RobbieOR

Don't disagree that this type of football can be boring, this start has had a strange underwhelmed feel to it at times probably because of routine winning has become but we have to be careful going down the route of harking back to Klopp. There were a lot of games like that too where it was flat and we just won with no fuss where the atmosphere was flat. It took Arteta completely whipping up the crowd in 2021 for us to wake up day and slap them 4-0.

I find it very funny that he's on the committee that's advising United on their new ground, but its nothing to do with him being a former player it's because he has a hotel on the site of where it will be built. The man is a virus.

I'd like to see it over a longer period of games than what we've seen before agreeing with this. Bradley played very well last January/February when he was in the side but that happens with young players before they regress to the mean.

He is the most difficult to replace but he wouldn't be the biggest loss of the three because of his age. Losing a homegrown player on a free to Real Madrid in his prime years who would go for about 100m if he had 4 years on his contract is the one that would be the biggest loss in terms of 'ambition' to call it that.

Yeah it depends who it is and who is available at the time. We did it with Diaz for Mane because it was clear he was done and Spurs had tried to buy him. As a general rule it's not really done though, and you'd suspect it's because the club do actually want them to stay and there is brinkmanship going on. I don't buy that the club hadn't talked to them until only a few weeks ago. They also want to see how good Slot is and where the club is going.

I don't really think that works in reality. In an ideal world yes but where are we giving them the games? Last season was maybe the argument for that because of the Europa League but every game matters.

We won't know if it's a disaster until next season though, that's kind of my point. The idea that we need to rely on two players approaching their mid 30's is a bit mental. Try and keep them by all means but it has to make sense to a point.

We ultimately made the call that we would not miss them if they were gone and we were right on that. Same for Mane, same for Firmino, same for Wijnaldum etc. I fail to see where we were wrong on anyone we've let go in that period considering the clubs they have played for and performances they have put in.

It's not ideal and that would probably be my reasoning for trying to keep one of them. Slot and Hughes are going to have to do it at some stage though. Whether its all in one go or not they've have to be replaced in 2 years max anyway unless we think Van Dijk is still going to be at this level in 4 years which lets face it, is doubtful.

When was the last time we lost a player where they did really well elsewhere and we missed them? Arguably Sterling but we bought Firmino then Mane the year after so it's probably Suarez. That's two players in a decade. We've a good record of these things. Losing Alexander Arnold would be a big blow but the other two regardless of how iconic they are at the club are not disasters if there is an indication they are going to decline. I'd also argue that if there was any indication they were willing to take the Saudi money (not that there is at the moment) then we'd be better off without them for motivational reasons

I would have a lot more sympathy if a) their manager and a few of their players had not been involved with City and b) they were any good at 'shithousing'. For it to work you have to be able to get away with it and they haven't. They've basically decided to turn themselves into a Mourinho team in an era where it doesn't work anymore, certainly not when you need 90+ points to win a league title.

Didn't really think they were up to much at all. We were very professional in how we dealt with them but their team is basically Chelsea's from 5 years ago and their manager will probably get the bullet if they lose at the weekend. For the second best team in that league last season and for the history they have it's a sad state of affairs it was that easy to beat them.

We play a different formation now though, one less midfielder and essentially one more forward. It can mean something like that.

It's just I've seen you post it a few times, it doesn't really make any sense with how the club operates.

Is there any evidence they are replacing Chiesa with Salah? We spent big money to replace Mane and Firmino with Diaz, Nunez and Gakpo. We did it when replacing Fabhino and Henderson too. Even further back with other sales. If he goes then they'll buy someone else.