Let's put that to the test... Reports suggest that Timothy Eyoma has been training with the first team for the last couple of weeks, and he's capable of playing RB and well as his more natural CB Anyway... Improbability Watch La Reppublica reported that we are considering loaning Llorente back from Napoli, while Napoli are considering a loan for Verts One thing I will say in Fernando's favour, better to loan him for six months than pay a fee for Benteke
He's a 92-year-old Arsenal fan. Unless that job is cleaning the toilets, I'm going to say no. Even then, I'd still say no. Sell Aurier to Milan, buy a decent right-back, loan out Walker-Peters and loan in someone vaguely decent. Then buy a prospect like Aarons and loan them back.
He's not playing much at Benfica and his dad lives in London, so he probably thought that he'd come over and spend some time with him. Once he moves here, he can do it some more. Obviously, I hope that he'll be a massive success and we need someone in midfield but it's worth noting how he's the archetypal Levy signing. Young and much more promise than current performance - Tick No PL experience - Tick Likely to take time to settle in English football - Tick Having some issues at his club that mean he's relatively cheap to get in - Tick Likely to be cheap on wages - Tick If he wasn't Potuguese, we'd see less of him than GKN. I just hope that he can pick up quickly and we don't go back to Dier in midfield...unless he can get properly fit.
I don't like the bloke but if I thought he was better than our current options, I'd stomach that...but he isn't. I'd much rather keep any of our existing players and play them. Italy would be about right for him...or China
Way I see it is he can't be any worse than the current midfielders we have bar Tanguy (when bloody fit!). Sissoko hasn't been as good as last season. Winks... Yeah you all know. Dier is dire these days which is a real shame after how important he used to be. Wanyama is as useful as a chocolate teapot. Skipp isn't getting a look-in. I'm hoping him being a Portugeezer and being able to speak English will help him settle quickly. If he's announced today which I'm thinking he will be, I'd have zero qualms with Jose throwing him straight into the XI for Watford. We need something fresh in this team. Tanganga sparked some life into a dismal backline and hopefully Gedson can do similar for our midfield.
We need fresh impetus. A very decent performance from Tanganga has really lifted people. Continually picking players who aren't putting it in, kills the crowd and the other players with it. Mourinho's comments about being unconcerned about fans getting on Eriksen's back are unhelpul. He should be concerned that growing numbers have had enough of his no-shows nd are getting vocal about it. The team need proper backing to stem the poor results and get us winning again. He should look at how Mauricio Pochettino got the club united behind Kane, Townsend, Mason, Bentaleb, etc. I really hope this kid gets game time soon - and a lot more than all the other young talent we have, which is being left to rot, whilst 'old favourites' are wrongly being picked ahead of them.
He did criticise Eriksen which was somewhat refreshing to hear, said he agreed with the fans that they weren't happy with his performance. It's better than when Poch continually said he was playing fine, maybe Jose is hoping to light a small fire under Eriksen for however much longer he's here but ultimately now that Gio seems fit enough to be playing he should be dropped so the Argentine can begin proving his worth. It looks like we're gonna have to go back to the route of building from youth again. It feels like the window of opportunity to be a genuine title challenger has gone now after a few years of flirting at the top. Fingers can be pointed at Poch/ Levy/ Players but for now I'd rather just focus on us getting back to a respectable level and I think the way to do that is build the majority of the team around the likes of Dave, Tanganga, Sess, Tanguy, Gio and hopefully Gedson. There are still some older heads to add to that, Kane and Son being the main two, although the latter's inconsistency does frustrate me. I hope over the course of the season we see a decline in minutes for the likes of Toby, Jan (still love him though), Dier, Sissoko, Winks, Aurier, Rose and Eriksen (if still here), we need a new dawn, there are supposed ITKs (salt required obviously) that are saying Jose wants to build his own team and I really hope that's true. Initially I thought he could get the best out of the more senior guys but I think they're just lost causes and the latter bunch of names I mentioned I wouldn't lose much sleep over if they were shipped off in the next window or two, it's crazy to think for a period us fans felt so bonded with this side, now I don't think we could be more distant. Time to begin from scratch and hopefully go one further this time - no pressure Jose!
Tbf Mourinho is probably towing the corporate line, here, what with the club trying to get top dollar for him in this window.
I agree with pretty much everything you wrote...but I can't go with Mourinho saying this... "What’s the worst that can happen, the player gets booed? So what!" Booing your own players is like keying your own car. Nothing good comes of it. Nothing.
