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And England aren't good enough.

I'm tired of us managing James minutes though. If the squad is to move forward with James as a key player, then we need him all of the time without fear of breaking down. We can't keep going into games with him being an injury risk. Every game we have one eye on taking James off at a certain point, it's like our subs are built around reserving a spot for him. The even more concerning part about James of late though is how shot he looks mobility wise. He turns like a tank, barely runs, and has slow reactions to players pressing him. Every time he gets injured now, he returns a worse player, something that never used to be the case before.

We haven't actually signed him yet have we? Hard to see there is any value bringing him in which makes me wonder if there is a possibility we kill the deal. Killing that deal and punting Enzo and Garnacho would be an Argentinian exodus on a par with Chile in the copper mining season

Perhaps most importantly he is made it pretty clear that he wants out. He and his agent will keep pushing for a move. It would be in the best interests of the club to move him on this summer.

I've always respected the odd goal he has scored and the fact he does not get intimaded. However if a good offer comes in it would be tempting.

he will need to show a lot more self-control if he plays in the Premier League as he will now be a figure of hate from fans of other teams.

I think he will still be played at RB this season, but perhaps given no European games his time can be managed better.

Just waitign for these morons to fumble this one as well now actually

You mean to say you didn't pick up on this during your visits?

At this point I think his presence at the club would be toxic. Was bad enough when he openly disrespected the club and fans by announcing he wanted to leave. But his behavior so far at the World Cup will only lead to more ugliness. At the very least if he stays even for the start of the season he cannot have any captaincy (or vice captaincy) role at the club.

It yet again shows how inept they are at negotiating, when they are supposed to be these fantastic businessmen. Clowns getting schooled constantly

Not Tosh.

https://www.capitalfootball.co.uk/single-post/test-for-chelsea-and-spurs-fans-now-in-wake-of-despicable-behaviour-by-argentina-duo

Tosh.

But here is the thing, they didnt have to be top drawer - all they had to do was a beat a rather mediocre Argentina team (with Messi) - and Tuchel went pathologically defensive in the 'final quarter' and he really did not have to do that. Tuchel fcucked up imho. For starters tournament football is different - Toney and Rashford have had 'good seasons' - but if you want to bring on two players to make a difference at a tournament wouldnt you rather have Foden and palmer coming on? tuchel got the options wrong. Tuchel got the tactics wrong.

He doesn’t have Kimmich’s ability though, he is just another body in midfield. Should never have had his contract extended.

Surprised so many people are concerned with the transfer fee. Transfer fees mean nothing to BlueCo, as they'll probably end up spending twice as much on kids who'll be discarded in less than a year with their value tanking. If this is a signing Alonso genuinely wants then we should get him regardless of the fee imo. After all, each director gets to make a senseless signing or two each window, why not the manager?

Don’t we have Hato, Quenda and Barco and even palestra can play there. This guy was going to be an experienced squad player nothing more no way we pay that. How did the release clause double anyway?

Which points do you want me to debate? If it's about leaving some players behind who are better on the ball, yes, I agree we should have brought some differernt players. I don't watch much beyond CHelsea, so can't comment on players form this year, but I would have brought people like Trent, Foden, maybe Wharton who had a good season I believe. And left people like |Henderson, Chalobah, etc... at home. He could have used Mainoo in the middle as well. If it's about him failing to change the mindset - yes, he did. But this is something I don't think you can lay entirely on the manager. You can try as hard as you like, but you can't change what's going on inside another man's head, and if 11 of them decide that they are under too much pressure to push forward and naturally retreat, it's very hard to change that. In that scenario where the team is going against instruction and won't do anything but defend, I'm not sure there are many managers who could motivate them out of it. I agree with a lot of the points in isolation. What I don't agree with is laying 100% of the blame on the manager, when clearly the players were A) either not good enough, or not mentally/physically up for the fight, and B) didn't do what the manager wanted them to do.

Wonder what Alonsos facial expression will be when our marvelous directors tell him he has to make do with Neto as his left wing back, and Badishille and Disasi as his "new" center back signings?

You are forgetting whatever has been spent to bring in Quenda, Emegha and Barco. Now with Uefas FFP system switching to this squad cost ratio, along with the PL PSR system I wonder have the sales of Santos, Cucurella and George, along with Trev's sale coming up, been enough to satisfy these both? Do we need more sales just to meet them? Or more sales to make money available for a few more 18-21 year olds? I have no idea how Uefas squad cost ratio system works, anyone care to fill those of us who have no clue in?

the only thing about this season is we have a proper manager in charge. However, Areola goes badly at Anfield, you know exactly where they will turn come January or next summer, without the appointment of Alonso, we are relegation fodder IMO. Im expecting him to work a miracle and he will need Palmer and others to be on top from and jijury free.

Or you could try and argue the points I made, rather than just ignore it an blame bias.

The problem is that James isn't a very good midfielder. He has his moments, but no more than that.