Raw Dykes

He was excellent second half. Terrorising their defence. Hopefully, he'll kick on from here.

Both?

Man Utd's transfer policy is so bad it's impressive. Still can't believe they blew £130m on Slabhead and AWB! Incredible. Who is going to buy players like those off them? And how much will they go for? Seems like they're always after forwards, no matter how desperately they need defensive players (just like Arsenal used to be). They've needed a DM for years now, and they keep ignoring it in favour of strikers or wingers whose names will sell shirts. And they're no better when it comes to selling. They've been making promises to fringe players who want out that they'll be involved, and then they never play them. They could have got a decent fee for Lingard after his West Ham loan, but they chose not to sell him or play him, and now he'll leave for free in the summer. Their treatment of Van de Beek is just as bad.

One up front has nothing to do with obsession - it's just the modern game. If you play with two up front, you have to make sacrifices elsewhere, or be prepared to be dominated in midfield. I don't think it's any surprise that Nacho was dropped when Barnes returned. I think Rodgers quite rightly wanted to return to a back 4.

I think world class for two full seasons is going overboard. I agree he was great when we had him on loan, but I remember him being pretty disappointing in the first season after we signed him permanently, despite the great form we were in. Not sure if he is burnt out. He's a player who benefits from playing regularly. I think he's a great player, but I don't think he ever had any intention of extending his stay with us, and I'm concerned that his heart isn't in it anymore.

Fair enough. It could just be that his patience has run out with them, though, couldn't it? Picking the team on merit/form rather than reputation.

Could it not just be that he's telling Youri and Cags to buck their ideas up?

I think it looks more like a 4231 Kasper JJ Amartey Wilf Thomas Soumare KDH Albrighton Maddison Lookman Daka Although it could be 3 atb Kasper Amartey Wilf JJ Kevin Soumare KDH Thomas Maddison Lookman Daka Not necessarily 2 up front.

Rutland was part of Leicestershire from 1974 until 1997. It's its own county now, although it does share Leics. fire service and police.

I don't think it is, really. To get the best out of Nacho, you have to play 2 up top, and that means a diamond or 3 at the back, which we haven't really got the players for. If you're squeezing him into a 4231, then you have to drop Maddison (or move him out of position), who has been our best player recently.

Not sure if you're serious, but it's one of the smallest counties in England. Has been a part of Leicestershire in the past.

I might consider it if it was a bargain, but I think we should be aiming higher.

I agree. They looked telepathic at times.

We've just had two weeks off.

I don't know if people saying we should get a new left back are commenting on Thomas. JJ can play either side and is right-footed, so if we need a full-back on either side, it might be a good idea to sign a left-back. RB: JJ, Ricardo/Castagne LB: Thomas, New LB

We were operating in a totally different market leading up to the title. Apart from Kante and Okazaki, the average fee for the first XI players was around £1m. It's not really relevant to our transfer business today. We're not going to be looking at buying the same sort of players today as we were back then. I think it's probably pretty rare for clubs to make a profit on selling fringe players. That's to be expected. It's the few big money sales that have allowed us to strengthen multiple other areas each time. I don't think we're in a position to stop making these sales. They've been a huge source of income. If we're not making money on selling fringe players, then how do you replace the huge amount of money made on selling key players as we have done? You're right about Youri - with one year left on his contract, we won't be making much, if any, profit. I think we still have to get what we can for him, though. I don't think we can afford to throw away £30m-40m when we need to bring a few players in.

I'd say it's the opposite - we cannot afford to let core players leave on Bosmans. Selling the odd key player for a large fee has been crucial in getting us to where we are. We might have lost money on some players, but it's been exclusively fringe players (unless I'm forgetting someone). I don't think there's anything unusual about that. We've made a huge profit on more or less every in-demand player we've sold, and that's allowed us to reinvest very well. If we start letting valuable players run their contracts down, we won't be able to cash in and then we won't be able to afford the replacements we need. That's what will cause a slip down the table.

I'm not sure that Timmy is clearly first choice. I don't believe he'd play all that much with JJ and Ricardo available. Injuries have dictated who starts pretty much all season. I like Castagne, but he's been very injury prone since he's been here. I don't think replacing him with someone who's available more often would be a bad idea, even if it's a promising young player.

Agreed. There's a lot more to it than just stats. I think the rebuild could turn out to be a good thing. Over the last 10 years, we've got a lot more transfers right than wrong. This could be an opportunity to push on. Just depends how many signings we get right. If we can find a few more like JJ/Daka/Fofana, then we could be laughing. Of course, it could go badly, but there's no point worrying about it until we see who we sign and how they settle in. Even if the signings aren't the best, I think there are some very promising players coming through the academy. Will be interesting to see how they progress.

We're all on our own, We're all on our own, It's Forest and Derby, We're all on our own.

I don't know where to start with this. We got the GOAT straight out of non-league. Mahrez was bought from Ligue 2. Does that indicate a messed-up transfer policy? BR is not solely responsible for transfers. It'll be a joint effort by him, Rudkin, scouts, etc. Dissing Lookman only serves to make Under look worse. Lookman has performed far better for us than Under did.

Well done, Boro! Loving this.

Peltier playing, as well.

I don't really get this. We play with one up front home and away. If it was the case that we played two up front for either home or away games, it would be home, wouldn't it?

I think you're thinking of Max Aarons.