Transfer Rumours | Tactics | Who to buy/sell etc

He has a list of players and wont move from that. If someone is injured he will just call someone from Barca. Carvajal was fine and VDB gave a reason that Gaspar was also competing and would be competing with Carvajal for that last RB spot. Nevermind the fact that Carvajal is better than him.

Morata only gets called up because Barca dont have a spanish player who gets many minutes up top.

You obviously know more about the NT than me but i only comment on things i see

Also about VDBs grudge its been what?? 14/15 years since that day. How about he gets over it. Carlo was also sacked despite winning us a double the season before yet he still speaks of our club in high regards and has a picture of himself in a RM shirt in his office. Thats someone you respect. VDB even sided with Pique during that whole Arbeloa and Pique storm lol. Glad Ramos backed his real teammate

halamadrid2 wrote:Kante would not solve anything in our team. First he is too short, secondly he is too weak. We might as well play Kroos there. If we are to get a CDM then id like us to go after Bruno Soriano

 wtf is this post even? One of the very best mids in the epl this season and you're telling me in the physical BPL that he is too weak when he is excelling?

Get outta here and check yourself to a licensed doctor.

Kante reminds me of a young lass. And lass was vey strong despite being short as well.

System player like those midfielders and defenders at Atleti. Meh. Let him go to PSG and see how he does in CL against the tough teams. He is going to be another Sahin for us

Kante isnt the most physical one in that midfield. Him playing in EPL=physical is a flawed logic that would equal guys like Mahrez being physical too. Him being the best mudfielder in EPL means very very very very little to me when that league is so shite

Kante is legit

We will be able to judge that in due course, hopefully not in our team

Kante is just fine. His size plays a big role in how good he is tackling and winning ball. He moves in and around people with a lot of speed and he is strong enough,low center of gravity, to not be pushed around.

If we are after a box to box, we can hardly go wrong. It's about signing types of player we dont have to help deep in CL rounds, and i feel like he would.

I thought Pogba was the objective here, you cant have both, that's why i said we need to reflect on what we want.

As for Keylor, he is having a fantastic year. He is a great keeper, playing as well as anyone. But passing 23yo Courtois or 24 yo De Gea when they are just as good...? I think the conversation is to be had at least

fully echo Hala's system player concerns. Leiscester have the worst pass completion and pass attemnpted statistics..They also is a pure counter attacking team as it gets. Hoofball team mainly.We are talking about buying a player from such a team...really i would think twice before making a decision.

Has Kante showed enough technique and passing ability to play as an Anchor for us? Teams defend against us and that is completely different from what he had to face with Lester.

we could go for a younger one. Weigl, Neves ?

@Nick, both Ronaldo and Pepe have shown that age does not matter if you work hard. Navas works as hard as Ronaldo, he could play into his mid 30th. Courtois has been bad for Chelsea this season why would we go for the Hazard of goalkeepers. It makes no sense. DDG is just a luxury that will drag on till the last day of the window and for what?? Age?? The notion that a young keeper will play for longer than a slightly older one is a logical fallacy. When DDG gives us a bad season we will look for a new keeper and it doesnt matter if he just turned 26th. There is no other team that needs a keeper, if we want DDG we could get him in a couple of seasons

Adit wrote:
Has Kante showed enough technique and passing ability to play as an Anchor for us? Teams defend against us and that is completely different from what he had to face with Lester.

I dont know that he has, but you dont sign someone like Kante to anchor your midfield, he is a box to box like essien was a few years ago

halamadrid2 wrote:@Nick, both Ronaldo and Pepe have shown that age does not matter if you work hard. Navas works as hard as Ronaldo, he could play into his mid 30th. Courtois has been bad for Chelsea this season why would we go for the Hazard of goalkeepers. It makes no sense. DDG is just a luxury that will drag on till the last day of the window and for what?? Age?? The notion that a young keeper will play for longer than a slightly older one is a logical fallacy. When DDG gives us a bad season we will look for a new keeper and it doesnt matter if he just turned 26th. There is no other team that needs a keeper, if we want DDG we could get him in a couple of seasons

what a ridiculous comparison, Courtois has achieved more as a gk than hazard as a player lol.

