It's Quiet 18 - Wanna ring the bell?

[BamberBridgeBlue]

Earlier this year's there was loads of nonsense on social media about one of Pep's girls having a major crush on Alvarez. Could that have upset Alvarez's fiancee? If she was giving him ear ache plus Erling's dominance was pissing him off, maybe he asked his agent to just test the market. So when Atleti took the bait, they decided as a couple to say vamos !
In many respects its a shame to see him go, he looked like he could become another Argie legend along with Sergio and Zabba. Plus he would surely have mentored Echeveri who will now be the only Argentinan at the club, as it stands.
We are heading towards £170m income in this window, with just the intra CFG purchase of Savio. Something weird is going on, and personally I have not got a scrooby what it is......

I have no idea what the nonsense was that you refer to on social media. But the way you extrapolated that nonsense to write more nonsense was absolutely fantastic. Skills.

 

[Matt Diablo]

Get Benezema in a swap with Cancelo

I think he will have much more confidence in Bobb seeing him in training last few years and also this pre season.

Savio we will have an idea but still need to see how he adapts. With McAtee staying I think we will be fine for depth but what happens if Haaland gets injured for 20 games again? Foden at false 9 worked but we really need to get him to make the 10 his own.

Get Benezema in a swap with Cancelo from the handchopping state or see if Ibrahamovic wants to come out of retirement . . . night

 

[yarny101]

Like a few people have mentioned on this thread already I'm half expecting a brief to be sent out once Alvarez has left that we are happy with the current squad.

It's just been very quiet this summer in terms of potential targets outside of Guimarães.

Let Bobb and McAtee step up and compete and plan for next year.

 

[Blue Bogey]

The problem we may have is bringing in a quality striker who is prepared to be 2nd choice.

I would look to bring in a player like Karim Konate, young 20, with European experience already, a natural finisher. I think he will start to get recognition across Europe this season as a player at Salzburg - Haaland’s old club. Their season has started and he has 1 from 1 in league plus 2 from 1 in a cup competition. I have known about him for about 18 months and think this could be his Season. He got 20 league goals last season from 29 a goal every 97 mins. Wouldn’t cost a fortune so could be worth a punt if Alvarez does leave.

 

[richards30]

Like a few people have mentioned on this thread already I'm half expecting a brief to be sent out once Alvarez has left that we are happy with the current squad.

It's just been very quiet this summer in terms of potential targets outside of Guimarães.

Let Bobb and McAtee step up and compete and plan for next year.

So possibly write this year off then?

 

[St.Pauli support]

In theory, we could take Perrone on Julian's space,
and JWE could join Phil and Macca on the 4 available club-trained spaces. Just sayin.

 

[Matt.D]

Like a few people have mentioned on this thread already I'm half expecting a brief to be sent out once Alvarez has left that we are happy with the current squad.

It's just been very quiet this summer in terms of potential targets outside of Guimarães.

Let Bobb and McAtee step up and compete and plan for next year.

If that brief goes out and we don’t go and make a signing then we should all be very worried about the reason behind that imo. Theres no way mcatee is anywhere near the level currently. If we let Alvarez go given the amount of games he’s played, goals and assists he’s got for us over the past 2 seasons for big money and don’t go out and buy a top player you have to wonder if it’s to do with the 115 charges and not wanting to get a top player in for a big fee and big wages if we are fearing the worst. It’s not like this has come out of the blue and we were unprepared it’s been clear he’s wanted out all summer.

 

[Jonas.shaffer]

Earlier this year's there was loads of nonsense on social media about one of Pep's girls having a major crush on Alvarez. Could that have upset Alvarez's fiancee? If she was giving him ear ache plus Erling's dominance was pissing him off, maybe he asked his agent to just test the market. So when Atleti took the bait, they decided as a couple to say vamos !
In many respects its a shame to see him go, he looked like he could become another Argie legend along with Sergio and Zabba. Plus he would surely have mentored Echeveri who will now be the only Argentinan at the club, as it stands.
We are heading towards £170m income in this window, with just the intra CFG purchase of Savio. Something weird is going on, and personally I have not got a scrooby what it is......

