Alexis Sanchez

[KS55]

Very true but wasn't Bin Laden a Tarquin ?

Bin Laden supported Bradford City. His mum lives here.

 

[OhSoGroovy]

Man City only have Aguero or Jesus. Do you know how good Jesus is?!

As for Rashford. You can not be serious!! Morata is a good footballer. Unfortunately he doesn't score many goals. See his record in Italy.

Yes Chelsea are a threat. Spurs too. But it's going to be City v Chelsea I believe. Utd will struggle to make top 4

I know how good they are, but I also know Agüero's injury prone.

Serious, the same argument made for Sané, I can make for Rashford. The potential is certainly there.

Morata had 15 goals in the league last season which is what matters. Players improve.

Have I just read that utd have more goal scoring options than us? It's early and I'm still half asleep but fuckinel!

There's some strange folk knocking about bluemoon.

Lol, if they sign Perisic & Morata, they do. Don't be delusional.

 

[Burtonblue]

For a start we can play Aguero or Jesus up front with Sterling and Sane wide, and Sane will get 10 league goals from out wide next season. He only clicked for us in 2017 and ended up with 9 goals from 37 games. I think he'll start the season as he ended the last - on fire and I'd back him to get over 10 league goals this season, and loads of assists.

Sanchez is not needed. Sure he'd do a job, but I'd prefer to replace Kun with an Mbappe or Dembele maybe in 12 months time

.....or Sanchez on a free then!!

 

[Phil1]

I know how good they are, but I also know Agüero's injury prone.

Serious, the same argument made for Sané, I can make for Rashford. The potential is certainly there.

Morata had 15 goals in the league last season which is what matters. Players improve.


Lol, if they sign Perisic & Morata, they do. Don't be delusional.

I'm trying my hardest not to be delusional but then I read posts like yours and feel the need to get the hard drugs out, the delusion just follows naturally.

 

[Blue Llama]

They aren't & strikers aren't the only ones who can get double-digit or 12 goals a season. 15 goals is just the top echelon, anything that's 12+ plus is pretty damn good for wingers/attacking mids.

If they do in fact sign Perisic & Morata, they could easily have three to four players capable of getting at least 12 goals a season. Rashford, Micki, Morata & Perisic (Martial is capable as well, if he plays all season). Especially if they actually have a normal conversion rate next season

Umm, Liverpool have Mane who scored 13 last season despite injury & AFCON. Salah scored 15. Coutinho scored 13. Firmino scored 11.

Spurs have Alli who scored 18, Son scored 14 & Kane scored 29.

Chelsea have Hazard & Costa, with the help of Pedro who only had 9 goals, granted. They're also going to sign an attacker or two this window if the rumors of Conte's warchest are to be believed

Man City only have Agüero & Jesus. Bernardo's best is 9 goals, & I can't see him besting that if he's going to play in either KDB or Silva's role. Sterling's never had over 9 goals in a season. Sané could become that player if played on the right. His best is goals 8 goals for Schalke.

One injury to an injury-prone Agüero, & you're left with only Jesus as a proven goalscorer for three matches every week. I wouldn't be too confident about that as that's just not enough if you havē the ambition that City have & are competing with the likes of Real, Atleti, Barca, Bayern, etc. Just look at their attacking talent & depth. All those ways they can punish you with proven goalscorers from every flank.

Sané has that potential for sure, especially if he plays on the right where he can cut in on his left to get that rocket off. But who knows if Pep will play him there.

i'm talking just league play here

So your answer to how they (united) have got it covered is to name 2 players they may or may not sign and Martial who many on Red Cafe would drive to the airport if they had a chance of selling him, not to mention Kun scored 5 times the number of goals that Martial managed. Rashford didn't even get into double figures in fact he scored 5. If it wasn't for the usual united hype he wouldn't be anywhere near the full England squad.

Your figures for Liverpool basically say what I said, they don't have any player who has scored 15 or more in the PL.

Despite you dismissing KDB's efforts last season remember he has scored more than 15 goals twice in strong leagues.
On top of all that City have a goals contribution from far more of the team than most PL teams have. City scored 80 goals last season united scored 54. In your terms that's the equivalent of 2 new strikers before they replace their top scorer from last year who scored 17 out of their 54.

