De Bruyne is finished isn’t he. So slow now in everything that he does. Doesn’t seem to be able to cut it at the top level.
Reckon so. There's a possibility you could put him in a sort of Quarterback role where he picks out passes whilst everyone else does all the running around him (like Rice and Partey running all over whilst he pings passes forward to Saka et al) but the truth is that teams that play like that now want everyone to press and can't carry anyone (so for us Tonali and Bruno/Joelinton could do the running and give him the chance to pass forward to Isak, Gordon, etc but having a much less skilled 3rd midfielder who covers a lot of ground is seen as "safer"). Old style PSG or Real may have made room for him but not now (nor should they) so it's either a bit-part role at a mid-table side or a prominent role in a lower league. I'd love to be wrong, the guy still has moments of quality.
Literally just said on our board I didn't realise how much they'd dropped off. They occupied a top 6 spot for a long period and now could finish bottom half.
He was the same back in February, I think it was, in the champions league game against Brugge. Everyone in the ground were talking about how his legs and first touch were done. He’ll probably end up in the US or Saudi.
They were the best team that came to St James this season. Beat us 4-1 in a game that could have been 6-6 and their movement and pace up front were outstanding. They were in the middle of a run of wins and were level with us in the table. I really don't understand how bad they've been in the last month or two. It may be that some of the players are already half out the door, I know Huijsen is gone and you have to wonder about Semenyo and Kerkez.
Delap needs a strong coach, he obviously thought he was the dogs at Ipswich, far too greedy for my liking,needs it knocking out of him. Perhaps he may improve where he's not the top dog and doesn't think he's got to do it all on his own
I vaguely remember that game. Didn’t Bournemouth batter you all match? I’m not sure the 6-6 is a fair reflection of that game. It was men against boys. I’ve checked the net spend since PIF have took over (It’s been a boring night). You are currently 5th in the league. Only Spurs, Chelsea, Arsenal and Man U, have a bigger net spend than you.
It was one of those games where we looked ok on the ball but were struggling to create chances and then Bournemouth just got the ball and immediately made things happen. We had more possession and were passing it around but it became clear early on which way the game was going. It was 2-1 until added time at the end and had been pretty end to end in the second half (it was a very good game tbh) and they scored twice while we were going for it. They dominated the first half and we were coming back into it - then they cut us open with ease. I've just had a look at the stats and they had more shots and double the shots on target so yeah 6-6 isn't a fair reflection, don't think 4-1 was either but they certainly deserved the win on the day. No complaints, they were excellent, I don't even think we played badly. ps. Yeah we spent a chunk when we were first taken over (like £150m+ in the Jan and Summer combined) and were able to do so as we'd turned a profit for the previous few years. We then hit a bit of a wall on spending as our squad was previously worth nothing so trading was tough. This Summer marks the 3 years of the PSR cycle so all that spending has now dropped off. Last year hurt, Minteh going was a shame as RW is weak for us but Anderson bothered me more as he's from Whitley Bay (where I was born) and was just breaking into our team regularly. Glad to see him have a good season at Forest though.
I was back over Whitley Bay and Tynemouth a few weeks ago. First time I’d been in years. It’s still a great place to go. After living in Durham for so long now, you forget about the scenery and smells of living on the coast. I’m glad I went back, it brought a lot of memories to me of my former years. Anyway, nothing wrong with your spend. I banged the drum long enough about City not having the net spend for years that people try and pin on them. They done similar, came in and spent huge but then for years they’ve been doing it well within their budget. You won’t get to where you are without that initial big spending and the ability to top up every few seasons. That’s pretty much the same for every business in every walk of life.
Weirdly for me I actually wouldn't mind Spurs winning it. I quite like Ange and it'd be quite funny if his second season thing came to pass after all the piss taking about it. Plus it'd be funny if after how **** Spurs have been that they ended up having a better season than Arsenal. Not really that arsed about it though. Doubt I'll bother watching.
