tajjuk

They don't but FFP never was either, this has all come from the likes of City, PSG etc. upsetting the old elite clubs, that is where the Super League comes from as well. No doubt this sort of pressure was applied by Liverpool, Man Utd etc. off the back of the super league nonsense. Same with champs league format changes and the 'wildcards'. God forbid a big club has a bad season and misses out on the Champs league, now they don't have to worry they will get in anyway. It's all designed to keep the big clubs in an exclusive rich pot. The rest of the European elite already hates the PL because it has so much money and it spreads it out more evenly so lesser PL clubs can offer big fees and wages. All of them missing the point that the situation in for example France or Germany where one club wins the league every year and most of the time no other club has a chance is boring AF and puts the fans off. But the owners of these old school big teams don't care about competition or the good of the game, they just want the money and think they have an exclusive right to it. Look at the seeding system as well in the Champs League, aside the Europa league winners, basically 'new' teams into the competition that get into the group stages will get a crap seeding and tough group, but a big team that say finishes 4th in their league, if they have a good coefficient, they'll place higher than league winners from other countries. Again all designed to keep the rich richer, can't have 3 or 4 big clubs in the same group with the chance of being knocked out, with some minnow getting through to the knock out stages, that is a no no.

Yeh he wasn't sacked because of the 9-0, he basically came out after and said all the players were crap and we haven't bought anyone in so how can you expect them to compete. I mean he must be looking at Forest and Fulham splashing the cash and wonder what is going on.

It's a bit sad really (though from a selfish point of view good for us being a beneficiary) but basically the PL has broken European transfers, the average net spend of PL clubs is around £60 million this year, compared with the net spend of the other European clubs in the Champions League, which is only about £45 million. PL money is also only going up. Basically middle PL clubs can spend more than top Champs League clubs in other countries aside the few known elite (PSG, Bayern, Real etc.). Hence you get players moving from title challenging 'big' European clubs to mid table PL clubs.

I think the next Amazon all or nothing is going to be Newcastle. We aren’t particularly big like an Arsenal or Spurs and not a car crash like Sunderland so likely not much appeal.

I think with current spending we are only just outside the top 20 spenders in Europe and that is with no real sales. if we do spend £25 million plus on a striker we’ll be in the top 15 easily.

Can’t begrudge him a move back home. Been a very good signing for us.

Title challenging and Champ league challenging teams you want two good players for every position, look at Liverpool with a few injuries they seem to be having issues with depth so I kind of get Chelsea trying to do that but at the same time they have had and still have loads of good youngsters and then seem to buy players for big money that it’s hard to argue they are any better. I mean that sort of money for Gordon when they have CHO, Broja, Pulisic, Ziyech, Sterling, Mount for those positions is baffling.

Thing is Utd basically played an Ole style counter attacking game, sure he got some more running out of them but their issues are generally against more physical teams who sit back more. I mean basically if we play against them like they did against Liverpool, defend in numbers, aggressive, press then we will have a good chance I reckon. Especially if those Utd players drop, it’s one thing raising your game at home in a derby, it’s another doing it away against a team you expect to beat. They will probably still win and should win but I think if we play our game we have a chance of getting something.

Also this forum has a consistent theme of casting envious eyes over other clubs transfer business that consistently over exaggerates those transfers. So this ‘the bottom half has recruited really well’ assessment is just as likely misplaced imo I remember many a post commenting on Villa’s recruitment last year, but look where that has got them. Everton have spent shed loads but are utter crap but people seem convinced Forest cash splashing is great? All that money spent and they were thoroughly outplayed by a struggling West Ham and we’re holding on against a gash Everton so I am struggling to see why they won’t be involved in relegation based on performance so far. We will certainly see but again assessments at this stage are just pointless imo.

They need to look at their old rivals Arsenal, slowly build and build with a clear plan and accept short term success may not happen.

You just can’t make predictions like this after 3 games. Historically loads of promoted teams have started well and then been awful for most of the season. Who knows how Forests collection of mercenaries will fair when a few results don’t go their way back to back. West Ham battered them, poor finishing and bad luck got them that win. Palace under De Boer didn’t pick up any points in their first 7 games but stayed up comfortably a few years back. Burnley in recent years started awfully but most of the time turned it around. Still wouldn’t be surprised if at least two if not all 3 promoted teams went down.