Unfortunately, "top dollar" is now less than £20m. Missing out on the CL will cost us £50m+. Missing the EL will cost us £30m+. I don't doubt that, on current form, we will miss out on both. Just tell Eriksen that he doesn't play another game for us. If he wants to be fit for the Euro's, this ****ing about will end, he will sort out a move PDQ and we can stop acting like a bunch of twats, picking a player who plainly isn't interested anymore. He's leaving and we're getting dicked. The sooner we move on the better. Then, tell Rose the same thing.
It's a shame about Ericson.In the future we won't remember his good seasons ,only his crappy performances!Same with Toby and Rose.....and how we managed to screw up the best center forward for years by being to scared to rest him!!!!
The hidden variable is the potential mind games Maureen is playing with the players who aren't featuring. There is certainly long-term value in making players go above and beyond to prove themselves, even though based on the recent performances of the players they will eventually replace, they have nothing to prove. Most fans have been baffled to the point of paralysis about his defensive selections, particularly the decision to drop Dave for 3 games. And yet, in he comes against Pool, together with Tanganga, and both have superb games. We're caught between the proverbial rock and hard place at the moment. Complacency and slipping standards became a malaise as 2019 progressed, to the point that it became an irredeemable situation for Poch. Maureen's challenge is to build a new culture wherein complacency simply isn't tolerated - just as it wasn't back in 2015 when Poch was building his team from the ground up. I know it sounds counter-intuitive, but delaying the 'arrival' of players we're all screaming out for - especially the younger players - could increase the likelihood that they will put in that extra mile of effort to 'prove' themselves to the new manager. Case in point: Fans are crying out for Sessgnon to start, he gets a few games, isn't great but isn't bad either - certainly offering more than Lard Arse - and is summarily dropped as soon as Lard Arse returns from injury. Because Maureen doesn't want Sess to be 'not bad', he wants him to be 'great'. And he is perhaps willing to sacrifice the short-term success of the team for the long term success of individual players. I'm obviously speculating, but if I was Maureen this is probably the approach I would take: use the clearly past-it collection of players to spur on my younger, hungrier group to up their game in training and in matches, to turn to them despite every abysmal performance from the incumbents and still say 'not quite my tempo' (if you get it, you get it), so that in 6 months when the bubble finally bursts, the likes of Lo Celso, Sess, Tanganga, Dave, Skipp etc. will be on far firmer ground not necessarily in terms of ability, but certainly in terms of consistency and mentality - two areas we struggled badly in under Poch. I have often wondered whether we asked too much, too soon of that cohort in 2014/15. Perhaps more would have become of Bentaleb, Townsend, Dier etc. had we not had them playing week in week out with the responsibility of rescuing a listless club on their shoulders. They all kind of hit a peak very early and have simply stopped developing since. The only player of that group who has improved year on year is Kane. Is that a coincidence? I'm not sure.
Fernandes Watch So our Wikipedia page has been edited to include Gedson. Well that's still more credible than anything Ricky Sacks posts... Annoyingly some Portuguese journalist has decided to jinx it Eriksen Watch According to the Independent, PSG have offered £25m to sign him this month...but he doesn't want to go. If you hear reports about somebody spotting a Dane tied up on Eurostar, you'll know why... Meanwhile, because of course, the Indy also report that Inter have made an initial bid and it's...£8m, which is presumably down to them playing the long game to see if their interest in Arturo Vidal yields fruit
If it's true that Inter are paying Eriksen €10m a year then the same amount to get him 6 months early seems reasonable.
Does sitting on the bench watching someone play worse than you would, motivate you?...or do you just think "I'm at the wrong club here". Mauricio Pochettino could have continued to pick Kaboul, Adebayor, Lennon, Paulinho, etc to motivate the younger generation. He didn't because he recognised that a point had been reached where something needed changing. Mauricio Pochettino knew it with the current squad, most of the fans can see it and I'm not having Rose, Aurier, Dier and Eriksen (Version 2020) on any basis. Their performances are limiting us as a team and we have alternatives. Right, I'm off to get soaking wet and shout myself hoarse. I only hope pick a few youngsters...and that we win! COYS!
On my way with my girls.... COOOOOOMMMMMMEEEEEEEEE OOOOOOOOOONNNNNNNNNNNN YOOOOOOOOOOOOUUUUUUUUUU SPUUUUUUUUUUURRRRRRRRSSSS
