It's Quiet Thread 15 - Txiki Blinders

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domalino said:
Summer of 2018 goes against the narrative.

2018 we bought Mahrez who started about 30% of games in his first season when we won the title again.

Truth is, if you have a good squad you don't need to fuck with it to win the title again.

Bringing in one more top quality player, like we did in 2018 is all we need to do.
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we brought in Mahrez and we only brought in Laporte the previous January. 2 Huge signings on the face of it and we had a uniquely large performance differential that season and only then managing to win the title by a point the following season. Liverpool invested hugely over that 2 years and caught up, the summer of them standing still may seem an anomaly but has now caught up with them this time around.

We need a striker, we need either born again Raz or a replacement and a proper left back for once.
 
domalino said:
It's easy to improve when you're 30 points back.

When you've already got the best squad in world football, you can't just keep adding 3 players a year and expect to keep getting better.

We have a deficiency at striker - that needs fixing. We have a 35 year back up old defensive mid who needs replacing even if he stays in the squad.

We don't need to get a 9th Attacking mid/wing option just for the sake of it.
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My opinion has changed over the last month. Foden's emergence as a best XI front 3 player makes me feel like Grealish is a non starter now. Foden, Mahrez, Sterling, and Torres is the right balance of age/experience/quality in those positions. For my money you can't add Grealish without losing one of Raz or Mahrez and I don't see that happening.
 
PannickAtTheDisco said:
we brought in Mahrez and we only brought in Laporte the previous January. 2 Huge signings on the face of it and we had a uniquely large performance differential that season and only then managing to win the title by a point the following season. Liverpool invested hugely over that 2 years and caught up, the summer of them standing still may seem an anomaly but has now caught up with them this time around.

We need a striker, we need either born again Raz or a replacement and a proper left back for once.
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Why do we need a proper LB?

If you want an inverted LB there's none better than Zinchenko.

If you want a more traditional alternative Cancelo's great, and if you buy a LB and park Cancelo behind Walker 80% of the season he will just be another Danilo - not in form when needed and will soon look to move.
 
domalino said:
Summer of 2018 goes against the narrative.

2018 we bought Mahrez who started about 30% of games in his first season when we won the title again.

Truth is, if you have a good squad you don't need to fuck with it to win the title again.

Bringing in one more top quality player, like we did in 2018 is all we need to do.
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fatigue will be a big issue next season with the euros and how far into the competition our players go..
 
BillyShears said:
My opinion has changed over the last month. Foden's emergence as a best XI front 3 player makes me feel like Grealish is a non starter now. Foden, Mahrez, Sterling, and Torres is the right balance of age/experience/quality in those positions. For my money you can't add Grealish without losing one of Raz or Mahrez and I don't see that happening.
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Two of the four you reference have been poor and Grealish would be a major upgrade.
 
Pointed out elsewhere that AFCON is scheduled for Jan/Feb next season, so if it went ahead, Mahrez would be away for a generally busy period.
 
dave_blue12 said:
Two of the four you reference have been poor and Grealish would be a major upgrade.
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BillyShears said:
Yes that's a cool story but it doesn't really change the reality of this summer's market.
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In the real world you don't bin a player because they had a poor season.

Sterling will be back, and I'm sure the club are expecting a big kick on from Torres because they've seen it so many times before and he's one of the biggest prospects in world football.

I often think if we'd paid the £75m Valencia were demanding before he ran his contract down and Valencia almost went bust, people would be a lot more positive about Torres.
 
dave_blue12 said:
Two of the four you reference have been poor and Grealish would be a major upgrade.
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We won't plan transfers on form though we'll plan transfers on expectation. If we were to buy Haaland Id expect to see Sterling back to his best and Torres to kick on.Neither would be sold.
 
BillyShears said:
The issue is there’s very little room in the squad and selling players will be hard this summer.

Long as we buy a 9/goals everything else will be a bonus for me.

