Purely tactical. He was booked early on. That’s the benefit of having quality on the bench + being able to make 5 changes.
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Yep just saw that. He got the yellow.
The question is how quick can an incoming player adapt to epl-football. I wouldn’t put It passt him.
Imo Konate has more potential than Kabak.
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Sorry, iv had a few gins so i was completely bamboozled in my attempts to quote your post.
Iv seen Konate on Tv a couple of times, i think against Utd where they imploded and against PSG. I have to say he impressed me, tall, fast, aggressive and looked comfortable on the ball, more so than Upamenco (sp).
The reason I wanted to quote your post is because you raised a point that seems to be over looked by so many. Pundits, experts, journalists, etc last season stated on numerous occasions that the loss of Laporte was a catalyst for Man City’s poor form.
Yet the loss of VVD, Gomez, Matip, etc is - although mentioned - not considered in the same context.
I am definitely not using that as an excuse for our abject performances, as there is alot more to it. But as you speculate, the rhetorical crap spouted by the experts should at least be consistent.
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Well you can be forgiven after a few drinks thinking the media has the utmost morals.
We live in the 5 minute generation. What was said a day ago is old news.
It’s all about the here and now. There is no loss of face for a complete 180 degree turnaround in the space of a few minutes.
Get the right sound bite for clicks and views is what matters.
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Disgusting. But true.
Rumours it could be announced 5pm today due to the English Media blackout until May 3rd. Unreliable news source but might aswell keep a look out 
While I can see an obvious benefit to announcing a deal now, in that it might help fans move on from last week’s events I think it would only be temporary. It would also lead to more demands and questions about the squad.
Furthermore, we don’t need the wider social media for such an announcement. The club can do so on its own website for example. So I think it unlikely we will be announcing this today
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Just out of curiosity: why wait until May first and not when the transfer market opens or 2 days ago?
I don’t have a clue tbh. Maybe it’s when his contract officially starts? Just seems to be the date these Twitter journalists who broke the news were saying.
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It might be the earliest date that his release clause can be activated.
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So is this actually done or still just paper talk at this point?
I am always a lot more suspicious of a player like this when he plays alongside another player who is also being pursued by other top clubs (upamecano).
I think back to Poch’s breakout Southampton side that I was a huge fan of. They were so good all over the park that it was difficult to identify which one or two players were the real stand outs and as a result they had about 8 players who were linked to moves to bigger clubs (most of them to us). But you take a step back and think that if all those players were good enough to justify those moves, and if Poch was actually as good as advertised, then they would have been a damn sight better than 8th. So there had to be some over valuation going on, and when I watched them I could never figure out which were the really important players and which were being pulled along. As it turns out, most of those players got their moves and not a single one was an unqualified success, with a couple of being outright flops.
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Ironically I think Upamecano is the one who will flatter to deceive and Konate is the real deal. He scores really highly in every metric if you are looking for a Van Dijk “lite”.
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I agree with @Draexnael. When Upamecano’s name first came up a year or whatever ago I mentioned at that time I actually preferred Konate of the two. This is long way back, around the time Upamecano’s name began to be linked with top clubs.
And my preference to Konate is no slight or any negative commentary whatsoever on Dayot. I’ve just always felt Konate offered a bit more, checks more boxes, and still limitless potential for his age.
This is a signing that I am getting more and more excited for with each day.
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I remember you doing so.
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I once classically told all my United supporting mates, with sage and supreme confidence might I add, that Ronaldo would amount to nothing but tricks and styles and that Bellion would be the far better player.
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Philippe Mexes and Jean-Alain Boumsong spring to mind. Were a very good pairing at a lower club but split them up and send them to bigger clubs and one turned out to be average and the other an absolute liability.
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What? Even the best defender in the world?
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Right. The fact he is in with a shout of having done the best of the entire lot after leaving is telling. And this coming from someone who always had a soft spot for Lovren. But I mean who else is there? Lallana and Shaw?
@rab That is a perfect example.
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