 

[Keeper!]

Like a few people have mentioned on this thread already I'm half expecting a brief to be sent out once Alvarez has left that we are happy with the current squad.

It's just been very quiet this summer in terms of potential targets outside of Guimarães.

Let Bobb and McAtee step up and compete and plan for next year.

"and compete and plan for next year."

Doesn't work like that, we need to bring in a few new faces to keep it fresh and keep existing players on their toes.

 

[Paul1970]

If that brief goes out and we don’t go and make a signing then we should all be very worried about the reason behind that imo. Theres no way mcatee is anywhere near the level currently. If we let Alvarez go given the amount of games he’s played, goals and assists he’s got for us over the past 2 seasons for big money and don’t go out and buy a top player you have to wonder if it’s to do with the 115 charges and not wanting to get a top player in for a big fee and big wages if we are fearing the worst. It’s not like this has come out of the blue and we were unprepared it’s been clear he’s wanted out all summer.

Good post and you’ve touched on a lot of points which many are thinking . By the look of it this will be peps final season and a lot if players like guarantees about the manager before they come and by getting the kids blooded who are clearly not ready to step up yet somthing is amiss also you don’t lose 15/20 goals a season and not even replace that .

 

[timperleyblueboy]

I'd be surprised if we replace Alvarez myself. In an ideal world we would do, but we have brought Savio in , mcatee (not same level) is back, Bobb will get more minutes. None of our Competitors have strengthened significantly. So I feel he'll be happy with what we have. I could maybe see a season long loan for joao Felix coming the other way from Athletic but we'll see.

 

[Keeper!]

If that brief goes out and we don’t go and make a signing then we should all be very worried about the reason behind that imo. Theres no way mcatee is anywhere near the level currently. If we let Alvarez go given the amount of games he’s played, goals and assists he’s got for us over the past 2 seasons for big money and don’t go out and buy a top player you have to wonder if it’s to do with the 115 charges and not wanting to get a top player in for a big fee and big wages if we are fearing the worst. It’s not like this has come out of the blue and we were unprepared it’s been clear he’s wanted out all summer.

I would agree with this sentiment.

For me the defeat against Madrid in the CL made it possible to win our fourth consecutive title, without that defeat we don't win the title, our players looked tired and were struggling.

We have needed to refresh the midfield for sometime, we must be bringing in a high quality player to help Rodri, Kovacic was a great squad addition but not as a regular.

We also have several players with dubious injury records, Ake, Stones, Kovacic, Haaland and KDB all miss a lot of games or are unavailable, with the small squad we have that becomes an issue, especially later in the season.

This could well be Bobb's breakout season, he is a hell of a talent but McAtee for me is no more than a Gomez replacement.

 

[Matt.D]

.

For me the defeat against Madrid in the CL made it possible to win our fourth consecutive title, without that defeat we don't win the title, our players looked tired and were struggling.

We have needed to refresh the midfield for sometime, we must be bringing in a high quality player to help Rodri, Kovacic was a great squad addition but not as a regular.

We also have several players with dubious injury records, Ake, Stones, Kovacic, Haaland and KDB all miss a lot of games or are unavailable, with the small squad we have that becomes an issue, especially later in the season.

This could well be Bobb's breakout season, he is a hell of a talent but McAtee for me is no more than a Gomez replacement.

Agree about the midfield, that was the first sign something is wrong imo. Been obvious for 2-3 years that Rodri needs a rest in some games, if Pep thought Kovacic could play as a 6 fairly regularly he would have done it a lot more last season. And whilst Bernardo will play more centrally this season he still isn’t a 6.

If Alvarez goes and we choose not to replace something definitely amiss and it’s more than just Peps future.

 

[Coatigan]

So possibly write this year off then?

Sure mate.

 

[Coatigan]

I would agree with this sentiment.

