Is being linked with Barcelona - seem like he is set on Arsenal though. Does seem like a downgrade but is like how Kante was linked with Real Madrid but preferred to sign for Chelsea. George Thomas - mentioned him before. Seems like Swansea are in the driving seat though and made an offer for him.
Yes he as done all of what you have said! but there are two sides the good side that we all love, and the side were he needlessly gives the ball away and puts us under pressure IMO most of last season he was not worth his place in the team! take of your blue tinted specs and ask yourself if he his so good why is there not a lot of clubs after him?
That there is the crux of it - no matter how shocking you are, as long as you look like you are putting in a graft you will be forgiven. 2 seasons ago Drinkwater used to start lots of moves and had brilliant distribution around the pitch - last season he couldn't pass the ball more then 6 feet before it got intercepted and he gave his 100% trying (and more often then not failing) to correct his mistakes but because Mahrez doesn't run around after the ball he gets the blame for the team underperforming - just like Slimani, he didn't get the service, but is getting the majority, if not all, the flack. Before anyone says anything, I am not angry at you Ed or anyone else, nor am I a hardcore Mahrez fan or am desperate to for him to stay or anything as I made my feelings clear in post #815, I'm just rather annoyed that he seems to be the scrapegoat for all of our troubles last season when he under preformed as the whole team did and others deserve to be held accountable as well.
They should've let him go in January, glad to see that ship has sailed and we're looking at better options.
My biggest frustration was the amount of time we cheaply gave the ball away ... Drinky and Albrighton were the main culprits ... personally that irritated me far more than Mahrez not defending or him losing the ball when trying to take people on (I get why others see it different by the way) ... Albrighton's saving grace was his effort and that when he gets it right his crossing is excellent ... but the reality is this ... both Drinky and Albrighton can relatively easily be replaced .. a talent like Mahrez can't ... but in Demerai Gray we potentially might just have somebody that can ..
On the money ... my take is very different ... you might survive with pure effort ... but you need the real talent to actually move forward and win things at this level
I rate Drinkwater. He gets through a tremendous amount of work, never lacks commitment, never hides, always supports and has skill on the ball with his quick one-twos. Admittedly he was not as effective last season but, apart from Kasper, who was? One of the main reasons he was so good the previous season was the first time balls up to Vardy. Last season the opposition was more prepared. He is our main driving force in central midfield and has the energy and ability to get forwards and back quickly for the whole game. When he doesn't play, we don't have that bite and aren't as solid in midfield. Hopefully Ndidi and he can sort out the best way of playing together and sharing the workload next season.
Think Bournmouth have got a great player in Nathan Ake. Fabulous talent. Defoe for three years not so sure about.
I take your points about Mahrez, FF, and also agree that Drinky and Albrighton gave the ball away far too often and too cheaply last season. I think we were trying to repeat the approach of the previous season but were far too hurried, and it was very frustrating. But what really irks me is the fact that someone like Mahrez has all the talent you could wish for but lacks the commitment to make it tell, so doesn't make the best of what he can be; he only gives half. The likes of Drinkwater and Albrighton (who are no mugs in this game, let's be honest) always give everything they have. To move forward at this level (particularly in the Prem) you need real talent and commitment.
The is a difference between commitment and doing graft - Mahrez's role isn't too make tackles on the edge of our area, it is to attack. During our championship season he never got involved in defending yet got the plaudits. The reason I'm making an issue of this is because I like players like that who's sole job is attacking - we have one in Gray and could be getting one in Siggurdson who are getting the same things said about them when it is not their role to defend. This was a great thing about us during our championship season - we didn't pay will 11 men behind the ball, our best form of defence was to attack and we were one if the top scorers in the league. I would like to get back to that personally.
I noticed watching the u21's against Germany actually that Gray tracked back and made some great defensive tackles in his own box. I think the difference is tracking back if they're your man and sticking with them and not getting to the halfway line and stopping as you're leaving it to a team mate. Attack as a team and defend as a team within reason
Playing a waiting game on Ben Gibson apparently. Shades of Keane last summer, just pay up. It's a crazy market and if we won't pay the fees will will miss out and not move forwards!
He started the season brilliantly but when he got suspended and then injured afterwards he never really regain any form
That you didn't notice is prime example how some players are held to different standards to others - yes Mahrez and Vardy won lots of awards but they relied on the likes of Drinkwater to do the work first to start the attacks and give them the ball in the right positions but he failed consistantly and they got the blame for it.
We are being linked with Mamadou Sakho - is a defender in the mold of Morgan but Liverpool want £30m for him.
