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What if the elusive Camara didnt solve our CM deficiencies? If we had captured the great man before deadline day would we be looking at turning over the league champions at the weekend? Lamine Camara running the midfield, brushing aside Rice and co. for fun. Oh what could have been.

It’s way too simplistic to chalk the frustration up to “fans being upset about not getting a player they’ve never heard of on deadline day.” That phrasing alone basically exposes the entire problem. A player nobody knew. On deadline day. Plenty of us, myself included, had CM and CB as the clear priorities from the start. And while the broader squad building picture is appreciated, the reality is we only solved one of the two major issues. So of course people are annoyed. All things considered, you just hope we make the most of what we’ve got, and that missing out on Camara ends up being another “Seri moment,” where the alternative turns out far better, like when we ended up with Jorginho instead. (incoming Jorginho is sh*t comments, blah, blah blah)

Lamine who?

While the final totals will be affected by add ons and loan fees, our need to be sell to buy was backed up by an overall profit of over 30mill this window.

Monacos CEO is fighting to save his job after this mess, and what happened with Balogun. Turkish market closes on Friday. Failing that Portuguese market is open until September 15th, whereas Saudi is open until October 12th. Their ceo likely needs to get a big deal done ASAP. Will be up to Camara, Balogun or someone else to agree to move to a club in one of those markets, otherwise Monaco are facing sanctions.

Immovable object vs Unstoppable force kind of game. A team that is playing some of the best free flowing attacking football in Europe vs Stoke-on-Thames. I’d quite happily take a draw from the view of no points dropped to a title rival but if we lose I hope it’s at the expense of Raya’s ACL. Meslier or Kepa for a full season fills my heart with joy.

I’m absolutely baffled by the doom and gloom on here this morning, all because we missed out on a player no one had heard of 48 hours ago? Come on! Compare right now to where we were last season. We’ve upgraded our manager. Weve upgraded our GK. We’ve upgraded our CB’s. We’ve, at worst, maintained the same level in the fullback position. We’re equal to or greater than in the middle of the park, albeit a bit light on bodies but then we’re a bit light on the fixture list as well. Our AM options are infinitely better than they were. And we have the 2nd best striker in the league. Positivity people! f**k me.

Twat didn't waste 1 minute posting his goodbye on Instagram, only moments after the deal was announced. Pastore gets his nut.

The defining trait of any proper deep midfielder is the ability to pre‑see the next phase of play, knowing where the ball should go before it even arrives. That demands elite positioning, the right passing choices, and constant scanning. In the Premier League, those qualities have to be 10x. It’s exactly why Mount, Gallagher, and even Kanté never looked convincing when dropped deep for us, whereas Billy Gilmour at least had some attributes required for that role and why he looked decent. And this is where the frustration comes in. A lot of fans seem convinced we’re going big for a CM in January or next summer, which leaves Alonso trying to steer the ship with what he has, AKA internal solutions, round two. We need to hope for a couple of things for our midfield to not be an issue. Barco, at the very least, is as good as Santos Lavia doesn't get his typical 3-month-out injury. Caicedo sorts out whatever is bothering him. It seems James is now more or less a CM in today's game in the club's eyes, so we'll see how that goes.

Don't think Alonso will be consulting you for any help with his pre-match pep-talk!!

That's the spirit!

Jesus Christ i thought i'd strayed into the Palmer or Joao Pedro thread for a minute there.

I do think Reggie Watson has a chance tbh, even at his age, if we use him and develop him correctly. Also he has a dad that knows exactly what its like in the blood and thunder of the middle of the park, to be bale to mentor/advise him.

Interesting notion, hmm

Media now reporting that he could be going to Fenerbahce. Monaco need to come up with some cash so if Chelsea or Liverpool really want him they might be greasing some palms in Turkey right now.

Liverpool fans don’t have a leg to stand on now their net spend bo**ocks is in the bin

You can do all manner of things if you have no bloody alternative. We are playing a RB made of biscuits and flake who wimps out of any physical challenge in there at the moment. Hato might not be the answer for the position but i would imagine his girlfriend is stronger than Gusto, let alone him. What do you suggest would be out best way forward in the circumstances? These are the free agent alternatives

There’s a video of Lampard talking with Rodri on the job of a midfielder. Fantastic video. I encourage people to watch it. You can’t simply take a defender and slot him in at DM without acknowledging the attributes a top holding midfielder needs to play in the Premier League.

I didn't think it possible to find anybody more incompetent and a bigger bellend than those imposters we have as Sporting Directors at this club. But...calling Thiago Scuro to the stage please. What a w*nker. Clearly Laurance Stewart was his mentor.

I think we have to accept James first position now and for the rest of this season will be midfield in that pivot. I'm of the belief Gusto was selected in the game against Brighton to send a message from Alonso that he needed another midfielder. After the international break I expect we are going to see Caicedo/Lavia + James/Barco play every game.

After the news broke last night, like everyone else, my pi$$ was boiling over it. But it has actually been a really good window for us, one of the best ever. Yes it would have been great to get a rangy box to box midfielder and i think the appeal to Alonso is getting someone who is good at shots form distance to counter the low blocks we may well come up against. I would have liked some of the youngsters getting slightly better clubs for their loans. I think the defenders should go to teams that will have a tough season, to help them man up and the midfield and forward players to go to those teams in and around the play offs to get good minutes but also be in a positive atmosphere. For Satpave (Burnley) Kavuma McQueen (Portsmouth) and Walsh (Wigan) i would have liked for there for have been a bit more due diligence in club selection to arrange loans for. Surprised we couldn't get anyone to West Ham or Southampton. But these are minor points. I am still generally happy though with what has been one of the most aggressive and best windows we have seen. One surprising point though. Like the film The Purge, as daylight broke after a massive night of drama and action, and we all picked ourselves up, dusted ourselves down and reached for our remote controls one note of wonder struck me immediately. How the hell did that fcker Gusto survive this window and stay here FFS.

We were also the better side with 10 after the red card.

Maybe it is a bit of shoehorning but why can't Alonso work on adapting Hato's game to a DM role until we can go into the market. The lad is strong, is defensively minded, can pick a pass (although maybe with some limitations). We need someone strong and press resistant in there. If he can keep it simple in possession and not try to break lines too much then I think Alonso could get a tune out of him in this role. I am not saying to be the answer or to be the main man, but with Caiceido, Lavia, Barco, Henderson, Gusto (haha), and Hato, there should be enough combinations to limit the possible holes in the position. Regardless of perceived quality and just working off of warm bodies, i am still a little surprised that we didn't recall Essugo from Strasbourg when Monaco flip flopped.

I'm totally indifferent about his departure. There would have been a time when losing a star player hurt, but here I think it's for the best for all parties.