Rafa, probably just doesn't want to waste a year of his career in the Championship. I wouldn't blame any of our players for leaving if they had offers from Premier League clubs

Hope he stays

Atleti are one of the best teams in Europe, I'd be massively surprised if he left there just to be a backup again at a much much worse team Edit: What Mole said

He isn't an attacking midfielder Well what the fuck is he? Best position is probably one of the sides in a midfield three I would say. Certainly not as a number 10

I think he's a bit of a cunt as well, I just find it strange you have no problem with someone who blatantly didn't try for about 5 months and you do have a problem with Sissoko

He isn't an attacking midfielder

I wouldn't even start him

Wijnaldum talks shit in the press too like

I exaggerate a bit but I just find him a complete arsehole and he typifies the pre-Benitez Newcastle. Just a joke of a club where no player of any worth is proud to wear the shirt. If this was the first time he'd come out and said he wanted to leave (post-relegation) it'd be fine, but he's been saying it for over a year, even when the club was fighting to stay in the league he's sending his agent out to tell anyone who will listen how mint he is and how much he wants to play for a club worthy of his presence. Townsend made a horrible decision imo and it was annoying that he played the I LOVE YIS card then fucked off after a dozen games. Wijnaldum I don't really mind, we've been relegated and he obviously should go to a club in a higher league - wrong club at the wrong time really. You don't have any problem with Wijnaldum who blatantly stopped trying even after Rafa came in?