Rightdm00

6 hours ago, Zatman said:

I think in Europe the referees are a lot better which helps

European football being played at a slower pace also helps. PL should probably experiment with 2 refs, one for each half.  Given the pace of play in the PL, asking a middle aged ref to keep up with some of the fittest world athletes is always going to be an issue. 

1 hour ago, maqroll said:

Tragically, Buendia looked like he'd been living in the weight room all summer and seemed poised to show that he could handle the rough and tumble.

That extra weight could also be why his ACL went. Wonder what he looks like coming out of rehab. 

2 hours ago, rodders0223 said:

We're selling our best academy kids to balance the books and I think it's fair to raise the point that Emery will be catching the eye even more so now we are pushing the top 4.

I think it's a very realistic worry that Emery will get poached which I suppose is why the club have given him such power at the club.

Everyone has to sell to balance the books. Man City sold Cole Palmer for £40 million.  Chelsea have sold multiple youngsters. Arsenal sold Balogun for £30 million after he hit 21 goals in Ligue 1. Everyone sells their youngsters who aren't ready for the step up. 

If Spurs had a Pau Torres they would have scored by now. Neither of their starting CBs can pick a pass. 

1 hour ago, Tom13 said:

No but if he's not starting our most important games he might want to move. I can't see him being content not being an important figure. He's too driven.

It could be that being an important figure doesn't require being an everyday player.  I'm not saying Ty's playing career is done but he has so many other skills besides his pure footballing talent. 

Tyrone is tailor made for eventually moving into a coaching role. I could even see him becoming a front office type.  His charisma and speaking ability are top notch. Every club in England would love to have him representing their club business or pitch side. 

4 hours ago, rubberman said:

Someone is going to come in with a massive £100m+ bid this summer if he continues like this. Not sure we'll be able to avoid that.

They will have to break the British transfer record. Which if that's how much they are willing to pay we will probably sell if the player wants.

The good thing is that if Dougie wants to stay I don't think a number exists that would get our management team to even consider selling. 

Carved a couple of clear cut chances from nothing.  If our goal is to compete on multiple fronts then you need 3-4 players of his quality for your most creative positions on the pitch. 

Who is more complete?  The modern striker has to do more than score goals. He must press, cover the width of the pitch, hold up play, assist and score goals. Watkins does that better than any other PL striker. 

Not a flop but just kind of meh. For a British record transfer I feel like your return should be a bit more than that. Good thing City has an entire Oil state backing them. No club would presently pay City half what they paid for Jack's services. Shows how crazy good a deal Purslow was able to secure. 

13 minutes ago, Keyblade said:

He's playing well. Very well in fact. I can't believe there's even a debate on this. He's one of the top performing players in the league. "B-but sometimes he miscontrols the ball". Yes, that tends to happen from time to time when playing alone against 4-6 brutes for 90 minutes. This season, Watkins is just about the last player that needs any criticism. He's performing above and beyond any reasonable expectations of him this season and has been since Unai Emery came in to be frank.

With Haaland's disappearing act for the last 3 appearances, Watkins is probably the #1 performing CF in the PL. 

VARs purpose is to look for clear and obvious errors. It's purpose is not to get the call right. The call on the field will stand unless you have overwhelming evidence to the contrary.  VAR is never going to overturn a single hand push. Same for the Neto penalty shout. VAR reviewed that to and let the call on the field stand. Don't think it was that egregious in the end. 

Grealish has 3+ years left at 300k per week. It's the Saudis or bust. No one else is paying that. 

10 minutes ago, Tom13 said:

Alvarez and I also think Jesus has a better allround game. I didn't say maybe Isak either, I said undoubtedly.

None of the strikers press or hold up the ball at anywhere near the level Ollie does.  Even then you can still only name 5 strikers better than Watkins. Of that 5 we could only dream of affording one, Isak. 3 of them are beyond us, Haaland, Son, and Jesus. The other, Alvarez, is not ready to lead the line as a sole striker. 

Ollie is by far the best striker we get that doesn't blow our wage bill to pieces. Yet there are moans every time he doesn't score. No striker scores every game. At least with Ollie when he doesn't score you get high pressure and the hold up play. This season he has even added assists to his game. Haaland just had a game where he did literally nothing for 90 minutes. He's elite though. 

25 minutes ago, Tom13 said:

Son and Haaland for two. Isak as well undoubtedly. But just because Watkins works well for us (in some games), doesn't mean he'd suit certain systems of other clubs. I couldn't see him doing well for Arsenal at all. When he's at his worst though, he's beyond frustrating.

So you named 2 certainly and Isak as a maybe. That's puts Watkins at worst as #4 in the entire PL. I don't see how having the 4th best striker is something to moan about, especially when you consider how much the other 3 in your list cost in wages per week. 

1 minute ago, Zatman said:

Its bullshit. Even Gerrard could have told him not to take your full back on and play 10 yard passes back into midfield

Honestly you have to question whether Pep even wanted him. Looks to be a purely profile boosting signing. Jack was the social media darling at the time wasn't he. 

I hold no ill will to Jack but it's very obvious we sold him at his absolute peak. Amazing bit of business. 

£100 million and not trusted even off the bench. Next move won't even be to another prem side. Going to join slippy next season.  

1 minute ago, Tom13 said:

Don't agree in the slightest, how can you say this as fact?

Which top 4 regular CF would you take over him? I can only think of 1 out of the Top 6. 

2 minutes ago, birdman said:

Frustrating to watch but actually a decent point!

Absolutely. Setting up to at least get a point on the road against a side who just beat a high pressing team is a decent result. 

The thing I like about Unai is that even when we set up defensively we still have, through the course of the match, multiple chances to win the game. It's not like we are parking the bus and hoping for a goal. 

7 minutes ago, IrishVilla10 said:

£75 million?

Can you see the future? 4 months into a 5 year contract and you already know it's not money well spent. 

Wolves manager just admitted Unai refused to play the way they wanted. Wanted us to come out and press and catch us on the break. Unai set us up to mitigate their counter which also neutered our attacking intent. Draw probably the fair result. 

Great clipped in ball for the assist. This formation left him so isolated. In the 2nd half the lines were more connected and he finally got a couple decent chances. Don't want to see that formation again unless we are defending for our lives. 

Good away point, especially after having to play during the midweek. 

Just now, Villatillidie95 said:

OH NO mctominay grabs an equaliser 

A scrappy home equaliser worthy of any mid-table clash. 

Unbelievable how bad ManUs recruitment has been. Besides maybe rashford I don't think I would take anyone else from their 11.