The Ongoing Serie A, La Liga, All English Football, Champions League Thread - - - - - - - - Part 46

[DeadPresident]

Damn, his gf is smokin'.

Good slide tackling and a solid passing range make women go crazy

 

[DeadPresident]

It's weird, I dunno if it might be something at my end, it just always seems to be this thread and some PM's which made me wonder if it was a formatting issue, who knows!

Sorry Hunter, I completely missed this post man!

Lindelof is done! Pleased with that one, I think him and Bailly will be a good fit together, their games compliment each other really well IMO and like you say I think he'll develope further under Jose, like we saw with Rojo.

Yeah, I'm glad this one is done and dusted. I'm excited about the guy, if he turns out to be half as successful as Bailly was I think we'll be thrilled. I like the look of him and he's got decent experience for his age having played in the CL before and having won some trophies with Benfica.

I really like Fabinho, as a RB I thought he was ok but since he moved to the holding midfield role he's been really superb and he's at the age as you say that he can develop further, him and Lindelof have good experience but are at an age where they can still grow a lot.

Yeah Fabinho seems ideal, but it appears as though those stories have hit a wall for some reason. Matic is being discussed more now, which is kind of depressing, I find him to be one of the least exciting or dynamic midfielders I've ever seen - he barely feels like an upgrade over Fellaini and he's 28. Really hoping this one is false

I've kept my fingers crossed that Perisic will be converted to LB like Valencia was to RB, he's strong and quick but so lacking in dirbbling ability and attacking quality that I don't want to see him in an attacking role, certainly not in a 4-3-3 as there's no way we'd get enough goals out of a Perisic/Morata/Mkhitaryan IMO.

Considering the merry-go-round that the LB spot was last season I wouldn't be surprised. The other context that the Perisic signing makes sense in is if Mourinho might be planning to play 3 at the back? Even if one of Smalling or Jones leave we'll have Bailly, Lindelof, Smalling/Jones, Blind, Rojo, Tuanzebe as CB options. Valencia makes sense as a WB and Perisic does too, which will likely mean Herrera could partner a new CM/CDM with Pogba ahead of them and behind two forwards? It's probably the more predictable answer though, which is that Mourinho is going to stick with one work horse wide player like he did at Chelsea =/

Either way I feel like if we add Morata and another decent wide forward we'd have enough about us to compete for the league. The number of chances we created last season, if replicated, combined with how well Morata converts chances really bodes well I feel, and we'll have the likes of Mkhi and Pogba settled and hopefully showing more consistent performances.

 

[Loden Greatstorm]

Lindelof deal done.

 

[Kaleb]

Rd 16 of the Copa Libertadores draw

 

[Loden Greatstorm]

Hopefully Morata is confirmed soon.

 

[DeadPresident]

Jordan Pickford to Everton seems to be happening, promising young Keeper for them to get.

 

[aNarcHy2day]

Either way I feel like if we add Morata and another decent wide forward we'd have enough about us to compete for the league. The number of chances we created last season, if replicated, combined with how well Morata converts chances really bodes well I feel, and we'll have the likes of Mkhi and Pogba settled and hopefully showing more consistent performances.

I do think they need another proper central midfielder- ideally a defensive minded one- before I feel really confident about the chances of genuinely competing for the League.

I mean, at the end of the day, it depends on how many of the incumbents Jose trusts. The likes of Young, Fellaini and Mata may not be part of Mourinho's plans going forward, who knows. If some of them leave, it could open up gaps in the back up that we'd probably need to fill.

Jordan Pickford to Everton seems to be happening, promising young Keeper for them to get.

I hardly watched any Everton matches last year. I used to rate Steklenberg highly. Did he not do well last year?

 

[BatmanBeyond]

Good slide tackling and a solid passing range make women go crazy

I was, of course, aware of his gf before he signed for us. For research purposes, you see.

 

[BatmanBeyond]

I hardly watched any Everton matches last year. I used to rate Steklenberg highly. Did he not do well last year?

