Sly

A fit and motivated Ruiz might be the fighter that would give Ruiz the most issues to be honest, as he’s at least got decent movement with some power.

If Fury can’t, other heavyweight can. He’s the best of this generation.

Jeff Bruma …. 25 caps for the Netherlands 2 x Eredivisie ?

In the Championship, may I state

Agree with this. Many clubs won’t have options better than Mavididi, Monga, Fatawu, Daka, McAteer, Ayew, Reid ….

Unfortunately, no one is buying Soumare at £90k per week. Winks is fine.

I am mindful that the forum will have players that creep on the forum

Oh, he’s not likeable from an outsider looking in. I don’t find many of this squad relatable, however that’s modern football to a tee.

It’s an odd one. As Coady, Faes, Vestergaard, Nelson, Okoli is potentially the best set of five centre backs in the division. You’d potentially state most of them would start for most other teams. In fact, you could state that for most of this squad. We were relegated from the Premier League in 17th place, have only lost Vardy really, so short of having a striker, we should have the best team in the league. I do think we maybe need to acknowledge that as a collective on Foxestalk at times. We all tend to get a tad emotional when things go south. I included myself in that, as I called for Cooper to be sacked in pre season last year as that was a cluster. I do think we’ll get promoted even with a points deduction. What I’m concerned about, is our ability to put a squad together for the following season, if we get promoted. The likes of Coady, Vestergaard, Reid, Ayew etc, will need to move on.

I think we can all agree. We’ll need to use this season to A) Get out of this league B) Start a squad refresh if we get promoted. Coady, Vestergaard, Skipp, Winks, Mavididi, Hermansen, El Khannous, Ricardo etc, should all be too good for this league. Some of those will need upgrading if we then want to stay up.

He was outstanding for Norwich in the Championship if I recall.

I think people give the squad too much stick. If you ask a fish to climb a tree, it’ll fail. Our players under RVN and Cooper looked clueless, as they appeared to have no idea what to do on the pitch. What I’ve seen from this coaching setup already, gives me hope that we have a brighter future ahead.

If he’s playing, he’s a long way from leaving.

3rd choice. He’a picking up the Schwarzer, Smithies, Jakupovic role. Most teams have the experienced pro supporting.

He’ll most likely start the season as first choice, alongside Vestergaard. I’d anticipate if we play with a three, the other centre back will be Okoli.

He’s spot on. Football is played in certain countries as the climate dictates to a degree. It is also one of the reasons why British teams struggle at International competitions that are played in the hot summer months. You can’t play that fast paced, front to back, aggressive football in the heat and humidity. Peps Barca team had exceptional ability, that could press in that heat. Fitness is such an important thing in football, as much about being able to bloody breath and still choose the correct pass after you’ve played 75 minutes in extreme heat as anything else. Athletic ability and stamina are two massive matrix in football as well now. In British football, you can’t play sort of get away with that up until Championship level. This is why when teams get promoted that are gritty, powerful etc, they fail in the Premier League, as they’re full of players like Kristiansen, that don’t make that step up technically. Whilst back onto Kristiansen, he won’t go to United. I’m not even sure he’ll go to Milan, as he’s most likely been used as a name people know who are available, so they can force another move along.

Levels. How many people do you know that looked amazing as youth players, however reached a certain level and they’re average. I think the odds are something like only 0.5% of people that enter an academy will ever play a youth game. To even make it to the Premier League is a massive achievement. This is why producing youth players to play within the Premier League is incredible. The fact we produced a player in Dewsbury-Hall that has won the Club World Cup, is crazy when you think about it. Kristiansen is without doubt a very good football player, compared to 99.9% of the world. What he isn’t, is amongst the elite players that we’ll require if we want to stay in that division. Even the gap between the Championship and Premiership Is a major step.

It’s levels …… I can pass, control, shoot etc given time. Everyone can, let’s be honest. I never made it past academy football. When you play superior players that can press quicker, a split 2nd makes a difference. The top leagues, are as much about consistency as anything else. Kristiansen will be a better footballer than 99.9% of people will ever be on Foxestalk. However he’s most likely in the best 10,000 footballers in the billions of people on the planet currently. Unfortunately, the Premier League has 500 players better. So you need to find a league where you are comfortable.

I think at a slower pace, you can control the ball easier, get into position, read the game etc. Technically, it’s much of a muchness in fairness, it’s the football IQ and doing it at a frenetic pace in the Premier League. The reason it doesn’t get played at that pace in Italy, Spain, UAE etc is the heat, let’s be honest. You have to play a slower game where you have that second more to find a pass. In England, you just don’t get that. You’ve getting pressed for longer periods. It’s one of the reasons certain players have found the Premier League so difficult, as they can all control a ball, pass etc. doing that at speed ….. is something else.

Kristiansen leaving sort of makes sense, since he’s not training. Hopefully it’s a fictitious injury and he’s negotiating a transfer elsewhere. He’s got an engine, I’ll give him that. He’s technically doggo though and in relative comparison to others. He’ll look good in other leagues that are lower technically overall. He’ll be loved by some though as he shows “passhun”. The sort of people that liked Danny Tiatto and Iain Hume, as they ran around a lot, without being very good. He’ll never get away with that in the Premier League or La Liga. We’ll need around £8m to cover PSR I believe.

So the entire squad is with them then? No one has left, or sat out to great a transfer?

We need to move on at some point.

It’s a mess.

My unpopular opinion is that I’d like to rejoin the EU.

Crazy situation but we’re through!