Premier League Transfer Rumours 2018

[Inverted]

It does seem slightly ridiculous how shit Chelsea's players are considering that they've won the league twice in the last 3 years. 

Morata is a young-ish, CF who could be world class. Christensen has so much potential that most fans would be overjoyed to have him playing every week despite little weaknesses. Pedro was a regular for peak Barca. Hazard is a world beater. Fabregas is a genius who has never been a powerful runner anyway. Bakayoko is raw but was a key part of one of the best sides in Europe a year ago. 

Willian apparently is only remotely good when the team is cruising, despite him dragging Chelsea behind him in the first half of the Mourinho meltdown. It's apparently a disgrace that Marcos Alonso is still there, when he easily outperforms all but a couple of wing backs in the league. Cahill is shit despite being one of the most decorated players in the PL.

I get that fans see things outsiders don't, but the constant despair when Chelsea are arguably the most successful club of the post-Fergie era is a bit tiring.

[Cicero]

And yet, the word shit hasn't even remotely been stated when classifying our players. 

Imagine that. 

[LFCMadLad]

5 minutes ago, Inverted said:

It does seem slightly ridiculous how shit Chelsea's players are considering that they've won the league twice in the last 3 years. 

Morata is a young-ish, CF who could be world class. Christensen has so much potential that most fans would be overjoyed to have him playing every week despite little weaknesses. Pedro was a regular for peak Barca. Hazard is a world beater. Fabregas is a genius who has never been a powerful runner anyway. Bakayoko is raw but was a key part of one of the best sides in Europe a year ago. 

Willian apparently is only remotely good when the team is cruising, despite him dragging Chelsea behind him in the first half of the Mourinho meltdown. It's apparently a disgrace that Marcos Alonso is still there, when he easily outperforms all but a couple of wing backs in the league. Cahill is shit despite being one of the most decorated players in the PL.

I get that fans see things outsiders don't, but the constant despair when Chelsea are arguably the most successful club of the post-Fergie era is a bit tiring.

They are so hard done too though! 

[RandoEFC+]

7 minutes ago, Cicero said:

And yet, the word shit hasn't even remotely been stated when classifying our players. 

Imagine that. 

Just because that exact word may not have been used doesn't change my point which @Inverted has handily expanded upon saving me the trouble.

[Cicero]

22 minutes ago, RandoEFC said:

Just because that exact word may not have been used doesn't change my point which @Inverted has handily expanded upon saving me the trouble.

And which point was that from that paragraph of fallacies? Was it the part where he mentioned Morata, Christensen, and Bakayoko have the potential to be world class? Pretty sure I and every single Chelsea fan on here have stood by that claim.

Or was it how we have had Willian's saving grace with his whopping 21 league goals in 5 seasons to rely upon? I'll give him his consistency. Average of 4 league goals a season is definitely an impressive feat, and it took a 10th place finish for him to finally win our POTS. Legend. 

Maybe it was Alonso and his FK's that have beautifully papered over the cracks of how utterly average he is defensively? Or how Cahill is still a massive mistake waiting to happen and still can't play from the back? Maybe when Messi and Suarez tear both of them a new arsehole in February it will finally clear things up. 

Notice how we've won the league in that time (a time where the premier league has been very weak in comparison to other leagues) but have made no such impact in Europe since 2014. And even then, we couldn't balance both the league and champions league. Now why is that?

Despite how you interperate, not one Chelsea fan is saying we need a new entire XI. MY point is that we are 3 signings away from being able to compete at all fronts. 

[Storts]

42 minutes ago, Inverted said:

It does seem slightly ridiculous how shit Chelsea's players are considering that they've won the league twice in the last 3 years. 

Morata is a young-ish, CF who could be world class. Christensen has so much potential that most fans would be overjoyed to have him playing every week despite little weaknesses. Pedro was a regular for peak Barca. Hazard is a world beater. Fabregas is a genius who has never been a powerful runner anyway. Bakayoko is raw but was a key part of one of the best sides in Europe a year ago. 

Willian apparently is only remotely good when the team is cruising, despite him dragging Chelsea behind him in the first half of the Mourinho meltdown. It's apparently a disgrace that Marcos Alonso is still there, when he easily outperforms all but a couple of wing backs in the league. Cahill is shit despite being one of the most decorated players in the PL.

I get that fans see things outsiders don't, but the constant despair when Chelsea are arguably the most successful club of the post-Fergie era is a bit tiring.

