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Or if you think he isn’t ready, bought Samir El Mourabet who Chelsea rejected a €35m bid from Leipzig from, and sell Essugo to them. Chema Andreas who is billed as the next Rodri literally moved on the last day of the window for €22m, and Alonso is reportedly a fan. There were options for us in the market.

Arsenal have been largely outplayed by us in every game for the last two years but come away with the result, usually through a red card and/or set piece goals. Perhaps its time for the reverse.

And how will Monaco bail themselves out now? Camaras agent has since come out and said he won't be moving to Turkey or Saudi, and is staying at Monaco. So will Balogun agree to go to those countries? Or Portugal? It would be amusing, albeit never going to happen, if those 3 markets refused to deal with Monaco for how they acted with us, Everton and their two players.

I understand Chilwell and letting them pre-borrow Ahanor, but giving them Disasi...?

100%, the interview is of course his idealised version, but reading it a bit critically you can absolutely see he that is the case and he is trying to now pin it on Balogun for turning it down, and minimise Camara's disappointment at staying. It's pretty obvious they came back to us when Balogun initially fell through and they needed a big sale. I'd go so far as to say that we probably could have reasonably felt like we were doing them a favour by not demanding a lesser price given their desperation. In the end, Scuro fumbled it badly, their club is going to face serious consequences if they can't flog someone to Turkey or Saudi by the end of the week, and they have two pissed-off players. He should get the sack for it. We were naive and dumb for relying on it, as well.

Yeah I don't buy his version that we were basically stalking the situation and were on him like flies on sh*t when the Balogun "medical issue" came up. Far more plausible this Scuro panicked and came to us to bail them out, only to go back on it when he thought he could shift Balogun again, which was his boards and managers preferred option.

He is absolutely the type to "forgot my wallet" at the counter

It seems painfully likely that City are unable to be found guilty in a substantial manner, probably to the extent of questioning whether PSR is enforceable or not.

1 year deal not a bad deal. Lets see if Chelsea are really playing this down.

Yes you can, as long as you don't ask him to do build up stuff (receiving ball with back to goal under pressure).

In fairness, you could remove both knees and he'd still be just as mobile

This squad would have won back-to-back-to-back Champions League titles from 2020-2022

No, in fairness, Scuro has fronted the media and outlined a statement (transcript) His initial words were taken out of context and it was only one Twitter moron (Ben Jacobs) who made up that Liverpool 'contacted' Monaco and asked them to wait. There's no evidence to support this, in fact it sounds like Jacobs has merely exaggerated the obvious fact that many clubs were interested in signing him either this season or next. It's clear Chelsea were the only ones making a concrete bid this season. Scuro even admits that Chelsea had been pursuing it for 10 days, but Monaco were unwilling to sell unless Balogun fell through. The saga is entirely Monaco's fault, but we are also to blame for leaving it so late in the window and not protecting our own interests. Fernandez wasn't the CM we needed or were trying to replace, it was Santos. We got distracted by having to fire-sale a bunch of players and Sanchez and then pursued a target we knew was unlikely unless certain circumstances fell into place. Overall, though, it is not going to be a huge problem.

Despite my earlier posts I will concede that we arguably should have been actively pursuing a CM as soon as Santos left and Scott/Wharton were clearly impossible. It's the consequence of having to sort out sales and loans for an army of unwanted players and leaving the opportunity to do so right to the last minute. It may have been the right decision to prioritise the sales/loans of all those players but if we didn't buy them in the first place, we wouldn't have that problem.

You absolutely can. None of the attributes you mention here are any less crucial for a top-quality defender. That's why Bayern seem to transition a top-level full-back to top-level central midfielder every three years (Lahm, Alaba, Kimmich), and why many defensive midfielders ably deputise in defensive positions. The reality of modern football systems is that central defenders are playing the role of DMs a decade ago thanks to higher defensive lines. Look at where Lacroix or Colwill operate and compare it to footage of Matic or Obi Mikel. Guardiola and Arteta don't even bother with fullbacks because they basically have 6 central defenders on the pitch moving through midfield and out wide. I can think of one minor difference in one specific situation, and that is a DM is sometimes required to receive the ball back-to-goal whereas a central defender is unlikely to need to do so. Fullbacks are marginally more experienced in doing this. It is not a deal breaker though, since you really shouldn't have a system where your DM is commonly receive balls with a blind spot, that's asking for trouble, and if it is the case the team should be structured to allow the DM to wall-pass back and around the press. Mild digression here - there seems to be this pervasive idea that defensive midfield is some sort of hallowed, infinitely complex position that requires a degree in philosophy to even comprehend. At the end of the day it is a football purity test where if you praise the DM instead of attacking players it shows just how knowledgeable about football you really are. At the end of the day a good footballer is able to play the same role in multiple positions. Malo Gusto is not a good footballer, that is our actual problem.

Ironically, Caicedo first came to fame by single-handedly destroying Arsenal while playing as an inverted RB for Brighton

But with the thick English accents only other English can understand (I certainly cannot understand what they sing in the stands 95% of the time), he will not even notice it.

The silence is deafening, but they’ve no reason to come out and make any comment on his condition - especially when the transfer window was still open. Trying to stay optimistic that he was being very cautious, took it upon himself to call it and walked off without any help. Hopefully back after international break.

The logical thing to do would be recall Essugo - if anything for a little athletic depth.

This deal apparently is a no go but depending on their injury status, Zinchenko, Brozovic and Alaba would all be very good fits for Alonso's system.

I've always thought that City fans have more of a rivalry towards us than we have to them. As a millennial, PL-era, Australian fan: 3 - Arsenal - grew up watching us get turned over by them. Bridge's CL semi goal was a truly transformative moment. 2 - Liverpool - unfortunately the most supported club in Australia by some distance. Their success in the 1980s was widely covered here due to Craig Johnstone's involvement, then Kewell in the 00s coincided with another wave of relative success. Can't go anywhere in Sydney without seeing some Scousetralian full-kit w**ker.. 1 - Spurs - Inexplicably massive support in Australia. Virtually every second English ex-pat here supports Tottenham; I suppose that's why you kicked them out. When Postecoglou took over the situation was nauseating, couldn't go anywhere without some screen showing his fat mug or their disgusting jersey. But the main problem is their fans and their club are unceasingly arrogant, despite the club's trophy cabinet being emptier than @PloKoon13 Little Black Book of late. Spurs hold themselves in a category that has nothing to do with their achievements on the pitch, entirely underwritten by commercially-derived money. They are no different to Chelsea or City for that matter, other than we have trophies to show for it.

Our left side has been an issue, so need to make changes there I feel. Also need players in their natural roles. Martinez James Acheampong Lacroix Hato Chavarria Lavia Barco Palmer Joao Pedro Rogers If Caicedo can play then put him in place of Barco. James as a defensive wing back. Width from deep, we know he can cross or pass a ball in a penny, let him do that while keeping our right side strong.