 

[Marvin]

I know how good they are, but I also know Agüero's injury prone.

Serious, the same argument made for Sané, I can make for Rashford. The potential is certainly there.

Morata had 15 goals in the league last season which is what matters. Players improve.


Lol, if they sign Perisic & Morata, they do. Don't be delusional.

You are the one who is delusional. Rashford can not finish. he scored 5 goals in 32 league games for Utd. Morata has 15 in 63 in Italy that's far more significant than scoring for Real madrid in their 6-0 thrashings of La Liga cannon fodder. Perisic!

If Utd sign those players I will be chuffed to bits because that will put them out of the picture again.

 

[Gremlin]

Bin Laden supported Bradford City. His mum lives here.

Bin Laden was definitely a Tarquin. Famously they banned him after 9/11, though I imagine it was quite a trek to get to home games from the Tora Bora Mountains on a Saturday so he probably wasn't that bothered.

 

[Phil1]

Honestly, I've read a fair bit of bullshit on here over the years but this is gold. Nobody anywhere in the world of football, not even mourinho for fucks sake - believe utd carry a greater goal scoring threat than us. Even Duncan castles would struggle to make the case.

 

[OhSoGroovy]

Looks like I triggered some people here because I was being objective about Man U's goalscoring ability if they make likely signings in attack. Their conversion rate won't be that poor again I imagine.

I'll reiterate::

Not a City or PL fan here, but I can definitely see the reasoning for his signing. Stay with me here: (skip to the tl;dr at the bottom for a conclusion)
As a neutral I was really looking forward to seeing Pep deploy Sané on the right & closer to the goal. The position where he thrived in for Schalke, destroyed Madrid in the CL, & we saw his natural goal-scoring ability thrive. Rocket of a left-foot & had a wonderful way of beating his man, then opening his body to cut-in for a shot on goal from the inside the box. Always unpredictable with his movement. That Sané is easily a 15 goal a season winger when he comes to grips with the PL, at least I thought so before Pep started playing him on the left & saw him in a different role for the better of the team.

On the left he's of course still as capable of winning his 1v1's with ease, & sprinting towards the touchkine for a quality cross. He's arguably more predictable now there though & I'm not sure you guys are really making of the best of his abilities imo. Like I said before, with the way he was developing st Schalke, he really was on course to be the inverted winger with a Robben-esque playstyle capable of scoring 15 goals a game on the right. That sort of goal threat is just an added dimension to the team, makes defenders even more wary of the direct wing play, & is something that is much needed in the attack.

Goals are the name of the game & especially so in a front three. Finishing & compsure in the box has definitely been a problem for you guys this season, & Pep has said the same thing. There were many times where there was the potential to kill games off completely (many times teams came back to draw, or ended up winning due to it), or routing opponents 5-0, but just weren't capable of doing so due to the problems finishing the steak dinners in the box from all those amazing chances KDB & Silva created. Statistically, you guys had the best attack in the league according to most expected goals models, & underperformed all season.

To combat that, I'd love to see something like this.
Alexis/Jesus - Agüero/Jesus - Sané/Sterling

Sterling can play on the left obviously, but I think on the right is where Pep sees his development long term. He also plays at his best on the right, & has played there all his career, but I digress.

So assuming Pep starts to develop Sanè as an inverted winger more, that front three of Alexis, Agüero/Jesus, Sané in particular just screams goals & unpredictability for defenses to me. It's way more in tune with the type of front three template that Pep's had traditionally in Barca & Bayern (when Robbery were fit). Now that you guys are signing Mendy & Walker (hopefully), there's now that crucial support from dynamic & proper FB's as well. The wingers now have more viability to play narrow & closer to goal than before since they don't have to be the main providers of width & be in charge of the dominant supply of crosses. That's obviously one place where City lacked last season, it's crazy how many issues good FB's solve in the modern game. This also gives Pep even more flexibility formation wise, but that's that's a different story altogether.