It's a disgrace Marcos Alonso is still there because he should be in prison

[RandoEFC+]

8 minutes ago, Cicero said:

And which point was that from that paragraph of fallacies? Was it the part where he mentioned Morata, Christensen, and Bakayoko have the potential to be world class? Pretty sure I and every single Chelsea fan on here have stood by that claim.

Or was it how we have had Willian's saving grace with his whopping 21 league goals in 5 seasons to rely upon? I'll give him his consistency. Average of 4 league goals a season is definitely an impressive feat, and it took a 10th place finish for him to finally win our POTS. Legend. 

Maybe it was Alonso and his FK's that have beautifully papered over the cracks of how utterly average he is defensively? Or how Cahill is still a massive mistake waiting to happen and still can't play from the back? Maybe when Messi and Suarez tear both of them a new arsehole in February it will finally clear things up. 

Notice how we've won the league in that time (a time where the premier league has been very weak in comparison to other leagues) but have made no such impact in Europe since 2014. And even then, we couldn't balance both the league and champions league. Now why is that?

Despite how you interperate, not one Chelsea fan is saying we need a new entire XI. MY point is that we are 3 signings away from being able to compete at all fronts. 

I don't question any of that it's just a bit frustrating reading how unhappy you lot are with your squad every Sunday evening while I have to watch Ashley Williams, Morgan Schneiderlin, Cuco Martina, Michael Keane, Aaron Lennon trying to play football in an Everton shirt every week .

[SirBalon]

18 minutes ago, Cicero said:

And which point was that from that paragraph of fallacies? Was it the part where he mentioned Morata, Christensen, and Bakayoko have the potential to be world class? Pretty sure I and every single Chelsea fan on here have stood by that claim.

Or was it how we have had Willian's saving grace with his whopping 21 league goals in 5 seasons to rely upon? I'll give him his consistency. Average of 4 league goals a season is definitely an impressive feat, and it took a 10th place finish for him to finally win our POTS. Legend. 

Maybe it was Alonso and his FK's that have beautifully papered over the cracks of how utterly average he is defensively? Or how Cahill is still a massive mistake waiting to happen and still can't play from the back? Maybe when Messi and Suarez tear both of them a new arsehole in February it will finally clear things up. 

Notice how we've won the league in that time (a time where the premier league has been very weak in comparison to other leagues) but have made no such impact in Europe since 2014. And even then, we couldn't balance both the league and champions league. Now why is that?

Despite how you interperate, not one Chelsea fan is saying we need a new entire XI. MY point is that we are 3 signings away from being able to compete at all fronts. 

You make very fair points all the way through that post until the smallest paragraph of all in my personal opinion which is what I’ve been going on about all along.

Right now, right this minute as things stand from a mere observational point of view which is all about unadulterated football and nothing else... You can make three signings but you ain’t competing against this Manchester City and if they better their first XI which I would expect them to, I just don’t see how anything other than second spot is all that can be achieved.

[Cicero]

7 minutes ago, RandoEFC said:

I don't question any of that it's just a bit frustrating reading how unhappy you lot are with your squad every Sunday evening while I have to watch Ashley Williams, Morgan Schneiderlin, Cuco Martina, Michael Keane, Aaron Lennon trying to play football in an Everton shirt every week .

Unhappy isn't the word. Definitely irritated with how our summer dealings went and how the league panned out (although can't really complain given how dominate City have been) but still happy how we are coping. We go back to 2nd if we beat Arsenal tomorrow.  You lot need to sack Sam in the summer if you want any hint of progression in my honest opinion. 

6 minutes ago, Teso dos Bichos said:

Mou left Conte a winning squad that had quit trying and completely turned their back on mou (like the LCFC)  conte and the board have done a terrible job upgrading the team since mou left. Getting rid of costa was a terrible move and the way Conte behaved during the move was unprofessional!

Mou left Conte a 10th place team and had the audacity to criticise us for winning the league whilst not playing in Europe, when in fact it was his fault we weren't in Europe to begin with. 

Done a terrible job upgrading since Mou left, Even though United spent more than us those two years and if we beat Arsenal tomorrow, United will still be behind us. 

3 minutes ago, SirBalon said:

You make very fair points all the way through that post until the smallest paragraph of all in my personal opinion which is what I’ve been going on about all along.

Right bow, right this minute as things stand from a mere observational point of view which is all about unadulterated football and nothing else... You can make three signings but you ain’t competing against this Manchester City and if they better their first XI which I would expect them to, I just don’t seenhow anything other than second spot is all that can be achieved.

