tajjuk

If it's correct he wants football and not in London then. Spurs out for obvious reasons, no Chelsea, no West Ham. Man City he's just going to another bench, probably more likely to be further down the pecking order especially as Pep is likely to bring a big name or two more familiar to him. With Silva, Nasri, Sterling, De Bruyne, Navas they are well covered AM wise like Arsenal. Man Utd lack any good wingers really, so that's a possibility, respect for fans though would seem odd to move to Utd. Liverpool look obvious, better chance of football, well respected manager, rebuilding the team, they are just well stocked in those areas. Leicester, probably champions, definitely in the Champs League and will probably need to replace Mahrez. I'd go Liverpool most likely, then Man Utd with us and Leicester outsiders equal with the chance of him staying at Arsenal. Would be the kind of signing that I think would convince Ronald to stay though if we went out and got him.

Seems about right and to be honest with the TV money, income from attendance seems less and less important these days.

Doubt wages is particularly an issue, with the TV deals most established premier league clubs can afford £60-80K a week for a few of their star players. I doubt anyone is going to give him over £100k, West Ham might throw some money at him I suppose, they seem to being linked with every out of sort player at top clubs. If they are going for someone like Benteke for £25-30 million, I doubt they will be able to do another £15-20 million. Probably the best place for him to go if he wasn't an Arsenal player would be Spurs, he'd very nicely fit into their squad, would get Champions league football and probably get more games. At a guess Liverpool or a cash flushed Everton, or maybe to sit on the bench at Man City to fill their english quota.

A 'no brainer' IMO, his history with us might give us a slight edge over say your West Hams, Evertons etc. The lure of a Liverpool or a Chelsea might be too much for him though. Depends on him as a person really, whether he wants to get more game time and develop his talent then he'd not go to a Chelsea etc. If he wants a pay day and continue to sit on the bench then he will. I'd also wonder whether we'd actually go for him, though the lure of bringing home an academy product is there, but we don;t seem to be ever market for the 'available' players having planned more long term. Personally I'd go up to £20 million for him.

Anoyone know why Mane was looking so glum and shaking his head at the end?

Certainly agree it's a big summer. I'd like to see as few outs as possible, probably only Wanyama. Then hopefully 2-3 quality signings in, don't think we need to spend £30 million a player, Leicester, Spurs, and ourselves have shown that. We just have to do our homework, get players that buy into the team and fit what we are after. Add in signing up Koeman for another couple of years and hopefully a full undisprupted pre-season for the likes of Jay Rod, Austin, Forster etc. and we'll have the basis of a very solid squad. After this season who know's what will happen next year, 'buying success' just doesn't seem to be having the impact it did a few years ago. Not just form this season but Liverpool and Man Utds continued under performance over the last few years despite big signings. At a guess, the spread of wealth in the league means the overall quality of the teams is much closer than in previous years, there are as many easy games now (shown by the amount of away wins) and that means that team spirit, fitness, work rate, good management, correct tactics are playing a bigger role than used to compared to just having the better players.

Think Tadic should start, seems our best hope for creativity at the moment. I'd stick with Long, Pelle and Tadic.

Has he bulked up a bit? Looks more stocky than before.

Second Wijnaldum and Sigurdsson. A goal scorer AM would be a good addition IMO, both of those fit the bill. I also like the idea of Oxlaide Chamberlain, he needs football and he'd also be able to play in that AM position, but more likely for him to go to Liverpool I'd reckon. Aside that it depends on outs, back 5 looks very solid. Wanyama looks like an obvious departure so a young replacement for him I'd reckon. Possibly Mane but he's been up and down so I suspect people won't be paying the £25 million we'd ask. Forward line has plenty of options as well. The Squad overall is pretty good to be honest if all fit, so only if we can add quality, that's why I'd go for that AM because that is somewhere we need quality. We aren't going to get better strikers, defensive mids or defenders than we already have without spending £25 million plus or unearthing a real gem. So I'd chuck £15-20 million at one of Wiljnaldum, Sigurdsson or the Ox and see who we can get.

Our best player probably, though Mane will get the attention as he's a forward, but I think big clubs will come looking at him soon. I actually think he's better technically then he appears to be, I just think mentally he switches off against lesser opponents and that often shows in somewhat lazy passing. He'll go though, we'll get a good fee and we are reasonably well stocked in that position with the ability to add.

Considering Khazri's getting raved about for corners at Sunderland and after watching such a highly accomplished player like Ozil take some pretty poor ones against Leicester, JWP should be lauded for his crossing/dead ball technique alone. Set pieces are like something like 30% of all goals in the league IIRC, considering we have some pretty tall players who are good at headers he probably is worth putting in the team for that. 2 goals and 4 assists from 13 starts isn't too bad at all either.

Think he's fine and would certainly keep him in the squad but long term I'd prefer Austin as the more reliable finisher with Mane and Tadic supporting him. But to be honest is he any worse than Vardy? Vardy has a Mahrez to supply him and a team that plays to his strengths but on attributes Long and Vardy are very similar. I mean if another club had bought Vardy last year for £12 million you'd have thought we'd had the better deal.

