'Even allowing for inflation, this thread is not worth 198 Terry Francises' - EPL 2017-18

idng the raheem sterling comment, a player with no touch and no goals bar those handed by pep fiat

long may alli rep premium last, i think im at the stage of the sooner we cash in and get a player who doesnt lose the ball all the time the better

probably more astute than Dyche's dogged persistence in trying to get Clucas at a Buy British price.

huh? a post disappeared!

xxp alright well we can argue about whether or not Sterling has got a first touch (i think he does, it's the second, third and fourth touches that tend to ruin it), i mentioned him before bcuz he is the no 1 example out there of using the numbers (23 in 46 last season!) to justify the "he is a world class player delivering week in week out for a top level side" assessment regardless of how much evidence he may provide to the contrary in real time during games

Alli is also a much worse player than his numbers would suggest, you can make an argument based on the numbers that he is actually an extremely effective player, but he's NOT that's all i was getting at

ya ya all agreed

you think grealish is a better player, gods honest now, or dyou think in champo alli is like a god etc

Ha well how is one to be sure, he was singlehandedly pureeing defences as of Christmas last year while playing alongside some right tosh

I'm of the opinion that there is not much to call between a top 8 championship defence and a bottom 12 EPL defence, or at least there wasn't last year, this state of affairs seems likely to continue

All I can say is I've been going along to villa park for many many years now and even in the days when we were routinely contending for European places I never saw a guy so utterly assured in possession, making the right decisions and getting the execution right

adomah, grabban, snodgrass et al were scoring 1 in every 5 that he was creating for them, would fancy Harry Kane's chances of getting more

But yes if it comes to it he is a different and altogether superior player to alli, he will probably post worse numbers even if he gets the starts but that proves nothing

im of an opinion that a player with less of the big stats than alli who strung things together more consistently but with a more creative edge than winks would be a vg addition to squad.

doubt he'd be stuck for game time tbh, especially presuming dembele sissoko are likely departees.

in which case he'll do you just fine

as a direct result of this conversation i'm now watching this clip on repeat and weeping like a child, i hope you're pleased with yourself

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jp05xHqy2BU

Shit I forgot that Sissoko was still there. Guaranteed starter next season.

Son is at the Asian Games at the start of the season which might have some bearing on transfer policy. Just remembered that Moura exists as well.

moura gonna be great this season imo

are we allowed to start talking about the new domestic season now that the World Cup is done?

Liverpool looking immense on paper once the Alisson deal goes through but they've still only got one viable front 3, remove any one of them and the whole thing goes to pieces. Man Utd will be absolute waste again and probably still finish 2nd, Pogba and Lukaku will get the blame, Spurs a worthy 3rd place. Are Chelsea gonna be any good at all once they sell Kante to PSG?

Rumours are Hazard, Kante, Willian and Courtois all leaving Chelsea.

They'll need some great signings in the next couple of weeks if they're to mount any sort of challenge this season.

so

spurs title, we're callin it yeah,

Spurs to do a Belgium.

but they've still only got one viable front 3, remove any one of them and the whole thing goes to pieces

Shaqiri seems like a pretty able deputy, no?

Mou to win title. Calling it.

Utd's business so far has been deeply concerning. Fred is probably a decent pickup but after that all we've got is completely untested 19-year-old and a third choice keeper

if we go into the season with Valencia and Young still first choice and without a recognised right winger we might as well not bother

contrast to Liverpool, who seem to have intelligently addressed their issues and now look like the second best XI in the league

spurs, utd falling back with no activity is prob the simple narrative

dunno abt utd but spurs couldve used a few current squad players (Foyth, KWP, arguably Llorente more last year to good effect imo)

Wanyama, Winks, Rose, Alderweireld all spent significant % of season out injured.

Moura bought for this season and hardly used.

Bit of width, better alternative to Alli/Kane if such a hybrid exists, Sissoko out, be in good shape to challenge for top 4 imo.

I feel like Liverpool are the only club who really anticipated the problems that a World Cup and shorter transfer window would bring, their squad looks really well-placed to challenge for the title now (assuming City don't just run away with it again) and their new midfield + Alisson + a full season of VVD should ensure a huge step up on last year.

The next few weeks are going to be completely crazy transfer-wise so it's not really wise to make any predictions but I'd guess:

Spurs - will start very slowly due to most of the squad getting to the last weekend of the World Cup but once they get going will be about as good as last season
United - every time Pogba and Lukaku look laboured this season, everyone will know it's Mourinho's fault. This could be the season he burns it all down.
Chelsea/Arsenal - fuck knows. Aubameyang could come screaming out of the blocks though but both squads look far from complete.