To be honest, 

We drop Cahill in favor of Rudiger. 

Make Azpilicueta captain. 

Get Sandro or Telles in replace of Alonso. 

Get Vidal and have Bakayoko bleed in as Vidal ages. 

Get Mahrez as an upgrade on Willian whilst still keeping Pedro. 

I'd say we'd have a squad capable of matching City's. 

 

[RandoEFC+]

Just now, Cicero said:

Unhappy isn't the word. Definitely irritated with how our summer dealings went and how the league panned out (although can't really complain given how dominate City have been) but still happy how we are coping. We go back to 2nd if we beat Arsenal tomorrow.  You lot need to sack Sam in the summer if you want any hint of progression in my honest opinion. 

Mou left Conte a 10th place team and had the audacity to criticise us for winning the league whilst not playing in Europe, when in fact it was his fault we weren't in Europe to begin with. 

Done a terrible job upgrading since Mou left, Even though United spent more than us those two years and if we beat Arsenal tomorrow, United will still be behind us. 

To be honest, 

We drop Cahill in favor of Rudiger. 

Make Azpilicueta captain. 

Get Sandro or Telles in replace of Alonso. 

Get Vidal and have Bakayoko bleed in as Vidal ages. 

Get Mahrez as an upgrade on Willian whilst still keeping Pedro. 

I'd say we'd have a squad capable of matching City's. 

 

I wasn't in support of Sam's appointment but people writing him off after 8 games is hilarious. Between Unsworth and Allardyce we've gone from 19th to 9th which is progress enough from the shambles Koeman left behind.

Allardyce isn't going to get us into the top 4 but I do expect him to have us stable and back to a solid 7th by the end of next season which is all anyone can really expect.

[carefreeluke]

@SirBalon

The difference is that we're a very well coached team, we have a very clear identity and we have a lot of players who suit the style of football we play, Drinkwater for example was bought because he's a Conte player and he can slot very easy into the system. In this manner we're a very good team. You telling me that Italy team (under Conte) were good enough (players wise) to do what they did at the Euro's? Not a chance, the real difference was that they were very well coached. Are we as good as previous Chelsea teams I've seen? Nowhere near. It can sound a bit spoilt complaining as we've just won the league, we have the resources others can only dream etc but I'm only comparing to previous teams we've had, it's perhaps something @DeadLinesman can relate to as I saw him post something on this a while back. We have a lot of resources and should be on the levels the likes of Real Madrid, Barcelona, Bayern etc have been on but we're not and for me that isn't good enough. Don't see what's wrong with that. It's not the same but in a way it's similar to people giving Leicester fans stick for showing ambition after their title win, people saying they should just accept their following season being poor because a club of their stature has just won the league. I want the best for my club and if we're not one of the best teams in the world that isn't good enough as far as I'm concerned.

Of course we have very good players overall but there's a lot of improvements I think that could be made. Courtois is one of the best goalkeepers in the world, Kante is an animal, Hazard is class. These are the one's that I say were closest to world class but of course that depends how you define it. It was perhaps undeserved to leave Azpilicueta out of that list, I think it's perhaps his struggle to break into that Spain team (which is difficult I know) that leaves him off the top league in terms of players and the fact that his playing position hasn't been given much consistency over the years. What is this guy's best position? This is perhaps a compliment as well but still. Conte since he started has been talking about the need to build foundations for the future and we have many young players or players with potential who could in a few years be deserving of that top level status Christensen, Bakayoko, Rudiger etc but that's a time game. Morata for me needs 1-2 years to see what level he really is, undoubtedly he's a good striker but he hasn't been playing regularly enough at the top level to deserve some of the praise and comparisons he's been receiving, needs to prove himself still. I love Pedro as a player. Moses has grown on me a lot but his poor composure and final ball means he isn't top quality. Cahill is Cahill. I love Fabregas but he has to be used with care and managed correctly. Alonso isn't good enough. Willian isn't good enough, at best a squad player. Overall on paper I compare this team to some of the previous ones we've had and it isn't as good however a very well coached team with some quality (we have that, just not enough) can still go onto great things.

[Cicero]

5 minutes ago, RandoEFC said:

I wasn't in support of Sam's appointment but people writing him off after 8 games is hilarious. Between Unsworth and Allardyce we've gone from 19th to 9th which is progress enough from the shambles Koeman left behind.

Allardyce isn't going to get us into the top 4 but I do expect him to have us stable and back to a solid 7th by the end of next season which is all anyone can really expect.

