markjazzbassist

3 hours ago, chicagoblue said:

According to the article:

 

"The tricky winger has also been linked with United and Liverpool in the past and has a £71million release clause in his contract which expires in 2023."

Um, perdon?  We aint' in that market.

 

in spain they are required to have release clauses, so all of them are outrageous.  they don't mean anything, you negotiate and the player agrees to forgo the clause or something like that.  i feel like i remember @Zoo 2.0 educating us on the matter at one point but i can't find the post.  not sure if i got it right, feel free to correct/admonish me Zoo

1 hour ago, MikeO said:

Ladies football team off to a decent start, and the USA spanked by Sweden, didn't see that coming.

Sweden is their bogey team, knocked them out of the last Olympics.  We did manage to beat them in the World Cup, but for some reason in the Olympics we lose to them.

I wonder if it’s like baseball where due to weather they can play year round unlike up north here.  Or the prevalence of Latino Americans who revere the game, probably both.

10 hours ago, Goodison Glory said:

 

while moshri hasn't taken us to the promised land we had hoped for, to say that we don't have anything better than what we had before is laughable. 
 

You’re right we blew 200m so we have that debt

Did well for west ham but that was with a manager he has a relationship with.  I don’t see this being a good idea for us.

23 minutes ago, Bailey said:

He definitely isn't a traditional winger in my opinion. He doesn't have standout pace, he isn't tricky and I don't think he is really a goalscorer either but I imagine that will improve as he matures. 

He is more of a Pienaar type. Someone that plays in an inside midfield position or like James did in those early games under Carlo. I also think he has the footballing brain of someone like Pienaar to link up with the full back and form a partnership.

I know nothing about him but If he is the second coming of pienaar I’m all in, I loved Stevie.  He was not fast, but he was excellent with the ball, his vision, link up play, and one often forgotten quality, his tactical fouls.  He was excellent at knowing when to leave a little extra to stop an attack. 

Very happy with this signing. Smart and quality for a backup.

We hire Rafa and have turned into Newcastle overnight FFS

3 hours ago, Ghoat said:

Yes, but you know as well as I do that youth soccer in this country is more of a suburban babysitter then a path towards development. It's getting better, but miles to go. 

Suburban babysitter wow lol.  Texas seems to be where it’s at.  They are consistently putting out top talent

Just now, Sibdane said:

What happens IF he brings success? In my line of work I come across many who I dislike personality-wise, but a lot them get the job done. 

Then he will be viewed as a success.  I don’t like him and am not a fan but if he wins a cup or the league he will win me over.  Very simple.  It’s the same bar we measure every manager with.  

1 hour ago, Hafnia said:

I do.  I had the astra zeneca / Oxford one. Had my second dose over a month ago 

At this moment I feel ok.  An hour or so ago I felt awful. 

I have no expectations that I'm over it.  It's a notoriously strange virus. 

Thanks good to know.  My colleague had it, she had the moderna (I have that as well).  Always curious to see what people’s experiences are.

2 hours ago, Matt said:

Well, I don't know about any of that to be honest...

Sarcasm?

32 minutes ago, Sibdane said:

Reading the 500M made my knees buckle. 

Turns out the rich owner we all wished for brought us nothing different than what we already had.  Moshiri will be a winner because of Bramley Moore, sadly he still has a ton of work to do on the pitch to be revered.

31 minutes ago, Hafnia said:

I've tested positive. .. felt rough last night 

Bad head all day today and sore throat.  

Stay safe everyone, don't rely on the government or the general public to protect you. 

do you have the vaccine both doeses?  with one if you do?

you're one of the best posters @Sibdane, you always just say it like it is and i appreciate that about you.  always know where you stand.  we are thankful to have you

Awful news. I actually like the guy as a player and was hoping he’d kick on under Rafa.  

yerry mina looked a worldie in a summer tournament as well.  cautiously optimistic but dutch players in the premier league don't have the greatest track record recently (van de beek, klaasen, etc).  i would prefer aarons.

18 minutes ago, StevO said:

I was thinking the same. Not sure how you can forget about him @markjazzbassist

It was a massive miss, unforgivable, I’ll ban myself

49 minutes ago, Elston Gunnn said:

Doucouré?

wow how did i forget him lol.  let me update my post then.  

1 minute ago, Hafnia said:

But really have ever finished a season in 7th place and stood in the pub saying "yeah I'm pleased with that"

I haven't cos the difference between 7th and 10th is a few more quid in the pocket.  You are left seeking more. Finish top 4 and you know you are on the cusp of something. 

we got european football with 7th with koeman, i was pleased with that.  with the additional european places top 7 is a target now.

looking at who is out of contract next summer, and it seems we are being skint this summer to go big next.  look at this list of people who will leave summer 2022

James (have club option to extend by 1 year)

Gylfi

Bernard

Kenny

Tosun

Coleman

Delph

Branthwaite

Beni

1 hour ago, Elston Gunnn said:

Ha, no I don’t expect an Iwobi miracle.  But I definitely hope James is not our RW.  Need some pacey winger in the transfer market.

If we do not secure a new, real RW this summer, and if the squad is mostly unchanged, I’d prefer a 3-4-1-2 with Digne and Coleman as wingbacks, 2 strikers, with James as controlling 10.

Still time, as the transfer window runs through August, but things seem especially unsettled, as we need to sell several players, add a couple, and cope with Richarlison’s late arrival.

Whatever the several squad issues, my view is that James can be an effective 10, but that’s the only position he can play effectively.  (Unless he was never healthy or in shape last season, and that’s the single reason he was useless defensively.)

 

 

rafa has used the 4231 everywhere he's gone, i read some tactical articles, he's used a 433 a little, and 343 a little at newcastle, but 4231 is his preferred.  i would expect to see james in the 10 role behind DCL, with 2 wingers beside him.  2 wingers are the position battles i will be watching this summer and early season, i think that is where there will be the most competition and opportunity.  i'm seeing it like this:

                      Pickford

   New RB  Keane Godfrey Digne

                 Allan  doucoure

Winger          James         Winger

                         DCL

should be interesting to what happens with gomes/davies/gbamin/delph/gylfi.  

57 minutes ago, StevO said:

All well and good having these two replacing Bernard and Iwobi, but we still have Bernard and Iwobi. 
Im sure we’ll have no issue letting Bernard leave on a free, but Iwobi? We would need at least £15m for him and I can’t see anyone putting that on the table. 

You’ve had some good posts this morning, must be a new batch of coffee or something

Spot on, we still have iwobi and Bernard in a depressed market where most teams don’t have a lot of money due to covid.  Plus we have other dead wood.  They might not replace anyone, I do wonder if that would change peoples opinion on them coming.

49 minutes ago, StevO said:

Yeah that’s proper weird. Did his brother get a call up in the end?

guessing not, transfermarkt showing that kyle butler left a 2nd division austrian club jan 1 2020 and has been without a club since.  he's only 23 still so there is time.  only articles i found said he played for u23 for jamaica so looks like no first team.

Anyone else doing a double take when they see Rogelio Funes Mori scoring goals for Mexico?