PloKoon13

The idea that the Premier League cycle of borrowing and spending is unsustainable is starting to get some traction in the mainstream press:
https://www.independent.co.uk/sport/football/premier-league-transfers-news-deadline-day-scr-rules-b3043423.html

I think there's two seperate but worthwhile points you and @The Rising Sun are both making:


Perhaps for the first time under BlueCo we have a positive value on our playing squad. Losses on the likes of Fofana, Gusto, Neto, Mudryk, Gittens and maybe Lavia are offset against likely gains on the value of Pedro, Palmer, probably even Rogers and Caicedo in this market. This is great news for Clearlake and their lenders, but not so relevant to the club. In an inflationary market we are unlikely to secure equivalent replacements for the same price and in a deflationary market we won't receive the expected sales.

Asset value doesn't matter in football terms, spending does. We've spent an unimaginable amount of money with little to show for it. That's still a problem and while we are able to cover our mistakes due to favourable selling conditions, that isn't always going to last. We have to get much, much better at recruitment.

There's some dangerous PR coming out of BlueCo suggesting that Winstanley should be praised for the window sales, and that it was the recruitment and the 'model' that guaranteed us the prices we received. That is foolish nonsense. The market was inflated by a number of macroeconomic conditions that are unlikely to be repeated and are certainly not sustainable. We will not be getting 50m for Garnacho or 65m for Jackson or 125m for Enzo Fernandez equivalents in future years. BlueCo need to have some humility and take an accurate perspective, and not squander a second-chance that we might never get again.

I know he's been compared to Aguero but that clip against Middlesbrough reminds me so much of young Rooney or Tevez. The kind of forward you just deploy up front and they cover all three positions. Blows past defenders with either strength, speed or just streetwise skill. Equally likely to nutmeg you or chop you down. Will look 35 at age 24 and will be in their mid-50s at 30.

I've always thought that City fans have more of a rivalry towards us than we have to them.
As a millennial, PL-era, Australian fan:

3 - Arsenal - grew up watching us get turned over by them. Bridge's CL semi goal was a truly transformative moment.
2 - Liverpool - unfortunately the most supported club in Australia by some distance. Their success in the 1980s was widely covered here due to Craig Johnstone's involvement, then Kewell in the 00s coincided with another wave of relative success. Can't go anywhere in Sydney without seeing some Scousetralian full-kit w**ker..
1 - Spurs - Inexplicably massive support in Australia. Virtually every second English ex-pat here supports Tottenham; I suppose that's why you kicked them out. When Postecoglou took over the situation was nauseating, couldn't go anywhere without some screen showing his fat mug or their disgusting jersey.
But the main problem is their fans and their club are unceasingly arrogant, despite the club's trophy cabinet being emptier than @PloKoon13 Little Black Book of late. Spurs hold themselves in a category that has nothing to do with their achievements on the pitch, entirely underwritten by commercially-derived money. They are no different to Chelsea or City for that matter, other than we have trophies to show for it.

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.