PloKoon13

Was this how he stood at his front door when leaving his wife and children to go on the shag after his big move?

May as well go for Fabinho too and get the full set

May as well go for Fabinho too and get the full set

As in which team do I dislike the most?
Tottenham. Always.

I think there are teams where the hatred runs deeper and is more personal (Arsenal, Liverpool, Leeds, etc.) and others where the rivalry is more circumstantial but there isn't any particular bad blood (Man Utd when we were both competing for titles in the mid-to-late-2000s, Man City now they have their new aerodynamic manager and racist midfielder).
But f**k Tottenham. Hope they get relegated.

You've clearly never spent any time in the half-space

You've clearly never spent any time in the half-space

Genius move really, there are no black Frenchmen in Man City's senior squad.
I look forward to never having to hear the phrase 'box crashing' ever again.

Was just about to post the same thing. It's time for Josh's Rafa Márquez moment.
Plus he's ten times the ball carrier that Enzo is.

But did we get a clause making his inclusion mandatory when they play us?

Ben Chilwell returning to Palace from Chelsea France.

You've clearly never spent any time in the half-space

Maresca is seething with envy right now

Maresca is seething with envy right now

Maresca is seething with envy right now

You've clearly never spent any time in the half-space

Maresca is seething with envy right now

You've clearly never spent any time in the half-space

I agree that our midfield is weaker than last season. Barco and Henderson looked like great signings when they were squad players that raised the overall floor, but we will go into this season without any of our first-choice midfielders from the last two seasons. However, I don't think that Alonso or the board should be let off so lightly by the 'squad not good enough' approach. We scarcely have a game a week for most of this season. We should be competitive for the title and comfortable for 3rd, anything else is a sideways step at best.
We do have enough quality in James, Lavia and the others to maintain good performances at least until January. Only Santos is a real loss. Fernandez has no role in Alonso's system, he is unwilling to play as a deeper midfielder and insists on playing as a second striker. His role is usurped entirely by Rogers, Palmer and Estevao.

I am more worried about striker. Pedro has been crucial to our system and it's unclear whether Welbeck will offer even a similar reference point for the attack. Welbeck also has a shaky injury history himself so it's likely we are going to see Rogers, Estevao or Neto as a false 9 at some part of the season because Emegha is not the answer.

You've clearly never spent any time in the half-space

Enzo's goals are such a furphy. 10 goals and just 4 assists is pretty good for an AM, but's a very average return for a second-striker which was essentially his role under Maresca/Rosenior.

Rogers playing in a similar attacking role adds the same stats but also with the additional ability to carry the ball on the dribble, which Fernandez cannot do.

Cherki has been known to have some serious attitude issues when things aren't to his liking. I doubt he makes it past this season with City.

Rogers alone makes us a title-challenging squad. I'm not going to be a doomsayer about the squad, it is objectively the best we've had under BlueCo and more than capable of winning trophies. An unproven 22-year old from a middling French team isn't going to meaningfully move that needle, Camara looks a great prospect but he is essentially Valentin Barco in a different font.

As for rotation, well God forbid we have to give a youth player from the best academy in England a few minutes in midfield here and there. We should be doing that far more often than we have done under BlueCo. It's moments like this that have allowed clubs to discover their Lewis-Skelly, Rico Lewis or Nico O'Reilly, or Trent Alexander-Arnold.

I think that blaming Fernandez's transfer for the lack of action is a bit much. I have no doubt it will be the narrative encouraged by BlueCo. The transfer is the biggest financial boon we have had since selling Hazard and at the end of the day, this window was the last time the club could have ever meaninfully profited from a very mediocre transfer. However, it's pretty clear that the main targets are Scott and/or Wharton, and it actually seems unbelievably sensible to wait for them to become available next year instead of splashing cash on yet another unknown young player.

If De Zerbi manages to get him back to his very, very best there is every chance he could go on to represent Ukraine in both the 100m and 200m at the next Olympics.

Scored that goal against Arsenal and had a positive 45 minutes against a 57-year-old James Milner who was moonlighting at right-back on Mudryk's debut

Can we not get Conor back as part of the deal? He doesn't deserve this.

In a back 3 its quite important that the two attacking mids contribute defensively when the wingbacks are out of postion, even Pedro did his job defensively.
It's not the end of the world, he's already a very good player just something he will need to work on. Especially when we start facing the top teams.