I said it's a conversation to be had, both are in their early twenties and they can make goalkeeping a second thought for the next 10 years. i am neither for or against, i respect what keylor is achieving for us, but it's a conversation to be had.

My argument is not that young keeper will play for longer than a slightly older one. My argument is that in sports, athlete usual peak in their late 20s and early 30s. And getting a young talent already dominating in his sports around 23-24 is a sound and longer investment any team should make is not an opinion it's sports science with countless of examples laid out in different sports.

@Nick

That sig is awesome

Martial reminds me of a young Benz. shame we missed out.

Valkyrja wrote:@Nick

That sig is awesome

thanks i love arbeloa

Mr Nick09 wrote:

Valkyrja wrote:@Nick

That sig is awesome

thanks i love arbeloa

Thought you didn't like him footballing wise? No doubt he declined but he is better than Danilo at least.

As a person though, an example for us all. Arbeloa one of the very few who truly understands that club always comes first and is reflected in his personality. That is a nasty sig you got there. a good kind of nasty. in his younger days Arbeloa may not be the best attacking fullback but defensively a proper reference to textbook defending as a fullback.

Carjaval thankfully is similar with exception to being good in attack rather than average. god knows whats wrong with danilo.

Mr Nick09 wrote:

Adit wrote:
Has Kante showed enough technique and passing ability to play as an Anchor for us? Teams defend against us and that is completely different from what he had to face with Lester.

I dont know that he has, but you dont sign someone like Kante to anchor your midfield, he is a box to box like essien was a few years ago

halamadrid2 wrote:@Nick, both Ronaldo and Pepe have shown that age does not matter if you work hard. Navas works as hard as Ronaldo, he could play into his mid 30th. Courtois has been bad for Chelsea this season why would we go for the Hazard of goalkeepers. It makes no sense. DDG is just a luxury that will drag on till the last day of the window and for what?? Age?? The notion that a young keeper will play for longer than a slightly older one is a logical fallacy. When DDG gives us a bad season we will look for a new keeper and it doesnt matter if he just turned 26th. There is no other team that needs a keeper, if we want DDG we could get him in a couple of seasons

what a ridiculous comparison, Courtois has achieved more as a gk than hazard as a player lol.

I said it's a conversation to be had, both are in their early twenties and they can make goalkeeping a second thought for the next 10 years. i am neither for or against, i respect what keylor is achieving for us, but it's a conversation to be had.

My argument is not that young keeper will play for longer than a slightly older one. My argument is that in sports, athlete usual peak in their late 20s and early 30s. And getting a young talent already dominating in his sports around 23-24 is a sound and longer investment any team should make is not an opinion it's sports science with countless of examples laid out in different sports.

Agree but it's unrealistic. We have isco,Kovacic, even James etc waiting for the b2b role so no way Perez buys a less shiny player to play that role.

Call me crazy but I think John stones can be played in the Anchor role. If he fails there were can always move him to CB . Another option is Diego llorente. I haven't watched him much but from the reports it seems be progressed alot.

Ruben Neves, Tieleman ...? That position should be our pro priority this year.

Turok_TTZ wrote:

Mr Nick09 wrote:

Valkyrja wrote:@Nick

That sig is awesome

thanks i love arbeloa

Thought you didn't like him footballing wise? No doubt he declined but he is better than Danilo at least.

As a person though, an example for us all. Arbeloa one of the very few who truly understands that club always comes first and is reflected in his personality. That is a nasty sig you got there. a good kind of nasty. in his younger days Arbeloa may not be the best attacking fullback but defensively a proper reference to textbook defending as a fullback.

Carjaval thankfully is similar with exception to being good in attack rather than average. god knows whats wrong with danilo.

Carvajal is similar to Arbeloa in other ways too

Adit wrote:

Mr Nick09 wrote:

Adit wrote:
Has Kante showed enough technique and passing ability to play as an Anchor for us? Teams defend against us and that is completely different from what he had to face with Lester.