I'd say you were lucky against us and Liverpool for missing a shit ton of chances to bury the game. Can't say anything for the other games. 

But given how ambitious you guys were in the summer, I expected a 7th place finish for next season isn't what the club had in mind. 

[Spike]

3 hours ago, Cicero said:

My two cents, in terms of top class or elite, I'd say Hazard, Kante, and Azpilicueta are the only three. 

Potential to be there:

Morata - Has always been second fiddle at every club he's been at before us.  Also an important clutch player for Juventus, and Real Madrid.

Christensen - Needs more seasons under his belt Hardly a criticism. It isn't as if he can help his age. 

Bakayoko - Needs more seasons and adjusting to a new league.  What does he need to adjust to particularly? 

Rudiger - Same as Bakayoko What does he need to adjust to particularly? He performed at a high level with an 'adjustment' period when he moved from Stuttgart to Roma.

I'd say Pedro and Fabregas still offer something, but not enough to be labled as top class or elite as both are in the decline and it is showing. Perhaps you can make a case for Fabregas' decline as he began his professional career at ~16 but I don't see any decline with Pedro; as even at Barcelona he had extreme highs and lows.

Luiz and Courtois are good, but not what I'd lable elite. If they aren't elite, then who is? There are thousands of footballers in the world and I'd wager to bet they'd start for nearly all the clubs in the world save for a small handful. Yes, they aren't Nesta or Kahn but players like that are exceptional and a rarity.

We then have absolute average players in Batshuayi, Willian, Drinkwater, Moses, Alonso, Zappacosta and Cahill. Players who are no where near good enough to be starting for a club competitng for league and CL. Everyone of them are squad players at the very best. 

 

 

[RandoEFC+]

Just now, Cicero said:

I'd say you were lucky against us and Liverpool for missing shit ton of chances. Can't say anything for the other games. 

But given how ambitious you guys were in the summer, I expected a 7th place finish isn't what the club had in mind. 

No but that has nothing to do with Allardyce. Look at the squad he's taken over. The only players who would arguably get a sniff at a top six club are Pickford, Rooney and Sigurdsson and two of those three play in the same position on the pitch. Because of this 7th is the best we can expect and even that is a long shot after the chaos of Koemans start to the season.

The only saving grace is the wealth of young talent we have breaking into the first team with Kenny, Holgate, Davies, Baningime, Lookman, Vlasic and Calvert-Lewin all 21 or below as long as they don't have their careers shafted being expected to bail out our senior players all season.

[Cicero]

14 minutes ago, Spike said:

 

Morata still has yet to be at a club where he is the main man, rather than an impact player. 

Christensen isn't a criticism? He just broke in our starting XI, be very immature to label him as top class already. 

Bakayoko needs to adjust to the pace of the league if anything. Holds onto the ball far longer than he should and his decision making has been poor when under pressure. 

Rudiger just needs a good run of games to be fair. Commits far too many silly fouls. 

Pedro has always been an instinct finisher, but isn't a player that has the qualities to influence the game the way Hazard can. Still a massive better alternative than Willian and I'd love for him to finish his career here. 

When I say elite, I mean top 4 or 5 in their position. That's my aspect on it and I don't rate Courtois among the top 5 GK's nor do I rate Luiz among the top 5 centre backs. Still good players who are good enough to be in our starting XI. 

[Spike]

1 minute ago, Cicero said:

Morata still has yet to be at a club where he is the main man, rather than an impact player. He has already racked up ten or so goals in the league, as far as adjusting to being the main man, I think he is doing an admirable job. There is nothing wrong with blooming a little later.

Christensen isn't a criticism? He just broke in our starting XI, be very immature to label him as top class already. I didn't say otherwise.

Bakayoko needs to adjust to the pace of the league if anything. Holds onto the ball far longer than he should and his decision making has been poor when under pressure. Didn't Monaco play a high-tempo style? You'd think he'd be able to handle the speed of play.

Rudiger just needs a good run of games to be fair. Commits far too many silly fouls. He is a physical player, a tractor if you will. I think he is suited to an aggressor role, I don't expect him to ever be a 'calm' player.

Pedro has always been an instinct finisher, but isn't a player that has the qualities to influence the game the way Hazard can. Still a massive better alternative than Willian and I'd love for him to finish his career here. He was never at that level though or been that type of person. Pedro is one of the more important players at Chelsea, not everyone can be on Hazard's level. 