I think he did well initially for Everton, remember him being in god-mode for the match against City at Goodison early in the season, saved two penalties from Aguero and kept out mostly everything they threw at him. Believe he must've had an injury later on, because Koeman replaced him with Robles and preferred the latter for the rest of the season.

With Pickford becoming available due to Sunderland's relegation, it was only a matter of time before a Prem club would come calling. Good signing for Everton.

 

[Zantera]

Good signing but crazy money, and it goes to show just how inflated prices are with English players. The fact that a relegated team can get 30m for their keeper is pretty crazy.

 

[BatmanBeyond]

Good signing but crazy money, and it goes to show just how inflated prices are with English players. The fact that a relegated team can get 30m for their keeper is pretty crazy.

Oh yeah, goes without saying.

I mean, if Pickford is worth 30mil then De Gea, for ex, is worth at least 100mil.

 

[Zantera]

It's actually surprising to me that teams still go for those expensive (and often over-hyped) English players when there are just as good players out in other league who would go for half the price. Don't get me wrong, Pickford has been great and can be a very solid keeper for Everton, but in the last few years Everton has struck me as a club who have been very safe with spending money and the fact that they're spending 30m on Pickford just strikes me as very surprising. Not to make a comparison but I read this week that Arsenal wanted 15m for Szczesny. Whether you think he is better or worse (or equal) to Pickford, if they had went for him, I think most people would have called that a solid transfer. Clubs like City, United or Chelsea have the kind of money to overpay for British talent, but just a bit surprised seeing Everton doing it.

Otherwise I must say the transfer window/silly season has been fun so far. Very happy with Lindelöf and hoping that Morata is something we can wrap up soon too. I feel like we do need another striker (or winger) because if we just replace Zlatan straight up with Morata, we still have the issue of when that first choice isn't available (injury, suspended, rested) we're stuck with someone like Rooney on top. I'm really hoping this is the season we see Martial and Rashford take another step in their evolution because even though I would rate both as good, they have been up and down in their performances (not uncommon for young players) but hopefully we can get more of the good and less of the bad.

 

[Loden Greatstorm]

I fear the Morata deal will drag on all summer like Pogba did last year.

 

[DeadPresident]

I do think they need another proper central midfielder- ideally a defensive minded one- before I feel really confident about the chances of genuinely competing for the League.

I mean, at the end of the day, it depends on how many of the incumbents Jose trusts. The likes of Young, Fellaini and Mata may not be part of Mourinho's plans going forward, who knows. If some of them leave, it could open up gaps in the back up that we'd probably need to fill.

Ideally, yeah, I think another CM would be good. There were a number of games last season where Fellaini was used where a player like Nainggolan or Fabinho (or even Matic, in all honesty, although I find him exceptionally boring) would've been improvements. And as you mentioned if any departures are on the cards we'll need replacements too, since the squad is already quite pared down.

My biggest concern is with goal scoring though, just using last season as a template. If we could've added 20-30 goals in total across 3-4 players we would've been near competing for the league. If Morata can pick up Ibra's slack and we can get some more out of Mkhitaryan, Martial and Rashford along with an additional forward we should be right up there.

Chelsea won the league with Costa, Hazard and Pedro being their primary sources of goals, and they got 20, 16, and 10 goals respectively. If we turned half our draws into wins (and if Zlatan et al weren't massively wasteful) we would've looked a much better side. Our defense, and less so the midfield, are in decent shape as is but improvement would definitely help. I'm holding thumbs that a good CM is the next arrival after Morata.

I hardly watched any Everton matches last year. I used to rate Steklenberg highly. Did he not do well last year?

Stekelenburg has been decent but he's also 34, Everton might feel bringing in an English player that's younger ticks a couple of boxes. £30m is a significant price tag though so they must be quite confident in him.

I was, of course, aware of his gf before he signed for us. For research purposes, you see.

