He's right to hold back, l'arse might sign another 5 donkeys and no one knows who manure's manager will be at 5 o'clock this afternoon.
Remember Eric Morcombe playing rubbish on the piano and Conducter/Pianist Andre Previn saying to him "You are playing all the wrong notes" No said Eric " I am playing all the right notes: but not necessarily in the right order. I am saying all the right teams.......................
City Pool Chavs Spurs United Arsenal City will have far too much again. Liverpool have bought but I think they are still suspect defensively and haven't really improved their starting XI (apart from the GK who will probably need bedding in). I think Chelsea have bought reasonably well though much depends on Sarri getting going, their new shiny keeper getting used to the PL quickly, and one of Morata or Batshitcrazy coming good. I think we have enough to crack the top 4 again if we keep people fit. United have improved but I think Mourinho will head into full meltdown mode again this year and mess it up for them, and I don't see them being better at the back. and Arsenal I think have also improved but not enough to finish above any of the other big boys. Other teams in the mixer for top 10 will I think be Everton (maybe...), Leicester, and I can see Wolves and Fulham making impacts too.
1. City 2. Liverpool 3. United 4. Spurs 5. Chelsea 6. Everton City are too strong, and the only ones who look liked they’ve tried to make a dent on that 20+ point gap, is Liverpool. They’ve addressed where they are weak and bought accordingly. We’ve taken the piss out of them for several years for not finishing above us, but I think that’ll finally change this season. They played some great football last year, and IMO the additions they’ve made will make them a bit more robust. 3rd or 4th will be tight between us and united, IMO. No doubt Jose will grind out results when it matters! Hopefully we’ll have learnt from where we’ve been naive in the past. Chelsea could be the surprise but Sarri is going to have to get them going quickly. And Everton to be the surprise package. Marco Silva doing a great job in his first season.
An overwhelming vote for City to win the league again. If they were that good they would have done better in Europe IMO.
I predicted Utd to finish 5th. Which seemed realistic but now looks optimistic - unless there's a Fletcher Christian in the ranks. The talent in that team is being wasted.
What's your reading of this summer's developments at United? Not signing another centre half will have really upset Mourinho, one would have thought? Although, with Smalling, Jones, Bailly, Rojo and Lindelof already at the club, he's got the numbers and Woodward will probably have wanted to shift at least 2 of those to bring one in? This summer's spending was minimal given the gap between United and Citeh last season and Mourinho having been given a contract extension. It could be that, like Spurs, you didn't see any value in the market and are going to try for Toby next summer and Mourinho will get his player eventually? However, allegedly looking at Maguire suggests that's not a given and that alternatives were considered but not at the prices quoted. Mourinho was definitely expecting to be backed to buy more and probably wouldn't have been adverse to an Alderweireld/Martial swap deal given Martial's unhappiness at United. Keeping him seems to me to be the management above Mourinho acknowledging that he's a better player than Mourinho's tactics and motivation can realise and refusing to repeat Chelsea's mistakes in selling Lukaku, KDB and Salah before their talents could flourish in a suitable set up. All I can see is Mourinho and Martial falling out further and only vast amounts of money enticing younger players like Shaw, Martial and possibly even Rashford to see their careers continuing at a United managed by a Mourinho who doesn't win a PL this season.
There's no clear thinking at all. Mourinho doesn't know his best team, formation or tactics. There is no cohesion or fluency in the team because they are a bunch of individuals thrown together. How do you have a transfer policy when you don't know which players you need to fit in with the ones you've got to make a team? It's different for Spurs because your manager can be clear about how players will fit into his team so he can easily identify what he needs - long term replacement for Dembele, back up for Kane etc. It's surprising of Mourinho because has built teams to win trophies before so he clearly knows what to do. But at Utd, he's had no proper strategy. Surely if you pay a world record fee for Pogba, you're looking to build a team around him; if you buy Sanchez on silly wages it's because he fits into your team and you can envisage exactly how he's going to play. But there's no been no sign of Mourinho having any plan for these players. SAF didn't get every transfer right, but he had a clear strategy which served Utd well over a long period. A marquee signing every year in key areas where strengthening was needed (Keane, Rooney, Ferdinand, van Nistelrooy etc.) - although the player was rarely over 25 and then two or three players who had been scouted and were promising but not inexperienced, and who wouldn't break the bank (Evra, Vidic). Occasionally, he'd take a gamble on young players with potential who the club would get a resale fee from in the future if they moved on (Ronaldo, obviously was successful, but not all were). And most significantly, he looked to bring through two to three home produced players every season because even Utd can't just spend, spend, spend. All this has gone out of the window with Mourinho. I look at the present squad and think that they lack players that all winning sides have - a top class centre back, a creative midfielder and a deadly striker who the opposition will fear. However, if Utd got those players, there are many good players already in the squad with great attributes who just need to be properly organised and coached and set up to play in the right formation, with the right tactics. Some players will be surplus to requirements (as you say). However, many can be good enough with the right opportunities.
