Paddy

My thoughts exactly, additionally I would consider playing Havertz instead of Pulisic - the combination of Mount, Werner and Havertz works well I feel - certainly did yesterday. Assuming Kova isn’t available, the only other change up for debate, for me, is James for Dave, but maybe Dave has 50 or so minutes and gets told to leave nothing in the locker ? What ever team TT picks, if we apply ourselves properly, I believe we are too good for RM.

Is it though ? To be truthful, I hadn’t watched Werner prior to his arrival, so I had no first hand knowledge of who or what sort of player he was - now that he’s here, I can’t pretend that he doesn’t frustrate enormously, his goal conversion v decent chances given is awful, truly awful , I mean he’s even hooked a certain Chelsea goal off the opponent’s goal line ffs, there are so many aspects of his game that, for a pro footballer, are poor, but he contributes enough to this team to be worth his place and definitely gets to be picked ahead of Tammy or Oli. Take today for instance, he could have got a couple , maybe 3 himself, he has a definite assist for Havertz’s second (his pass was sublime btw - most un-Werner like tbh) and Ziyech ought to have given Timo his second assist of the match (albeit that that chance came first) and the Fulham defence were scared sh*tless by his pace and potential. I think If you had two pacy wingers who contributed 10-15 goals and 20+ assists , in addition to a proper goal scoring centre forwards contribution , I wouldn’t be so unhappy, especially with further goals from the midfield and defensive unit, then a 60-70+ goals a season would be achievable? So, I don’t mind that Roman forked out £50million on Werner, he’s a big part of the reason why we may yet get 3rd in the PL, are in the FA cup final and are a very achievable home result away from the CL final. He scares the opposition rigid, they don’t know whether their punched, bored or counter sunk !! I hope we have a similar problem next year too !

Was thinking exactly the same, get someone in who can score 20-30 goals a season and use Werner, Pulisic, Mount, Ziyech et all to service the beast and chip in with a few of their own. Besides, as it stands, what’s Werners current transfer value ? no where near to what we paid, may as well make the best out of a “difficult” situation imo.

It’s astonishing how football divides opinion , it is subjective and we all see different things . I can’t argue with his misses, poor first, second and most touches, but I feel that had Tammy played Timo’s minutes, I doubt he would have been any more successful, we’ll never know of course, but aside from the lack of goals, Werner’s speed and getting into positions to score , scares the opposition and of course, he may turn provider instead - who knows, he may even bang the odd one in !!!

It’s interesting isn’t it , how did he get to command a transfer value of ? £50m ? Seeing him play for us, it beggars belief, but we do have a history of spending top dollar on world class finishers and getting mostly w**k in return? Like most on here, I fear we’ve bought a pup, but my stance isn’t one of defending him and more about being pragmatic , as my old dad would say, ‘you can only piss with the cock that you’ve got’ - crude way of saying , I’d sooner Haaland but out all of the strikers available to us, he’s the one that I’d go with rather than the alternatives.

Don’t mean to be picky Jim, but you can ........what you can’t do is eat your cake and still have it

Werner is so so frustrating but I take him over our current alternatives - give Giroud a nailed on chance in and around the 6 yard box and he’ll likely score or be on target at least, but like Tammy, who would most likely get his feet mixed up and be on the floor before the ball gets to him, he will never make goals for himself or anyone else, he’s too slow these days and neither Oli or TA gamble or anticipate enough for me. I can’t see opposition defensive units looking at a team sheet with either Oli or TA starting with any great trepidation like Senderos must of when he knew Drogba was picked - Werner worries the b’jesus out of opponents defensive midfielders, central defenders, managers and, unfortunately, Chelsea fans , but he has to start against Madrid - imo.

Is that another way of saying he’s a bit thick ?

My thoughts too and over rotation might be our undoing ? it’s getting the mix right and there in lies the rub, as always. Problem with your selection is, understandably, no Mount ? Nearly all of our creativity comes from Mount in that forward midfield position and without him we are a bit, to you , to me , back pass to CB, to you, to me, sideways pass to DM and repeat ad infinitum. Do you play Mason for 60 mins, hopefully get ahead, then haul him off and wrap him up in cotton wool until Wednesday ? I don’t know where Kova is with being fit enough to return for the Fulham game, but if he was, would you start him ? Suppose a lot depends on who TT sees as his ideal midfield pairing for the Madrid game and therefore, who plays v who rests, but for me, if he’s fit, start Kova with Kante, he needs real match practice and rest Jorginho. If Kova isn’t fit then stick with Jorginho and Kante for 60+ then go with bring Billy on. Dave looked f**ked the other night, I wouldn’t play him for this game , Rudi is an animal in every sense of the word, think I’d chance him for 60 or 70 minutes then give Emerson a run out. For me, pick and start strong, get ahead hopefully, then make changes @ 60+ and coast for the last 20 or so. Mendy, James, Christensen, Kante, Mount, Kova, Ziyech, Rudiger are all young enough to play and recover before Wednesday night and after all, famous last word time now, it’s only Fulham ffs !!

