Real Madrid 2 Chelsea 0

[Blue Orca]

21 hours ago, boratsbrother said:

They won't own up to saying it now.

Well I've gone on record as saying Enzo will be a great player for us  so maybe I'll be calling myself a maniac come the end of next season. Time will tell. 

[Sciatika]

The key question is how many others will be calling you a maniac. 

[Sleeping Dave]

9 hours ago, martin1905 said:

100%.

I don't even think they need to be world class.The likes of Nagelsmann, Enrique, Pochettino are not at that level but probably one rung below yet I think with any of them we will finish top 4, as long as we get a proper DM. 

 

 

Maybe, but even with Tuchel I said last summer we’d do no better than 6th at best. If Tuchel had stayed on, with the trajectory we were on, we were on par for 63 points and given our problems to score (8 in 6 PL games) I’m hard pressed to believe we would have done much better than what we are doing now. 6th or 12th doesn’t matter much. It’s a thin line between them and it’s different degrees of “not good enough”. No way in hell would Tuchel have made 4th. So I don’t see why anyone else would be able to. This team simply lacks way too much of the fundamentals to be that high up. 

8 hours ago, paulw66 said:

That's an interesting one, but certainly Conte and Sarri had a very different squad to work with.

Conte - alienated Costa, we had a terrible transfer window in 2017, but then the football became turgid and so defensive.

Sarri, I actually liked. I don't understand the hate he got. Finished 3rd (we had the 3rd best squad), lost the LC to City on penalties, and won the EL. Not sure what else he could have done.

Lampard did well first season when expectations were low, and brought through some younger players, but ultimately wasn't up to the task when we brought in new players and Tuchel showed what that squad was capable of. 

Potter had a difficult set of circumstances, but no way should this squad be 11th. He could have been excused for missing top 4, but to be this far off  the pace is inexcusable.

The one thing they all have in common is that since the summer of 2017, none of them have had a top class GK or Centre Forward, which makes life tricky for any coach, certainly in terms of challenging for the title / CL

Agreed with much of what you say. Signing Kepa for the money we did… I always said it was one of our worst transfers ever. He has effectively cost us 4 seasons. That and no reasonable striker means everything. Trade any two players over the last seasons for a top goalie and a top goalscorer and the end result is completely different. There os three players we need to sign this summer;

Top goalkeeper

20+ goals striker

Monster of a DM

Put them in this side; 

GK1, Slonina, Bettinelli

James, Gusto

Chilwell, Cucurella 

Silva, Koulibaly, Fofana, Badiashile, Chalobah

DM1, Enzo, Kante, Kovacic, Loftus-Cheek

Mount, Havertz, Chukwuemeka

Sterling, Felix, Mudryk, Madueke

S1, Fofana

and we are a bit on our way at least. Add another CM, AM/W and S summer of 24 and our squad is stellar. 6 more signings of the right calibre and a manager that can manage. We aren’t light years away, but we need to get things right over the next 16 months. 

[Blue Orca]

2 hours ago, Sleeping Dave said:

Maybe, but even with Tuchel I said last summer we’d do no better than 6th at best. If Tuchel had stayed on, with the trajectory we were on, we were on par for 63 points and given our problems to score (8 in 6 PL games) I’m hard pressed to believe we would have done much better than what we are doing now. 6th or 12th doesn’t matter much. It’s a thin line between them and it’s different degrees of “not good enough”. No way in hell would Tuchel have made 4th. So I don’t see why anyone else would be able to. This team simply lacks way too much of the fundamentals to be that high up. 

Agreed with much of what you say. Signing Kepa for the money we did… I always said it was one of our worst transfers ever. He has effectively cost us 4 seasons. That and no reasonable striker means everything. Trade any two players over the last seasons for a top goalie and a top goalscorer and the end result is completely different. There os three players we need to sign this summer;

Top goalkeeper

20+ goals striker

Monster of a DM

Put them in this side; 

GK1, Slonina, Bettinelli

James, Gusto

Chilwell, Cucurella 

Silva, Koulibaly, Fofana, Badiashile, Chalobah

DM1, Enzo, Kante, Kovacic, Loftus-Cheek

Mount, Havertz, Chukwuemeka

Sterling, Felix, Mudryk, Madueke

S1, Fofana

and we are a bit on our way at least. Add another CM, AM/W and S summer of 24 and our squad is stellar. 6 more signings of the right calibre and a manager that can manage. We aren’t light years away, but we need to get things right over the next 16 months. 

