SafewayFox

“It’s pre-season, it’s only pre-season” If I say that out loud enough will the obvious flaws in our lack of tactics go away? Enzo was a stubborn handsome fecker and that may have ended terribly, Burnley style but going from such a clear philosophy to a lack of intention might not be as good an idea as I was hoping for when Enzo departed.

I’m not disputing that we haven’t reduced the wage bill but that’s because we overpaid and have had what 11 leave on free’s (don’t want to know their combined transfer fee and wages). We clearly paid PL wages (reduced last season) for Coady/Winks and just offered Jannik and Wilf contract extensions so my faith of us learning as a club is at an all time low if being honest mate.

Enzo really wound me up at parts of last season but Cooper is tactically such a downgrade isn’t he? His saving grace surely has to be his stubbornness to his way of playing football but it does make you think, what are the clubs long term aspirations? Feels very short term and just trying to stay in the league - which I understand but highlights the shambles of leadership over the past few years.

This is where my head is with the rumour. Loan with option to buy may work but his wages are insane and we HAVE to learn from offering such large contracts to players. Sadly the mess that we’ve got ourselves in has set us back years and we’re far from aiming for European football.

So am I reading the comments right? Alves is playing as a LWB? Surely he’s got all the attributes to play in the 10??

I love an over reaction about Leicester as much as the next guy BUT are we reading too much into him playing a few minutes of a pre season friendly? Zero chance of him starting the first PL game as Cooper has eyes and not on a self destruct mission like the dwarf that was Rodgers.

KDH’s signing throws that model out of the water though. He’s not U23 like their usual “must” recruitment policy. Enzo definitely had influence in the KDH signing so what’s to suggest he wouldn’t with Mads? It’s all hearsay right now though so hopefully we keep Mads for a couple of more years yet.

I enjoyed that finish the other day. My biggest gripe with Stephy is his poor body language on the pitch when not going his way. This season is going to be a grind so I hope Cooper has a word as it really impacted his game but often stayed on the pitch due to Enzo oddly only trusting 13/14 players by the end of the season.

Two words - Jon Rudkin

How anyone can seriously defend/suggest Soumare should play for us in the PL is beyond me. He showed over numerous games and under different managers/formations that he lacks the speed of mind to play as a CM in the PL. That doesn’t mean he’s rubbish as someone like Inler, Iborra (I did like him but never really settled), Silva and many many more players who played well in different leagues suffered the same fate. But it does mean that if we don’t want a repeat of our last PL season, we need to improve our squad and most importantly starting 11.

Was Okoli number 5? He looks like a right unit…..Hamza getting the ball taken off him (I know only pre-season) reminds me how annoying it is that he got such a long contract extension last season. He really isn’t at the level we are aspiring for is he?

A Belgian Akgun. A loan wouldn’t be the worst deal but him clogging up our squad for 4 years doesn’t excite me.

How anyone can answer how good has this summer been is ridiculous. 1) Like others have said, who knows how the new players (Abdul less of a mystery) will fit in. 2) The biggest issue for me, what wages are the new (re-signed) players on, if we still have top 8 wages with a bottom 6 likely finish, we’ve learnt sweet F all.

O’Hare isn’t that good though is he? I think the original comment of him being effing gash are OTT. I wouldn’t expect him to make the step up to the PL though based on his career stats and the Cov fans comments aren’t the most glowing.

Why the panic on here? He’s more likely playing for us this next season than someone like Faes - that’s a proper exciting statement too 🙌🏻

I hate being whiny but I can’t see that being a very strong pairing if we want to play out from the back. Ndidi’s limitations on the ball means we’d be so predictable to play against and teams would just mark Winks out of the game.

It’s ok/sensible at best if staying on with reduced terms but I CANNOT get on board with this being essential/good business if he’s managed to get a pay rise. I’m calling it now, he won’t play more than 25 games this season and will look leggy in most of them, he’s not the beast of a DM from 2021.

Totally agree. Wilf is not a £30m player in the current climate. He has been below average in his past two seasons in the PL, he is guaranteed to be injured for 2/3 months of the season and looked very leggy when came back from his injury in January. IMO Winks needs some legs next to him to be as instrumental in the PL as he was last season and Wilf doesn’t offer that in 2024 and beyond.

Enzo definitely built a better rapport (even if it dried up a bit at times) than Rodgers ever did. I know it’s easy to say now but never warmed to Rodgers in the slightest and can’t ever remember of him ever really trying.

Tell us how you really feel mate 😜

This isn’t aimed solely at you but the bit in bold summed up Bertrand yet he was rightfully labelled a drain on our resources. The fact he’s come to us over Fulham shows that we’re taking a bit of a gamble.

100% this. Doku has clearly been told to take someone on under Pep. Giving the ball away outside the oppositions box is completely different than outside ours.

His ability to be injured for at least a quarter of the season is a skill he has mastered too. He scored a couple of important goals after his injury in January but overall contribution was below par and like you said he often looked like he was running in quick sand. Thanks for the memories Wilf but it’s best we both move on.

Yet it’s our wage bill that has crippled us rather than extortionate transfer fees though has it not? Also the biggest factor we never move squad fillers on as no one else of our ilk offers similar wages 😢

With Jannik’s 3 year deal and this….I genuinely hope we’ve grown a pair and put in place a much more modest wage structure. If either are on north of £50,000 p.w then we deserve any PSR issues coming our way.