Thiago Alcantara

[Paul12]

That's a joke?

[SB]

Saudi Arabia - 'head off'

Boom boom

[Fosterbloke]

That's a joke?

Yes they come in many guises.

[Tribute]

Would rather Thiago go than Hendo. I'm fine with Hendo playing more of a Milner role this season to transition a few of the newbies and young lads and bed them in.

Thiago's availability is negligible due to the amount of times he needed to play due to other injuries, which made his own recovery worse. Hendo still has a role to play for me this season, whereas if Thiago could be moved on for a few quid to secure a CB/defender then that makes perfect sense.

Lavia makes great sense as a Fabinho replacement... just a pity we didn't have this kind of backing from FSG last season on other midfield berths. I guess a combo of Hendo's new contract and nobody wanting to pick up Keita or Ox's wages speaks volumes...

[SB]

Talk of Phillips being available for £10m makes no sense without a HG replacement lined up

[Doc_Piptorious]

Talk of Phillips being available for £10m makes no sense without a HG replacement lined up

Makes no real difference. He will get hardly any minutes so whilst he fills a HG slot that is about all he does.

We do not have to have 8 HG slots filled, it is just preferable for squad size plus we can register as many under 21s as we like regardless of whether they pass as HG or not to pad out the squad if the under 21s were good enough.


We also have Jones and van den Berg becoming HG as of this coming season.


And if we buy someone like Colwill who becomes HG from the start of the 2024/25 season then we get a 20 yo good enough to be squad cover/competition right now and filling a HG slot in a year.

[SB]

Makes no real difference. He will get hardly any minutes so whilst he fills a HG slot that is about all he does.

We do not have to have 8 HG slots filled, it is just preferable for squad size plus we can register as many under 21s as we like regardless of whether they pass as HG or not to pad out the squad if the under 21s were good enough.


We also have Jones and van den Berg becoming HG as of this coming season.


And if we buy someone like Colwill who becomes HG from the start of the 2024/25 season then we get a 20 yo good enough to be squad cover/competition right now and filling a HG slot in a year.

If Philips can’t get a sniff Van Den Berg has absolutely no chance either. Lavia would be HG next season & will Elliot be HG next season too?

[Doc_Piptorious]

If Philips can’t get a sniff Van Den Berg has absolutely no chance either. Lavia would be HG next season & will Elliot be HG next season too?

Meant Sepp if we want another body to fill a HG space just for the sake of filling a space.


Mad thing is van der Berg is only 21 and has more senior games, albeit most at lower league levels, to his name than Philips at 26, and VDB also has a number of under age caps for Holland.

[Irishnev]

Meant Sepp if we want another body to fill a HG space just for the sake of filling a space.


Mad thing is van der Berg is only 21 and has more senior games, albeit most at lower league levels, to his name than Philips at 26, and VDB also has a number of under age caps for Holland.

And has been playing top level football as a RB and RCB……. seems a logical option in the squad for me

[RedReet]

In the 3-4 years we went toe-to-toe with City, the only thing that separated us IMO was that extra bit of class from KDB. Thiago for me could be the difference between a good season and a great season, if he can keep him relatively fit, so it's a gamble worth taking IMO.

I also look at the impact Gundogan had at the end of last season and how vital he was in getting City over the finish line and again think Thiago could have a similar impact for us.

More importantly, I just love watching him play and think we'll have one of the most exciting teams in the clubs history if things click for us.

[rudedog]

I don't think there was really anything of significance that separated us - 2 of those seasons, they only beat us to the title on the last day by a single point.

We also won the champions league and were runners up twice.

[RedReet]

I don't think there was really anything of significance that separated us - 2 of those seasons, they only beat us to the title on the last day by a single point.

We also won the champions league and were runners up twice.

Arguably we were the better team but my point was in games were City were struggling and possibly gonna drop points, more often than not, DeBruyne stepped up and won it for them and ultimately that made the difference. Obviously there were some other pivotal moments, notably that Kompany goal, but over the course of the season, DeBruyne was the difference.

[Doc_Piptorious]

I don't think there was really anything of significance that separated us - 2 of those seasons, they only beat us to the title on the last day by a single point.

We also won the champions league and were runners up twice.

What separated us were the head to head games imo. We pretty much did the same as them, maybe slightly better, against the other 18 teams in the league, and on the seasons they pipped us at the death they got us in the head to heads.

[Doc_Piptorious]

Arguably we were the better team but my point was in games were City were struggling and possibly gonna drop points, more often than not, DeBruyne stepped up and won it for them and ultimately that made the difference. Obviously there were some other pivotal moments, notably that Kompany goal, but over the course of the season, DeBruyne was the difference.

Could argue over the course of a few of the seasons that we pushed them that Salah was often the difference maker with a goal or assist that turned a draw into a win or a loss into a draw.


They had their difference makers, so did we.

[Mark79]

What separated us were the head to head games imo. We pretty much did the same as them, maybe slightly better, against the other 18 teams in the league, and on the seasons they pipped us at the death they got us in the head to heads.

We drew both PL games with City in 2021/22.