21 Jul 2016 01:01:09
just a bit of change of topic as the pogba thing is now getting old. who from the top teams has done the best business so far in the window?
and let's assume we get pogba, and city get sane and kroos by the looks of it and what ed002 has said all along and chelsea add a key striker and so do arsenal. who do you reckon is winning the league next year. Sorry spurs have also done well so far.
Finally i personally thought we had by far done the better deal when considering we got Mikhitarian and City got Gundogan but if they get kroos and sane and we get pogba, i believe they got the guys we should have got and in a much better position.
21 Jul 2016 01:53:37
I really think we have it all lined up. We have under performed for so long that teams may not fear us as much, which could give us a further advantage. Great manager, great players, strong depth, something to prove and very slight underdog spirit. I'd be very surprised if we don't win the league. I think City will fail, Liverpool will be the major threat this season imo.
21 Jul 2016 05:16:31
i don't think city are going to be as big a threat as everyone make them out to be, chelsea and liverpool are going to be bigger challengers to the title, city even if they get sane, stones and kroos alongside gundogan have not really strengthened the key weakness from last season their defense, which from time to time acted like a deer caught in headlights, stones has to prove he can go on to fulfill the potential especially after the season he has had. Kroos at least the one i have seen at madrid looks like he is not interested in defending, gundogan pre injury was class, post injury he is yet to hit the similar level. Sane is potentially great, but again scoring goals was never the issue for city it was keeping them out that was the issue, and none in that list solve that.
21 Jul 2016 05:26:44
I'm not convinced we have addressed centre half yet. Bailey may have potential but we really needed an experienced top class CB, which so far we have not done.
21 Jul 2016 06:39:06
In response to the Beast and CSM I nearly agreed with both of your posts until I read Liverpool will be a threat, I mean really are you sure they'll finish mid table again.
21 Jul 2016 06:59:36
me too, transfer window has a fair bit to go now but reports last night saying we enquired about bonnuci in last 24 hours . and very recently varane . could be all nonsense paper talk . The day LVG was appointed and the day Jose was appointed I thought " here we go, 70-90 mill on 2 CB s will be the first bit of business" never happened
Would not be surprised to see Garay still come in - not a top CB but is experienced and steady, a big guy, bit of a hard case, good in the air so an improvement on Blind / McNair/ Jones and Rojo. and I would be happy with that.
21 Jul 2016 07:11:14
nellym they have sorted their biggest leak in the defence, even if the karius guy turns out to be average he will still save atleast 10 goals a season more than mignolet not to mention the steep reduction in goalkeeping errors. And i don't think they will win the title but without european distractions they will be there or thereabouts.
21 Jul 2016 07:26:06
I think Citeh will be a big threat this year. The style of play change to winning the ball back higher up the pitch will make them too hot to handle for most teams in the league.
Sane is a big upgrade on Navas. Always liked Gundogan, but agree he is still unproven since injury.
I think we will challenge this year, feels like winds of change around the club. Couple more signings and we'll have a title challenging squad and a manager who will extract the best out of them.
Chelsea are an unknown for me, surely they will come back strong this year.
I'm not convinced Liverpool or Tottenham will get into top four, man u, city, Chelsea and arsenal will be too strong this year I think. Leicester will do well to get top half after a perfect season last year.
21 Jul 2016 08:18:57
I think this season will be the most unpredictable. Along with the usual big boys you will have Leicester, Everton, West Ham, Liverpool and Spurs all having a big say in where silverware goes. that's nearly half the league.
I worry that some of our fans are getting a bit over confident. And how that may become hyperboil if we don't win everything next season. There seems to be this idea that now we have Mourinho its a given we will win the league.
Personally I still think we have a massive gap in the heart of defence. Bailly looks promising but none of our centre backs have real quality at this time. All teams that win titles have at least one top class centre back, or a duo who combine perfectly. I don't think we have that.
Certainly we will be more competitive this season, but I think unless everyone else has a below par season we will fall short of winning the title. Unless we see us bring in a top class centre back.
21 Jul 2016 09:15:42
Shappy,
I think there is only Beast with the hyperbole on here, saying we will win the league just so that when we don't he can say the season has been a massive failure. let's see if we play better football whether Beast stops complaining, because that is all he was asking fo rlast year, results come 2nd apparently, all about performance.
21 Jul 2016 09:16:08
Agree to some extent Shappy but, with Jose's impact, we could be challenging this year.
Only doubts for me are the impact/ gamble on the ZLATAN, how Jose will line up midfield if we get Poggers (he's box to box, as is Schneiderlin and Herrera - who will be more defensive minded? Carsick sitting in front of back 4? If no protection back 4, will Smalling and Bailly cope? ) and how Bailly settles in.
City will do well if keep buying well, Arsenal always top 4, Chelsea could be dark horses, especially with Kante now, Spurs have done some good business with Wanyama and Jansen, Everton might be rejuvenated under RK, Leicester have only lost one key player, so will see what his replacement is like and Liverpool will see the benefits of Klopp's project coming together.
Considering the above, my top 8 would be:
1. Man city
2. Man Utd
3. Chelsea
4. Arsenal
5. Spurs
6. Liverpool
7. Everton
8. Leicester.
21 Jul 2016 09:42:20
No West Ham Wallace? I think they will have a say in europa qualifications I'd say they are better than Everton.
21 Jul 2016 10:34:51
You could be right TES: West Ham might be in the reckoning, as they've kept Payet and are desperately trying to add some names - they've got a great opportunity to build got the future what with their new stadium/ extra PL money.
However, Everton have been massively underachieving lately and I really rate RK, especially if he gets Schneiderlin back.
Can't wait for the new season, going to be really exciting again!
21 Jul 2016 10:55:05
I think west ham are over rated.
21 Jul 2016 11:26:07
I really think pep will be a flop I don't think he's proved anything in his career so far, he's been at very good teams with amazing ready made teams, city's abit different there abit like us but abit behind I'd say they to replace a lot of there big players that done it for them in previous seasons, were filling in a few gaps and have the best manager to do this.
21 Jul 2016 14:26:54
The big issue could still be cb as a couple have said above .
There should be some good teams this and i agree some fans are getting ahead of themselves as it will be a hard league and jose tends to do better second season .
That said we spending more cash than anyone else.