Megadrive Man

If we sell Lovren, will Fabinho just become the 4th choice centreback option next season? Essentially we could replace Lovren with Thiago in that case. I feel like Henderson could be 5th choice centre back as well? We must be saving a shit load in wages by replacing Clyne and Lallana with Williams and Jones, and if we can offload the likes of Karius,Grujic,Wilson, Lovren and possibly Milner we must have the scope to bring in 1 or 2 players?

Борнмут

Went to the shops this morning and I was in a small minority of people wearing a mask. I'm sure since they announced that masks were going to be compulsory, less people have started wearing them! Sums up the mentality of people in this country.

One thing that doesn't seem to have been discussed is how will European matches happen next season? Is it realistic to have clubs flying in and out of different countries, particularly as a second wave is predicted in the winter?

I still can't make up my mind if Thiago would elevate our midfield and give us a genuine world class midfield player or if it will be like when Veron went to United in 2001. I feel like we need something new in the front six for next season though.

To some extent he was always pretty doomed at Barcelona as he was never going to live up to that fee. He's flopped at Bayern as well though now. I've made all my points on Coutinho. Its a moot subject anyway as Klopp won't have him back here.

Yeah I remember he did play quite well there initially under Rogers, but I don't ever remember him playing there under Klopp? Is it not quite telling that Barcelona didn't end up playing him there much though?

If Coutinho hadn't played for us before, I doubt anyone would want him here based on his recent performances at Barcelona and Bayern. As much as I loved his wonder goals, there were too many times where he'd shoot from range and miss when he could have kept the ball and tried to create a more realistic chance of scoring. Some people seem to think he would help us break down teams that effectively play two lines of defence, but the reality is we've been much better at that without him. Let him go to Arsenal, Spurs or Newcastle next season. Thats about his level now.

Not in a midfield three no. Certainly not in the system we play now. When was the last time he even played in that position?

For the people that keep going on about Coutinho, aside from the way he left, where would he even play for us now? Part of his problem is that ideally he needs to play as a '10' and most clubs don't really play with that sort of player now. He's not fast enough to come in for Mane or Salah and in a midfield thee he's not an upgrade on any of the players we have. As good as he was for us at his best, he was also incredibly frustrating at times.

Yeah, he's not the sort of player that would want to sit around in a bit part role. Hopefully that's why we are looking at Thiago.

I always feel like we struggle if we don't have either Henderson or Milner in midfield. Get the feeling Milner is off in the summer. Another game that shows how important Henderson is in this team.

You need a bit of that to counter the 'ITS MY FACE, I AM NOT A SHEEP, YOU CANT CONTROL ME' brigade though. Yet another, bolting the stable door after the horse has bolted move by the government. That can't realistically be enforced properly anyway. I've been feeling more positive about the whole thing recently until I read the findings from the preparing for a challenging 20/21 Winter report earlier. Surely even this incompetent clusterfuck in charge can't get it so badly wrong second time round though?

Its almost as if Southampton have a better manager than United?

That was pre lockdown.

What stats? I've found your 1 in 2200 shot. https://www.burnham-on-sea.com/news/burnham-on-seas-lighthouse-pub-closes-after-customer-tests-positive-for-covid-19/

My Mrs loves this show,but I find it too fast paced and frantic. She's worried that its going to be another show that gets removed due to the blackface humour in it though?

Yeah it was supposed to be in 6 months, but has been put back 12 months.

Could end up with him, Mane and Salah away for the African cup of nations in 18 months time though.

Nope. https://www.theplayerstribune.com/en-us/articles/willian-borges-chelsea A direct quote from the article; "I have played for Chelsea for more than six years now, and I can honestly say that I am very happy here. If you ask my wife if she wants to leave London, she’ll say no. My daughters feel the same way. Of course, Brazil is Brazil, right? It’s our home, our culture. We always feel good when we go there on holiday and see family and friends. But London is my second home"

Willian won't leave London. That was the reason he originally picked Spurs over us.

He might not have a choice. Bayern have already given his squad number to Sane.

It seems like a case of somebody putting 2+2 together and making 5. Thiago wants to leave, Klopp has spoken about this player in the past, I can't see that there's any more to it than that. He earns over 200k a week at Bayern, so would he really take a pay cut to come here? We've spent months tracking Werner, but weren't prepared to pay 54 million and put him on big wages, so why would we pay 30 million and big wages for Thiago? I understand that he is/was an elite level player and could be seen as our best midfielder, but he has lot his place at Bayern to Kimmich and Goretzka. Its not the sort of signing we make anymore, I really don't see it happening.

Not sure if its been mentioned on here, but when do we actually lift the trophy?

We should speak to the club about getting him a winners medal in my opinion.