Hard to see anyone else breaking into that lot. Everton + Silva really could go either way.

United - every time Pogba and Lukaku look laboured this season, everyone will know it's Mourinho's fault.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/44879658

chelsea look like losing a lot of crucial players

sarri tho

hmm

Actually forgot about City!

i'll settle for 7th

City/Utd death struggle. Spurs/'Pool candles in the wind. Goodbye Danny Rose.

https://shop.tottenhamhotspur.com/persImages/views/thumbnails/01_MHSS18.jpg

AIA logo looks like a mountain admiring itself in the mirror

lots of lower league controv today because NevilleGiggsyButt fc have signed Adam Rooney on a 4 grand a week contract!

Wardy pulled out of tonight's Liverpool's friendly XI as Leicester might be signing him if they lose Schlemiel. He did alright for Town, but he's deffo a massive downgrade on Schmeichel.

done deal- Ward to Leicester £10m, wtf!

Klopp has basically done Leicester there! That's some deadwood gone and the Shaqiri transfer paid for.

Raheem Sterling's camp had hoped a good World Cup would give them leverage to push his City wage from £170,000 to £250,000/week with a new deal. His gamble has failed and while City hope he signs a new deal, Sterling will be sold next summer if he doesn't. [Telegraph / Mirror] pic.twitter.com/KHOfUqF9Br

— City Watch (@City_Watch) July 19, 2018

a good World Cup

sorry, that's ambiguously phrased

Raheem Sterling fears his chances of earning a new deal at Manchester City which would see him become one of the highest paid players in the Premier League have receded following his performances at the World Cup this summer.

Sterling’s advisors began discussions with City officials at the end of last season but decided to continue talks once the tournament in Russia had finished with the hope that an electric showing from the 23 year-old would give them leverage to push his weekly pay packet from £170,000 into the region of £250,000.

They believe he should be one of the top earners at the club alongside striker Sergio Aguero and Kevin De Bruyne , the Belgian international.

Yet Sterling was influential without being outstanding during Gareth Southgate’s surprise run to the semi-finals which could sway City’s thinking.

✍️ We are delighted to announce that Heung-Min Son has signed a new contract with the Club, which will run until 2023.

▶️ https://t.co/jmNE7GniNC#COYS pic.twitter.com/dUeS1SO7IU

— Tottenham Hotspur (@SpursOfficial) July 20, 2018

sonnnnn

holy shit

pic.twitter.com/zstlO2rddx

— Wonder Winks (@WonderWinks) July 20, 2018

Sold Jesus and signed the Apostles

We just signed another Monaco reject (not a complaint!), much more exciting than the days when Falkirk briefly became our feeder club!

i'll settle for 6th

.. biggest importer of Portuguese fine wines?

I've gone from enjoying the madness to worrying about the diversity of our scouting approach right back to loving the madness all over again. Fuck kiss of deathing it, less than a top half finish is gonna be considered failure at this point.

if Dyche can almost crack top 6 with his oddly Anglocentric transfer policy, then anyone can do it, well apart from Uncle Neil's fucking Cardiff of course!

Ince going to Stoke today. Very tidy and consistent player at Champo level, just frustratingly falls slightly short of what is needed against Prem standard defences. Some of our lot think he's been a bit unlucky, but so consistently unlucky imo that he just isn't cutting it.

yeah he's flattered to deceive for a long time but i think it's pretty clear by now that Champo is his level

Is Ince doomed to be one of those players doomed to drift in the limbo between championship and premiership - waiting for one more club to have a punt on his 'obvious talent'? Cameron Jerome is the prince of this merry crüe.

I've been fascinated for a long time by Cameron's ability to turn obvious mediocrity into something that looks like a decent career from the outside

I love SON.

I thought Sterling was bad in the WC until the Crotia match when I thought he was a player transformed at last. But I don't really see why a club as powerful as City would be swayed by his WC performance anyway.

xp Shane Long seems to be wearing a pair of Jerome's Nike Limbo shooting boots in the last few seasons.

Yep, Ince is in the lucrative but underwhelming Rhodes to nowhere club of high end champo players who can't cut it in the bigtime. I used to work with Cameron's cousin and he used to tell me Town's academy was racist as fuck and completely biased towards white middle class kids when this old Irish dude - Gerry Murphy was running it.