As one does, naturally

 

[Kaleb]

 

[DeadPresident]

That's interesting, I would assume that means he has rejected a contract extension. I imagine Madrid will low ball Milan and they'll be forced into taking the deal, or lose him for free.

 

[DeadPresident]

I fear the Morata deal will drag on all summer like Pogba did last year.

It might because Madrid will insist on their full valuation for him and not the £60m United seem to have offered.

 

[BatmanBeyond]

Raiola strikes again.

 

[DeadPresident]

Raiola must be such a ****ing plague for clubs.

 

[AVEITWITHJAMON]

I think he did well initially for Everton, remember him being in god-mode for the match against City at Goodison early in the season, saved two penalties from Aguero and kept out mostly everything they threw at him. Believe he must've had an injury later on, because Koeman replaced him with Robles and preferred the latter for the rest of the season.

With Pickford becoming available due to Sunderland's relegation, it was only a matter of time before a Prem club would come calling. Good signing for Everton.

Stekelenberg didn't get injured he just got dropped for Joel as he was playing poorly. He did start really well and some of the saves in that City game were amazing. But he went downhill after that.

I like the Pickford signing for us a lot. Yes he is expensive, but he will be our keeper for the next decade at least.

@Zantera we do have a rich new owner and have since last summer. We spent £22 million on Schneiderlin in January and £28 million on Bolasie last summer. So spending those amounts isn't out of the norm for us anymore.

 

[DeadPresident]

This summer in particular, if the Lukaku transfer pans out, they're going to be even more likely to drop masses of cash.

Is there anyone being linked to Everton to replace Lukaku should he leave?

 

[BatmanBeyond]

Stekelenberg didn't get injured he just got dropped for Joel as he was playing poorly. He did start really well and some of the saves in that City game were amazing. But he went downhill after that.

I like the Pickford signing for us a lot. Yes he is expensive, but he will be our keeper for the next decade at least.

@Zantera we do have a rich new owner and have since last summer. We spent £22 million on Schneiderlin in January and £28 million on Bolasie last summer. So spending those amounts isn't out of the norm for us anymore.

My bad on Stekelenburg. Robles didn't do too bad, all things considered.

Think I saw you guys linked to Smalling as well. Do you think he'd improve your defence?

 

[AVEITWITHJAMON]

This summer in particular, if the Lukaku transfer pans out, they're going to be even more likely to drop masses of cash.

Is there anyone being linked to Everton to replace Lukaku should he leave?

We are in for Sandro from Malaga, who at £5 million would be a snip. They are just rumours but we have been linked with Bacca and Gironde.

My bad on Stekelenburg. Robles didn't do too bad, all things considered.

Think I saw you guys linked to Smalling as well. Do you think he'd improve your defence?

I prefer Robles out of the 2. But we needed a better keeper which Pickford is.

Not a huge fan of Smalling to be honest. Would prefer we went for someone else.

 

[BatmanBeyond]

Raiola must be such a ****ing plague for clubs.

Yep. In SAF's words, "he (Raiola) and I were like oil and water".

I prefer Robles out of the 2. But we needed a better keeper which Pickford is.

Not a huge fan of Smalling to be honest. Would prefer we went for someone else.

Yeah, Pickford should be good for you guys, long-term too.

Smalling's injury record doesn't help, but with Jagielka being 34 who would you like to see the club go for?

 

[DeadPresident]

We are in for Sandro from Malaga, who at £5 million would be a snip. They are just rumours but we have been linked with Bacca and Gironde.

Bacca would be good I think, his style and physical attributes seem like a good fit for the PL.

Apparently Everton will be getting Ajax's Davy Klaassen which is quite interesting, he had an amazing season for Ajax scoring and assisting something like 10-15 goals/assists each from midfield.

Yep. In SAF's words, "he (Raiola) and I were like oil and water".

He seems like a detestable character to be honest, just trying to milk clubs for as much as possible so he can get his cut.