Football: Showdown Sunday

[A Horse Named Stranger]

Yep, and it really changed the dynamics of this game. Braunschweig had the big chance to go up with 0-1 a bit earlier. The penalty brought some confidence back into that Wolfsburg team. They still didn't manage to play Braunschweig off the park.

So let's see how the second game plays out on monday.

[Mark Antony]

Fuck me City have already snagged Bernardo Silva for a fat fee. 

[AncalagonTheBlack]

1 hour ago, Mark Antony said:

Fuck me City have already snagged Bernardo Silva for a fat fee. 

Unfortunately money talks.Can you imaging City filling a stadium with 72,892 people in a friendly in Sydney like we did this past week? Nope.Yet they will sign the best players.

[polishgenius]

1 hour ago, AncalagonTheBlack said:

Unfortunately money talks.Can you imaging City filling a stadium with 72,892 people in a friendly in Sydney like we did this past week? Nope.Yet they will sign the best players.

 

Yeah, poor underfunded Liverpool. Boo-hoo. Not City's fault that your owners down the years have consistently been second-best at taking advantage of the opportunities offered by the humongous international fanbase.


Anyway, annoyingly great signing for City. That's the long-term replacement for David Silva sorted. Although even factoring that phasing there's gonna have to be rotation to keep KDB, Sterling, Sane and Silva happy.

[Consigliere]

Bernado Silva is a good player yet I don't think he makes a big difference to City. Just adds more depth to an area where they are already strong. Now if they manage to land both Mendy and Walker as well then that would be a big upgrade to an area of the team where they are weakest. Hopefully we can beat them to Mendy though.

[polishgenius]

I'm not sure why City are so set on Kyle Walker when they could have just gone for Trippier and saved some money while getting someone much better at attacking from full/wing-back.

Any case, now that they've released all their other fullbacks, they're going to get absolutely slaughtered on prices. So they'll beat us to Mendy if Monaco are willing to sell (I reckon they'll allow two players to leave, but try to hang on to the rest for now, and they're not poor themselves), because they'll be far more prepared to spunk vast sums of cash on him.

Heck, I still don't even think we really need a LB, Shaw's not a lost cause.

[Mark Antony]

Everyone wants Mendy lol. Would love him at Liverpool. 

[Consigliere]

The problem with Shaw is that while he could be a quality player there have been question marks over his fitness since he arrived at the club. And he has been hampered by injuries since joining as well. We don't have anyone who can replicate what he brings to the team attacking-wise in his absence. Hopefully he isn't going to be in the mould of Smalling and Jones when it comes to injuries.

A forward, central midfielder and CB should be our top priorities though - looks like Carrick will be offered an extension so we might only look to sign one CM. A CB is a must since Rojo will miss around 4-5 months of next season and Smalling and Jones can't be relied upon given their injury records.

[polishgenius]

Word around the campfire is that Michael Keane has been telling his mates he's moving back to Manchester, so there's that.

With the forward thing it's an interesting one coz it has been pointed out that Griezmann is not really a striker and for our system we're probably better off getting him, if we manage it, for the wide-player/attacking mid role that Bernardo Silva and others we've been linked with would have been intended for and signing a proper striker as well, in the absence of Zlatan- we've been strongly linked with Belotti today although I'd be iffy about that, without having seen him play much, given that so far he's a one-season wonder. Look what happened with Ciro Immobile when he moved abroad too soon.

[Dolorous Gabe]

23 minutes ago, polishgenius said:

Although even factoring that phasing there's gonna have to be rotation to keep KDB, Sterling, Sane and Silva happy.

I doubt that'll be an issue. KDB gets jaded playing every game and if we are to challenge on all fronts there are a lot of games to share out.

My happiness with the strongly hinted signing of Walker will depend on the price. I would have preferred Trippier too but I presume Spurs put the block on that and said we can have Walker instead. A goalkeeper needs to be next on the agenda after fullbacks are sorted. Loving this quick business though. We usually wait far too late into the window.

[Consigliere]

14 minutes ago, polishgenius said:

Word around the campfire is that Michael Keane has been telling his mates he's moving back to Manchester, so there's that.

With the forward thing it's an interesting one coz it has been pointed out that Griezmann is not really a striker and for our system we're probably better off getting him, if we manage it, for the wide-player/attacking mid role that Bernardo Silva and others we've been linked with would have been intended for and signing a proper striker as well, in the absence of Zlatan- we've been strongly linked with Belotti today although I'd be iffy about that, without having seen him play much, given that so far he's a one-season wonder. Look what happened with Ciro Immobile when he moved abroad too soon.

I'd have loved for us to sign Morata but it looks like he's heading to AC Milan. Not convinced about Belotti either especially given the ludicrous price-tag that has been rumoured. It's an awfully big risk for a player with only one good season under his belt.

ETA. I'd be okay if we can get that price down to something reasonable (by today's standards anyway) as he does seem to be the type of forward who could excel under Mourinho.

[polishgenius]

The problem of course is that there really aren't many consistently high-scoring center-forwards these days. I mean, losing out on Silva is annoying but twinkle-toed attacking midfielders are hardly an endangered species if we really really want one. Getting an established forward is much harder. If we weren't managed by Jose I'd say we should blow all our bank on Lukaku, but we are so we shouldn't.

[polishgenius]

I was gonna say 'you should try to get Mauro Icardi' but actually, no, Arsenal should try to get Mauro Icardi.

[BigFatCoward]

Remember when the FA cup was a big deal, now i doubt i'll even check to see who won, how did that happen?

[ljkeane]

Early controversy.

[Consigliere]

Fortunate goal but overall Arsenal will be disappointed to be only one goal up.

[polishgenius]

Silly Victor Moses.

[Consigliere]

At least something to smile about for Arsenal fans. And in the unlikely event that this is Wenger's last game for the club, at least he would go out with a trophy. Arsenal were the better side on the day and with a depleted defence as well.

[Mexal]

Well earned by Arsenal. Glad we got something out of this shit season, especially given Spurs got nothing.

[Winterfell is Burning]

If Wenger was smart, he would leave now, with a title, and avoiding more controversy. But I doubt he is that smart.