Grealish is rep’ed by Jonathan Barnett who is close with lots of the London press pack so I’d assume that if it’s advanced someone will write it.
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Ornstein is one of Barnett’s go-to guys I think
 
domalino said:
In the real world you don't bin a player because they had a poor season.

Sterling will be back, and I'm sure the club are expecting a big kick on from Torres because they've seen it so many times before and he's one of the biggest prospects in world football.

I often think if we'd paid the £75m Valencia were demanding before he ran his contract down and Valencia almost went bust, people would be a lot more positive about Torres.
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100% agree on Torres. Really (not) surprised by the levels of criticism he's received and the number of people who think he'll never be good enough.
 
LongsightM13 said:
Ornstein is one of Barnett’s go-to guys I think
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Indeed. To the point where Ornstein won't even check his own internal logic when Barnett gives him a story.

This is the problem with journalists who are too close to agents. They may get the exclusives, but they also get used in such a way that makes it impossible to know whether they're being told the truth or fed a line. Castles is the same.
 
domalino said:
Why do we need a proper LB?

If you want an inverted LB there's none better than Zinchenko.

If you want a more traditional alternative Cancelo's great, and if you buy a LB and park Cancelo behind Walker 80% of the season he will just be another Danilo - not in form when needed and will soon look to move.
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don't agree, and Cancelo will usurp Walker once Pep has a proper pre-season to continue building on the doubling up in midfield.

We need Mendy out and a genuine LB option in the squad, once that makes the inverted LW far more dangerous and gives us better balance and alternative options across the season. Zin then works like Cancelo for games when we need to double up inside, even allowing Zin to be more of a midfield option.
 
domalino said:
In the real world you don't bin a player because they had a poor season.

Sterling will be back, and I'm sure the club are expecting a big kick on from Torres because they've seen it so many times before and he's one of the biggest prospects in world football.

I often think if we'd paid the £75m Valencia were demanding before he ran his contract down and Valencia almost went bust, people would be a lot more positive about Torres.
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I expect Torres to be a revelation next season. He has incredible ability and you don’t lose that.
It was evident before he came that leaving home would be a huge wrench for him, and it’s not as if he’s been able to fly back regularly to see his family, so a difficult first season is understandable.
 
Gabriel said:
I expect Torres to be a revelation next season. He has incredible ability and you don’t lose that.
It was evident before he came that leaving home would be a huge wrench for him, and it’s not as if he’s been able to fly back regularly to see his family, so a difficult first season is understandable.
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Plus he's had to contend with having covid which had quite a dramatic effect on his physical strength and pace according to reports.
 
domalino said:
In the real world you don't bin a player because they had a poor season.

Sterling will be back, and I'm sure the club are expecting a big kick on from Torres because they've seen it so many times before and he's one of the biggest prospects in world football.

I often think if we'd paid the £75m Valencia were demanding before he ran his contract down and Valencia almost went bust, people would be a lot more positive about Torres.
Click to expand...

No you don't bin a player because he's had a bad season but it should make you cautious given said player has 2 years left on his contract. Are City going to give Raz what he wants ? After the season he's had does he deserve it ? It would be a risk because right now he looks like a pub player with pace.
As for Torres I don't give a shit what he costs he hasn't yet performed. I hope he does.
Grealish is a top player and those that can't see it should take up watching another sport because they're wasting their time with football.
Is he coming? I've no idea but right now he'd be a welcome addition as we've seen what happens when we rely on Sterling and Torres.
 
domalino said:
Why do we need a proper LB?

If you want an inverted LB there's none better than Zinchenko.

If you want a more traditional alternative Cancelo's great, and if you buy a LB and park Cancelo behind Walker 80% of the season he will just be another Danilo - not in form when needed and will soon look to move.
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Our best Traditional LB is Ake but i think he was after a LWB where Mendy is unlikely to ever find form again, Cancelo is brilliant in this position but that exposes us to a likely scenario of Walker and Cancelo being out at the same time
 
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