Heck… even Gameiro. He’s doing very well with Strasbourg as they are fighting for a place in CL for the first time since 1980.
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Regardless of the coach or system, we need a better midfield. And at CF, do we trust any of our strikers to score that big chance when it comes?
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I would’ve said yes for YEN - the first part of the season version. I can’t say that now I’m afraid.
Agreed though we definitely need a much better midfield and a decent CF regardless of the coach.
Agree with you all, I think we should be looking for players who really want to show and prove themselves on higher stage, who are ambitious and who are near but haven’t already been there (at the top) so they are really hungry to reach that peak (with us). So if I would have the say, i’m gonna skip the Isco’s and Di maria’s if i’m honest, they have seen the CL finals, the world cups and everything, I feel they won’t go far and beyond to take our club to the next level. So just by names, I’m not buying it that it’s gonna work. Enough 30 year olds, veterans, with huge payroles. We will still have enough older players to balance it out. Midfield needs to be dynamic and compatible with different styles of players adding ingredients to the sauce, not more of the same, same.
If possible maybe Houssem Aouar, 23, 1 year contract left, I think we might have the pull to convince him. But it depends on the guy, similarly to how Betís got Fekir at that time. He could be the new centre piece.
Ruben Neves, 25, I think Barcelona are rumoured with him, but they are with everybody so. Good defensive mid, with nice contribution. If it’s to expensive, I think looking at the Portuguese Market is a good idea. Some really incredible talents coming from there, while not paying the PL prices.
Luka Susic 19, probably impossible, but some sort of new skillfull and dynamic young Rakitic like midfielder, written to have a lot of potential.
And a new Kondogbia, M’Bia type, in my opinion, Defensive mid, with good physique and pressence, who can play ball and construct some build up play forward.
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Lope is rumored to have a pre-contract with Tottenham, as Conte will join PSG.
3 of the top rumors to replace Lope are: Ernesto Valverde, Diego Martinez and Marcelo Gallardo. To be honest, I’m not excited and wouldn’t be in favor of the first two. So how about Marcelo Gallardo?
He has done great things with River Plate and this could be a great opportunity for him to prove himself in a top European league with a decent club like ours.
I like the way he had River play, in fact I generally like the way teams in South America play, especially in Copa Libertadores. Lots of passion and attacking tactics, nice dribbling and many goals.
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I feel it kinda hard to believe, after the dozens of interviews of him saying he’s more than grateful to be where he is now, in Sevilla and hopes to be there many years more. Although the meaning of those in football can be very broad and things can change quick, I tend to believe Lope. So I doubt the precontract. But it could be very fresh, that he got the signal from inside that we will be looking ahead and he signed it quite recently I can see that be possible.
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At this point, I’d take any manager who doesn’t storm off the pitch without his players. I’ve been pretty lenient with Lope all year, but that lacked class and really rubbed me the wrong way.
Win or lose, you do it as a team, and the manager is a part of that team.
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That reminds me of the previous Kosovo’s NT coach Bernard Challandes. He was once a fan-favorite but then had a large string of poor results, even against lesser NT’s and didn’t even stay after the match in the stadium to face the fans. We were of course going to boo him but a good gesture would’ve at least impacted the emotions positively - while storming off the pitch without the players only makes them more negative and amplifies the irritation/hate.
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There’s a possibility we could sign Martial for free, as Man Utd want to get rid of him at all costs and his latest poor performances make it a lot harder for them to sell him at a good rate - so they’re willing to pay off the rest of his contract with 12 m pounds in an agreement with the player.
Monchi is said to be ok with this and we’d keep him in that case… but do we really want to keep him though?
Beside a big salary, I don’t see Martial contributing to the team. I could be proven wrong but really not sure it would be the right choice to keep him, at least under Lope. One small sign of hope is his last performance in the first half vs. RM - but he’s extremely injury prone nowadays.
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Who’s the Diaz guy up front. I’m not recognizing him.
Ben Brereton Diaz
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No defensive stability in midfield. Of course that is just an opinion from someone at VMS, but with Fernando’s unpredictable return and Delaney being a sub material at best, we really need to go after a very qualitative DM for the 4-3-3 to work properly… ideally a decent box-to-box similar to Tchouameni or something. A very stable midfield and defense will win you games… but I honestly don’t think we’ll be able to keep both DC and Kounde for 2022-23.
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Ben Brereton Diaz had a great amount of goals early in the season already, but then I think he got injured for quite some time. I’ve been checking in on Blackburn every once in a bit, but only lately he’s been playing again so his goals have stagnated logically. Not sure what to think about him, especially compared to Rafa Mir only thing I know, it’s he’ll be a free transfer so to add him we can’t go too wrong to add a guy with a good feel to score goals, and who’s quite young. Our frontline, could use replacements, and Luuk de Jong I assume will leave as well.
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Enzo Fernandez from River Plate as well was a name that got me hyped up. Package deal with Gallardo incoming? It’s definitely a lever.
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For followers of the Dutch league, what’s the word on Senesi at center-back?
Quite a gifted footballer for a centre back which is nice. I also do like his style and aggression and fighting mentality, which is more than half of a solid defender needs. Eventhough he’s not the tallest and biggest, but neither was Escude or Kounde now they compensate in other ways. I believe Senesi can make the jump to a higher league but I can see it be a challenge with slip ups and a learning curve for him. It remains a risk as always but I won’t be ashamed to go for him and see him in our shirt next year.
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Since we’ve looked to the Premier League for Lamela and then pushed incredibly hard for Martial to upgrade the forwards, Divock Origi is looking very appealing as he’s about to depart Liverpool on a free transfer. At age 27 he’s entering his prime years, has won the biggest prizes in club football and is now likely to emphasize playing time and becoming a bigger contributor for Belgium.
His production per minutes played in Liverpool are very impressive, not to mention the brace he scored against Barcelona coming back from 0-3 down in the Champions League semi-final and then scoring a goal in the final against Tottenham.
COMPETITION - MINUTES – GOALS – ASSISTS
Premier League – 3,480 minutes – 22 goals, 9 assists
Champions League-799 minutes – 4 goals, 2 assists
Europa League - …596 minutes – 2 goals, 2 assists
TOTAL : 4875 minutes – 28 goals, 13 assists
vs, Man United – 202 minutes – 0 goals, 0 assists
vs. Man City – 259 minutes – 0 goals, 0 assists
vs, Arsenal – 150 minutes – 2 goals, 1 assist
vs. Chelsea – 147 minutes – 0 goals, 0 assists
vs. Tottenham – 255 minutes – 1 goal, 0 assists
Derby vs. Everton – 459 minutes, 6 goals, 1 assist – (:poop: killer) 
The transfer fee that would’ve been paid had it not been a free transfer would be enough to pay his
salary for the next three years and is within his salary demands. AC Milan is hot on his trail but while ownership issues there hold up contract talks, we could make a strong sales pitch to him.
If we’re so hot on Martial with impossible financial conditions, this seems like a much much better alternative to upgrade the forward position.
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Bryan Gil is in shambles right now.
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