***Official*** English Football Season 2020-21

[Niall]

Going to be some big calls for Ole coming in the next few years.

He is obviously hampered somewhat by the owners and the lunacy of giving a washed up De Gea a monster contract.

However you can't have a spine of your team De Gea, Maguire and Lindelof if you ever want to do more than challenge for top 4.

I don't think Maguire is a weak link as some do, he is knackered as he always plays and when you got two duds like De Gea and Lindelof around you it doesn't help. An elite centre half to partner Harry and hand Henderson the gloves.

Martial? He will have a streak before the season ends where he looks acceptable but ultimately it will be another below par season.

He will need moving on.

Crikey!

 

[sledger]

Haha as if he's going to be manager in the next few years

 

[Uppercut]

Haha as if he's going to be manager in the next few years

He’s there for a good while yet imo. Our owners have very low standards.

 

[sledger]

He’s there for a good while yet imo. Our owners have very low standards.

2 years max imo

 

[sledger]

2 years max imo

Which tbf would amount to "the next few years"

 

[GIMH]

Not sure there's a way back for sledger from here

 

[andruid]

Bielsa needs to see a doctor about this London allergy Leeds United have. Especially with Brentford on the way up

 

[andruid]

Going to be some big calls for Ole coming in the next few years.

He is obviously hampered somewhat by the owners and the lunacy of giving a washed up De Gea a monster contract.

However you can't have a spine of your team De Gea, Maguire and Lindelof if you ever want to do more than challenge for top 4.

I don't think Maguire is a weak link as some do, he is knackered as he always plays and when you got two duds like De Gea and Lindelof around you it doesn't help. An elite centre half to partner Harry and hand Henderson the gloves.

Martial? He will have a streak before the season ends where he looks acceptable but ultimately it will be another below par season.

He will need moving on.

Crikey!

Aren't there reasonably decent clubs in various parts of Europe on the verge of fire sales, due to the pandemic? If United has gotten their scouting operations in order, they should use this to fix their squad issues.

 

[Lillian Thomson]

7 points is still quite a lot at the bottom where teams don't win very often, but I reckon Brucie is getting a bit edgy.

 

[flibbertyjibber]

Well if Fulham win one of their next 2 games that gap will have closed vastly in a few weeks. He would be right to be worried.

 

[JOJOXI]

Is Lindelof all that bad? I agree with Neville, put either of them besides an elite centre back and they look good. The problem is a) which centre back do you buy) and b) The owners are under pressure, splash another £60+ mil on another CB and if it doesn't work out you've got 140mil+ in the 2 cbs alone not performing to expectations. I suspect they'll hope with time Maguire flourishes like Shaw has and Maguire becomes the centre back they wanted when they spent £80mil on him rightly or wrongly.

Good luck getting rid of Martial! On £250,000 a week. I don't think he's as dreadful as some make out but can't see anyone getting him on anything near those wages in normal times let alone at the (hopefully in the summer) tail-end of a pandemic. France a good place for clubs looking to exploit financial issues but not sure if there is a CB leaping out that will fix their problems.

It will be interesting as some of the financial results post-pandemic are horrifying. I presume its the same abroad but I know that transfer fees received for players sold are booked in immediately to the accounts whereas transfers in are transfer fee+wages over contract length divided by contract length so the accounts could look better than actual cash flow. Nonetheless, Roma lost €179mil, AC Milan €171mil and Everton €140mil so looks like owners increasingly important, I worry about where football is heading.

 

[Uppercut]

Maguire has his pros and cons, he's a bit slow looks clumsy at times, but he's also good on the ball and excellent in the air. How good he looks is partly a matter of what situations he gets into.

Lindelof isn't a sort of calamity CB like Laurent Blanc at United or Pascal Cygan, but he doesn't really do anything especially well either. It's a shame Tuanzebe hasn't worked out because his ceiling is much higher.

An upgrade would be useful, but I'd have the individual quality of the defenders maybe 4th or 5th on the list of reasons for our poor defence. De Gea not being good enough, very limited midfield protection in the squad, and Solskjaer struggling to find the right balance outside of big games are all more important. Parking an Ndidi in front of the defence would do more for us than a new CB imo.

 

[GIMH]

Pizza Cup semis tonight ladies and gents. 6pm KO.