When I say elite, I mean top 4 or 5 in their position. That's my aspect on it and I don't rate Courtois among the top 5 GK's nor do I rate Luiz among the top 5 centre backs. Still good players who are good enough to be in our starting XI. It's very arbitrary at the end of the day. Look at Bonucci for instance, in that three-player defence with Barzagli and Chielini he was the definitive best CB in the world but in Milan's two-player defence he isn't even remotely in that discussion. 

 

[carefreeluke]

Cicero sums up Pedro nicely. He's still one of my favourites though and has a top mentality, he isn't the problem and despite some Chelsea fans' opinions of him this campaign, I'm relatively happy with his performances this season. I would love to see him retire here as well as long as his performances merit that of course. His goal compilation when he eventually leaves will be a cracking viewing as well. Has a very good playing relationship with Hazard.

Rudiger will have to prove his worth still but I'm happy enough with him so far. Needs to work on his concentration as he can switch off at times, I can think of a couple of goals in that sense which have been his fault, particularly from defending set pieces. As Cicero mentions he can be too reckless at times as well, too much aggression which leads to stupid fouls but I think he has calmed down a bit in that sense in recent weeks. Needs a good run in the team for us to see his true quality.

[Cicero]

Just now, Spike said:

Morata still has yet to be at a club where he is the main man, rather than an impact player. He has already racked up ten or so goals in the league, as far as adjusting to being the main man, I think he is doing an admirable job. There is nothing wrong with blooming a little later.

Christensen isn't a criticism? He just broke in our starting XI, be very immature to label him as top class already. I didn't say otherwise.

Bakayoko needs to adjust to the pace of the league if anything. Holds onto the ball far longer than he should and his decision making has been poor when under pressure. Didn't Monaco play a high-tempo style? You'd think he'd be able to handle the speed of play.

Rudiger just needs a good run of games to be fair. Commits far too many silly fouls. He is a physical player, a tractor if you will. I think he is suited to an aggressor role, I don't expect him to ever be a 'calm' player.

Pedro has always been an instinct finisher, but isn't a player that has the qualities to influence the game the way Hazard can. Still a massive better alternative than Willian and I'd love for him to finish his career here. He was never at that level though or been that type of person. Pedro is one of the more important players at Chelsea, not everyone can be on Hazard's level. 

When I say elite, I mean top 4 or 5 in their position. That's my aspect on it and I don't rate Courtois among the top 5 GK's nor do I rate Luiz among the top 5 centre backs. Still good players who are good enough to be in our starting XI. It's very arbitrary at the end of the day. Look at Bonucci for instance, in that three-player defence with Barzagli and Chielini he was the definitive best CB in the world but in Milan's two-player defence he isn't even remotely in that discussion. 

Morata - He has also missed some absolute sitters and one on one chances that Torres would of been proud of. Like I said, too early to tell. 

Christensen - So why insinuate it as a criticism? 

Bakayoko - Think he still needs to get used to the amount of time he can be on the ball before an opposition player is on his arse. Effects his decision making massively as well. 

Pedro - Mata was and KDB showed signs. 

[Spike]

1 minute ago, Cicero said:

Morata - He has also missed some absolute sitters and one on one chances that Torres would of been proud of. Like I said, too early to tell. But unlike Torres he has ten goals, he may miss some sitters but at least he gets the goal at the end of the day. 

Christensen - So why insinuate it as a criticism? I didn't insinuate anything, I said it wasn't a criticism. I think there is a miscommunication here.

Bakayoko - Think he still needs to get used to the amount of time he can be on the ball before an opposition player is on his arse. Effects his decision making massively as well. I don't think Conte is the manager to get that out of him, I hate to say it but a manager with a quick pass-n-move style would beat that habit out of him. 

Pedro - Mata was and KDB showed signs. Yeah, everyone with half a brain could see that but unfortunately Mourinho has only a quarter left after Real Madrid. I think the Mata situation irks me more because he had been the club's hands-down best player for two straight seasons and he is shipped off after a hardly being given a chance for six months. Bastard that Mourinho.

 

[Dan+]

1 hour ago, Teso dos Bichos said:

Mou left Conte a winning squad that had quit trying and completely turned their back on mou (like the LCFC)  conte and the board have done a terrible job upgrading the team since mou left. Getting rid of costa was a terrible move and the way Conte behaved during the move was unprofessional!

When did our squad ever turn on Mourinho?

[RandoEFC+]

In a shocking development an Everton transfer that was supposed to be "done on Tuesday" has not in fact been completed this Tuesday.