I honestly wouldn’t be able to compare Osasuna to Fulham in terms of what their game v RM means to them, but Fulham will be well up for us for sure, after all, they have almost nothing left to play for aside from pride and bragging rights ? I understand what you say about how we ought to be having faith in the whole squad, but I can only assume that TT doesn’t ? I know I don’t. I’m guessing he doesn’t see in training what he wants to see and therefore, trust enough to take a chance on some players and that’s why they don’t play often if at all ? I believe that some of the guys you’ve mentioned will get a rest, Fulham are arguably the weakest team we will play in our PL run in and we are one very achievable result away from a Champions League final after all, the dichotomy is how much to twist or stick - do you risk the result v Fulham by rotation to give the best chance of overcoming Real Madrid ? We have no choice but to trust in Tommy, I hope his balls are made of crystal 🔮

You’re right, the Fulham game is a must win game, however the issue, imo, is what we appear to do a lot, underestimating bottom half PL opposition ? Even Fulham themselves must have given up on PL survival by now, but I’m sure nothing would please Scott Parker and his Fulhamite’s more that to give us a bloody nose and ruin our party. I think it foolish and improbable that we will field almost a second team and expect to win - I expect some changes, but TT has to start with a team that can win this game in 60mins and then coast, with changes, until full time - there are 3 full days plus match day itself before we play Madrid and there is no travelling involved, so our core players can start this game, finish up around the 60 minute mark and have plenty of rest/recovery before Wednesday night imo. After all, protecting key players by not playing them, doesn’t always work out - Kova, for example, injured in training ?! Finally, I’m not having Kepa, even with his new Barnet, blokes a wrong’un imo

Mad ain’t it, a 1-1 draw away to RM in the CL semi and I feel a little disappointed? Then I thought, ‘if only we had a genuine 25+ goals a season striker’ - thought about it some more and realised we’ve got this far without one, we are a home leg win away from a CL final, are already in the FA cup final , looking ok for a top 4 finish - so the only difference a 25+ goal striker would make, is less anxiety and stress for us fans In the words of young mr grace, ‘ you’ve all done very well ‘ COYB

The even funnier part part is that Moyes actually thinks that the sending off effected the outcome of the game ffs

The one thing I can say about RA without ever having met him is, I believe him to be a genuine football fan, so his reasons for buying the club are entirely differing to those of the glazers , FSG etc but as much as they are parasites, leeching and feeding off of the carcasses of the clubs that they legitimately own, purely for profit, I can’t get as upset about their antics when uefa and fifa have been shagging European and world football for as long as they existed and have been so unfair and spiteful of their treatment of England as a nation and English football teams. If ‘this’, whatever ‘this’ may turn out to be , sorts out those bottom feeder, scum bags at EUFA/FIFA , then some good will have come of it all .

There in lies the rub, without the revenue the PL can’t offer financially what it does now and so thereby it diminishes the ‘quality’ of the league which in turn reduces its global appeal, which in turn reduces the amount of overseas players , which reduces the prospective foreign investors , which in turn returns the game back to the 1970’s ..........hang on, you might be on to something here !!!!!

Forbzy, it’s not so much about how competitive the league will be without the 6, as against how attractive it will be to the global audience - don’t see the excitement and clambering for a seat around the world for Everton against Palace as I do for the manc derby for example. I also think that a lot of folk don’t truely understand how UEFA/FIFA/FA/PL etc have pulled down footballs pants over the years and royally shagged the fans - seems to me that they might all be fearing their demise ? As they said in peaky blinders, ‘big f**ks small, always’ ?

A question for you CB - I don’t have any agenda btw, just curious is all ? if the gang of 6 get expelled from the PL do you think the Premier League will survive without them ? Wouldn’t be sure that the tv revenue monies the PL currently attracts would be anywhere near the same without them ? I just can’t see Asia, Africa etc being that bothered as much, if at all, to watch Fulham v Burnley ?