Agree with the gaps, but i do not think all the existing players listed are good enough. Cucurella is just not top 6 standard, neither is Loftus Cheek or Sterling.  Auba and likely Gallagher or possibly Mount will also depart. Hopefully Lukaku, Hudson Odoi and Bakayoko will be gone too. 

Also, there is strong rumours that Nkunku has already signed a pre contract/understanding - would he be good enough as a no1 striker and with just Fofana and Broja as back up? Maybe it will be S1 and S2 we will be looking for? 

How much would be a good price for Felix, and would/could we pay it, if other positions are more pressing? 

[Ham]

12 minutes ago, Blue Orca said:

Agree with the gaps, but i do not think all the existing players listed are good enough. Cucurella is just not top 6 standard, neither is Loftus Cheek or Sterling.  Auba and likely Gallagher or possibly Mount will also depart. Hopefully Lukaku, Hudson Odoi and Bakayoko will be gone too. 

Also, there is strong rumours that Nkunku has already signed a pre contract/understanding - would he be good enough as a no1 striker and with just Fofana and Broja as back up? Maybe it will be S1 and S2 we will be looking for? 

How much would be a good price for Felix, and would/could we pay it, if other positions are more pressing? 

I'm in a very small minority but I'd like to see what Lukaku can do as a big target man for the current crop of suppliers. 

One of the things we're suffering from most is not having a proper target to look up for. Defenders are not fazed by our front men and look increasingly comfortable.

If it works, and it's a big "if" it's win win for us. 

[Michael Tucker]

5 minutes ago, Ham said:

I'm in a very small minority but I'd like to see what Lukaku can do as a big target man for the current crop of suppliers. 

One of the things we're suffering from most is not having a proper target to look up for. Defenders are not fazed by our front men and look increasingly comfortable.

If it works, and it's a big "if" it's win win for us. 

This.

[xceleryx]

15 hours ago, boratsbrother said:

I do wish you'd stop making excuses for our under performing, obscenely overpaid mentality midgets with testies made of margarine.

Though it's a team game, each and every player should be held accountable for their individual performances. They do their job right and the team looks after itself. It's Cucu's fault that he has the positional sense of Stevie Wonder, not the managers. It's Kovas fault that he is ineffective in both halves of a pitch. It's not the managers fault that Kepa repeatedly gets his hands to shots but ends up conceeding another goal. It's not the managers fault we spent enormous sums of money on forwards who can't hit a barn door with a banjo. It's not the managers fault that we keep signing midfielders who cannot score or create to save their life.

Interesting way of looking at it considering I wasn't making excuses for anyone, and in fact I've been critical of quite a few players and have hardly been shy in expressing that fact.

None of this takes away from the fact that it's also not a black and white situation either. While the players have certainly got their share of responsibility to shoulder, a manager is also responsible for putting his players into the best position possible to succeed. Now, we've certainly not always done that here. And I quite clearly addressed recruitment being a huge problem for us over the years.

Given Sterling was the original discussion point I'll circle back to him. He hasn't been good for us since arriving, not going to try to argue otherwise. He started brightly under Tuchel who had a clear plan on how he wanted to use him, that fell apart once Potter arrived and Sterlings role changed, subsequently his form noise dived and he's struggled since. This doesn't make Sterling a bad player however. He's been a consistent Premier League performer for Man City and his record shows that. Now it's also going to be inflated by playing in a strong side, but it also highlights the fact Pep put him in a position to succeed, while a better quality supporting cast aided matters further.

Sterling isn't the end of the rainbow player that'll carry an attack on his own, he is however a good complimentary piece to a functional attacking unit. There's a good chance he could slot back into the Man City side and still do well overall, he's just not prime Eden Hazard either. 

