The first radar diagram of the summer has arrived ...although I still need to find an Egyptologist to decrypt what the bloody things actually sat
Actually, comparing two or more items over multiple dimensions is the one thing those diagrams do very well.
The French league is a bit crap isn't a bad starting point...although I still think the bloke could be the real deal in the PL. Currently, he isn't that much better than Sissoko 2.0.
Lo Celso Watch If you visited his Instagram last week it had "Player for Real Betis" in the bio If you visit his Instagram today, however... please log in to view this image
Juve supposedly interested in Trippier as a potential Cancelo replacement. If he does leave, I’d love it to be for a club like that. He’s had a woeful season but all in all, he’s been a very useful player for the club as well as a great pro so if he can get a move to one of Europe’s giants then good on him. Serie A may suit him too, especially if he rediscovers his elite crossing ability.
If you are passing all the way back to Lloris from just outside their box then we have no attacking creativity that has the imagination to try the forward pass...things have to start giving now. I appreciate there were 2 big red buses to go past but tough titties...thats was the task ahead, i sure as hell know playing it back to Lloris isnt going to get us a goal..whats he going to do? give it a skewed punt that lands 5 yards in front of Poch? We need some new driving forces for our attack with fresh ideas and with forward intent.
100% this. We all know Liverpool are particularly good at pressing and shutting down space but what happened on Saturday has been a theme all season. It’s why we need a player like Lo Celso, who can beat the press. It’s why we need a player at RB who can provide an out ball like Rose did on the left. And it’s why we need Lloris to finally spend an entire summer practicing his distribution or to drop him for Gazza who can actually play a good ball out from the back - we all remember what Ederson did to us a couple of years ago at the Etihad. CM and RB have to be the #1 priorities this summer. Then we have to decide whether we buy an established CB to replace Toby or buy a youngster and trust Dave to keep improving. Then we need another, more defensive CM, and a backup wide player who can cover both flanks. So 5 seems to be the bare minimum. Maybe a 3rd choice GK if we don’t promote anyone from the academy. We’re due a proper overhaul, I hope we get one.
Auba supposedly set to be offered £300k to go China. While Arsenal are hoping somebody pays up for Ozil and matches his wages Might get some popcorn. Could be a fun summer after all.
That infuriates me immensely. If you are going to pass backwards from those positions, then by definition your formation requires one player to remain between the GK and the attack so that the back pass never goes all the way back to the GK.
Ndombele Watch Lyon have set a deadline of June 30th to sell Ndombele Anyone getting the feeling they're desperate for somebody to come in and outbid us at the last minute, a la Marseille with Batshuayi? Vulture/Turk/Bundesliga Rando Watch We're now being linked with Stuttgart centre back Ozan Kabak, whose £13.2m release clause activated when they lost to Union Berlin in the relegation playoff...which is a bit embarrassing, as they only signed him in January Given the volume of Turkish players linked with us for years and the closest we have to any Turks in the team are Cypriots Anthony Georgiou and Jack Roles, I'm going to assume that even though Kabak fits into the Vertonghen/Foyth mold of what Poch wants from a centre back this won't go anywhere
This is apparently due to them needing to meet various FFP guidelines, similar to the panic at Villa this time last year.
I'd like to see the following:- Goalkeepers I'd like to see us get a goalkeeper that is more than just competent kicking. As much as I like Lloris, I don't think he'll ever be that kind of keeper and the game has moved on, to the point where the best teams have a keeper that is confident with their feet. Defenders If Toby could be persuaded to stay on, i'd keep him; that would give Dave another year to mature further. Haven't seen this Andersen player so can't really comment. Trippier and Aurier I'd ship out and go for Wan Bissaka with KWP his understudy Midfield Eriksen looks like he's going and i'd happily lose Lamela and Alli too. Players we could realistically bring in include Ndombele, Neves, Doucoure, Maddison, Ziyech, Bergwijn and Lozano (obviously not all of them) Attack I would actually keep Llorente, ship out Janssen and try to get Dembele from Lyon. Promises would need to be made that he wouldn't just be a bench-warmer and harry needs to be told that for his own good, and more importantly, for the good of the team he'll be rotated more frequently. The icing on the cake would be if we could bring in a proven winner like Ramos, Godin or Chiellini to captain the team and instil the belief to turn us from bridesmaids into champions.
That doesn't stack up for me: they were €50m in the black after last summer's transfer window, so Ligue 1 aren't breathing down their necks like they were OM during the Batshuayi farce
Portuguese Not-So-Rando Watch Noticias24 have reported that we have agreed a deal with Sporting to sign Bruno Fernandes for €68m In other words, Noticias24 are saying we gave up on Lo Celso, called Sporting and immediately chucked €68m their way...and at which point do you think I start to sound unsure about the reliability of this story? To be blunt I'd assume this was a little brinkmanship on our party to grease the wheels for Lo Celso in case Betis start to play hardball Ndombele Watch Le10 Sport reported that we submitted a bid for Ndombele yesterday...and an hour later reported that it was rejected If they want to sell by June 30th to fit into the financial year, wouldn't accepting the bid be the smarted idea? Lo Celso Watch The Mirror report that his representatives agree he can leave Betis for £70m - while our bid was reportedly £50m upfront with a further £12m in add-ons
Madrid starting their Galactico summer early. Jovic just signed for €70m and Ferland Mendy undergoing a medical ahead of a €50m move. Here’s hoping they get bored after the Hazard signing!
Mendy signing for Franco FC puts another nail in the coffin of Lyon stalling on selling Ndombele for purely FFP reasons - that's Lyon €100m in the black since last summer Also, surely Los Ladrones need to sign a winger. Maybe somebody who scored a bunch of goals last season and won the Champions League thanks to an incompetent Slovenian ballsack carrying a whistle...
And there's a choice of 2 - I would be happy for either (preferably both) of them to to move to sunnier climes
Think our attack needs a new direction Sell Eriksen get Dybala, stick him on the right, Alli in the middle and Son on left with Poch learning from his mistakes and not running individuals into the ground...in other words give Moura some games of note. I’m still baffled at why KWP gets overlooked apart from when Poch is really really desperate...every time I see KWP...I see a player as good as Trippier at the very least. Poch needs to change also
Very odd of poch. He likes to bring through youngsters and kwp had some pretty good games. One dumb mistake in the FA cup playing on the wrong side and hes had less time than cortez has for trump
