WilliamPS

Yeah, agree, but for European qualification it’s the result that matters. I don’t think people should underestimate their ability to scrape undeserved results

Wouldn’t be surprised if he was being held back for Wednesday. Probably hurts Man Utd fans to acknowledge Arsenal aren’t their rivals this year

Think people need to remember Man Utd have a pretty much equal points total - results wise they are as good and they are also at home. They are the favourites here.

That tattoo didn’t look expensive did it

Whilst it’s a terrible record overall they have been beaten by good sides each time. Except Man Utd in 18/19 and this season they will have been beaten by teams who tend to win their domestic leagues.

Can’t expect Forest to get anything against Chelsea, they are where they are in the league for good reason. Need 7 points still. The Man Utd / Palace result is funny but doesn’t really change anything as I’d have expected Arsenal to get something at the weekend, whereas Chelsea could well get 9 points so NUFC need 7.

Looking at FFP, I think this summer there will be money without sales. Especially with European football. If a couple of frees come in for CB there should be big money for 2-3 elsewhere. Am sure there will be sales as some players will want out of for game time/ longer contracts etc but overall there should be less constraints than last summer

Man City is the big risk, he fits the profile of what they need. Times suggested it’s Bruno or Paqueta Man City want, not both, let’s hope West Ham are softer targets.

Bramble did switch off at times, but I’d say for him and Taylor the issue was often making the wrong decision (when to dive in vs staying on your feet was a common one for Bramble) or just fucking up a basic task (Taylor played teammates into trouble). They were just as likely to do this in the first ten minutes as the last so am not sure it’s technically concentration. anyway I hope this new bloke is better than that pair, thank god standards are higher now

Boumsong was nowhere near physical enough for the PL.

Absolutely outrageous putting Colo alongside those two clowns

If I was Liverpool I’d cling on to Salah, with Klopp going it’s a risky moment for them - a bad appointment can really sink a team - helpful to keep senior pros in the dressing room to maintain standards. If Henderson, Klopp and Salah left in the space of 12 months could leave a big hole. For that reason I hope Salah is in Saudi Arabia by august.

Wenger at the end was such a whinger, think that turned a lot of people off Arsenal. Particularly the ridiculousness of a manager who sent out a team with Adams, Petit, Viera etc complaining that physical teams were unfair!

The 85% limit is also a wage cap. All these restrictions are caps - IMO this latest proposal is a form of cap that’s good for the league rather than good for a certain set of clubs

That’s a proposal I actually agree with, as is about the overall league staying competitive and is basically a salary cap for the league. Clubs that back the 85% cap but vote against this show themselves as uninterested in fair play and only interested in protecting their own position (so expect the usual suspects)

He shouldn’t be a backup he should be a finisher. Playing the last 20 mins of every game - bit like Solskjaer or Tor Andre Flo in his Chelsea days. A backup to Isak is needed, but I don’t think that’s the way to think of Wilson anymore. Now there’s 5 subs a game you’ve got to have a bench that you can use

Almirons asset is his stamina, he is on it for the whole 90minutes and that makes him a challenge to play against. But he’s not super quick and his end product has never been the strongest so if you want an impact sub versus a tired fullback I think there are better options. As with all potential sales it would leave very little cover. Basically just Murphy

Some of Chelsea’s players probably could join settled teams and become great players who justify the price tags, but it’s Hotel California for them all now…for the club selling a player at a loss means a massive FFP hit, for the players on these 8 year contracts it’s leaving 6 years worth of silly money behind.

The stuff in the article really isn’t that bad. It’s about friendly games played after the end of the season but before international games. Can see why the FA hate that and also that it’s bad for players. As an England fan I’d rather Trippier and Gordon didn’t have to go to Australia between the end of the season and the Euros. The problem is FPP makes clubs chase every penny.

After June the relevant rolling three seasons will be 24/25 (next season) 23/24 (this season) 22/23 (last season) The January spend was in the 21/22 season. The reason last summer was constrained is the big spends in Jan 22 and summer 22 resulted in big FFP losses in 21/22 and 22/23.

Don’t think FFP/PSR is close this summer, as the first January window since the takeover falls off the 3 year cycle. There should be more flexibility this summer than last year

Since then Villa, Liverpool and Arsenal have improved and Man City remain streets ahead. Last season also had no European games. You are basically saying the same players who got 4th can do so again whilst also playing an extra 10 games a season, you Put that workload on players you get injuries and performance dips. Standing still really means going backwards. People said there was no need to sign Pope as Dubs was good enough, to keep Maxi over Barnes etc, but to improve it means being ruthless on quality

I don’t think This is a top 4 set of midfielders. And If you take Bruno out then any selection is unbalanced. There’s two sides, quality and capability/role In quality, I rate Willock really highly and he’s missing but the reality of the 7 on the books is you have an absolute elite player in Bruno, one unknown in Tonali (after a whole year out), and then a big drop off. If you took that 7 and Bruno did a cruciate in September the season would be screwed. I like all the players, and they are miles better than the CMs we had just a few years ago (Jeff Hendrick!!!), it’s just the bar has to be higher now. The gap in capability is another player who likes to sit deep and can cover defensively - if there isn’t budget for an elite CM, picking a young DM with potential would at least cover that, then in Brunos absence the midfield could still function

The best thing about brand new stadia or new stands are the single tiers. leazes and gallowgate were both built in the post Taylor report era where that wasn’t possible. I’d like any changes to try and fix that. the flaw in any new stadiums business case will be capacity will max out at about 65k, so it’s a lot of investment for a more limited pay off (+13k). White Hart Lane was only 36k. If it’s about revenue per seat then there’s a lot of opportunity to re-corporate the milburn and leazes. When they reopened they had a lot more extras and clubs than they do now - but it means fans paying more.

Wilson should be kept and used only to finish games. His current injury is a freak one so a bit of an oddity but used sparingly he could be immensely valuable. Look at the state of the bench this season - the squad needs more depth. This is totally separate to a backup for Isak, a role Wilson can’t fill as he can’t handle starting twice a week in those busy periods like Xmas. If there’s European games next season then a second striker is key. But selling Wilson creates two striker vacancies at the club