Looks like Antonio Conte has had the immense effect (formation, sorting out the contemptible mercs etc) this season.
Indeed ... and a couple of masterstrokes ... the minor, David Luiz ... the major, and ultimately title winning, N'Golo (the ball magnet) Kante
How many PL/UEFA games have Ibra/Mane/Kante been absent for this season ?? The 4 games for Wanyama would not be statistically significant etc.
Ibrahimovic has missed five games. Kante missed four. Mane missed ten, including most of their recent poor run and their early loss to Burnley.
Thanks. Only for Mane can you say there is a real statistical effect on the winning performance of his team this season.
Kante, Ibrahimovic and Wanyama haven't missed enough games to judge and the ones they have missed have been against weaker opposition. Mane missed a number of games against weaker teams and the difference without him is still stark. I think it says more about appropriate backup than the quality of the player, though.
IMHO it says that the attacking system the Poool want to play suits Mane far better than their other strikers.
Slow down, shorty, anyone would've thought we've just said Kante's ****. Chelsea's form isn't purely down to the little defensive pitbull in the centre of the park. Costa banging in goals and Hazard being back to his mercurial best is also just as key as Kante's defensive work. The manager has also done wonders. Zlatan, at 78 years old has proven he's still one of the very best in world football, it's incredible that he still performs like he does at his age. Signing of the season for me, with Kante in second, Big Vic third and Mane fourth .
For what it's worth I think Rashford is a quality young player (would fit in at Spurs ) but I think it's a little soon to think he could've matched Zlatan's contribution this season if Zlatan weren't in the side. No doubting he'll become a top player but right now the gap between Zlatan and him is massive, to be fair the gap between Zlatan and 99% of the planet's strikers is massive.
Ah now that you've explained further it makes perfect sense ... Zlatan enabling United to prgress from finishing 5th place lastr season to errrrr 6th so far this ... is way more impressive than Kante's impact in aiding Chelsea to move from a 10th placed finish to run away leaders ... and Chelsea's improvement is more down to other players starting to play rather than to Kante ... despite Kante having a similar impact for Leicester City last season. Zlatan on the other hand is doing everything single handedly including running down the wings and putting in the crosses that he himself is finishing ... United's marked improvement from 5th last season to errrrrr 6th this has not, in any way, been positively influenced by the presence of the world's most expensive footballer, Paul Pogba, the excellent Henryk Mikhyraian or the fact that they have at last dropped the worlds slowest midfield playmaker, Wayne Rooney to the bench ... all things considered you are right ... Kante is definitely the best signing of the season ... that is what you meant ...yes?
Just to prove all of this, we'll take Kante next year and if he gets us the title, then it is case proved.
You are still struggling to give 3 season wonder Harry Kane any credit. Cut your cock off whilst you are at it
...this is the signing of the season thread ...might be able to give Harold some credit on it next season mind
Just because we let you borrow him when you were in the Championship, that doesn't mean we'll do it when you go back there.
...noted ...but he'll likely be an octogenarian by then and Spurs and Arsenal will have merged into a club capable of getting out of the last 16 in the UCL ...Cheshunt & Finsbury Emirates FC or something equally absurd...