I dont know that he has, but you dont sign someone like Kante to anchor your midfield, he is a box to box like essien was a few years ago

halamadrid2 wrote:@Nick, both Ronaldo and Pepe have shown that age does not matter if you work hard. Navas works as hard as Ronaldo, he could play into his mid 30th. Courtois has been bad for Chelsea this season why would we go for the Hazard of goalkeepers. It makes no sense. DDG is just a luxury that will drag on till the last day of the window and for what?? Age?? The notion that a young keeper will play for longer than a slightly older one is a logical fallacy. When DDG gives us a bad season we will look for a new keeper and it doesnt matter if he just turned 26th. There is no other team that needs a keeper, if we want DDG we could get him in a couple of seasons

what a ridiculous comparison, Courtois has achieved more as a gk than hazard as a player lol.

I said it's a conversation to be had, both are in their early twenties and they can make goalkeeping a second thought for the next 10 years. i am neither for or against, i respect what keylor is achieving for us, but it's a conversation to be had.

My argument is not that young keeper will play for longer than a slightly older one. My argument is that in sports, athlete usual peak in their late 20s and early 30s. And getting a young talent already dominating in his sports around 23-24 is a sound and longer investment any team should make is not an opinion it's sports science with countless of examples laid out in different sports.

Agree but it's unrealistic. We have isco,Kovacic, even James etc waiting for the b2b role so no way Perez buys a less shiny player to play that role.

Call me crazy but I think John stones can be played in the Anchor role. If he fails there were can always move him to CB . Another option is Diego llorente. I haven't watched him much but from the reports it seems be progressed alot.

Ruben Neves, Tieleman ...? That position should be our pro priority this year.

Tielemans is a CM, Modric-like not a DM. I've heard great things about Neves but saw him only a few times in CL. The only young DM I've watched almost weekly is Weigl, and he is a WC talent.

Valkyrja wrote:

Turok_TTZ wrote:

Mr Nick09 wrote:
thanks i love arbeloa

Thought you didn't like him footballing wise? No doubt he declined but he is better than Danilo at least.

As a person though, an example for us all. Arbeloa one of the very few who truly understands that club always comes first and is reflected in his personality. That is a nasty sig you got there. a good kind of nasty. in his younger days Arbeloa may not be the best attacking fullback but defensively a proper reference to textbook defending as a fullback.

Carjaval thankfully is similar with exception to being good in attack rather than average. god knows whats wrong with danilo.

Carvajal is similar to Arbeloa in other ways too

Carjaval is better in many ways. Just as good defensively as Arbeloa and even better in attack. Around the same conviction defending, defending always comes first for these two and they both foul when necessary. Though arbeloa is better at one aspect: a cooler head though i think thats more of an age thing.

Otherwise, Carjaval is a great succesor to arbeloa. I honestly prefer my fullbacks to be the arbeloa/carjaval type. Marcelo is good offensively but defensely he still is a liability and that leaves a lot to be desired.

Adit wrote:

Agree but it's unrealistic. We have isco,Kovacic, even James etc waiting for the b2b role so no way Perez buys a less shiny player to play that role.

Call me crazy but I think John stones can be played in the Anchor role. If he fails there were can always move him to CB . Another option is Diego llorente. I haven't watched him much but from the reports it seems be progressed alot.

Ruben Neves, Tieleman ...? That position should be our pro priority this year.

What position should be a priority to reinforce. except for cleverly doubling some positions, we dont need much, i mean we have CL last four quality squad.

GK: We have a good GK, that we dont need to change, but that we could also change because talents is Courtois or De gea are tough to pass.

RB: Danilo...he is shit. I see him getting beat on 1v1 over and over i dont understand what's wrong with him. It's his first year, but we can give him that and see out he improves. But we can also easily replace him, there are some quality RB to be had atm. Change not needed though

LB: MUST MUST MUST now that Arbeloa is retiring, there are no more excuses. But the talent pool at LB is worrying. we will overpay again for a decent player i feel

DM: Casemiro is a fine lad, he brings strength and covers a lot. But when we start playing from deep, he is very poor. Great in transition defense terrible at helping to bring the ball out which puts stress on the midfield and complicate things. Xabi and Kroos at pretty good at it, but shite at transition defense. So to me, this is not resolved. I want, and i hope we look for that one guy that can help off and on the ball equally. Weigl is a very interesting player fot hat role. At the very least, we would be well served looking at someone like Lass, we need depth more than anything else, so he would contribute.

