42 minutes ago, the special one said:

                              Courtois
                     Azpi - Luiz - van Dijk
Moses - Verratti (Kante) - Matic (Fabregas) - Alonso
                 Pedro - Diego - Hazard

Yeah, let's bench our best player that sets the tone for the whole team, great idea.

1 minute ago, startedwithglenn said:

Yeah, let's bench rotate our best player that sets the tone for the whole team, great idea.

Fixed it for you. 

He is everything we need apart from the height and with alonso cahill and luiz I don't see why it should be an issue.. The other thing thinking about it is Kante and Veratti could realistically not challenge in the air and pick up the second balls they've certainly got the energy for it.. Looking at potential options no one has every quality needed and I'd prefer the better footballer in Veratti than the better athlete in Bakayoko 

7 minutes ago, the special one said:

Fixed it for you. 

Probably one of the last players we need to be prioritising for rotation.

I think Conte will want to go with a middle 3 in the bigger games next season anyway.

Verrati would be a replacement for Matic, not Kante, i'd imagine

4 hours ago, the special one said:

                              Courtois
                     Azpi - Luiz - van Dijk
Moses - Verratti (Kante) - Matic (Fabregas) - Alonso
                 Pedro - Diego - Hazard

Bench Kante? Blasphemy.

3 hours ago, zolawannabe25 said:

He is everything we need apart from the height and with alonso cahill and luiz I don't see why it should be an issue.. The other thing thinking about it is Kante and Veratti could realistically not challenge in the air and pick up the second balls they've certainly got the energy for it.. Looking at potential options no one has every quality needed and I'd prefer the better footballer in Veratti than the better athlete in Bakayoko 

Verratti is almost never played alongside a short(er) midfielder. Imagine being Tony Pulis (or even Jose with Fellaini & Pogba). All I'd have to do is lump the ball up to midfield above our front 3 press and win it there then play it in the space between our wingbacks and CBs. Easy chance created.

Must admit, Verratti was one of the players I wanted us to sign for a while. But that was pre-Kante so now I'm not so sure he would be quite as good a fit. If we did sign him, you would expect him to get selected for most games rather than play a lesser part like Fabregas and Willian have done. 

Got to say, still love the idea of Varratti. Will be cheaper than Pogba and so much better.

 

I think he would be a fantastic signing. I don't think his height would be much of an issue. We would still have the 'back 5' and a striker all capable in the air for set pieces, and I don't think it would be much different to when cesc and kante start in terms of winning headers in the middle of the park.

A dream signing for me. 

38 minutes ago, big blue said:

I think he would be a fantastic signing. I don't think his height would be much of an issue. We would still have the 'back 5' and a striker all capable in the air for set pieces, and I don't think it would be much different to when cesc and kante start in terms of winning headers in the middle of the park.

A dream signing for me. 

You make a decent point although Cesc is 5'11 so not exactly a short player but he isn't some beast in the air either.

Edited May 18, 20179 yr by Barrettinator

Brilliant player would love him here.. The height could be an issue but wouldn't be too much of an issue if we move to a 352 with Matic and Kante alongside, Would be one of the best and energetic midfields in europe.

Kante and Verrati together seems like a dream come true. The only issue im seeing (as people have already pointed out) is the height issue. Not sure how we can deal with physically larger teams when a lot of our team is generally quite small. Hazard, Dave, Pedro, Moses, Kante are all pretty small, and having Verrati added into that could potentially be a problem. 

17 minutes ago, JJP said:

Kante and Verrati together seems like a dream come true. The only issue im seeing (as people have already pointed out) is the height issue. Not sure how we can deal with physically larger teams when a lot of our team is generally quite small. Hazard, Dave, Pedro, Moses, Kante are all pretty small, and having Verrati added into that could potentially be a problem. 

Drop Kante for Matic, problem solved. Horses for courses.

Edited May 18, 20179 yr by the special one

2 minutes ago, the special one said:

Drop Kante for Matic, problem solved. Horses for courses.

Even suggesting that we drop Kante is nothing short of Blasphemy

Just now, JJP said:

Even suggesting that we drop Kante is nothing short of Blasphemy

I'll say it again then, just for you.

Drop Kante.

5 hours ago, Barrettinator said:

Verratti is almost never played alongside a short(er) midfielder. Imagine being Tony Pulis (or even Jose with Fellaini & Pogba). All I'd have to do is lump the ball up to midfield above our front 3 press and win it there then play it in the space between our wingbacks and CBs. Easy chance created.

A lot being made about lack of height in an aerial sense - I'll put this to all, Matic may be tall but he's sh*t in the air, never see the bloke get off the ground.  No worse off aerially if you bring in Veratti for him 

Big fan of Verratti.  Definitely a builder in the midfield.  Advances the attack with careful, precise passing, but can also do riskier passes like floaters to the wings.  Definitely more of a pure CM - less defensively inclined, but a nice compliment to Kante who will always do the dirty work.  

