sushimonster85

One of the more low key fun aspects of our takeover was watching Inter twitter melt down. They were (and remain) convinced that the PIF were going to buy them. 

Just now, Consettmag said:

Anybody know why toffs have only got a very limited range of retro toon tops. They used to do loads.

I could be wrong but I think a lot of clubs are starting to realise the goldmine that is selling retro tops, and are clamping down. I know we now sell Score Draw retro tops on the club site now. 

2 hours ago, joeyt said:

He is, I can't stand him.

 

How can he not know how Joelinton in midfield came about

Yeah, he is a bit of a bellend. Made worse by just how fit his missus is. Not sure how his has managed that.

Absolute Radio's Sarah Champion to save people a Google... Or give them the correct thing to Google. 

1 minute ago, Thumbheed said:

I do wonder if ASM's unpredictability and high risk style of play impacts Targetts ability to attack. 

 

Must he really difficult playing behind him knowing he's not gonna track back if you commit to an overlap and when he loses the ball as often as he can.

 

Should 100% sign him. 

 

 

 

 

 

Not familiar enough with Targetts game before he joined us to say if it affects him one way or another. I do think it dictates the type of fullback we play on that side though.

Are people actually taking Marca seriously? They've had a rep for unsubstantiated, 2+2=rhino type bullshit for literally decades. 

10 minutes ago, wormy said:

Considering there shouldn't be any sign of a relegation battle next year I can't wait for January 2023.

Absolutely. Though that being said, there is that paranoid part of my mind that will breathe a little sigh of relief when we cross the 40 point mark next season. Will probably take a couple seasons to fully 'un-Ashley' myself. 

Saka is fantastic. Put him in the City squad and a combo of Peps coach and actually being able to be rotated and get a rest and he becomes a world class wide forward/winger in 2/3 years.

2 hours ago, Stifler said:

5 days he can’t play for.

Likely Lascelles for Burnley then. Can't see Howe playing someone who hasn't trained all week. 

15 hours ago, Menace said:

He's championship tier and needs moving on, similar with Almiron

 

Couple of months ago I would've agreed with you re Almiron, but his recent improvement makes his a useful squad player for next year for me. 

8 hours ago, greydos said:

Totally agreed. Think about Joelinton’s performances, and then remember what we got from Sissoko and Wijnaldum in a relegation fight. Absolute night and day

Honestly think he is captain material. Probably wouldn't get past Trippier when it comes to picking a new captain, but should at least be in the leadership group if he isn't already. 

Desire to finish as high as possible vs my desire to see Everton go because I hate them vs my desire to see Leeds go because I want Phillips (maybe even Raphinha) on the cheap. Tough call.

2 minutes ago, TRon said:

 

We need a reliable starting striker AND Callum Wilson. At his age the transfer fee would be pointless, but we should aim for the very best we can get and make Callum fight to get the shirt. He will need to be some player mind, Wilson is one of the best strikers in the PL.

Said this for a while, outside the top 4 there are few/no number 9's better than a fully fit Callum Wilson.

2 hours ago, Nexumaster said:

When is the new kit unveiled? Desperate to get Bruno G on one and I'm not normally the type to go for that sort of thing, but this is where we are.

Likely at some point in the next few weeks after the final game. Would usually have been unveiled by now, and potentially even worn in the final game, but change in sponsorship likely means they can't unveil till Fun88 are done at the end of the season. 

I honestly think if that rumoured £15m fee is correct then we should sign him up. I know the fee talked about for Lodi seems to be between the £20-£25m range, which is also a good price, and I do think Lodi is likely the better attacking full back. But Targett is solid, and I don't think Lodi is £10m extra better than he is.

33 minutes ago, 54 said:

 

Always interested to see teams who are known for one primary colour experiment with other accent colours. City are very hit and miss, generally they stay white, but have branched out to purple before, and now this. Liverpool with the odd bit of orange on this seasons shirt. 

1 minute ago, FloydianMag said:

 

Wouldn't be shocked if Al-Rumayyan is at the match later. 

