All Barco no bite

With the money we got for Ramires i think we could squeeze more out of them, however i'd take anything over 50mil. He's never really lived up to his price tag in my opinion.

I can remember Piazon coming on a few years ago for the senior team, which i'm guessing was a cup game? I remember he was on the pitch for 10 minutes and got an assist and won a penalty (i believe he then missed the penalty). The prem would suit him more. His dribbling isn't shown in the Championship due to the awful pitches. He can't do much worse than Oscar at number 10 so i'd stick him in and see what he can do pre season and next year.

What a ridiculous statement.

No one will be buying a player out of contract either this summer or next. They'll wait for them to leave on a free and all we will get is a small compensation fee.

Net spend means nothing if you're actively weakening the squad.

http://www.theshedend.com/topic/25424-dominic-solanke/page-5#entry1173783

Not quite sure if you're insinuating i've tried to paint the lad as greedy in my post or if you're talking about the media/club. I also never said that the club aren't already doing that. I just offered my opinion on how i believe the club should negotiate going forward.

I think we need to start structuring salaries similar to how Barcelona do, with the Neymar contract being a great example: http://www.mirror.co.uk/sport/football/news/neymars-leaked-barcelona-contract-reveals-7731576(Yes it's the Mirror, however the the information is correct.) Neymar is on a basic weekly wage of roughly £70,000.00. Let's be honest, for a player of his stature this is a bargain. The real money comes when he starts to play games and achieve targets. If he plays in 60% of the matches he pockets himself £700,000.00. Winning trophies such as the league, cup, champions league etc. will also ensure the player receives a booster payment. Finally they receive payment for individual accolades such as winning Ballon D'or. Solanke can afford to request a large sum from the club because he knows how desperate the club are for a player to breakthrough into the squad. I think £25,000.00 would be a fair sum with performance related bonuses. For example, every match say squad he's in he gets an extra £5,000.00. Every match he starts gets him £7,500.00. Every goal £2,000.00 etc. This way if he does nothing he sits on £25,000.00 for a few years (hardly anything for the club). It will also give him a motive to push himself and break into the first team if he really is motivated by money. It's a win/win for both club and player.

Me too. I respect United and their fans as what they've achieved in the premier league era gives them bragging rights to a certain degree. It's teams like Arsenal, Liverpool and Spurs who've won nothing of note recently yet still think they're a big team. Can't stand them.

But.. but.. He did get nominated for the Ballon D'or shortlist just last year, Barry..? http://www.uefa.com/uefachampionsleague/news/newsid=2295822.html Not only that he also came 8th altogether. Ahead of Iniesta, Ibrahimovic, Aguero, Pogba, Bale, Benzema, Robben etc. The list goes on. I'm pretty sure he's won quite a few 'big prizes' as well. Would you like to try again?

I've not seen anyone on this forum as bitter as you Barry. Hazard did carry the team last season when Cesc's assists dried up, Costa's goals dropped off and Matic wasn't the destroyer he was at the start. Ridiculing the Ligue 1 is very unfair. Kalou has also done very well in the Bundesliga, is that also an awful league by your understanding? Hazard won the player of the year twice in that league when he was 19 and 20, not exactly an easy achievement in any league. The comparisons to Zidane, Best Ronaldinho and Zola are all fair by the way they can influence a game and completely change it with a single dribble or pass. Ronaldinho has had many poor seasons since leaving Barca. Lets not forget that its not 'just a single BPL player of the year award' is it? We going to ignore the rest of his individual honours? UNFP Ligue 1 Player of the Year (2): 2010–11, 2011–12 UNFP Ligue 1 Young Player of the Year (2): 2008–09, 2009–10 UNFP Ligue 1 Team of the Year (3): 2009–10, 2010–11, 2011–12 UNFP Player of the Month (3): March 2010, March 2011, March 2012 Premier League Player of the Season (1): 2014–15 FWA Footballer of the Year (1): 2014–15 PFA Players' Player of the Year (1): 2014–15 PFA Young Player of the Year (1): 2013–14 PFA Team of the Year (3): 2012–13, 2013–14, 2014–15 ESM Team of the Year: 2014–15 Chelsea Player of the Year (2): 2013–14, 2014–15 Chelsea Players' Player of the Year (1): 2014–15 Bravo Award (1): 2011

