I felt that way seeing him in a fairly disastrous cameo against Leeds. He looked out of shape and completely out of his depth. Bereft of ideas. Rarely displaying the kind of intensity and drive that really defined his first few seasons here.
I think the last two seasons really damaged his career trajectory. He went from a player who started about half the games under Klopp - and looked like he’d run through a wall for him - to someone who rarely featured for Slot and then basically didn’t play at all for Emery.
I don’t think there are many players who can sustain that kind of passion for the sport when they’re rarely seeing the pitch. And it takes a physical toll.
If we add Barcola and manage to bring in another winger and a midfielder then suddenly this looks like a great window. Big if of course because that’s a tonne of work to do.
I think we could be happy where we end up but not thrilled with how we got there. Barely 90 minutes of pre-season for the new signings collectively with your marquee signing and two others arriving after the season has started. Business dragged out for weeks and in public. And a sticking plaster at the back meaning some serious work to do there next summer.
Also gonna need to shift a few to make some non-homegrown space if we’re bringing in a couple more.
I do wonder with Harvey if he has been suffering with depression a bit, which would affect him physically as well. It’s not as if he hasn’t had anything to worry about.
Yeah will be a lot going in and out by the sounds of it. Technically we don’t have to shift anyone, we would just have unregistered players for the Champions League. As far as I know we have plenty of room in the Premier League squad.
I prefer getting business done early but I remember an article from early in the window that we felt signings would be more reasonably priced later in the window. We’ve got Barcola’s price down about 45m - 25m if he hits the add ons - which is a pretty big shift.
Can’t judge at this stage but just as an example if waiting another month to secure Barcola at a lower price means we have the budget flexibility to bring in two more players very late rather than take Barcola earlier at a higher price but not be able to bring in more players because of the costs then I’d be more concerned about option 2 regardless of the pre-season time.
I agree on defence. Araujo seems fine as a 3rd choice and I’m sure Jacquet is seen as a long term starter but it’s thin. Leoni has to be the real deal immediately.
This sounds like a joke, but it is not an exaggeration to say it looked a player on a sunday league side who was a star in his teens but had been coaxed back into action after quitting 10 years ago after he found more enjoyment of spending his weekend on the beers. It was just really sad to see the way his feet just wouldnt do what his brain was expecting them to do.
Would anyone consider an Isak-for-Alvarez swap with Atlético?
Atlético won’t do business with Barca, but it’s clear that the fans have turned on Alvarez and that he’s best suited to be moved on. I would hate to see him move to Arsenal.
I think Alvarez might be better suited for Iraola than Isak. He’s also around the same age as Isak and without the same kind of injury record.