Really looking forward to this game. Regardless of the outcome I imagine it's going to be a special atmosphere. 

To make a really depressing prediction, I do actually reckon Arsenal will sneak it. We can talk about players playing for a spot next season as much as we like, it will never be the same as actually still having something big left to play for the way Arsenal do. I am predicting 1-2. We take the lead, get pegged back, then they nick a winner late. Hope I'm wrong. 

Who do people prefer, Cornet or Sarr?

Seem to be linked a lot with Sarr, who I do like, Cornet does seem like more of a goal threat. 

4 minutes ago, 54 said:

Phillips, Bruno & Paqueta as a midfield 3 is pretty decent. 

I keep seeing this talk of Paqueta in a midfield 3. Whilst I agree he would be a fantastic signing, he wouldn't fit into a midfield 3 the way we currently play it. If we switch to a 4-2-3-1 then he could absolutely play anywhere across that 3 behind the striker.

If you were to try and fit him into our current system he's likely take the place of Fraser or ASM. 

36 minutes ago, Danh1 said:

Listened to a podcast last week, it was Edwards on True Faith confirming that it is £80m or so budget before any players are sold and before any other commercial deals etc are agreed. If we sell Lascelles for £10m, Hayden and Gayle for £5m then we are already at £100m. 

Yeah, I think the Summer spend will ultimately end up being around £100m, but with 15-20m of that made up from outgoing sales. Which is huge compared to previous Summer spends. We could add 3/4 players who immediately make the first team better.

Just to get things back on track a little, I actually quite like that blue away top that's got lost in the shuffle over the past few days!

35 minutes ago, Yorkie said:

Is the collar a bit weird? Good they've lost the orange anyway, thought that was stinking. 

Never like tops like that, makes it look like a t-shirt with the Liverpool badge and Nike logo stuck on. 

5 hours ago, The College Dropout said:

Owen is the worst for me. Because of the gap between expectation and the result. He was meant to be our new 9 and talisman. 
 

We broke our transfer record. Massive wages.  Massive expectations.  About 60 league starts in 4 years. Joelinton made that many starts in half the time.  Refusing to come on during our relegation battle that saw us go down. He’s absolutely despised and rightfully so. 
 

 

i think every club has a number of Alan Smith type signings. 

As soon as he signed it was pretty clear that his priorities went:

England

Horses

Newcastle

4 minutes ago, OCK said:

Never buy a player from Man U. I think the only good one we've ever had was Keith Gillespie and only let him go for Andrew Cole. 

Think Ronaldo did alright at Madrid....

15 minutes ago, hakka said:

 

Best we free transfer him immediately eh? Or maybe under Howe over time the bloke won't spend most weeks without training, conditioning and then haivng to spend 90 minutes chasing shadows in hope of a sniff of a chance to actually strike the ball at goal.

Combo of Eddie and teams coaching, different system, & not being the sole load bearer as a goal threat in the next couple seasons should do wonders for him. I don't think he will ever play more than 20-25 games a season again, but we should be in a position after Summer where he doesn't have to.

1 hour ago, Sean said:

His FBRef report basically confirms he is good at carrying the ball and creating chances, but poor in nearly all other metrics, such as passing (hardly ever attempts a pass), expected assists (surprisingly seeing as he creates so much), pressures (he's in the 1st percentile), it's just a sea of red. 

 

Compared to someone like Zaha or Raphina, he lacks so so much it's actually funny:

 

https://fbref.com/en/players/2b16cb1a/Allan-Saint-Maximin#scout_summary_AM

 

https://fbref.com/en/players/b2bc3b1f/Wilfried-Zaha

 

https://fbref.com/en/players/3423f250/Raphael-Dias-Belloli

If you really want to pray for ASM take a look at Hugo Ekitike, who we remain heavily linked with:

https://fbref.com/en/players/5b92d896/Hugo-Ekitike

I know Ekitike is more of a central forward, but if he it played out wide he could be way more effective than ASM in time.