KangarooVillan

That looked like Ollie re-incarnate

I just coughed/laughed tea all down my front bravo

Less backup - more a rotational option who still plays decent minutes. He will start some games but probably not most. Smith, for the most part, wants to play inverted wingers. There will be times you will see the formation you have shown above, but as a starting point it will be Grealish — Buendia — Traore. Right now, Traore is better than ESR anyway...

Where did I say ESR would provide cover for Traore???

People seem to forget as well Smith likes having the inverted wingers. Buendia is right footed - I acknowledge he is good on his left but he still scored more than 2/3’s of his goals for Norwich on his right peg. I have no doubt he will play out right at times, but at this stage the line will be: Grealish — Buendia — Traore ESR would provide cover on the left and centrally. Alvarez is also right footed so not sure where he would slot in.

Yeah their browser web application sucks - on mobile it’s okay but they also have an Xbox app which I use

Only your on an Optus plan, but they’re an overpriced garbage telco. You can pay a subscription with them though for $15 AUD/month or $99 for the year.

I just finished the England Scotland game - as a neutral fan it was dour - found myself regularly in and out of paying attention. Prompted a question though. In local sports here, there a general belief that if play a brand that’s good to watch, you will generally be rewarded. I have seen a bit of Belgium and they seem to have a nice mix of defence and flair which is easy on the eye. Is attractive and exciting football generally seen to be a component of a successful team though?

Correct, glorified loan intends to acknowledge the fact that it is more than a loan, as you have described, but you are from having 100% ownership of that player. In the case of Luiz, if Man City wanted him before the date, he would be a Man City player right now. Similarly, Isak will most likely end up being a Dortmund player again if his form continues. There also doesn’t appear to be an expiry on Dortmund’s buy back clause.

Personally I think there’s better opportunities elsewhere. It’s always going to be difficult to develop and provide support with so much time spent on the sidelines.

Fair enough - can’t argue with that. Hindsight is a wonderful thing

Buy back clause though for Dortmund. Basically a glorified loan - like what we did with Luiz.

As @MaVilla stated below - it’s hard to compare considering where they’re both at in their retrospective careers. If I had to choose one right now though it would be Kamada hands down. He’s quality now with lots of room to be even better. Kubo has the higher pedigree (Real Madrid) but is more speculative at this point. I hope you’re right regarding not restricting ourselves to British market. It has served us very well in the past, but Leicester has shown in the past how successful the right players from abroad can be at competitively discounted prices.

He is, even put two magnificent goals past Emi against Arsenal in 2019/20. More prolific than Kubo at this stage in terms of goals and assists and expected goals and assists. For these numbers he’s basically on par with Grealish (see below). Different to Kubo and Grealish in that he doesn’t carry the ball as much (although when he does it’s wonderful to watch) - his game seems to be more ball retention and passing. Grealish also makes more key passes. To me, this just says he’s very efficient at what he does to generate score involvements. His defensive numbers are off the charts compared to the other two.

The question would be is he the best option available for the price? If he’s coming in as backup/to challenge for a spot, surely one of the key criteria would be that he is available when required. Considering he’s been injured for 97 days or more in each of the last 3 seasons that would be no from me. Surely there is better out there?

Buendia may very well start on the right. The fact that that is guarantee is a bit of an unknown though. As a right footer he’d be more likely to play on the left. I also have a feeling we will play him centrally and rotate through those wing positions due to the attributes he brings - good passing, good ball retention, good long shot and good defensive attributes.

Kamada would mean we would have 4 players (Jack, Buendia, Kamada, Traore) who could comfortably play across LW RW and CAM and all offer something a bit different. If this £25M bid for Smith-Rowe is legit, Kamada would be £5M cheaper, more prolific and better at defending. Between him and Buendia we would have two of the best creative players who also do the defensive work in the league.

Apparently Spurs low-balled Frankfurt with €5M offer for Daichi Kamada - Frankfurt want €25M. Sevilla also interested.

If we sign Anguissa I’ll eat my own face.

Pivotally, the pivotman was pivotal to pivoting the deep-lying playmaker’s pivot.

If we keep improving, something tells me Emi might be reticent to accept anything but the #1 position at a huge club. Unlikely Real Madrid or equivalent will be able to offer him that. Question for us will be, do we want the cash or do we want Emi Martinez?

Exactly this. Can obviously dish it but can’t...