End of the day the midfield is a huge thorn in our side and I've been saying this for years, until we fix that our forward like will continuously struggle unless we have that bonafide individual star like a Hazard, Neymar or Messi type that can carry a side on their own. If we go into next season with someone like Kante or Kova being responsible for generating our attacking phases high up the pitch then we're in for another long painful season.

[xceleryx]

15 hours ago, martin1905 said:

Kante and Enzo as a pivot won't work I hear you all cry but let's be honest, it's not difficult. One goes forward, one sits. No need to over complicate it and whilst not ideal it's about getting our best players on the football pitch and trying to get a bit of confidence back into some of them whilst integrating others ready for next season.

It doesn't work, doesn't matter how simple you explain it the functionality of it simply isn't there and we've seen that already in the couple of games since Kante's return. 

There's only one outcome with this sort of double pivot and it's Enzo sitting deep being wasted, while we have a technically cumbersome Kante taking up positions in the attacking third where he severely lacks the skillset. 

The other concern, and this was very evident in the Madrid game, but Kante looks slow and devoid of the energy he once possessed to get back and recover. On several occasions he'd push forward and just didn't have the capacity to get back. This was amplified when Kova was also higher up the pitch himself, ultimately leaving Enzo exposed and allowed Madrid's players to easily get in behind our midfield to directly attack the defence. 

Like it or not a midfield three is the only viable option right now based on the options we have on hand. 

[Sleeping Dave]

5 hours ago, Ham said:

I'm in a very small minority but I'd like to see what Lukaku can do as a big target man for the current crop of suppliers. 

One of the things we're suffering from most is not having a proper target to look up for. Defenders are not fazed by our front men and look increasingly comfortable.

If it works, and it's a big "if" it's win win for us. 

I think more fans are coming around to the idea.

1. We don’t have a single striker in the squad that’s good enough

2. There aren’t a plethora of strikers out there that we can get

3. We won’t be able to sell Lukaku

[Michael Tucker]

38 minutes ago, Sleeping Dave said:

I think more fans are coming around to the idea.

I think that the majority are.

38 minutes ago, Sleeping Dave said:

1. We don’t have a single striker in the squad that’s good enough

Very true.

38 minutes ago, Sleeping Dave said:

2. There aren’t a plethora of strikers out there that we can get

Not a huge amount, but there's still some good ones.

38 minutes ago, Sleeping Dave said:

3. We won’t be able to sell Lukaku

I wouldn't bet on that - he's highly regarded in Italy (for example). I guess it depends on how much we ask.

[ROTG]

26 minutes ago, Michael Tucker said:

I wouldn't bet on that - he's highly regarded in Italy (for example). I guess it depends on how much we ask.

Maybe if he wins the CL for inter they might try and buy him.?

Back to the real world, Once his loan is over  he needs to be told a few home truths and  prove he has unfinished business with the club.

[Mark Kelly]

7 hours ago, Ham said:

I'm in a very small minority but I'd like to see what Lukaku can do as a big target man for the current crop of suppliers. 

One of the things we're suffering from most is not having a proper target to look up for. Defenders are not fazed by our front men and look increasingly comfortable.

If it works, and it's a big "if" it's win win for us. 

 

1 hour ago, Sleeping Dave said:

I think more fans are coming around to the idea.

1. We don’t have a single striker in the squad that’s good enough

2. There aren’t a plethora of strikers out there that we can get

3. We won’t be able to sell Lukaku

My issue with Lukaku has never been about the goal scoring abilities , it's always been attitude related , he's an overweight , petulant man-baby with a messiah complex who seemed to think he was here to save us and the players who'd won the Champions league without him were underlings  placed there to make his life easier.

He told the club he wanted to come back , we negotiated his return and at the last moment he decided to go to United to be with his BFF Pogba , the single biggest waster in football history , birds of a feather , United had told Morata that he was their man , he dyed  his hair Red to make a statement when he joined them and because Lukaku had changed his mind he had to come to us instead where he never wanted to be and never truly settled.