If clubs can bypass and over come the CL’s existing governing body, UEFA, by creating their own CL competition, albeit with a different name, ESL, then what’s to say that it can’t be done internationally. Think the corrupt f**kers that are UEFA & FIFA are throwing any kinda threat about to save them from extinction, but their hand may not be as strong as the believe or hope ?

Sorry, you’ve lost me , what depends on whose got the bigger ego ?

The way I see it , Real Madrid and Barca are both skint and can’t think of anyway to extort more money from their fans, sponsors or tv rights , so they have turned in and onto the uefa revenue stream to bolster their coffers, they can’t do it alone and so they have elicited the help of some others - willingly , it would seem? UEFA & FIFA are arguably the most corrupt governing bodies in existence, greedy, spiteful, vindictive c**ts , who deliberately and manipulatively orchestrated not to allow the World Cup tournament to be played out in England year after year for good reason other than they could - seems to me they might just get what they deserve, extinction? The PL and FA will be sh*tting themselves wondering if they are next ? But I don’t see how they survive if they don’t support the 6 and continue, domestically, as normal. Finally, if the breakaway group of 15 or 20 prevents the 6 hour flights to “our European friends in Astana’ - is Kazakhstan even in Europe ffs? Then that’s no bad thing. I agree with KonaKia, this is inevitable and it will involve the swapping of one established corrupt organisation for the formation of a new, corrupt organisation imo ?

...........and be replaced by who , another one of the band of six or Sheffield Utd ? Don’t underestimate the greed of the associations, FA, UEFA, FIFA, PL et al. - No way the FA are gonna give up on their cash cow big pay day in May imo, besides , Leicester are hardly much of a draw , the FA will want and need one of the “renegades’ to make it somewhat appealing to the global fan base , I mean Leicester v Sheffield Utd isn’t going to break tv audience viewing figures and the advertising executives will know this to imo ?

It’s hard not to admire and like what TT has done so far - aside from the WBA game, which I think was part under estimation/over confidence by the players coupled with 10 v 11, chasing the game and Albion being very clinical. I try not to let emotion factor into my thinking too much if at all and like everyone have opinions about the team setup, players picked etc which will differ to some including Tommy, but I come back every time to the fact that he sees these guys train and play every day, so if he’s not picking players to start or be in the match day squad or is choosing them to be on the bench and deciding who will and when to be used , I have to defer to his inside knowledge in his decision making and assume it’s purely a matter of the right choice for that particular time - it’s hard, so far, to argue with his choices and tactics imo. I don’t know if Billy, cho, Tammy are good enough , I suspect maybe not - I can hear the shouts of ‘give ‘em a chance or you’ll never know’, but they can’t be doing enough to deserve that opportunity and i believe it comes down to a matter of trust ? I think they will only be used when and where TT feels he can trust them, but I feel that they are all on borrowed time and won’t be around next season when the expectation is the PL title as a minimum ?

..................next .......!!

........but is he in charge ? Now here’s the question - what is RA’s preference , top 4, FA Cup, second CL title or all 3 ?? In all honesty, I suspect that Roman will ‘talk’ with Tommy and ask for his thoughts before deciding and telling TT what to do ? I could be wrong ? but assuming it so, Tommy will act under instruction from the boss, so therefore, does TT think he has a squad that is capable of winning all 3 or will he advise to prioritise and focus on just one target ? If I was to guess how RA will think 🤔 of course he would want all 3 , who wouldn’t, but if TT doesn’t think that that is likely or possible with this current squad and injuries then I reckon he would he will go for the CL imo - a semi against a RM side that is very beatable and a final in which form books get tossed and it’s a one off, winner takes all match and in a country that will no doubt welcome Roman !?! then a top 4 finish isn’t important. Personally, I think both a top 4 finish and CL final is definitely doable and that’s where/what we should be targeting - the FA Cup would be wonderful, definitely give it a go v city but not to the detriment of top 4 or CL final, so rest players as necessary - get greedy and you might end up with f**k all !!

Don’t suppose you mean it to, but it’s massively presumptuous to assume that if BG plays, he performs at a level that makes him undropable - it could be argued that he has already had chances to show TT what he is about in some competitive matches and failed - remember the same manager sees BG every day in training and doesn’t think he’s better than the alternatives ? It’s a cliche but true nonetheless, TT will be judged on results and I imagine he wants a contract extension, so the better he does the more likely RA will be to put pen to paper on a handsomely rewarding, lengthy contract, so no time to take risks, especially if he doesnt rate Billy and doesn’t see what some see ?