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Football - dawn of optimism


Iskaral Pust

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48 minutes ago, Nas! said:

Well, I approve of West Ham's transfer business this summer.  I think they did what they needed to do.  Now they've no excuses. 

Yeah, Arbeloa might turn out to be a very decent signing. I'm a bit surprised that he was a free agent. 

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The feeling is that Sam Byram is still a season away from being ready for the starting spot at right back. Hopefully, he learns as much as he can from Arbeloa. 

More importantly, Arbeloa's signing means that Bilic has abandoned his horribly misguided belief that Michail Antonio is a fullback.  Which is really, really great because he's not. 

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6 minutes ago, polishgenius said:

Does anyone understand what Spurs want with Sissoko? Like, Everton, I thought they were going for the wrong player but at least I saw what they were looking for. What do Spurs £30mil need that Sissoko offers?

Yeah, I don't get it. I suppose if some manager can actually somehow get the best out of Sissoko consistently, then they will get the last laugh. But we all know that won't happen.

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7 hours ago, Rorshach said:

Well, we got another striker, at least. Enner Valencia is better that our alternatives (Kone and Niasse). 

But, seriously, Enner Valencia? We will struggle.

His strike rate is abysmal, but his work rate makes up for it by being mediocre. 

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9 hours ago, polishgenius said:

Does anyone understand what Spurs want with Sissoko? Like, Everton, I thought they were going for the wrong player but at least I saw what they were looking for. What do Spurs £30mil need that Sissoko offers?

If they didn't already have Wanyama and Dier I could maybe get it. I can only imagine that the manager definitely intends to play and sees him as an upgrade on what he has, and since they only just got Wanyama and he is doing well so far, I guess it means Dier is replaced. But it does not seem like the sort of player they need.

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16 minutes ago, Rorshach said:

And here I thought we'd just aquired a dud. But he's just a semi-dud. Good.

In truth, I've watched him enough to see that he's capable.  He's got good speed, is good in the air, can really belt the ball from distance.  His runs are decent, he hustles, he can play out wide if needed. He just can't manage to put it all together for any length of time, seemingly. 

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2 hours ago, Calibandar said:

If they didn't already have Wanyama and Dier I could maybe get it. I can only imagine that the manager definitely intends to play and sees him as an upgrade on what he has, and since they only just got Wanyama and he is doing well so far, I guess it means Dier is replaced. But it does not seem like the sort of player they need.

 

When Dembele is available though you were already only going to see one of them at CM anyway. Looking at how they've started the season, I guess maybe Poccetino decided that Wanyama can't back up Dembele the way he thought he would so decided on another ball-running midfielder, but even in the modern market £30mil is a lot for a backup, even if he can also offer a more forceful option to Lamela on the right.





I think there's a good player lurking inside Enner Valencia. If Everton can settle him and keep him fit he can be an assett.

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I just saw a funny exchange on my facebook feed that's tangentially related to this thread:

Someone posted something about a $500 nonstop rountrip flight to Manchester.

Somebody else replies, "that's sounds awesome, we should go"

A little later, "I just checked, that's like a 4 hour drive from London. Nevermind"

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Sissoko, Valencia and Luiz all seem like hasty panic buys, and Everton especially seemed to be scrambling on the final day. I think Koeman will improve Valencia but the other two are likely to be good with the ball until their lack of effort and/or concentration results in dangerous loss of possession.  

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On 9/2/2016 at 11:32 AM, Mark Antony said:

Hah but I could actually see Luiz looking quite good with Kante and Matic in front of him.

To be honest, all (or at least most) of boarders posting regularly in this thread would look quite good with both Kante and Matic in front. ;) 

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I mean yeah Kante made Wes Morgan and Robert Huth look genuinely world class. Luiz is more prone to error than your average CB but he has always been solid at moving the ball up the pitch. With the protection he will be working with at Chelsea I can see him having a really productive season. 

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