However, the Tosun deal is apparently set to go through still.

We've also been linked with Seri from Nice and Turan from Barcelona today. Would rather we signed an actual full back or two.

[HK85]

1 minute ago, RandoEFC said:

In a shocking development an Everton transfer that was supposed to be "done on Tuesday" has not in fact been completed this Tuesday.

However, the Tosun deal is apparently set to go through still.

We've also been linked with Seri from Nice and Turan from Barcelona today. Would rather we signed an actual full back or two.

No chance of them two coming here. 

[RandoEFC+]

Just now, Cannabis said:

In the clubs defence was anything actually confirmed from the club or was it just some people jumping on a Twitter story spreading like wildfire? 

I wouldn't mind signing Turan but another winger is exactly what we don't need at this moment in time, a striker and a completely new defence is the objective for January.

It was the latter but I'm just being a cunt and moaning about it anyway because I've hit the grumpy disillusionment that always follows the loss of mild optimism when it comes to Everton. I'm not sorry.

[Dan+]

4 hours ago, carefreeluke said:

@SirBalon

The difference is that we're a very well coached team, we have a very clear identity and we have a lot of players who suit the style of football we play, Drinkwater for example was bought because he's a Conte player and he can slot very easy into the system. In this manner we're a very good team. You telling me that Italy team (under Conte) were good enough (players wise) to do what they did at the Euro's? Not a chance, the real difference was that they were very well coached. Are we as good as previous Chelsea teams I've seen? Nowhere near. It can sound a bit spoilt complaining as we've just won the league, we have the resources others can only dream etc but I'm only comparing to previous teams we've had, it's perhaps something @DeadLinesman can relate to as I saw him post something on this a while back. We have a lot of resources and should be on the levels the likes of Real Madrid, Barcelona, Bayern etc have been on but we're not and for me that isn't good enough. Don't see what's wrong with that. It's not the same but in a way it's similar to people giving Leicester fans stick for showing ambition after their title win, people saying they should just accept their following season being poor because a club of their stature has just won the league. I want the best for my club and if we're not one of the best teams in the world that isn't good enough as far as I'm concerned.

Of course we have very good players overall but there's a lot of improvements I think that could be made. Courtois is one of the best goalkeepers in the world, Kante is an animal, Hazard is class. These are the one's that I say were closest to world class but of course that depends how you define it. It was perhaps undeserved to leave Azpilicueta out of that list, I think it's perhaps his struggle to break into that Spain team (which is difficult I know) that leaves him off the top league in terms of players and the fact that his playing position hasn't been given much consistency over the years. What is this guy's best position? This is perhaps a compliment as well but still. Conte since he started has been talking about the need to build foundations for the future and we have many young players or players with potential who could in a few years be deserving of that top level status Christensen, Bakayoko, Rudiger etc but that's a time game. Morata for me needs 1-2 years to see what level he really is, undoubtedly he's a good striker but he hasn't been playing regularly enough at the top level to deserve some of the praise and comparisons he's been receiving, needs to prove himself still. I love Pedro as a player. Moses has grown on me a lot but his poor composure and final ball means he isn't top quality. Cahill is Cahill. I love Fabregas but he has to be used with care and managed correctly. Alonso isn't good enough. Willian isn't good enough, at best a squad player. Overall on paper I compare this team to some of the previous ones we've had and it isn't as good however a very well coached team with some quality (we have that, just not enough) can still go onto great things.

Bang on. The reason it happens is very simply because people want their club to be the best it can be and I have absolutely no issue with people thinking that. It's like when you get people have a pop at Arsenal fans who want Wenger out "because it isn't as bad as Portsmouth" or something like that. It just completely misses the point to me. Why compare yourselves to the worst? Aim for better. Simple as that.

I just can't get on board with this whole sit back and take what you get attitude. Stoke fans being given the "what do they expect" treatment despite a clear regression. Giving everyone that kind of talk just totally defeats the whole objective of sport if you ask me.

[Guest]

On 12/30/2017 at 8:05 PM, LFCMadLad said:

Most of our reliables are now reporting that Klopp is targeting Basel’s Manuel Akanji to partner VVD at the back. 

Not gonna even pretend to know anything about him? 

I have a podcast and my co-host once spoke about him. He highly rates Akanji. I can't say I've seen him but I've heard he's a defender who puts defense first in his priorities.

In other words, he's really just tactically disciplined. Defense comes first and doesn't try to play it out.