venom2011

Let's not have an agenda get in the way of fact: Casadei, Angelo, Santos, Ogochukwu, Jackson, Carney, Palmer, Badiashile are all great value signings. Now the sporting directors, owners, and coaches need to collaborate and find the best solution to add some experience. And plug some holes created by consistent injuries.

He was out of the game too much really. This was a game where we desperately needed a decent midfield option to come off the bench.

That's a bit simplistic. There's a reason hybrid marking is the most common system employed by top sides today. Otherwise the attacking unit could create big gaps to be exploited by players who are more agile than their counterparts in duels. There are kinks to be worked out. And it's the first time in a while that we've played with two actual fullbacks.

A seasoned striker who could score 20 goals wouldn't be a gamechanger for our team? Ridiculous. That would easily be the difference between our points tally right now and matching our expected points which would be level with Arsenal and Spurs. Not averse to seeing Nkunku upfront but it's not ideal nor a long-term solution.

80m on a 28 year old with 1 year left is not a safe, nor wise bet. Simply because of the dearth of world class strikers, we need to be poaching one from our rivals. As I mentioned. 1. Alvarez 2. Jota 3. Nketiah/Wilson. We can offer each of them something they can't get at their own clubs a la Palmer and Sterling.

100%. I was pulling my hair out at the amount of space available for City's creators behind him. And then you have Disasi who's just going to back off into his own goal when both he and Silva should be contracting the space. Look it may also have been a side effect of some tactical changes that may take him (and Enzo) some time to work out but Poch needs to iron it out as soon as possible.

Scares me defensively though especially in transition. Nothing that can't be smoothed out with good coaching and game time but I'd much rather see Badiashile ahead of him.

I wouldn't say we 'need' that type of player. But sure it's a profile we don't have and would be nice to have. Just not for the money being touted. Again, I couldn't care less about how physically dominant our striker is. All I care about is that he can finish well, stamina to press, has good-great position sense, and the technical ability to help us dominate games. I've always preferred more rounded strikers than lumps who stand there and do their best work in the box. I'd also much rather go through the motions with Jackson than get a short-term fix. And players coming from outside of the league arrive with inherent risk. So for me Alvarez ticks more boxes than any player in Europe currently: Young, league-ready, title-winner, very technical, great work rate and finishes well, would gel instantly with [Enzo, Sterling, Palmer and Poch], wouldn't cost crazy money and lastly would be a seamless tactical transition.

Huh? Both have definitely played and played very well as lone strikers. Lone striker is a terrible term in any case as it's divorced from formation and tactical nuance. I could care less about physical presence or being strong in the air. Aguero, Tevez, Suarez are 3 of the most amazing strikers to have graced this league and Alvarez is in that mould. Tony at 28, costing arguably more that Alvarez would (if the quoted 70-80m), is a vastly inferior purchase and I don't think our sporting directors would actually make such a weak decision.

City has the best chance of beating any other team but for me a full-strength Brighton pips them and Arsenal are a close third in terms of difficulty (for him personally). I would just love to see him in different areas, where he's not surrounded by Disasi, Gallagher and Jackson. With James fit, hopefully they can strike up a good partnership. And with Nkunku coming back, I think our fortunes can really change once we see his football intellect supported by Enzo, Nkunku, James, and perhaps even Lavia.

No resale value is killer for a player costing 70m plus and not quite near the best in their position. I reckon/hope we try to pry Alvarez or even Jota. Alvarez makes the most sense with the Argentine connection and like Jesus he likely wants to be the main man somewhere.

Majority of them? So Enzo, Caicedo, Lavia, Gusto, Badiashile, Fofana are Crystal Palace level for you? You can't include the ones clearly designated for loan development incl. ones who were stuck here like Lesley and Washington.

Oscar was muuuuch better on the ball than Mason and was excellent in some big games. Shouldn't even be a comparison.

Anyone? I'm sorry but during the period they were both at the club literally the manager, everyone surrounding the manager, and most of the fanbase had that opinion. Oscar was the great Brazilian hope. KDB meanwhile struggled to find a position as despite his great technical ability, he couldn't really cut it as a winger or in central midfield.

All well and good but that downplays the great work Poch is doing during the week. He's playing a more complete and increasingly more confident team. And he's taking up much better positions in all phases as well.

Not sure I agree on the differences in talent and ability. Foden is ahead on the development path and obviously his style of play can be more aesthetically pleasing but Palmer has showed a level of football intelligence and technical ability that I believe at least matches Foden's. At one stage people argued KDB was below the talent and ability of Oscar...

Never forget

I think we'll get in the region of 10-12, we're honestly capable of beating any of them. Let's not forget our defense has generally looked very solid even with injuries and changes, and playing better teams would actually open up space for our attackers to exploit. Our best performances this season have come against better teams - Pool, West Ham, Brighton.

His control on the long ball while sprinting was excellent....for a speed merchant with no ceiling.

I don't think we can without spending an unreasonable amount of money right now. If we were to spend 70m I'd rather it be on an attacker. Distribution aside, I've been very impressed with him.

What a ball against Villa by the very low ceiling player with no technical ability...

No, it's not a reflection on that. He had quite a few flat performances that season where all he did was offer control and do simple lay offs. He went missing for large parts of games and lacked defensive nous. He did some sensational things, no doubt, but he was no where near the player we saw after those first 2 seasons. No where did anyone compare his start to Mudryk's.

Or, an even more common and plausible explanation - recency bias. People claiming Hazard was sensational as soon as he arrived...

That's the issue with facts I guess...

Hazard also had years of playing at a decent level in France. And he wasn't sensational from the off, he was relatively inconsistent during his first two seasons but still effective.