jackflap

Feels like I'm always expecting ASM to explode and have a spectacular season but it doesn't happen. If you took him out of the equation last season I'm not sure it looks that different. Barnes on the other hand guarantees you goals and goals translate to points. I see people refer to needing ASM's dribbling skills against a low block but the evidence from last season doesn't bear that out for me. Thought some of his worst performances were in those types of games where teams had numbers back and funnelled him down dead ends. Even in games where we struggled to score we still got into promising positions inside the box but lacked the quality to take advantage of them. Barnes has made a career out of getting himself into those positions and making it count. If you look at other top teams you don't see many examples of enigmatic maverick players like ASM, top coaches favour percentage players that they can rely upon.

Think Anderson will be kept until January and revisit it then. They'll be hopeful and expectant of a big improvement from him this season. His versatility makes him an attractive bench option.

Can't see Liverpool being consistent enough defensively to mount a serious challenge. It was their Achilles heel last season and all that will have changed is that an already ageing Van Dijk and Fabinho are a year older, Robertson has run the bollix out of himself for another 40+ games and Alexander Arnold thinks he's a midfielder now.

Definitely pickings to be had off Barca though; Dembele, Raphinha, Guler will be vying for the same spot.

Might be worth holding off on a RW for now and sign Guler next season.

Sancho be worth a punt?

What are the realistic targets for RW if we're going for an elite signing. Diaby, Chiesa, Raphinha. Many others?

It could be a case of there's just nobody available that fits the bill at a reasonable price. We've shown we're not the type to spend on a position for the sake of it. If it came down to signing a RW that they don't fancy or signing someone like Livaremento who they'd view as a long term successor to Trippier I think they'd plump for the latter.

A developmental midfielder would be ideal I think. We're fairly well covered in midfield now. Watched the Norway France u21 match last weekend and the Norwegian holding midfielder looked a nice prospect in the Kante mould, plays for Sparta Rotterdam iirc. Should be the profile of player we're after I think.

The interplay down the left between Joelinton and Willock was one of the most satisfying aspects of last season for me. Unless someone like Leao was available and we'd a clear run at him it shouldn't be a priority. Be really excited to see what an attacking left back might add to the mix there.

Keep Miggy, what we'll likely get for him won't offset what he offers us even as a bench option. He'd be great against tiring defences or even if we're looking to defend a lead with his work rate, not to mention there's very little chance of him dropping his standards or being a disruptive influence if he's not starting. He's a perfect squad player and good sides need them too. The RW spot could use an upgrade but a signing there would leave us overloaded too. I reckon Murphy would be an attractive prospect for one of the promoted sides and possibly bring in around 15 million but dammit there's just something romantic about the idea of him playing in the CL. He epitomises the improvement in the side in the last 18 months. Not an easy one to solve.

Thought once we moved for Tonali Szoboshite(from henceforth) was never realistic, maybe it's telling that Liverpool only went in afterwards... Think we're better served with an upgrade to the right side with someone who does a lot of good work off the ball helping to stretch defences with ball players like Trippier and likely Tonali operating down that side. Not to mention Isaks potential as a foil for others.

Think with Tonali and Bruno in midfield we are better served with another quality option that will threaten defences off the ball as well as with it. An upgrade on Miggy who we can't really expect the same output from next season, but would be an excellent bench option and wouldn't be the sort to kick up a fuss if he's not starting every week, similar to Longstaff

I'd say they were very hopeful but not certain. He came from a lesser league, going to the quickest in the world and wasn't renowned for his pace. Think we can all agree he's exceeded expectations.

But Tonali is a perfect fit and a big upgrade. Couple of pre season friendlies will show that

Burn had been outstanding for us, hard to break up a settled CB partnership etc, plus I don't think we were as certain that Botman would be as much of a sure thing upgrade as we are with Tonali. Isak got thrown straight in because of Wilson's injury in fairness and I don't he would've been otherwise, but Wilson guarantees points with his goals so you're not going to sacrifice that as willingly to get a potentially better player into the side. The argument with Tonali and Longstaff is different IMO.

And we play City, Liverpool, Brighton after Villa. If we don't start him against Villa at home they'd be tough games to throw him straight into.

Nah, Tonali will go straight in IMO, we're probably going to sign 3 first teamers this window, unlikely we'll drip feed all of them in.

Makes sense. Always best to give yourself a cooling off period after a new signing, keeps you from getting giddy, going on a binge and developing Boehlycoholism. We're smart bastards

I'm sure we're planning a couple of summer windows ahead with 2/3 elite signings in each. RCB and RB will be the plan for next summer I reckon. Think it'll be a loan or young cheaper CB option this summer.

Yeah was reading that also. Makes sense really, if there was one area that was ripe for improvement last season it was capitalising on getting into good positions around the box. Longstaff being particularly guilty. Tonali should be a big upgrade in quality while also helping us maintain a physical edge in midfield.

Feyenoord are an exceptionally well run club nowadays, highly rated manager in Slot too. The Athletic did a piece on them a few weeks ago and they're used to taking in young players from around the globe and putting in a lot of effort to help them settle. Minteh may not feature a whole lot early on but it should be a positive move, they're top scorer from last season was a young Mexican player who they signed last summer and he barely played initially as they noticed a deficiency in his running style that they wanted to address.

He looks decent, plays at a 100mph similar to Miggy and lots of physicality on the ball. Traces of decent vision and technique with some of his passing, definitely plenty to work with though very one sided. The comparison that jumped out at me was Pepe.... from his Lille days thankfully.

Definitely rather United than Liverpool in the CL, Liverpool are entering into a transition phase, Salah and Van Dijk ageing and midfield needing overhaul, no CL could really set them back, same for Spurs. Could be competing for midfield signings with them too.

If we haven't top 4 sewn up by then I'd be looking at an away game at Chelsea on more hope than optimism, saying pressure is a privilege is one thing.... If we go to Chelsea on the last day needing a win and do it then Howe will be the manager of the season IMO. Cup final/stave off relegation atmosphere needed on Thursday.