Then after leaving United to join Inter he on the realisation that Italian tax laws meant that he'd lose out on money if he signed a second contract he decided that he'd grace Chelsea with his presence so he wasn't hit in the pocket , the season started OK then he was injured , decided the club and Tuchel was against him and behind the back of the club went on Italian TV to pander to the Inter supporters and besmirched Chelsea , the second the club questioned him on it he then played up demanding he needed to go back to Inter which cost us a fortune in lost money and has been a huge contributing factor to why we currently have no centre forward at our club and cannot score goals .

If we now welcome him back for a third term which I expect we will have to do we need to be hard with him , he needs to stick to a weight management plan where if he's heavier than the fourteen stone he should be he doesn't play and has to do extra conditioning training until he meets the weight requirement ( I believe he's currently two stone heavier) , secondly there is to be absolutely no media contact with anyone , no Instagram , no tik-tok ,no nothing , he maintains radio silence or is fined two weeks wages for each indiscretion for at least the first six months of the season and lastly if he makes any more stupid gestures on the pitch demanding his underlings put the ball exactly where he wants it he's fined two weeks wages per occurrence and an extra week if he didn't even try to move .

It's either that or he buys himself out of his contract .

The only thing that is saving him is the dearth of genuine competition , he's resolutely mediocre but in the land of the blind the one eyed man is king.

I still think having him back will kill yet another season stone dead before it starts purely based on his petulance and entitlement but it seems everyone else believes it'll be fine so I will await the outcome.

 

[Mark Kelly]

This screen shot is allegedly taken just as Madrid took the corner that led to the second goal , just look at the steely levels of concentration on show , some of them are even looking. 

[martin1905]

6 hours ago, xceleryx said:

It doesn't work, doesn't matter how simple you explain it the functionality of it simply isn't there and we've seen that already in the couple of games since Kante's return. 

There's only one outcome with this sort of double pivot and it's Enzo sitting deep being wasted, while we have a technically cumbersome Kante taking up positions in the attacking third where he severely lacks the skillset. 

The other concern, and this was very evident in the Madrid game, but Kante looks slow and devoid of the energy he once possessed to get back and recover. On several occasions he'd push forward and just didn't have the capacity to get back. This was amplified when Kova was also higher up the pitch himself, ultimately leaving Enzo exposed and allowed Madrid's players to easily get in behind our midfield to directly attack the defence. 

Like it or not a midfield three is the only viable option right now based on the options we have on hand. 

 

'Enzo sitting deep being wasted, while we have a technically cumbersome Kante taking up positions in the attacking third where he severely lacks the skillset'  

I mean, that is literally what is happening now in a three man midfield so what difference would it make?

It is quite funny as I've been advocating a midfield three for quite some time now whilst you argued it would not work, yet now you claim 'its the only viable option' which is of course not true. We have only seen a three man midfield since Kante returned. It means Enzo playing the exact role you claim he can't, and you'd be right because he has been rubbish at it. It's not even that he's wasted, he can't do it. Doesn't have the positioning sense or the discipline, which is fine, that's not his role but is exactly what he's been asked to play. And hes been terrible.

Kante was the best player on the pitch against Liverpool but struggled against Madrid, which I think is fair enough considering how long he's been out for.  And again this was in a three man midfield. Everything you say won't work in a pivot and the reason we have to play a three man midfield is just as evident when doing so. You were also against a three man midfield because it would mean playing other players out if position yet your now advocating it's the only way. 

Lastly, and most importantly in my opinion and something you chose to completely ignore is the fact that it's about getting players playing football and keeping certain players away. My entire point was that we need to start getting players playing who we will be building our future on. Not Felix, not Havertz, not Kovacic, not RLC, not Pulisic. If that means the midfield is slightly in balanced, which it will be regardless of formation then so be it. The midfield, no matter who we play or what formation we use is always going to be a problem, something you have rightly pointed out yet it seems you are more bothered about being proved right about Kante than seeing the bigger picture.

