By the same logic why would Coutinho come to us?
Or 43 capped French internationals?
For what it's worth, I also think that Bissouma and Ndidi may go elsewhere in the summer, if they move at all. But an upgrade on them IS Phillips and IS Rice, therefore, the likes of Bissouma and Ndidi are second rate in comparison to Rice and Phillips, which is perhaps why we might be in for them.
I've read a few times that Villa would've known, in some more-than-public-disclosure-depth as to the situation re Bissouma before making a bid, but I wonder if that's right. Why would Villa have access to case files of an ongoing criminal investigation? Maybe I'm being naive, but I'd hope that that kind of info is not available to would-be employers, regardless of the profession.
I think the big thing was that his case was downgraded from being under arrest and out on bail, to not being under arrest and just under ongoing investigation.
By the same logic why would Coutinho come to us?
Or 43 capped French internationals?
For what it's worth, I also think that Bissouma and Ndidi may go elsewhere in the summer, if they move at all. But an upgrade on them IS Phillips and IS Rice, therefore, the likes of Bissouma and Ndidi are second rate in comparison to Rice and Phillips, which is perhaps why we might be in for them.
I think Rice is the best of all those 4 and he didn't get booked as much as the rest who are all agressive.
Rice is like a limited Rodri
Works well for West Ham not sure he's a champs league level player though and Phillips is certainly no Pirlo or even Jorginho when it comes to controlling and playing football from my eyes.
By the same logic why would Coutinho come to us?
He's on loan, we're paying a big chunk of his wages, his parent club were desperate to offload him and he knows our manager really well.
The others mentioned will be a bit tougher to convince, I fear.
By the same logic why would Coutinho come to us?
He's on loan, we're paying a big chunk of his wages, his parent club were desperate to offload him and he knows our manager really well.
The others mentioned will be a bit tougher to convince, I fear.
Plus he wants regular football so hes in the team for 2022 world cup. Still, were lucky to have him here for however long it might be
By the same logic why would Coutinho come to us?
Or 43 capped French internationals?
For what it's worth, I also think that Bissouma and Ndidi may go elsewhere in the summer, if they move at all. But an upgrade on them IS Phillips and IS Rice, therefore, the likes of Bissouma and Ndidi are second rate in comparison to Rice and Phillips, which is perhaps why we might be in for them.
I think Rice is the best of all those 4 and he didn't get booked as much as the rest who are all agressive.
Rice is like a limited Rodri
Works well for West Ham not sure he's a champs league level player though and Phillips is certainly no Pirlo or even Jorginho when it comes to controlling and playing football from my eyes.
Phillips isn't the player we need and I'm not sure he'd be all that great anywhere that doesn't use 2 6s. His defensive work just isn't that great.
By the same logic why would Coutinho come to us?
Or 43 capped French internationals?
For what it's worth, I also think that Bissouma and Ndidi may go elsewhere in the summer, if they move at all. But an upgrade on them IS Phillips and IS Rice, therefore, the likes of Bissouma and Ndidi are second rate in comparison to Rice and Phillips, which is perhaps why we might be in for them.
I think Rice is the best of all those 4 and he didn't get booked as much as the rest who are all agressive.
Rice is like a limited Rodri
Works well for West Ham not sure he's a champs league level player though and Phillips is certainly no Pirlo or even Jorginho when it comes to controlling and playing football from my eyes.
Phillips isn't the player we need and I'm not sure he'd be all that great anywhere that doesn't use 2 6s. His defensive work just isn't that great.
Talk of Bissouma, Ndidi, Phillips and Rice is all delusion, since all four will have their sights on bigger clubs with European involvement.
Lange's task is to find the next player in that category. I'm not hopeful, based on his record to date.
Bissouma was realistic in Jan. I agree, probably not in the summer but not impossible. The rest I agree, dilusional to think we'd get any of them - particulalry Rice.
We're showing a lot of ambition. We've arguably one of the best keepers around, we have Coutinho, a host of internationals on our books and an academy to be proud of.
Our manager was an exceptional player, and that helps attract players. So we can go for anyone but the absolute best who want immediate Chumps League. Anyone can see that we're heading in an upward trajectory. And on top of that, we have the history, the ground, and owners and a board that do things the right way.
No-one on this board has suggested we will get Rice. Can we ban the word dilusional? Horrible word that has connotations to madness, mental health problems etc. Someone must be a 'lunatic' because they think we might sign a player who others think is out of our reach. Sorry, bad day.
We are looking for a 21 year old patrick viera , how hard can it be ?
Bissouma was realistic in Jan. I agree, probably not in the summer but not impossible. The rest I agree, dilusional to think we'd get any of them - particulalry Rice.
Really need a strong finish to the season to convince players we are a club on the up and worth joining. Much harder to do that if the season just peters out and we end up in the lower end of mid table.
Not sure where else to put this but I went to Rome for a city break last weekend and was lucky enough to take in Lazio v Bologna. Aaron Hickey played so I was keeping a close eye on him. Interestingly, he started at right back and looked very good. Got forward at will but still very sound defensively. Second half he went to left back and got a bit run ragged but Bologna were crap and got dicked 3-0. He got took off with 10 mins to go.
Would not be surprised if we were back in for him in the summer, especially if he has games at right back in his locker as well.
We are looking for a 21 year old patrick viera , how hard can it be ?
I would happily settle for a 21 year old Andrea Pirlo.
We'll end up with a 21 year old Patrick Pirlo.