Last season attacks down the wings became predictable in a way (although they were still effective), & add to that the fact that many times last season only one of Agüero & Jeus were available. Suddenly it's just one recognized & reliable goal scorer in the team the opposing team has to worry about. Neither KDB, Silva nor Sterling are that accurate in front of goal (although KDB's goal threat is definitely the best of the three) & both KDB & Silva have a propensity for shots from outside of the box from poor angles. Not to mention Sterling's way more of a threat beating his man on his strong side when isolated, winning penalties & causing sheer mayhem down the right where he'll inevitably try to find space for a good low cross to Agüero or Jesus. His forte has never really been in his composure in front of goal, although it's clear he has improved in that aspect this season. Definitely the Coman-esque player of the team.

So I can see why Pep would be interested in Alexis to help solve that issue. He's positionally versatile within the front three, & there'd be healthy rotation/competition on the left & at CF. It assures the players are at their best at all times, & provides key rest during congested fixtures. In game, no longer would there be one strict template on both wings. Relying on either Sterling or the most predictable & one-note winger in earth in Navas down the right, or just Sané on the left. Instead there'd be very different winger archetypes Pep could deploy & that in turn keeps opposing managers/team on their feet regarding to what sort of attack they'd be facing. Playing against Robbery is completely different to playing vs Coman & Costa (individual quality aside). Pep would have the option to play perhaps with more narrow full-backs & more traditional, wide wingers playing on their dominant side like he did many times last season. Or with modern, dynamic FB's marauding down the flanks, leading to a narrow front three closer to goal or perhaps instead opting for more midfield control.

Now it's only one Agüero injury away from relying way too much on Jesus for goals primarily during a congested fixture run-in, & with all the games this season, it'd be tough for him to be 100% for every game imo. Even more so if Sané exclusively plays on the left with more defensive duties & Sterling on the right. Alexis solves many of those issues, even more so if on top of that we see Sané gradually playing on the right & with more freedom closer to goal.

Only problem with Alexis is his national duty & personality. There really are no friendlies for Chile as each match, no matter the importance, the players put it all on the line & go full-out either way. So the CONFED cup this summer is serous business, & I imagine Chile will go very far in that, at least semifinals. The last four WC qualifiers for Chile (take place during two breaks, two matches each, 8/31 & 9/5, then 10/5 & 10/10) are must wins as there's no security for qualification in the top 5 apart from Brazil & Uruguay. Then the 2018 WC is the following summer. That is a lot of football in the time span with little breaks. Plus, Alexis absolutely despises being on the bench, he'll want to play every minute possible if he's fit. At least every CL & PL match, sure he won't mind the odd rest for EFL or early on FA cup matches.

There definitely is that worry about running himself to the ground considering his extremely energetic & intense play style. As the way he plays & the constant pressing he does for Chile & partly Arsenal is already up to par with Pep will likely ask of him whether it be on the wings or at CF. I'm not sure how sustainable his output will be at this level though once he hits his 30's, since the guy just never stops running & always puts his body on the line, particularly when he plays for Chile. I think there will a lot of nail-biting each international break & these next two summers, just like Arsenal fans.

(tl;dr) Whether Alexis comes or not, I hope Pep starts playing Sané on the right wing & closer to goal (like how he was developing during his Schalke days). As that added goal threat is needed on the right, & it's also a much more dynamic attack similar to Pep's front three templates during his Barca & Bayern days (when Robbery were fit). I think Sané could easily be a 15 goal a year player if he isn't burdened with as many defensive duties & can cut with his dominant foot on the right wing.

Also, I believe Alexis would be a brilliant signing & possibly even needed. Provides healthy competition & crucial rotation options. Though there are worries about his output/fitness once he hits his 30's due to his playstyle & his commitments with Chile. Very curious to see how he adapts his game once he's 31/32. Hopefully it's a Ronaldo-esque approach, & not the Rooney way...

 

[Marvin]

Silva--KDB--Silva
Sane--Jesus--Aguero

No no goal threat there! If only we had Rashford and MickyT

I suppose Morata is a step up from Rashford, Lingaard and Ibrahimovic but he wont score many goals.

Their fans should remember that the manager of Manchester Bus Parkers is more interested in shutting up shop. They could sign Alexis Sanchez or Ronaldo it wont make any difference to how they play.