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What a goal
We can get Youseff Fofana from Monaco. Price tag won’t be high and he can also play both 6 and 8.
Let’s a DM in January and free this guy up to play LCM
https://twitter.com/LeroyAFC_/status/1725662969176948786?t=i-zr6jyJP0Z_684ahxz_Jg&s=19
Ladies and Gentleman, your honour, we have made it half way through the international break. It will soon be over, this terrible nightmare will be history 🎉
And it’s the last one this seas… oh no, there’s March. Nevermind.
At least after this one they’ll be consistent club football for at least two months
Everton are lucky they got points deducted this season. We have the weakest bottom three teams this season. Everton will easily avoid relegation.
I wish we can get Frankie de jong in January, he’d fit us like a glove
January is impossible.
Summer, Jan, we shouldn’t go anywhere near him. His wages alone can end world hunger.
Would you entertain a swap deal for ESR + cash for Douglas Luiz? Villa did want him before so could be something worth exploring
I would absolutely give up ESR to get either Luiz or Neto if it came to it without a second thought
I wouldn’t, but I feel like it might be offered.
I really liked Douglas Luiz when we were linked with him for 25 to 30. I’m not so sure if it’s going to be 50+.
Does confirm to me one of the DMs is leaving in Jan though, with all this smoke.
yeah, other than being from the academy esr doesn’t have anything going for him at the moment. he’s a good player that doesn’t really fit anywhere in the team and is never fit
Yes
Yep ESR is worthless now. No clubs will bid for him more than 15m. You heard it here first.
Those ESR fanboys can pool in all their net worth and add to his market value I guess.
I wouldn’t say worthless man, that’s harsh lol
Wait… so there was VAR in the England game yesterday? I wasn’t watching intently but had it on and assumed after the Kane dive wasn’t overturned and corrected there was none… The fuck has happened to refs lol.
Whoever we buy at LCM has to be a 6/8 not another 8/10.
Fofana, Kone, Thuram, Wieffer 🙏🏿
For me, offensive player who is good off the ball. If they can drop in to play in the pivot, even better.
I just don’t see why we’d need another one. We have four players who can play 6, four who can play 10 and only one who can play 6/8. Currently we need to play Rice - Jorginho - 10 every game. If Rice gets injured our season will collapse because Jorginho with any 2 of our 10s will get run over by any midfield we’ll face.
Nah I’d argue we need another more creative midfielder, so we aren’t just relying on odegaard
Implying a good 6/8 can’t or won’t create?
A 6/8 would fit with what Arteta is currently relying on: that is, Rice as an 8. A better 6 behind him would afford him a lot more freedom in that role, not only freeing him from his current limitations in supporting Jorginho, but also allowing rotation between that player and Rice. That would be very useful both in the buildup and in breaking down set defences; it would make us a lot more fluid.
A 6/8 also fits better with our needs in the long run, since we have a fair few talented (if not currently fit and firing) 8/10s in the squad: Ødegaard, ESR, Vieira, Havertz, even Trossard to some extent. As you say, adding yet another one seems unlikely, especially when Rice is the only player in the squad who can play both our 6 and 8 roles to a high level.
That said, signing yet another 8/10, one currently in good fitness and form, could allow us to shift back to Rice at the 6. While playing Rice as an 8 was obviously always in Arteta’s plans – as even our thickest fans have realised by now – another part of that plan was to give Rice minutes there as part of his development in our 6 role, and because he has a lot to offer there right now.
On balance, I’m pretty sure it’ll be a 6/8, e.g. Douglas Luiz.
I agree with the 6/8 but not because it allows Rice to play as an 8, but because our backup 6 (Jorginho) needs to be always paired with someone more defensive in midfield. A new 6/8 can play with Jorginho or ESR/Vieira/Havertz depending on the opposition.
Also, w.r.t. Rice, that we were in for Mount should be proof enough that he was always meant to be a 6 (if not consistently this season, then long term), and he would play as the 8 next to Partey in the tougher games. Again, I am not claiming Rice as an 8 was always out of the equation, but the fact that he has played as a 6 through most of the season should be enough. Even when Partey went off injured, and we had Zinchenko back to invert, Arteta didn’t immediately move Rice to 8 but kept playing him as a 6, even against United and Spurs (in this match with Vieira and Odegaard in front of him). It was only against City, Chelsea, and Sevilla away that you could claim Arteta played Rice as an 8 for tactical reasons.
There’s a universe where we sign Zaire-Emery last season and I want to live in it
No there isnt, he was getting so much hype already before we attempted to sign him.
Lmfao I came here immediately when I saw Havertz plays as LB, I cant believe my eyes haha, Nagelsmann is going full Pep at this point.
Ik Ik, he will play more advanced . Definitely weird asf tho.
Mikel is glued to the TV right now and taking notes aggressively. We may have unlocked a new big-brain moment ffs.
Kai scores from LB in the first 5’ lmaoooo
Lmao where are the Kai haters??? Scoring at LB 💀💀💀 Mikel is heating the pan as we speak!