CM: Right now our starting CMs are Kroos and Modric. unless we go for the galactico signing of someone like Pogba which will upset the current order, i think selling James makes sense for us. we dont need him. Kovacic is a hell of a talent but it's like he doesnt know how to put his game together. I would send him on a loan. If we end up the summer with 4 mids like Kroos, Modric, Kante, Isco... it would be a fantastic summer. Late CL rounds show that in midfield you need guys that will bring a physical impact down the middle, that's why i value going after a box to box. if not Kante, there are players like Andre Gomes from Valencia who are interesting. I am not inclined to signing youngsters again like Tielemans, not even sure why his name is being thrown around so much.

CF: a quality back up CF is as needed as water right now. Benzema gets hurt every season, specially late around CL semis, the trend is set. Bringing Morata is probably the only safe move we can move without spending a fortune. He is not much of a scorer yet but we can not nitpick here. There is obviously the Aubameyang link but doubt it, same as Gabigol.

WF: i am a big fan of what both Jese and Vasquez are doing right now, they have done a lot, but we could do better here in terms of back up. we certainly do not need both. I would say we still miss a quality back up for both CR and Bale if one goes down.

Nick agreed almost completely though I have some opinions.


Gk- luxury position. De gea is everything what Navas is and better in the ball and aerialy. He is the only upgrade and even that is luxuary signing.

Curtois has been really poor this season. He has inherent weakness in long shots and dives. Worse than Navas on the ball, much worse reflex saves.. Better aerial... Not a fan of him. A downgrade from Navas.

RB - another year for Danillo. Reports says that he has some serious angle problems, I think he sucks even if he is fit but let's be realistic.

LB- We will bring back up imo, anyone defensively good is fine.

Anchor- Weigl or any Anchor good on ball is option and if it fails we can always fall back to Casemiro.
Most important position like you said.

B2B- we don't need new one imo. Kovacic is alright if we can give him enough game time.. Currently he has no position and that is affecting his game. He is thrown around like a joker. Besides that for physical presence we will have Casemiro (assuming we buy an Anchor) so that role is well covered. James must be sold, pointless signing. Use that money on Anchor. If we get that player we will have unlimited combination of midfield imo.


Back up striker- yes. I'll however bring a top one to compete rather but it will be difficult to pull off.

LW- ideally we should sell CR and rebuild the team imo. This is the perfect time. Vasquez is fine as sub but jese isn't, he seems unhappy and gives little workrate in games.

I love both, i think they are both fantastic, Courtois and De Gea. If we end up with either, i will be thrilled.

We can give Danilo another year, knowing we have a better player in Carvajal atm.

I am worried about LB. I saw the linnks to Ghoulam or Gaya, that's about how good he will get for us.

we agree about depth at DM, we agree about selling James. I would even add that signing POgba for a box to box position would bring more impact to our midfield in transition than having Kroos there. it's a galactico signing but it would be worth it.

Are you willing to pay 70 millions for a CF? and which top CF are you convincing to come in when they all know Benzema is there?

I am not saying Lucas isnt serviceable, im saying we can use another back up who is slighter better.

Yeah agreed. A kid worth looking at that didn't get a chance because he got injured as a LB... is Jordan Amavi. Aston Villa bought him from Nice and I saw him a lot. High effort and great defense. Reminds me a lot of Ghoulam but better defensively at this age. Since Villa is relegated, he's free to transfer wherever he wants.... he would be cheap. I'd bring him in and develop him. Very little to lose given the price.

I rated him as highly as Digne and Kurzawa... and i even liked him better since he's like Dani. He defends first and uses his speed on the attack.

signing an unproven youngsters coming off ligament injury is always a tough sell. might as well go for ghoulam, although with tall fullback, there is always a concern with how quickly can they turn their body and react in 1v1. I dont watch him at all so i dont know how he defends.

What are people's thought on Martinez?? Now with Hummels, Carlo will have proper CBs to work with as opposed to pseudo this or that. And with Alonso still there, and Sanchez coming on huge transfer Martinez will probably be surplus to reqiirements. Him and Casemiro in the CDM position will cover that position for years to come