True Blue23

I might be in the minority here, but I hope this doesn't happen. I think Golovin is a good young player, but I just don't see anything special in him. He's very dynamic, a good dribbler, a hard worker and scores the odd spectacular goal, but he is neither a major goal threat, a physical presence or special at passing the ball. With Jorginho and Kante we are well set as far as hard work, good positioning and build up play from deep go. What we lack is a player who can score goals from midfield, a physical presence or is good at providing the final ball (Jorginho won't be able to do that consistently due to his deep position). Our current options for that position are Bakayoko, Drinkwater, Cesc, Barkley and RLC. The first two are not really a good fit, because they are not good enough offensively for that position. I would keep one of them (preferrably Bakayoko, but maybe Drinkwater if we get problems with our HG quota) as backup for Kante and sell/loan out the other. Out of the other three Cesc gives us great link up play, the ability to consistently play the final ball. He also shouldn't have any problems with Sarri's high tempo football as he is one of our most technical players and his defensive deficiency's and lack of dynamism will not expose us too much with Kante and Jorginho behind him. And he might even start scoring more goals again playing further forward, because at Barca and Arsenal he always used to score quite a lot. Only thing he lacks is the physicality. Barkley isn't bad physically, very direct and has proven to be a goal threat as well as being capable of creating a good number of chances in the past. He's not the greatest defensively, but he will do his share of hard work, and again, with Kante and Jorginho as his partners, that wouldn't be his main job. I'm not sure about his overall quality, but imo he deserves a shot. Maybe he'll come good. RLC is strong physically, good at protecting the ball and driving through midfield, has good link up play and is a decent passer of the ball. Not sure about his work rate and his intensity, but the talent is there for all to see and maybe Sarri can unlock it. Also as with the other two I think that with Kante and Jorginho partnering him, he might just get away with having a little less stamina than your average midfielder. So in conclusion, I think Golovin is not as good a goalscorer as Cesc and Barkley, not as much of a physical presence as RLC and Barkley, and not as good a passer as Cesc, and not as good a dribbler as RLC. He's a pretty good allrounder, but the only thing that Golovin is really better at than our options for this third midfield spot, is his tremendous energy and workrate. And given the fact that our options are not only free, but also HG, and also taking into consideration, that in Mason Mount, we have another young english prospect returning from loan next year, I'd much rather save the money and stick with what we've got. I'd only sign another midfielder if he really is the real deal, like for example Milinkovic-Savic, but that's not likely to happen, and I have to say that I'm pretty happy with our current options.

What are your opinions on Higuain in his current state and Rugani?

Thank you! Your posts have been very insightful. I'm alson interested in your opinion on Jorginho. His passing seems to be top notch, but what about his other attributes? How good is he at keeping the ball, tackling, intercepting, shooting and positional play? How dynamic is he? And since he isn't the most physical player, how do you think he will handle the physicality in England?

From matchday 3 on Zouma played the full 90 in every league game under Mourinho bar one vs Southampton (13 starts, 2 of which came at right back, the rest at centre back) and in every Champions Legue group game (1 as right back, the rest at centre back) with the exception of a tie against Maccabi Tel Aviv. In the Hiddinks first game he was benched for Cahill, but then started every league match up to his injury. Cahill on the other hand started 8 of the premier league games after that 3:0 loss to Man City on matchday 2. 3 of which Terry was unavailable for and 2 he started because Zouma played at right back. So he was far from undroppable. Mourinho didn't drop him in the 2014/2015 season, but there was no reason to.

Actually it was Mournho who dropped him at the very start of the disaster that was the 2015/2016 season (third game I think). Hiddink in his first game played Cahill over Zouma than went back to what Mourinho had done before him and played Zouma for the next few games until he tore his ACL.

I don't think Luiz would be great as a permanent midfielder, because he's just not that great in tight spaces. He tends to dilly dally on the ball and carelessly lose it. His passing also is much better when he's afforded time and space. Also there's absolutely no reason for Fabregas not to play if we play 3 midfielders. You would really start with one centre back and two defensive midfielders in a three man midfield?

Yes he's lightning quick, has wonderful ball control and is a great dribbler. So were Boga and Musonda and both have only shown flashes so far at senior level. But what excites me most about him is that he seems to combine vision, decision making, good passing and work rate (aspects where Boga never excelled), with real end product (something Musonda wasn't even great at at youth level). This, however is only based on the very few occasions I've watched him. I don't follow youth football as actively as I used to anymore, so I try not to get ahead of myself.

He was injured.

Well there are thousands and thousands of top level footballers, they are young, rich and drive nice cars. Obviously there are a few stories every season. But I doubt the percentage of incidents is significantly higher than it is with average people. It's just that nobody in the media cares if a random person is caught drinking and driving...

According to Schalke Fans on transfermarkt.de he's limited technically, and excels in his physical attributes and fighting spirit. They think that Baba's ceiling is higher and that a club like Schalke is the limit for Kolasinac. At a bigger club he wouldn't be more than a squad player. We can't do a lot wrong with his contract running out, but I would prefer to finish the season with Ake and Kenedy as cover and then sign proper competition for Alonso in summer, if our 2 youngsters don't seem up to the job.

Kenedy and Pedro can cover for WB

I think his biggest problem is going to be his height. With Azpilicueta, who is undroppable at this point in time, we already have a short centre back. Ake is good in the air for his height, but you can't compare him to Cahill or Zouma. Also we already have a pretty short team in general, so giving up even more height could kill us at setpieces. As long as Azpi is a regular in this defence at CB, sadly I deem it unlikely that Ake will be a starter as well. Which is a shame, because he looks like a cracking young player.

Tibo's better and won't settle for only playing half of the games.

I'm also not Kenedy's biggest fan, definitely not as an out and out attacker but it's apples and oranges. There's no way Musonda could play wingback, and with Aina and Iva both possibly leaving, that's an area we need some depth in. And if he develops well, he could make a good wingback. For me it's the position he's best suited for.

Against Peterborough we played our usual 3-4-3, with Willian on the right and RLC on the left.