It's possible but we'd need to win about 9 of our remaining 12 I reckon, can't see that myself because our forwards aren't really on form and we can't rely on our defence every game. Our poor form around Xmas cost us a top four chance, possibly forever if the big clubs actually get themselves in order. Dropping stupid points to the likes of Norwich, if we'd played even averagely through that period rather than poorly we'd have 5 or 6 more points and be right in there to challenge for 4th. Finishing 5th though ahead of Utd and Liverpool would still be huge and I could be smug to a lot of mates. We certainly have a realistic chance of doing that.

If that tackle is a "horror tackle" then Byram's was attempted murder. It's debatable whether that was even a yellow, I doubt it would have been if it had been in the first few minutes of the game. It was from the side, one footed, no studs over the ball and not jumping in, just a late albeit a bit rash sliding tackle that pretty much missed everything. Club should appeal because it's a poor decision. Luckily we have a very able replacement and aside Chelsea we don't really have to play anyone that would need the extra quality wanyama brings.

lol those guys are morons. We were the better side overall, shame we didn't really press on when on top first half, we sat back after the goal, but still looked far more dangerous than they did. They are a good side, but they look overly reliant on Payet (who was basically in Wanyamas pocket until that one incident with the tackle) and their defence on really works by bullying people, when they get a bit of bite back which Long and Pelle did, Collins and Reid don't look so good IMO. Plus even with Clattenberg trying to give them a leg up, they still looked average going forward. Would be nice to finish above them and Liverpool, maybe catch utd.

Bit of a silly tackle but is never in a million years a red, I doubtful that is even a yellow. From the side, one footed, doesn't jump in, is not over the ball. It was just late. I hope appeal.

Well only having a 40 yard shot to save all game probably helps, it's good to have him back and I'd agree that he is a more commanding influence behind the back 3/4 but he hasn't exactly had much to do since he's come back. It's a shame about his injury as he's very likely to have dropped to England's no3. what with Butlands superb form and Hart looks immense at the moment behind a terrible defence, without him Man City would be struggling for top 4 I reckon.

Would we really pay Austin 80k a week? At best I'd reckon he's on £50k, from the noises he's made he wants to play in the league, wants to be down south and wants to get in the England team I don't think we needed to throw a massive wage at him, sounds more like he's made the move because it's a good one for his career. I found it very odd after his excellent season last year in a trash team that no one went for him in the summer. Top signing I can see him potentially being a 20 goal a season man for us, he's a very good finisher and we create a decent amount of chances.

Nonsense IMO. Long is alright he runs around a lot but Pelle brings players into the game much better, is more of a goal threat and is generally all round a better player. Long has always had these little burst of good form but generally he's never been much more than mediocre with pace. He works hard and I like him as a squad player but I'd take a fit Pelle over him every day of the week. Now we have Austin I'd easily sell Long.

The OP for me is typical of the ignorant english football fan, probably has played and is wowed by people who run around a lot and look busy or throw their weight around or have pace, no appreciation for qualities like ball delivery, picking a pass, seeing a pass, good positioning, first touch etc. which JWP has in abundance. I mean Wanyama runs around a lot and knocks people over, but generally if he has to pass more than 10 yards it's a worry, different players have different qualities, JWP at 20 has qualities that some 29/30 centre mids still don't have. He'll add more to his game and I think more goals but he'll never knock people over or run fast, doesn't mean he can't turn into a top level player or that he isn't a decent one currently.

5 points off top in November, can't really complain about that.

Stronger squad and IMO though we have lost Morgan and Clyne I think by the end of the seasons Cedric and Clasie will be close enough to those two. Also I think Pelle. Tadic and Mane have all improved, I'd argue Vigil is as good a package as Toby and even say players like Yoshida and JWP outside the first eleven have improved. So no don;t think the first 11 is weaker overall, I think if might be a tad weaker in areas but stronger in others because of player improvement. Plus really over the last few seasons it has never been our first 11 that has been the issue, it has been the crop of quality we had once two or three were missing (like say Gazziniga or Hooiveld for example coming in and making big errors and costing us games), this year out quality in depth is better and we have better options to change games.

Give him time, it's what like his second game and he's behind everyone else in the league who had a full pre-season and should be peak match fitness, plus he needs time to adjust to a new league. I think though he will be key to providing the balance in the team and helping us transition from defence to attack more quickly which I think we saw yesterday. First half he was instrumental in my opinion at upping our tempo against a very hard working and deep lying Bournemouth team. Previous years we have struggled to break down teams like that at home (think QPR at home, Sunderland, West Ham) and part of that is we are at times sluggish at moving the ball quickly from midfield to the forwards without just humping it. Clasie looks to me like he will be the pass behind the assist type player, especially once he gets used to the pace of the league. I also think having two similar DMs is just negative and not needed at home, we have Wanyama for that, we don't need another midfield bruiser, we need someone that can get about the pitch but also get his head up and find the likes of Mane and Tadic in dangerous positions.

Shame Liverpool won, hopefully West Ham and Leicester will fall away (also makes out away point at Watford look better) then looks like we could be there with pool and spurs for top 6, plus Utd and Arsenal are hardly looking on form, top 7 or 8 could easily be anyone the way some teams are playing. Can't right Chelsea off but I'd say a top 4 space has maybe opened up.

Wait what? Gaston played well?