For me the defeat against Madrid in the CL made it possible to win our fourth consecutive title, without that defeat we don't win the title, our players looked tired and were struggling.

We have needed to refresh the midfield for sometime, we must be bringing in a high quality player to help Rodri, Kovacic was a great squad addition but not as a regular.

We also have several players with dubious injury records, Ake, Stones, Kovacic, Haaland and KDB all miss a lot of games or are unavailable, with the small squad we have that becomes an issue, especially later in the season.

This could well be Bobb's breakout season, he is a hell of a talent but McAtee for me is no more than a Gomez replacement.

Imo if we had won the penalty shootout, we would have won another treble.

The team would have found it in them to win at least one game against bayern which could have been enough.

And after that it is one final, and with that looming, no way they lose the fa cup final like that,the focus would have been there.

And then the final, with 4 trophies in the bag, they would have had immense hunger for it.

That's how I see this team,and their character.

 

[Fordyboy46]

Didn't Pep mention only last week that Haaland has niggles and had to be replaced against Milan. Not a great sign already and with Alvarez leaving we night be playing the false nine sooner rather than later

 

[Vester]

If that brief goes out and we don’t go and make a signing then we should all be very worried about the reason behind that imo. Theres no way mcatee is anywhere near the level currently. If we let Alvarez go given the amount of games he’s played, goals and assists he’s got for us over the past 2 seasons for big money and don’t go out and buy a top player you have to wonder if it’s to do with the 115 charges and not wanting to get a top player in for a big fee and big wages if we are fearing the worst. It’s not like this has come out of the blue and we were unprepared it’s been clear he’s wanted out all summer.

I think the charges do have an impact on our transfer business, even if some people on here seem to be in complete denial about this. Even if the club is certain of no wrongdoing they also know our fate on that matter is not decided by us. Just as if I was being prosecuted for tax fraud I certainly wouldn't be calm and certain of winning in court just because I know I'm innocent. In the end, it all comes down to the opinion of other people and how they interpret so called "evidence".

Not to mention that certain potential targets (the likes of Wirtz/Musila, just an example but players that are already in a good place in their career) might think twice and prefer to wait and see what happens with these charges before committing to five years of their prime career with us.

On the other hand, we are still regarded as the perhaps best team in the world and we will obviously always be very attractive to the huge majority of players. Most players would jump at the chance to join us!

With that said, if we had sold Alvarez a month ago and later signed Savinho, a 20 year old Brazil international that had 11+10 attacking returns in a team that finished third in La Liga, most would have seen him as a decent Alvarez replacement.

 

[Keeper!]

Agree about the midfield, that was the first sign something is wrong imo. Been obvious for 2-3 years that Rodri needs a rest in some games, if Pep thought Kovacic could play as a 6 fairly regularly he would have done it a lot more last season. And whilst Bernardo will play more centrally this season he still isn’t a 6.

If Alvarez goes and we choose not to replace something definitely amiss and it’s more than just Peps future.

The latter IE Pep could be the issue.

Maybe the recent noise about staying is just that, if he were to leave and say Alonso comes in next summer I would expect several departures and hence the need to stockpile cash to replace them.

All the above is pure speculation but I would worry if we don't bring in two or three top players in the next 3 weeks, even more so if Cancelo, Phillips, Alvarez and Nunes leave.

 

[Keeper!]

Imo if we had won the penalty shootout, we would have won another treble.

The team would have found it in them to win at least one game against bayern which could have been enough.

And after that it is one final, and with that looming, no way they lose the fa cup final like that,the focus would have been there.

And then the final, with 4 trophies in the bag, they would have had immense hunger for it.

That's how I see this team,and their character.

That could have very much been the scenario but for me we need a small refresh, to keep the rest of their toes but also to tell out opponents were going nowhere.

Also the club want CL titles and with Madrid strengthening we should be doing the same.

 

[blue b4 the moon]

Scrooby dooby do

Brilliant and criminally under liked on here.