Watching Costa its clear he's just a tough bastard and is playing through injury. If Mourinho keeps using him like this he'll end up destroying the player. If he doesn't fix his hamstring issues and rest for sure he's career will be cut short.
Did Sterling just outmuscle Barkley? Everton and City game is being played at a good tempo. City look silky and passing it well, but Everton look dangerous when they break forward.
Silva is such a joy to watch! Though Everton played really well and if barkleys and lukakus communication had been better then they would have scored a few.
City look well up for it this year, they're going to be a tough challenge. They look hungry and angry from last year's disappointment, with something to prove, and that always makes a team more dangerous. Their win today makes it even more crucial to get the 3 points tomorrow, it's important we don't fall too behind City while their hot at the moment, you don't want to be 5 or 6 points behind them at this stage.
Another thing you have to look at, is that City have just played 2 really big games, and won both, Chelski home, and Everton away, these are the type of games you look to for a rival to drop points, and they've come out of both games with 6 points, 5 goals, and 0 conceded....Even West Brom away is never easy, and they got 3 points from there too. So 3 big games, and 3 big wins, they are the form team right now.
If we win tomorrow AND sign a striker before the end of this transfer window, I'll be confident we can challenge for the title. That West Ham game (with all due respect) was a major blip. But with City and Chelsea still looking to add depth and strength, we can't fall behind in either the title or quality of players.
I know I'm going against the tide here but I really believe we need a dm before a striker. I think for the way we play a dm to is essential to steal back possession quickly and start counters and also allow our attacking players to get forward confident that the centre backs are protected. Last season showed that we scored enough goals to win the league as a team, and unless a wc striker is available I don't see the point in signing anyone who won't take us to the next level
Whilst a DM is important (which I've been screaming for since the end of last season), given a choice between having that or a WC striker, I'll take the latter all day. Yes, whilst we are capable of getting goals from multiple sources (Sanchez, Giroud, Walcott), who I think will all get 20plus goals this season if kept fit, we can't always rely on Sanchez to provide that moment of magic in those tight games. Coquelin has a lot to learn and he definitely needs a worthy challenger to this throne but please, if there ever was a time to get a WC striker, I doubt another opportunity will come soon. (If the Benzema rumours are to be believed) I just can't see Wenger making one singing and putting all our other strikers on loan unless he really was looking to bring another one in.
I suppose the difference is that I don't believe the Benzema rumours at all, and as a result I look around and don't see wc quality available.
I ****ing hope Wenger and co have got something up their sleeves, because City are looking really strong now. Plus Chelsea have added too. I agree that a DM is a priority over a striker. Coq was lucky not to see red against Palace, if we lose him in the middle, then I fear we could see the return of the dreaded 'soft centre'
The more I think about it, the more ridiculous I find it that we've only signed one player this Summer. We're supposedly capable of challenging City and Chelsea from a financial perspective, yet we've spent £10m this Summer. Fair enough we don't need reinforcements in every position, but we need an additional two players and each day that goes past minimises our chances of getting the players we want to compete for the title. It just seems to me that we're happy with where we are at the moment to maintain this level but not go that step further. It's infuriating to say the least that we're so close, yet not willing to take the extra steps required to get us to the level we want to be at.
Negative twaddle being peddled as fact. The manager has said that he wants to buy more players. What do you know different?
Of course he may want to. He's said that loads of times in the past, yet hasn't put his money where his mouth is. If we really wanted the players required, then it's a bit stupid to leave it this late given most of our alleged transfer targets/players that would significantly improve us have moved clubs or signed contract extensions. So I still stick by what I said. Your post isn't a valid argument. Go pick a fight with someone else.
It's great to get deals done early. But most of the transfer action happens in the last couple of days, it's the nature of the window. Everybody holds their cards close to their chest to try and hold out for the best deals (Unless you're City or Chelsea and you're happy to get ripped off)
Again, I don't agree. If teams buy in the last few days of the window, it means they either panic buy or realise their squad isn't good enough after they've assessed it in the first few games of the season. If anything, you're more likely to get ripped off towards the end of the transfer window because there is less incentive for clubs to sell their players, especially after the season has started. I think it's ridiculous that teams sometimes leave it right till the last minute to buy players. We've had plenty of chances to sign players this window and it appears we've squandered most of them for whatever reason. What I will say is that Wenger's stance on the transfer window is bizarre. On the one hand, he believes it should be closed when the season starts, yet he has benefitted greatly from the transfer window staying open after the season has started. Seems like an odd position to hold, given the timing of some of his deals.
