13 Jul 2022 14:22:06
Martinez deal completed. I'm still thinking this is as left sided CB but remains to be seen if played at DM. Maguire named captain so the right sided CB looks fixed. I know many of you love that lol.
I see Maguire - Martinez as the main CB pairing with Varane - Lindelof back up or in certain games. We will hopefully have 60 games next season so still plenty of game time for 4 main CBs.
I think we will see an improvement from all players next season. Though wouldn't take too much to do that would it!
Looks like Malacia, Martinez, Eriksen and De Jong is all we will sign. Improvement in defence and midfield from where we were. Rome wasn't built in a day and I don't think there were ever sufficient funds to replace Ronaldo this summer. Looks like he stays though suspect by default rather than 'for the love of the club'.
I wonder if anyone would love any of us just that little bit more if they paid us £480k a week?
Sorry forgot the No Champions League Tax so it is reduced to a bargain basement £360k a week!
13 Jul 2022 14:58:56
His ball playing ability is simply majestic and perfectly suits ETH's possession oriented style.
There are question marks about his physicality but quite sure Ten Hag will have plans for it.
Player of the year and covers multiple positions - CB, LB and CDM.
Will surely be a useful cog in the team.
13 Jul 2022 15:12:40
And who's to say Bailley might not have climbed a rung or two based on yesterday. Just one crappy preseason game sure, but if he can get on top of his fitness he could easily be starting ahead of a few of them.
13 Jul 2022 15:31:41
Lol. You still think we’re going to sign De Jong? At this point I’m starting to doubt whether we’ll even get Eriksen over the line.
13 Jul 2022 15:32:48
Club captain doesn’t need to be a nailed on starter. You can have club captain and match captain.
13 Jul 2022 15:33:19
Spenno, there is absolutely no doubt, despite what anyone thinks about Bailey, he was not afforded the same amount of mistakes as others, whilst still keeping his place. Made one against City at home and not seen again. this was after a decent midweek display away against Atalanta, where as Maguire and Shaw could make as many as they liked and retain there place!
13 Jul 2022 16:16:29
Bailly has not shown the discipline required but he does have the athleticism. If good coaching can improve him, and he can remain uninjured, there is no reason why he should not fulfill some of his early promise.
13 Jul 2022 16:30:22
The Bailey fans are back out are they! One good 45 minutes and people forget how unreliable he is, how erratic he is and another social media sly clown airing his dirty laundry on Twitter!
Get rid.
13 Jul 2022 16:51:10
If Maguire is at right sided CB, that position is definitely not fixed. He was hopeless last season and if he improves to play at his best level he's still average at best.
13 Jul 2022 18:14:49
Varane is still by a long way the best centre half at the club. We need to keep him fit, that will probably mean his work load in training needs altered potentially or whatever.
13 Jul 2022 19:10:52
Chris, perusing your most recent posts you don’t seem to have much good to say about any player! Let’s see how things pan out, you can’t sell the entire squad.
13 Jul 2022 19:55:00
Chris1 when did i say i was a Bailey fan? Just mentioning he got less room for error last season than others. Same for Phil Jones. that doesn't mean i want either of them at centre back next season does it!
13 Jul 2022 20:57:49
I haven’t got much positive to say about many players no, have you been living in a cave for 18 months?
Why should we! Bailey has had umpteen fresh starts and has been a let down every time, the sooner we did the club of chancers like him and many others the better! I feel their are a good group of players that ETH can work with and improve definitely and I’m excited we finally have a top manager in, however I won’t be fooled by pre season cameos by players who are not up to the required standard!
13 Jul 2022 21:05:49
Fair points Chris. We coukd make a case to remove almost most all of them, however that is not possible, so we have to keep some and make the most of it.
14 Jul 2022 01:39:42
Granted Varane didn’t have a great or even good first season, but to be relegated to a bench option, I’d I was him I’d want to be leaving ASAP.
14 Jul 2022 07:37:05
Who is going to want to pay the wages he is on for an injury prone CB who needed Ramos to tell him were to stand and what to look out for?
14 Jul 2022 08:34:07
Not sure where we get all these transfer for X is completed stories that keep coming up.
All I ever see is Simon Stone updating most days that a transfer is 'closer' or that we are in 'advanced talks' normally followed a few days later by a story explaining why we haven't actually bought a player yet.
14 Jul 2022 09:47:30
Nothing completed yet, I am reading this morning that we we are still out by a couple of million with what Ajax want for him.
14 Jul 2022 10:02:46
I'd disregard the notion of Maguire being club captain as meaning that he's a nailed on starter. Varane will definitely start if fit. Also not clear at all that Martinez will play at CB. He may be looked on as a CDM. The way Ten Hag team's play there is always a CDM or full back that slots into CB when the team is attacking to maintain the lines.