Yes it's a prank cup but with automatic promotion on the cards it's good to get a Wembley trip in, making that 4 completed seasons in a row where we'll have done so

Not that we start as anything approaching favourites tonight, and watching us at Wembley via Sky Sports will kind of suck but whatever

 

[JOJOXI]

Maguire has his pros and cons, he's a bit slow looks clumsy at times, but he's also good on the ball and excellent in the air. How good he looks is partly a matter of what situations he gets into.

Lindelof isn't a sort of calamity CB like Laurent Blanc at United or Pascal Cygan, but he doesn't really do anything especially well either. It's a shame Tuanzebe hasn't worked out because his ceiling is much higher.

An upgrade would be useful, but I'd have the individual quality of the defenders maybe 4th or 5th on the list of reasons for our poor defence. De Gea not being good enough, very limited midfield protection in the squad, and Solskjaer struggling to find the right balance outside of big games are all more important. Parking an Ndidi in front of the defence would do more for us than a new CB imo.

Its weird to think that with Fred and McTominay there but you could probably consider a Pogba more often if he was alongside an Ndidi although think its best for both parties if Pogba leaves in the summer. I don't even rate OGS that highly but feel a bit sympathetic for him as whenever you lose a couple games its always OGS and/or Pogba's fault and seemingly no one else over the last year or 2. How would you lineup next season if it was your choice (including realistic transfers)

 

[sledger]

Lindelof isn't bad at all.

But he isn't good at all either.

 

[Pothas]

I have just never really taken any notice of him. This is true for loads of defenders though.

 

[Uppercut]

Its weird to think that with Fred and McTominay there but you could probably consider a Pogba more often if he was alongside an Ndidi although think its best for both parties if Pogba leaves in the summer. I don't even rate OGS that highly but feel a bit sympathetic for him as whenever you lose a couple games its always OGS and/or Pogba's fault and seemingly no one else over the last year or 2. How would you lineup next season if it was your choice (including realistic transfers)

Yeah McTominay and Fred aren't really CDMs, both are much better with one more attacking player and one more defensive player.

Fred is a good ball-winner rather than someone who provides protection. It's not unlike how Kante's best seasons were covering a lot of ground in front of Matic, back when Matic could defend. Just because a CM excels when the other team has the ball doesn't mean they should play the deepest role.

McT's game has shifted towards providing more of an attacking threat this season. He's starting to remind me of Goretzka at Bayern.

I guess something like:

Henderson

Wan-Bissaka CB Maguire Shaw

CDM
McTominay Fernandes

Sancho Cavani Rashford

I don't know what a realistic CDM target is, but the Football Draft has made me realise how stacked the PL is with quality CDMs. Kalvin Phillips and Yves Bissouma would both be great signings imo. I'm sure there are also good options from abroad that I know less about.

I don't really have any good ideas at CB. IMO there's no one in the Premiership who looks obviously ready for a step up. Maybe I'll get a better look at the European options when the CL starts again. Upamecano seems to be the one everyone wants, but the latest word is he's going to Bayern.

I'd understand if we don't sign anyone there because I don't think the situation is *so* bad that we'd need to settle for a target we're indifferent about.

 

[Pothas]

Kounde. He is amazing although also pretty unusual, genuinely an attacking central defender.

 

[JOJOXI]

Yeah Upamecano is going to Bayern - release clause activated some of the narrative around the move is annoying as to why Leipzig sold him to Bayern when it wasn't really in their hands.

Didn't McTominay play DM under Mourinho? Do you think you would be better off with him there and Pogba or DVB getting a proper run in the team until the summer? Do like Bissouma but hope he doesn't end up at Utd lol, although I guess one positive (for you) is not many firmly bottom half clubs where you can get a player who is already used to playing in a possession based style. Probably useful given you've seemed to be inconsistent in terms of performances v weaker sides.

Interesting re Sancho from what I've heard he has not set it alight as much as last season so wonder if you still pursue that move? Especially if it's at a similarly high price to last summer.

 

[Uppercut]

Yeah McT played DM under Mourinho, but usually he had another 5 DMs alongside him.

His distribution isn't good enough to play there imo. Can't consistently get the ball off the back four and progress it to better players. He's not amazing defensively either. He can compete but he doesn't have that nose for danger and positional excellence that, say, Fernandinho had at his peak. Bissouma would be a big upgrade on both sides of the ball.

I'd 100% still take Sancho. Hopefully his poorer performances mean we can get him for cheaper. He's good and young enough that I'd want him even if he wasn't exactly what we needed, but he's a super creative RW when we lack creativity and lack a RW.