mwblue10

That’s the biggest issue I see with signing Zaha. He’s a good player. But signing him for the price it will take is absolutely going to affect our ability to sign other players. Sancho will too, but signing him would be a much more exciting and ambitious transfer. Not to mention we would have him for over a decade, whereas Zaha has only like 4-5 more years at the top level.

I think he just means that he expects Pulisic to get better the longer he’s here and more he plays, and he has a lot of potential. I don’t think he comes across as dissatisfied or anything.

Wonder if he can get a work permit. That’s always been the issue with him having a chance to stay. Seems likely to make the move to Atalanta permanent.

Hopefully this ends up being a flip deal, similar to what Real Madrid did with Morata. Activated the buy back and sold him the next year to us for something like double what the buy back clause was. Of course, first choice would be Ake comes back and turns into a world beater, but I don’t see that happening at this point.

Also, it’s not like CHO has been awful this year. He was actually quite good early on, picked up a handful of assists. It’s really after the injury he suffered on international duty that he’s taken to a bad run of form.

Don’t forget Gerard Moreno, Lewis Cook, and something called a Button.

Which is something all of us expected, a blip. The overwhelming majority of the forum and fan base expected us to miss out on the top 4. We are currently 5 points clear of 5th and at worst, will be 3 clear. Nobody expected us to be in the position we are in. We’ll bounce back and be fine. I just find it funny that so many posters are so focused on the negative, when the positive far outweighs it (and it’s not close). Somebody even went as far as to say the pressure is mounting on Lampard, job status wise. Give me a f**king break. You mention Everton fought harder. Probably true. And that’s where I think it comes off negatively. But actually, I think most would agree that the fight that this team shows is one of its strengths. It hasn’t always ended in the results that we want, but these young guys love the club and I think it shows. Some may mention that if our fight is a strength, then why haven’t we won a single point coming from behind? Honestly I think that just boils down to poor finishing, which I would be surprised if it was a continuing problem going forward.

Jesus, another negatively themed topic. Joy.

I think this is the smart way to go. I was a proponent of a Rüdiger-Zouma partnership but I’ve started to lose faith in Zouma. And Tomori has promise but I’d rather he be rotated in for cup games and to give the occasional rest.

I think most would answer your question with a resounding no. This is exactly the type of signing we don’t need. Another bargain deal for a player who is not better than Rüdiger and who’s ability does not outweigh the cost of putting Tomori on the bench. If Tomori is going to the bench, it needs to be because we are starting Rüdiger and a new world class CB, not because we are starting Zouma, Christensen, or Ake. If we are going to sign a CB, it needs to be Skriniar/Koulibaly/Romagnoli or similar.

I'd sell two of Romans yachts to bring in Oblak. Genuine question here. Because Kepa’s height and command of his area are two big topics of debate, I did the honors of looking up Oblak’s height, and by way of that, came across ter Stegen’s as well. All 3 are the same size. I don’t watch a lot of La Liga, but obviously know that Oblak and ter Stegen are class keepers. How well do they command their area?

I’m not even close to being ready to give up on Kepa, but if we do move on, I think realistic targets could include: Onana Donnarumma Bulka Strakosha

I know it is assumed that he will join Bayern, but I figured he deserved his own thread as Nizaar Kinsella listed him as one of the club’s targets. Think he’s best as a number 10 or false 9, but is certainly capable of playing as a RW. Physically/athletically I think he fits the PL better than Ziyech, but positionally I think they are of the same mold. Ziyech is probably the better player right now but much older.

There’s a scapegoat every season. Last year it was Jorginho. This year it’s Kepa. It should be our defense this year, but for some reason, they are free of blame and it’s all on Kepa.

What is Zouma doing there? He just let the ball roll right to Walcott. Our back 4 has been complete shambles today, I don’t know how you can blame Kepa for much of any of it.