Yes and if you look at how long it’s taken Oxlade, its nearly 2 years and he’s only now showing some sort of form. Not saying it’s the same injury but both players have had some proper horrible ones.
Van Dijk may be different as he’s an absolute freak to be honest, but again the same could apply.
I think that is a different issue though. With ACLs it is not unusual to see a player become game ready, but still take time to get 100% back up to speed. Because this is a tendon injury its got huge implications for recovery from games and hard training. In many ways it can turn him from a 23 year old to 33 year old in terms of how you have to manage workload and recovery. So the concern is, even with a good recovery that sees him at 100% in August, he might not be able to be an every game player anymore.
Just reading the comments in the thread and the case is stacking up that buying two central defenders in the summer, Konate and Kabak, might not be too fanciful.
I think we need another midfielder, and also a striker. How far up the striker food chain we go might depend on whether or not we let one of the big three go. If they all stay, I think it will be a young striker with potential.
So, Halaand it is then.
Mbappe is young, has the potential to be the best player (not just goal scorer) I’m the world for years to come!
Do you think he comes if there’s no CL football?
I’m not convinced of that. It’s not an impossibility yet but we’ve certainly made qualification (via the league or winning it) difficult for ourselves.
I fancy our chances of making at least 4th. We’ve got some stability now and even though we aren’t at our best none of the teams above us but City are showing consistency either.
I think we have a good chance of winning it. I can certainly see us getting to the final although all ties are tough. We get left to play our own game more in Europe and I think Chelsea and City are our biggest hurdles if we come up against them. But Chelsea at least will have to play their own game a bit more instead of concentrating on negating ours.
Yes anyway! I don’t think one season out of the Champions League would be the driving consideration for him at his next club. Sporting package, standing in the game, exposure and how much he can earn (from combined wages and endorsements) will be the concerns that he’ll be balancing. I think it’ll literally come down to a choice between LFC and Real. We have stability and the better environment to develop they (could still) have Zidane and more immediate glamour. Whether either club can afford him this season is another matter. PSG may have to significantly lower expectations to make any money on his departure as he’s said he won’t extend his deal just to leave.
I think our chances of CL football next season are pretty low. However, I dont think that will be seen as the same signal to prospective signings that it usually is. I think we’re still going to be seen as one of the most attractive places to come to for ambitious players.
I like your optimism.
I certainly haven’t given up on the idea and to be honest qualification this year, given everything that the squad has had to endure it will almost feel more satisfying than last years league win. Basically it feels like we’ve had to work a hell of a lot harder for it with two hands tied behind your back
Me too. I’m not ready to write off fourth place just yet.
The other thing is that all the team above us are playing each other so plenty of points will be dropped.
I think we’ll need another collapse from Leicester and I just don’t see that happening 2 years in a row.
They have to play
Man City (H)
West Ham (A)
Man Utd (A)
Chelsea (A)
Tottenham (H)
Among a few other banana skins.
And if they win all of them that means we can finish above the likes of West Ham, Chelsea and United and finish top 4 that way. We don’t have to finish 2nd.
I’m confident our form in the remaining games will be better than what we have shown for a while - how could it not be - but how close to perfection will it be?
27 points to play for? How many will we get? 20? More?
Leicester have 27 points to play for too, and they are ten ahead. It is possible they might only need say, 10-12 points from 27, to stay above us.
If City win the CL does the premier league get a fifth spot?
No. Only if the team who wins the CL finishes outside the top 4. In fact only the top 3 qualify if the winners of CL and EL finish lower than 4th.
We’re just going to have win the Champions League If Man United are floating around 4th…right?
I’m not convinced that we are that serious on Konate yet but just doing our due diligence in case we decide there is a need (pending recovery of our key CBs). It’s more the journalists making things seem more advanced.
It doesn’t make sense to make a decision on Kabak with so many games left… nor discourage him by putting extra worries in his head. Or, on a lesser part to not put Davies through a more thorough evaluation when there have been a lot of positive comments so far.
This is more something to look at more seriously at the very end of the season.
Largely I agree with your post. However, well thought out transfers don’t usually happen overnight. The club often has to engage with players and their agents well ahead of time.
You score 4 we score more? That’s certainly how I’d do it but then I can’t drive a bus.