The fact that we are utter shit, have nothing to play for is exactly why I'm advocating getting certain players playing and keeping some as far away as possible. Madueke, Chuckwuemeka, Mudryk, Fofana have all been utterly wasted and completely miss handled. We could and should be getting them into the team, getting them used to the premier league and giving them as many minutes, invaluable minute, as possible in a season that is completely and utterly done yet we line up with a back 5, a midfield 3 without a goal in them and two players playing out of position. Felix and Sterling upfront is up there with playing James at RCB and RLC at RWB in terms of ridiculous decisions.

 

[xceleryx]

37 minutes ago, martin1905 said:

 

'Enzo sitting deep being wasted, while we have a technically cumbersome Kante taking up positions in the attacking third where he severely lacks the skillset'  

I mean, that is literally what is happening now in a three man midfield so what difference would it make?

It is quite funny as I've been advocating a midfield three for quite some time now whilst you argued it would not work, yet now you claim 'its the only viable option' which is of course not true. We have only seen a three man midfield since Kante returned. It means Enzo playing the exact role you claim he can't, and you'd be right because he has been rubbish at it. It's not even that he's wasted, he can't do it. Doesn't have the positioning sense or the discipline, which is fine, that's not his role but is exactly what he's been asked to play. And hes been terrible.

Kante was the best player on the pitch against Liverpool but struggled against Madrid, which I think is fair enough considering how long he's been out for.  And again this was in a three man midfield. Everything you say won't work in a pivot and the reason we have to play a three man midfield is just as evident when doing so. You were also against a three man midfield because it would mean playing other players out if position yet your now advocating it's the only way. 

Lastly, and most importantly in my opinion and something you chose to completely ignore is the fact that it's about getting players playing football and keeping certain players away. My entire point was that we need to start getting players playing who we will be building our future on. Not Felix, not Havertz, not Kovacic, not RLC, not Pulisic. If that means the midfield is slightly in balanced, which it will be regardless of formation then so be it. The midfield, no matter who we play or what formation we use is always going to be a problem, something you have rightly pointed out yet it seems you are more bothered about being proved right about Kante than seeing the bigger picture.

The fact that we are utter shit, have nothing to play for is exactly why I'm advocating getting certain players playing and keeping some as far away as possible. Madueke, Chuckwuemeka, Mudryk, Fofana have all been utterly wasted and completely miss handled. We could and should be getting them into the team, getting them used to the premier league and giving them as many minutes, invaluable minute, as possible in a season that is completely and utterly done yet we line up with a back 5, a midfield 3 without a goal in them and two players playing out of position. Felix and Sterling upfront is up there with playing James at RCB and RLC at RWB in terms of ridiculous decisions.

 

The difference is that there's obviously three midfield bodies opposed to two, thus there's an extra individual in there to aid and share the defensive duties and thus less occasions where Enzo is likely to be isolated. 

I've advocated for a midfield three myself. I literally made a whole post in the squad status thread breaking down our tactical options and midfield combinations weeks ago, so let's pump the break on this idea that I'm somehow arguing against it. My issue hinges on the double pivot combination you proposed, nothing more nothing less. I understand it may be seen as an alternative, and it is, but given our options on hand for the roles needed its arguably a worse balance overall than utilising a three man midfield and spreading some of that responsibility out. Not that a midfield three magically solves our issues either, it's still an unbalanced trio irrespective of who we pick, it's purely more about trying to make the best of what we currently have.

Present day Kante thrives largely in football matches which are open where there's plenty of midfield space and opportunities to break in transition. It's been a trend going back to the last 12-18 months at least. So his performance against Liverpool wasn't that great of a surprise, even after missing so much football. Put him in a tighter contested affair however, and well we're going to see the sort of performance he had vs Madrid. Something he ironically demonstrated in last seasons fixtures against them where he was awful in both legs. 

