Smirking_Saint

Probably yes 😂

Can he play wingback 🤷🏻‍♂️

The Athletic is pretty high up there as far as journalistic integrity is concerned, I know Dan/Carl used to ensure that there was truth in rumours before any info was released and many ‘rumours’ were not used as there wasn’t enough public info to corroborate it So yes… Id say in this case ‘no smoke without fire’ is a reasonable term to use

That is a fantastic signing to fill the Raphinha hole and at a good price Im hoping Tella to Burnley means we can go back to City for Delap, although again he is unproven… Id prefer Nmencha or Kaladjzic Id also again like us to look at Kouyate, Brooks or Zagadou.. all good, free CBs with decent pedigree

I don’t get how 4222 is an any more difficult system then 532 tbh… but thats just me We also play this also almost suicidally high line.. the WBs were basically camped on Spurs/Monaco’s by line and even 2 of the 3 CBs pushed up and played as narrow FBs at about 30/40 yards out from Spurs goal… I appreciate the pressure we put them under but as per usual it is so fragile on the break… I can’t see hiw it was coached particularly well either, Djenepo/KWP kept being overloaded as the MF 3 stayed pretty central, AA despite his efforts looked lost and we just allowed cross after cross into the box Finally, and I say this about most 3 atb teams.. if you don’t play 3 atb consistently with the same back 3 then its just confusing, in a 2 atb you know its you and your partner and you adjust responsibility accordingly, in a 3, and we saw this Saturday, it introduces a bit of confusion as you second guess who is marking, who is attacking the ball, who is covering etc… so in that instance Im not convinced what we are playing is any more ‘defensive’ If he was defensive solidity then we should go 4 atb with a double pivot ahead but thats just me, it also suits our players better.. considering we have arguably 3/4 defensively minded MFers, 2 good No.10s and 2/3 bang average wingers.. with only 2 FBs 🤷🏻‍♂️

Because I suppose you need contingency for the new manager We will likely spend more this window still aswell

I think the ‘vibe’ was because they maybe expected a friendlier atmosphere after the spending and the coaching spruce up, as evidenced by some of the replies they gave.. but like some have said, after the inconsistencies of the last couple of years and Saturdays 4-1 tonking it’s baffling that they didn’t turn up prepared My gut feel is that the management team has been read the riot act, as I said previously, SR are not at all comfortable with a potential relegation of their primary club for the multi club model, whether we’ll see a reaction remains to be seen Having been in the same room as Rasmus a couple of times he seems a typical, new age investor/business guy and almost certainly doesn’t suffer fools (he also seemed a bit of a nob but there we go) I think potentially the management team is on borrowed time, Im not personally convinced Semmens has done a particularly great job as CEO outside of the SR investment and Steele, the couple of times Ive heard him talk never seems clued up about issues he really should know the answers too

Appreciate his support, but; Can you remind him its not all about him and there’s other people looking to ask a question?

I actually looked at his percentiles after this and didn’t appreciate how wank he actually was so I appreciate the heads up 😂 3 CBs though, I really like the look of and are all free transfers are; Axel Zagadou - 23 yr old ex Dortmund, tall and imposing, French youth international… Roma sniffing around so unlikely John Brooks - 29yr old ex Wolsburg CB, tall, athletic, decent on the ball. Likely looking to push for a USA WC place (German/USA). (My preference) Cheik Kouyate - 32yr old ex Palace CB/DM, his passing percentiles are rather uninspiring so may not fit us completely but is a dominating CB with premier league experience, probably a decent stop gap that adds steel to the back line

Jason Denayer is being released by Lyon.. not really sure why, Im fairly sure he had a good season there last year Time to get a two for one on him and Dembele please Ralph Could do an awful lot worse

I can go along with this, was happy to give RH the benefit of the doubt and a bit of time this season, new coaching team and players… but we just reverted to type on Saturday, capitulating too easily and again Ralph plays players out of their positions.. its baffling and Ive had enough of it Ive been consistently Ralph in but Im just tired by it all

Im not going to lie… was only when I started writing it up I realised just how light we were in wide positions, especially the right 😂 Pretend I wrote Redmond

You realise its a new season and your opening line works both way ? Anyway…. Id like to see a return to a 4 at the back, be it 4231, 4312 or 4222… we have the players for those roles… simply put, 352 just means we’re sticking square pegs in round holes… I also despise 3 atb formations, it gives you a false sense of defensive security but all it does is removes responsibility for marking etc and you get what you got Saturday.. everyone expecting someone else to do the necessary We need a response and quick, I want to see a commitment from the off, back to our trademark press and for fuck sake play players in their positions…. ————— Bazunu ————— KWP - ABK - Salisu - Perraud ——— Lavia —- JWP ———— —Arma—-S Armstrong —- Aribo— —————Adams ———

He has until November and his replacement won’t come from within, we also have a January kitty

Crocker is the DoF… spin it however you want

Source ?

Almost double Broja’s output but apparently he is the answer Thankfully none of these posters are on the recruitment team

Ahh yes… we’ll no doubt spend it well like we did on Carillo, Osvaldo, Armstrong and oh… Adams

The problem is I look at Damsgaard and Guedes with jealousy… then get sort of excited about a potential move for CHO… then realise they’ll need to play wingback anyway 😂

You all know I rate Che higher then our other strikers so I can’t be arsed to go through it again, other than pointing out that AA offered nothing, no physicality at all Saturday and behind him we played an AM not blessed with pace Regardless of that it just feels odd, it leaves us with one under firing senior striker and I just, even if we sell Che, cannot see us spending the required amount to bring in the then 2 strikers we need

I’m fairly confident this is one of the worst posts Ive ever read on here and I survived the Alpine Saint years

You knew what I meant though

Ive slept on it… overall Im not dissapointed we lost, I was expecting it, Spurs are a good outfit.. but the manner of the loss ? Ive never been Ralph out, but there is just too many issues that we can disect; Djenepo… ok, he looked offensively good in pre season but even then we saw he struggles to defend with any ability at all, fails to read the play, mark a man or tackle with any strength.. so what is he doing at LWB against a team that plays high attacking WBs and Kulu/Son ? Especially with a recognised LB on the bench A Armstrong… ok he needs minutes, but he is almost certainly not a lone striker, we have that on thr bench in Che Adams and AA showed he wasn’t up to the task, effectively went missing for 60 minutes. And then to bring Stu Armstrong on upfront ? S Armstrong - Arguably one of our better attacking players, fans like him, ralph likes him.. doesn’t mean you need to press gang him into a side as a striker, either play a tactic that accommodates him or accept he doesn’t fit Valery - I thought he had a decent pre season tbf, but lets be frank, we have 6 other senior CBs in the club, there’s no reason to be starting 352 - It just doesn’t work, its a formation that needs significant tactical training to be familiar with and CBs really need to trust each other, because otherwise you get a lack of anyone taking responsibility at the right times, and we saw that yesterday. We also play it SO aggressively, often camped on the edge of the opposing box, and push both wide CBs forward too.. its asking for breakaway goals and we saw that Mental fragility - A theme Ive seen with us for years, maybe an issue with youth, maybe a lack of real leaders… I just don’t know anymore but we capitulate when the game goes against us, there is zero fight in this squad, zero.. Im not even sure how you begin to address that effectively Im still optimistic we’ll be ok, we should have more incoming, we should have more than those below us, but yesterday was worrying to say the least, we don’t seem to have learned anything since last year On the plus side Lavia was very good, but yeah.. thats it really

Ahh lovely… still fucking useless at the back then

Lovely… nearly an own goal… not sure where Bazunu thought he was going or why Bednarek played it without looking