This is my biggest concern for the 3 at the back. It makes me wonder whether a formation like that can work in such a fast league.

http://www.tribalfootball.com/articles/ola-aina-leaving-chelsea-as-arsenal-liverpool-circle-4126701 Looks set to leave. This is sickening if he leaves due to lack of first team opportunities when Ivanovic was so bad at RB and Baba at LB this season.

I like the option of playing either formation when it suits. I really hope we don't lost Ola Aina in the summer as is looking increasingly likely. I believe he can be really special in years to come and is one of the few youngsters that in physically ready for the Premier league now.

With Conte coming in, John Terry potentially leaving and for arguments sake Zouma missing the start of the season, I honestly don't know what our back line will look like next season. As a fan would you prefer to see the 3 at the back, as Conte is so famous for, used at Chelsea? Or would you prefer us to stick with the tradition of 2 CB's and 2 full backs? Either way big changes will need to be made. Who would you bring in (realistically) and who would you let go?

What about every club after Porto then?

I agree. The likes of Zidane, Ronaldinho, Zola, Best etc.. were never hitting a goal a game yet were all world class players and legends in their teams. They contributed so much more to the team than just goals, much like Hazard has for the past 6 years or so. I'm just hoping and praying that Conte comes in and really revitalizes the team and make us world beaters again. I can't really think of any better managers that are available other than Conte to do that.

Success isn't given to you however it is much easier to achieve with millions to spend. Don't get me wrong, Mourinho is a good coach to get in for a year or two if you can give him a few hundred million to splash and get you a few quick titles. Porto - £20million spent (This would have been a lot of money in 2002) Chelsea - £140milion 1st season £80million 2nd season (on a team that had just won the league) £80million 3rd season (This year would miss out on silverware) Inter Milan - £50million 1st season £83million 2nd season Real Madrid - The year before Mourinho joined had spent £225million on new players. Surely Mourinho won't need to spend much money to win the league? £82million 1st season £43million 2ns season Chelsea (second stint) - £105million 1st season £118million 2nd season £71.9million 3rd season Its very interesting that Mourinho never stays anywhere longer than about 3 years and he either gets bored or the team crumbles under him. At the end of the day he served his purpose and got us some silverware, i just hope that we can get a manager that can stay and do it in the long run.

Systems often get built around a teams best player. Look at Barca with Messi under pep and Real with Cristiano. Fair enough a player has to adapt in some way to a system but a good manager would adapt their system to get the best out of the players he has. Not just push square pegs into round holes. This is why Conte should be great, there are many reports that he doesn't come with a set system yet analyses the players and plays whatever suits them. Hopefully he'll be able to build his team around our key players (Hazard,Cesc, Costa).

Well Hazard did beat Aguero to player of the year last year.. Neymar has been shocking since Christmas. Most of the Barca fans want him sold. There's a reason most pundits were saying last year that Hazard is second to only Cristiano and Messi. No argument has been lost. Please continue.

Agreed. One bad season and everyone forgets his true level.

I can guarantee if i had asked you this question at this point last season Hazard would have come above Neymar, Bale, Lewandowski, Benzema, Sanchez, Griezmann and Aguero.

I'm intrigued who the top ten players would be in your eyes if Hazard isn't up there?

I still don't understand people (Barry) saying Hazard is a one season wonder. You've obviously just started following football or are blinded by hate for Hazard. At Lille he tore that league up and was wanted by every single club. Every season at Chelsea he's been fantastic getting into the team of the year every season. Yet you keep stating he's only had one great season.. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Townsend has moved to Newcastle so he's irrelevant and Mason isn't a starter.