In an ideal world  the midfield three would look like this - Holding Midfielder, Enzo, A bonafide #8. A more balanced double pivot would consist of a Holding Midfielder and Enzo. I've said this several times over the last few months. Kante is nothing more than a squad player in this day and age - and an awkward fitting one at that, unless we play a midfield three and give up the #8. Again, I've broken all this down before so won't delve further into it again. I couldn't care less if I'm right or wrong on Kante, I've been wrong on players before and will be again in the future. But people are also extremely guilty of assessing Kante purely on reputation and what he was at his peak, opposed to accepting he's a 32 year old ball-winning midfielder that heavily relies on athleticism to impact games. If he can't provide that energy, as was the case against Madrid, then he becomes a hinderance when given the freedom to play so high up the pitch because he can't create or pass. 

End of the day I agree, we're shit. That we should be getting as many minutes into those who need the reps at senior level (again, I've expressed this myself months back), while the inept figures like Pulisic and co can sit on the sidelines and watch. I've not missed this point at all. There's not going to be a magical formation that fixes things either, that I am also aware of. It's as much about damage limitation this season as it is limping through until we can clear house properly in the summer and move forward in a more planned and cohesive direction. 

[ROTG]

1 hour ago, martin1905 said:

Madueke, Chuckwuemeka, Mudryk, Fofana

Sorry Martin1905. 
none of them are of the levels needed by the club to complete for a top four position “regardless how much the club paid for them”. 
More over I doubt if 3 of the 4 will be at the club within two seasons regardless of there price tag and stupid contracts 

the game has evolved an moved on with the having a squad full of youngsters theory. The Arse have got lucky because the big guns in the PL are toilet this season. Interesting to see how they fair next season. 
One can only hope whoever becomes head coach can select his own players  from the current squad and not one supplied by TB sports department 

[Mark Kelly]

3 minutes ago, ROTG said:

Sorry Martin1905. 
none of them are of the levels needed by the club to complete for a top four position “regardless how much the club paid for them”. 
More over I doubt if 3 of the 4 will be at the club within two seasons regardless of there price tag and stupid contracts 

the game has evolved an moved on with the having a squad full of youngsters theory. The Arse have got lucky because the big guns in the PL are toilet this season. Interesting to see how they fair next season. 
One can only hope whoever becomes head coach can select his own players  from the current squad and not one supplied by TB sports department 

I'm amazed you can tell that considering they've hardly played.

Looks like you made your mind up before the ink was dry on the contracts.

And no , I'm not claiming them to be world beaters.

[ROTG]

1 hour ago, Mark Kelly said:

I'm amazed you can tell that considering they've hardly played.

Looks like you made your mind up before the ink was dry on the contracts.

And no , I'm not claiming them to be world beaters.

Are any of them any better than players we currently have out on loan?

Forfana better than Lukaku?

madueke / Mudryk at £100m for the pair better than CHO?

Edited April 14, 2023 by ROTG

[CarefreeMuratcan]

4 hours ago, Mark Kelly said:

This screen shot is allegedly taken just as Madrid took the corner that led to the second goal , just look at the steely levels of concentration on show , some of them are even looking. 

And then it will be these same idiots asking for a transfer if we don't get back in the CL in a few years

[kev61]

On 13/04/2023 at 08:36, ROTG said:

So wrong 

Sterling when part of a coached team under TT in the PL 

 

Sterling is one of those players that a lot of people here thought would struggle, and so it's came to pass.

He is not innately gifted, he needs top players around him to make him look good.

Unfortunately we have several players on our books at a huge cost that are the same.

We are in a pickle for sure,but I still maintain we have a very good team in there.

With the players we bought Tuchel could have started again with a blank canvas.Tuchel has forgotten more about football than most managers imo.

 

[Sleeping Dave]

20 hours ago, martin1905 said:

 

'

Lastly, and most importantly in my opinion and something you chose to completely ignore is the fact that it's about getting players playing football and keeping certain players away. My entire point was that we need to start getting players playing who we will be building our future on. Not Felix, not Havertz, not Kovacic, not RLC, not Pulisic. If that means the midfield is slightly in balanced, which it will be regardless of formation then so be it. The midfield, no matter who we play or what formation we use is always going to be a problem, something you have rightly pointed out yet it seems you are more bothered about being proved right about Kante than seeing the bigger picture.

