He beat up Chuck Norris because Jack Bauer had already run away. He understands what Sia is singing. He acts as consultant to Professor Brian Cox. He can sort out Brexit.
I hear Superman wears NDombele pyjamas. He sold his Jack Grealish ones after a quick visit to YouTube.
Interesting comment/ theory/ idea I saw when scrolling through Twitter today. Say we get Ndombele AND Lo Celso with the idea to go straight int the XI (they won’t be £120m+ squad players!), whilst keeping Eriksen at CAM. Some have then said “but you can’t just drop Sissoko” and I’d agree with that but then that’s where it got interesting as someone then said “I’d play him RB”. That actually got me thinking, he played there for 90 minutes in our 6-1 win at Leicester a couple years back (I went to that, class away day!) and he’s filled in during a couple games and has looked very comfortable. We know Mouss has the engine, can take a player on and can tackle, the only thing he’s not amazing at is crossing... would anyone else be open to that idea? I think I would. Hugo Sissoko, Dave/ Toby, Jan, Rose Ndombele, Lo Celso Lucas/ Alli, Eriksen, Son Kane Sexy. Very sexy.
Sissoko at RB, maybe. Not sure about Lo Celso in a double pivot though, I think he works better in a 3 man midfield as the most attacking of the 3, or as a 10. He’s most similar to Alli out of our current squad IMO, maybe slightly better at beating a man from deep.
1. Spurs played around 5 games less than Citeh last season, and they got to two domestic cup finals. With close to 60 games for a squad that wants to compete in all competitions, there are plenty of starting XI slots to share around in all competitions. 2. Again, nobody should be guaranteed a starting XI slot other than on their most recent performances. Those who get a starting XI slot but do not perform are going to be bench-warming a lot more than in the past.
I'm more of a form is temporary, class is permanent sort of guy. Nobody should be guaranteed a starting place at all, but it makes a lot more sense to select players based on the last fifty performances than the last five.
United have reached an agreement for Wan-Bissaka. £50m. Disappointed as that is a top signing for them but at the same time their problems are far more extensive than just the flanks and will require untold wealth to solve. Could we revisit the Max Aarons option? Would be significantly cheaper than £50m.
Aarons would be an excellent option but I fear we won’t get him out of Norwich easily in a promotion season. Still maybe less than AWB but Levy might feel that time/money is better spent elsewhere. I think he’d be a great acquisition though.
The priorities this summer are not RB, as no doubt Spurs would have gone in for AWB if that was the case. Prospects in newly promoted PL teams are always going to come with a serious price tag (more so if HG) . For example, consider how much Sessignon would have cost last summer compared to what Spurs may pay for him now.
I really wanted AWB but our biggest priority is/ was CM and if we can get Ndombele over the line and hopefully add Lo Celso, that'll be a huge success for us on the transfer front. As good as AWB is, I don't think he'd massively improve Spurs like a CM or two can. If we go back to controlling the CM then chances are the defence won't be as bombarded as they have been in the past two seasons. I could live with another season of Tripps/ Aurier at RB if it means we substantially improve the CM.
I think Moussa could play right back and do it really well. Whether he thinks he could is the issue. I've read that he thinks playing centrally is key to his upturn in form. I wouldn't want to risk that, unless we really have to or we have an alternative strategy, if it goes tits up. I hope that MP is starting to understand that he needs a squad with 25 players who will play a realistic number of games. No more filler or players who we know are only good for the odd game before the season starts or flogging the same 15 or so all season.. For me, that means that Big Vic is a goner and Aurier and Lamela are in serious danger...maybe Eric Dier? I don't see Lo Celso as a possible option but a must buy. There's little point in buying a player like Ndombele and then severely overplaying him. Lo Celso does a similar job of getting the ball forward quickly and being able to play a pass. However, he also has the massive advantage of scoring goals, which we still don't do from central midfield, even if we add Ndombele. He is a player who adds something that we've not had in a long, long time and which could bring silverware. For me, the Sessegnon signings aren't as important as Lo Celso. If Fulham won't deal at a sensible level now, there'll be other chances and he's out of contract next season. Signing a Lo Celso is likely to be a once in a career opportunity. Goals from a deeper midfield player transforms us.
Agreed. I think second priority to CM is resolving the Toby and Eriksen situation. I know we've discussed Sanchez and Dier filling in for Toby's absence while Foyth continues to develop but chances are Jan will be off next summer too. Which is why the Andersen links make a lot of sense as ideally we should be bringing someone in now as a long-term replacement and giving them a year to adjust to the PL. Third priority is in attack. If Eriksen goes get Lo Celso in but if he doesn't I can live without the Argentine joining. Irrespective of Eriksen's future we do need more attacking options as Lamela and GKN just can't be relied on. This is probably where Clarke comes in to the equation. Fourth priority is RB but options really do seem few and far between, to the extent that our shortlist had all of 2 players on it and one of them has just been bought by another club. One final question mark is Llorente's future. I'd be happy for him to stick around for another year. We've seen enough evidence from Son and Lucas that they can also lead the line when necessary. And in Son's case: probably better than anyone we could sign for less than £30m.
On that basis Sissoko would never have been a regular last season if Wanyama had returned from injury earlier.
Such a great point. In this day and age, a strong first XI simply isn't enough to achieve more than fleeting success (see: Leicester since winning the title for further reference. Cf. Arsenal's FA Cup wins for further evidence). The sheer number of games played at a crazy pace coupled with pointless international tournaments every other month mean that the burden of work needs to be spread across as many capable workers as possible. Just a quick cross-reference of total appearances (inc. subs) between our wider squad and City's (they only played 1 extra game than us as our CL run balanced out their FAC run, and was undoubtedly harder): Danilo: 22 Aurier: 16 KWP: 9 Otamendi: 33 Kompany: 26 Sanchez: 36 Foyth: 17 Sane: 46 Mahrez: 44 Delph: 20 Lamela: 33 Wanyama: 20 Skipp: 8 Jesus: 47 Foden: 26 Llorente: 35 The problem looks obvious. And suggests that Davinson Sanchez and Lamela (when fit) is the caliber of 'squad player' we need sitting on the bench in order to compete. Won't happen overnight but bringing in Lo Celso as well as retaining Eriksen would be a huge step in that direction.
Have been with Mrs RCL since 1996 and in 23 years have never considered anyone I met to be as sexy as her...but that team you listed... Well...could turn any mans head