His instinctive first time finishes are his strength, when hes had a little more time to think about it then his composure let’s him down. I also think his movement could be better at times, sometimes he’s coming too deep or looking to get involved in play when he should be on the end of things in the box. Depends on what we want from him, if he’s to be that main man then maybe we lose some of that link play and hold up play, he might hit a few more goals but maybe the team suffers. That is where I think Ramos looks like he could be a key player because he seems more a work the box striker, throwing himself into crosses and getting in the end of pull backs. It’s also clear that JWP drifting out wide, full back drops it back for a first time cross is a strength of ours so having a striker who attacks these sorts of balls aggressively will make the most of those deliveries. Again Ramos seems to be the player who could suit that, quite a few of his YouTube highlights are him attacking crosses at the back post. Kind of hopeful the deal for him is done but we agreed to let him help Benfica qualify for the champs league before he moves.

Agree Remember Palace a few seasons back, they didn’t get a single point or goal in the first 7, yet they ended up staying up comfortably. We also a couple of seasons back had a massively tough first 10-12 games and everyone was predicting relegation but we were fine. Far far too early to tell, promoted teams generally start well because of coming off a high, Leeds are probably still in new manger bounce period, teams will make signings, managers will get sacked etc. Even making predictions after like 12 games you can end up looking silly.

Villa fans raging at Gerrard and Coutinho is as predicted turning out to be crap.

That Everton line up is truly bad when you consider the money they have spent

Moi is consistently one of our hardest working attacking players imo, so maybe part of his selection is to add some extra protection for Djenepo? plus Stu Armstrong doesn’t seem to be able to be last full games at the tempo we play at so his bursting runs from the middle when they are tiring might be a game changer.

Ramos looks like a bigger Ings to me, similar sort of bustling running style, not lightening pace but good movement, always looking busy and alert in the box. First time finished with either foot as well. Also seems to have more about him in the air, continues the summer window MO of 6ft plus played as well. Considering we underperformed our XG by a good margin last year having someone who can take the chances we make efficiently seems like a good priority to me.

Well supposedly we want an experienced pl centre back

I’d be tempting Gomez with first team football and try to do a heavily appearance based fee with Liverpool. A gamble sure, but then so was zings, if fit and form hes England’s best centre back by a good distance imo. But likely not getting ahead of Matilp, Van Dijk and Konate now. Lindelof is also better than Man Utd make him seem imo, but can see him going to a top European side. Bailly and Sanchez both seem too rash for PL imo, they have the physical attributes but can’t seem to handle the speed in their heads. Chalobah only broke into the Chelsea team last year so can’t really call him experienced

We've got another 'on paper' tough run of opening fixtures IIRC, it happened a few years ago and put us in a false position but we then picked up more points later on once the fixtures evened out. So avoiding panicking if we have a rocky start is the key, good teams will lose away to Spurs. Plus there is more promise to come in the window hopefully.

Don't get why people rate Mateta, always looked pretty bad to me, he has 16 league goals across his last 3 seasons. I think they have the same issue we have decent but not clinical strikers, Edouard appears to need a few chances to score goals at this level. If they lose Zaha, who's in his final contract year, I could see them being in trouble, he was a large portion of their goals last year and causes so many issues that it creates space for others. Last night I think showed the power of having a very good GK, probably a season or two Arsenal would have drawn that but Ramsdale made some big saves there.

Anyone below like 7th could easily be involved in relegation. The whole middle of the table was a much of a muchness last year, even someone like Leicester could get dragged in the way they are going, no signings, losing good players. Crystal Palace have lost one of their key players from last year, who knows this year could be the year Zaha goes. People seem to fap over Villa for some reason but they were bang average at best, their defence is bad and will depend on Carlos adapting, Gerrard's new manager bounce wore off pretty quick and Coutinho faded into uselessness as many expected after a bright start. Newcastle's Saudi spending spree so far is pretty meh. Wolves struggle to score goals, they are supposedly changing system, if they become more leaky they could easily struggle.

Replacements that are clearly worse otherwise they would have been ahead of Bissouma and wanted by bigger clubs, doesn't sound like great planning to me. It would like us selling JWP and then saying Diallo was the replacement. Their squad was bang average at best, and it's now getting weaker. Like the other poster said, Maupay and Trossard had a little spell of above their normal form that accounted for a lot of their points, their previous performances suggest that is unlikely to repeat. To say their squad is way better than ours just doesn't make any sense. We've strengthened and they have got weaker, and the gap was hardly big as it was.

No and no. They were 11 points better off than us last year and have lost their best player and are about to lose one of their other better players. We have signed 7 players. They have signed no one of note at the moment either. Their squad looks weaker than ours and not sure how their planning is better when they are approaching the start of the season without any key signings after lose a top player.

Ronaldo and Lewandowski....... My guess would be Neymar or Messi returning.