The fact that we are utter shit, have nothing to play for is exactly why I'm advocating getting certain players playing and keeping some as far away as possible. Madueke, Chuckwuemeka, Mudryk, Fofana have all been utterly wasted and completely miss handled. We could and should be getting them into the team, getting them used to the premier league and giving them as many minutes, invaluable minute, as possible in a season that is completely and utterly done yet we line up with a back 5, a midfield 3 without a goal in them and two players playing out of position. Felix and Sterling upfront is up there with playing James at RCB and RLC at RWB in terms of ridiculous decisions.

 

Bang on Martin. If Felix is a viable shout for us to sign then I agree he should be playing. If he’s not, get minutes to Madueke and Mudryk. We have a spine of players that this club needs to move forward with for the long term;

Fofana, Badiashile, James, Chilwell, Enzo, Mount, Chukwuemeka, Sterling, Mudryk, Madueke, Havertz. Get these lads playing as much as possible. We haven’t got anything to lose, we look absolute shit most of the time so how much worse can it get? If we don’t believe in the players we’ve bought, why did we buy them? 

[Sleeping Dave]

23 hours ago, Michael Tucker said:

 

Not a huge amount, but there's still some good ones.

 

I’m looking around and seeing at best; 

Osimhen, Thuram, Kolo Muani, Moukonko. Looking closer to home, Toney, Watkins or Mitrovic. 

Im not seeing a consistent goalscorer in there unfortunately. If Inhad to chose freely among those players my money would be on Thuram, Kolo Muani or Mitrovic. 

[Rob B]

1 hour ago, Sleeping Dave said:

I’m looking around and seeing at best; 

Osimhen, Thuram, Kolo Muani, Moukonko. Looking closer to home, Toney, Watkins or Mitrovic. 

Im not seeing a consistent goalscorer in there unfortunately. If Inhad to chose freely among those players my money would be on Thuram, Kolo Muani or Mitrovic. 

In my head, this summer has all been about going big on a number 9. 

But looking at this list, I wonder if we’d be better off hedging our bets and buying two strikers for the same money?  Would Ivan Toney and Mitrovic (purely as examples) be less risk than one £100m  signing from Italy (again as an example) 

I can’t imagine Broja will be around to contribute next season and is going to need a loan following his injury,  arguably Fofana needs one too?   Suppose we do technically own Lukaku but my worry with him is not his ability as he will have his uses, it’s whether upsets the harmony of the squad under a new manager.

[Michael Tucker]

7 minutes ago, Rob B said:

In my head, this summer has all been about going big on a number 9. 

Mate we already have one of those, don't we?

7 minutes ago, Rob B said:

Would Ivan Toney and Mitrovic (purely as examples) be less risk than one £100m  signing from Italy (again as an example) 

Don't know, but if we don't get Lukaku back we're idiots. And it will cost us nothing to find out!

7 minutes ago, Rob B said:

 Suppose we do technically own Lukaku but my worry with him is not his ability as he will have his uses, it’s whether upsets the harmony of the squad under a new manager.

Nothing 'technical' about it - we own him until such time as we decide to sell - or, he tells us that he wants to go.

And I have to ask - why would he upset the squad? Someone banging in goals is exactly what they want, isn't it?

[Rob B]

5 minutes ago, Michael Tucker said:

And I have to ask - why would he upset the squad? Someone banging in goals is exactly what they want, isn't it?

I guess to be candid, he comes across as a bit of an asshole.  Or if I’m trying to be fairer, he is a big ego and sometimes big ego’s upset the apple cart. 

He has a history of speaking to his native media when away with international duty, he criticised us when he was was playing under Tuchel (talking about changing formation etc),  he criticised Everton for not being ambitious enough,  he punched a dugout for Belgium walking off the pitch, the Man United fans hated him etc etc. 

Listen, I don’t hate the guy, he sticks the ball in the net and we obviously lack that severely, but it’s one that needs careful consideration for me, rather than a no brainer.   Will also depend on what a new coach wants out of their striker too.