Bamfordinho has officially joined Boro. I hope he does well, sucks that he never broke into the first team.
Not buying that it is real but I would take that. Although at some point you would actually have to start replacing your players
Good to see Diego back. 2 massive games the next two so I wanted him to have his game to get back in the groove before those
I don't know why we keep trying to score via header off service from the wing against a squad whose only advantage over us is size
Apparently Ryan Mason (Hull player from that ugly Cahill crash) is in really bad shape. Fractured skull and brain bleeding. Hope he makes it out alright.
I doubt it. If ake provides cover through the back and at LWB and we have cesc/chalobah for the middle 2 and 4+ Michy for the top 3 I think we are good. Not sure who would play RWB because Ivanovic cannot do it but maybe azpi with zouma/ake in at CB or they give aina a shot. In the summer I expect us to go after a big time CM, a legit competitor at LWB and RWB and a RF to see if we can upgrade from Willian and Pedro. Who knows what happens with costa. If we lose him we obviously need a new guy at striker.
Tomori loaned to Brighton and hove Albion. They are 2nd in the championship. Not sure how much he would play but being on the team as they fight for promotion should be a good experience
Reports linking us to Vidal (most likely in the summer) for £55m. He is an incredible player and I think he can be the perfect compliment to kante but a 29 yr old at that fee and very high wages who has had issues staying healthy is a concern to me. Would be one of the few players in the world though that would be an upgrade on matic.
I bought Vidal at Boca Juniors in FIFA 14. He wasn't pacey enough and I hated him. You are welcome for my valuable contribution to this thread.
Carragher did an interview with lampard that is up in the daily mail. Carragher said that his player of 2016 was Ngolo kante which I agree with. Interestingly lampard thought that azpi has been our best player this season and feels like the right sided CB in a 3 man defense is the perfect position for him. I found that interesting. Hard to disagree with him on that point but I think it would be easier to replace azpi than it would kante at this point.
Is Ivanovic actually gone? Thought it was just rumors but I saw something more serious on twitter. Always sad to see a class player leave but his play fell off a cliff the past couple years. Hope he kills it.
Looks like Iva's going to Zenit. He was such a beast for so many years, but like allothersnsused said, his play just plummeted. I won't miss his crosses, but he was a character for sure.
Apparently Biabiany turned down a loan offer, not really sure why we were after him. There aren't really any glaring holes to fill this window, I'd be surprised if we signed anyone. With Ake returning, and Munsonda and Kenedy staying put, we have sufficient depth given the rest of our fixtures.
Sky Sports News HQ understands Zenit St Petersburg are now pushing to complete the signing of Branislav Ivanovic before tonight’s Europa League deadline, which falls at 2am Russian time As a result, we expected the defender to complete his move from Chelsea in the coming hours.
pretty nervous about the match today... don't like that liverpool have been playing so poorly and this is basically their season in terms of winning premier league
Hopefully our terrible performance against them the last time will provide some extra incentive. That Lovren goal was one of the most embarrassing things I've seen in a long time.
I would feel better about this game if mane had made his penalty and advanced in AFCON. Mane exploiting Alonso and cahill is probably my biggest concern with Liverpool. Second will be hazard's current form and the fact that it will probably be cold as fuck. We should score 3 goals against them. I think Liverpool get 2 and 2 goals get us a point and 3 goals gets us the 3 points.
Who knows. I hope he's just on the bench although he could kill us as a super sub once the left side is a bit worn out. I don't think Liverpool sent a private jet to fly him back home if they weren't hoping he would play in this game which could decide their season
Liverpool are desperate, they already paid off a judge to postpone the court date set for Firminho. That said, I see Mane starting on the bench today.
I don't expect ake to start ( we will know in 5 min) but I wouldn't be surprised if he did make a sub of ake for Alonso moving forward to get more defensive if we are looking to hold a lead late in the game. The left side is our weaker side and that could shore it up with some fresh legs and a player that is a bit better defensively.
Agreed. I didn't expect it either. Ake is a great sub. He's got good speed and size to counter anything they send out on the left.
Kind of surprised he went Willian over Pedro. The rest is expected. I am also surprised ake isn't on the bench. No one provides the tactical flexibility that he does as a sub.