ts_1010

Is there any chance that we are actually looking at Ruslan Malinovskyi, the left-footed RM dead ball specialist who averages a goal contribution every 3 games for the same team? Anyone else praying for a standard FT hissyfit over some dodgy articles on deadline day?

I think our best bet here is to refuse to sell this window. Do an arrangement to sell in Jan. Let both Chelsea and Fof know we won't stand in the way of a Jan move as long as it's kept secret. Then do our own tapping up of the next guys with that money. The prices will be lower as they think we are cash poor. We will also have our head of recruitment in the door with 4 months to plan and a decent budget to actually work with.

BR, and most other managers to be fair, prefer to put the slowest CB and if possible best communicator in the middle. If the wing backs get caught up the field a slow cb would be exposed by a winger/striker out wide. I would argue that amartey can only really operate on the right of a back 2 or 3. He's one of those players that is physically perfect just lacking in natural instinct and mental side of being a defender. What makes players like JJ and Fof so exciting is they clearly possess both. I would have been happier with either cags or JJ on that side of the back 3 with Thomas coming in as wingback.

Everytime he plays on the left of defence he's poor. Apart from Fofana he's probably the best physical defender we have though. Both Cags and Evans have struggled in the past against big number 9s like Toney. That's the only reason I can see for him being played ahead of cags.

If he's got 2 years or more left, I'd definitely keep him and try him back in the championship. It seems to me that he had a crisis of confidence at Rotherham, feeling responsible for their league position while he wasn't contributing. I know it doesn't work for everyone but KDH has shown that the right loan, the right circumstances, can transform a player.

I have the feeling that we lacked a little height and, im sure Rodgers even referred to this at some point. I think if we hadn't had injuries at all, vestergaard might have still been signed as a "protect against the route 1 ball in the last 20 minutes" regular substitute. Albeit only as a luxury if we have spare cash and had covered everything else. We then lost Fof after spending most of our budget on other areas. Fof being the best in the air. I think we just went for cheapish and good in the air, vestergaard being already on the recruitment list. We didn't really have time for scouting and researching others. He definitely doesn't suit our style, he's not built to be a highline centre back and it's obvious, and I'm sure you have a list of a half dozen CBs who would have been a better fit.

That squad is almost a formality with the way our squad options are. We've only picked 24 players as we have to leave 4 for our home grown talent that is over the age of 22(?). That's why hamza is in and Mendy isn't. It's not a comment on their abilities.

Barraclough has come out and said that he's had a chat with Rodgers about this. Frankly, if he's fit enough for 30-40minutes for NI, then thats fine by me. He gets a slight preseason game, we get to see how rusty he is before we throw him in against a prem team. You can't stop him wanting to play for his nation, or atleast be around the squad if he's invited. Some guys would do anything to represent for their country. Banning him would cause resentment.

Certainly not against his pace, but I think Vestergaard can offer some physicality that Soyunchu seems to miss out on. More generally, Soy seems to be able to dominate a lot of physical battles with most strikers but when he can't do that, he's not as good at disrupting players enough to made them ineffective. Evans is much better at accepting that he might not get to a particular cross first, and adapting to interfere with the striker, or block the header.

Cags always gets rattled by Antonio. It happened last season as well. I think one of the reasons that vestegaard came in, is because with Fofana out we lack aerial dominance and strength at the back. Antonio on form can make most cbs look poor though. And he was good enough against Wolves.

Kels has got a manager that understands him here. He seems to need his confidence lifting more than others, and Mourinho either protects his players or he tries to utterly destroy a players confidence. Also, we would clearly be going straight into buying another striker if Kels leaves. So, unless that turns out to be Tammy I don't see the point.

Happy with this signing. He's not going to be worth 50m in a couple of years which is the usual criteria for our purchases. But he covers some important shortages. With Fofana and Evans out, we are lacking experience, aerial dominance and passing into the midfield from the rcb position. Jannik might not be a world beater but he covers this quite well. And will offer a great option to see out a win against high balls into the box. I have a feeling we will come to see this as good value. 👍

I've been to a few games at the KC this year. I was keeping an eye out for Bowen due to our apparent interest. He is pretty good going forward, but he NEVER tracks back. He leaves his right back wide open and I think that would put Rodgers would be put off by that. Rodgers made a big deal about how hard Perez grafts when he signed him.

Its hard to get Cag's name into a song, Ive tried this. Start that video from about 1:20 to get the idea. Cag-lar Soy-un-co(chu) Wearing pink or blue, hes gonna stop you. Wins it in the air or and on the ground too. Ole's bought the wrong man

I was right behind Lonegan. God we were bad then!

How about... (to the tune of "Stand up for the Champions") Weee know Why you beat your wife Weee know Why you beat your wife Weee know Why you beat your wife It's cos You caught sven with your wife It's cos You caught sven with your wife It's cos You caught sven with your wife