 

The only problem is that PSG don't need the money, and there are 6-7 wolves already gnawing on the carcass - a lion might not even be able to tear it away. 

8 hours ago, MJB said:

A lot being made about lack of height in an aerial sense - I'll put this to all, Matic may be tall but he's sh*t in the air, never see the bloke get off the ground.  No worse off aerially if you bring in Veratti for him 

I cant belive how much people downplay this. Matic is absolutely crap in the air, cant time a jump or get his boots of the ground to save his life. I cant remember one aerial duel hes won in his time here. Even got beat by Kyle Walker. Verrati is not going to be a downgrade at all. 

Its the exact same thing with Azpi, after Dele Alli scored against us that he was "found out" and teams would start exploting it. Yet it never happened bacuse despite his height Azpi has great leaping ability, excellent timing and great positioning. You cant have a team full of midgets but theres more to being a good header of the ball then just being tall

53 minutes ago, Xfaxtor said:

I cant belive how much people downplay this. Matic is absolutely crap in the air, cant time a jump or get his boots of the ground to save his life. I cant remember one aerial duel hes won in his time here. Even got beat by Kyle Walker. Verrati is not going to be a downgrade at all. 

Its the exact same thing with Azpi, after Dele Alli scored against us that he was "found out" and teams would start exploting it. Yet it never happened bacuse despite his height Azpi has great leaping ability, excellent timing and great positioning. You cant have a team full of midgets but theres more to being a good header of the ball then just being tall

True - Mikel was another one - rubbish in the air.

But I don't think it's so much about having players who are good in the air, it's the obsession with many modern day coaches of the "physical presence". Too many "smaller" type players can get muscled out when you play teams with the big brutes - look at the Spurs game at WHL when Wanyama & Dembele dominated. But I like the idea of next seasons midfield having more options with Verratti coming in + we also have the option of Chalobah or RLC who both have a bit of presence about them (although I still prefer Baker!).

 

1 hour ago, Xfaxtor said:

I cant belive how much people downplay this. Matic is absolutely crap in the air, cant time a jump or get his boots of the ground to save his life. I cant remember one aerial duel hes won in his time here. Even got beat by Kyle Walker. Verrati is not going to be a downgrade at all. 

Its the exact same thing with Azpi, after Dele Alli scored against us that he was "found out" and teams would start exploting it. Yet it never happened bacuse despite his height Azpi has great leaping ability, excellent timing and great positioning. You cant have a team full of midgets but theres more to being a good header of the ball then just being tall

It isn't necessarily the dominance in the air but also the physical presence of having some 'big'. If Verratti and Kante came up against Wanyama and Dembele they'd be pushed aside with ease. 

35 minutes ago, RIP Mourinho said:

It isn't necessarily the dominance in the air but also the physical presence of having some 'big'. If Verratti and Kante came up against Wanyama and Dembele they'd be pushed aside with ease. 

Verratti isn't weak though. Besides, everyone gets pushed aside by Dembele.

Just now, Remodez said:

Verratti isn't weak though. Besides, everyone gets pushed aside by Dembele.

He's a hell of a lot weaker than a more conventional box to box mid such as the Naingollan mould of player.

14 minutes ago, RIP Mourinho said:

He's a hell of a lot weaker than a more conventional box to box mid such as the Naingollan mould of player.

Nainggolan would batter the sh*t out of Wanyama and Dembele, he's such a tank for a bloke who's 5'9

26 minutes ago, RIP Mourinho said:

He's a hell of a lot weaker than a more conventional box to box mid such as the Naingollan mould of player.

Verratti has wiped the floor with Matic and Cesc MULTIPLE times. Without a doubt he would be an upgrade.

Also Spurs is one team. We would boss Arsenal, pool, united and even city (gundogan-fernandinho partnership).

RM/Bayern would be the only team that would be better than our midfield pairing in terms of class/grit.

Also, we can always go 3 in the middle with Matic/Cesc-Kante-Marco while sacrificing Pedro and playing 2 up top. Cesc and Marco dominating the possession while Costa/Lukaku to feed and hazard to run havoc. 

Marco is just world class. If possible, we should buy him. Its similar to not buying Eden because he is too short or not physical enough. 

5 minutes ago, didierforever said:

Verratti has wiped the floor with Matic and Cesc MULTIPLE times. Without a doubt he would be an upgrade.

Also Spurs is one team. We would boss Arsenal, pool, united and even city (gundogan-fernandinho partnership).

RM/Bayern would be the only team that would be better than our midfield pairing in terms of class/grit.

Also, we can always go 3 in the middle with Matic/Cesc-Kante-Marco while sacrificing Pedro and playing 2 up top. Cesc and Marco dominating the possession while Costa/Lukaku to feed and hazard to run havoc. 

Marco is just world class. If possible, we should buy him. Its similar to not buying Eden because he is too short or not physical enough. 

If we were to play a midfield three i wouldn't even think twice about it. In a midfield 2 with Kante i'll always worry though.