Transfer Speculation

claretandbluesky

Balbuena is now occupying the place Dawson was bought for, Dawson got his chance and took it. The big question is can Oggie walk straight back in? I doubt many of us would question whether he is our best centre half but Diop and Dawson are doing nothing wrong at all.

yoyo

I never thought we'd have this dilemma at the beginning of the season

alderz

claretandbluesky said:

Balbuena is now occupying the place Dawson was bought for, Dawson got his chance and took it. The big question is can Oggie walk straight back in? I doubt many of us would question whether he is our best centre half but Diop and Dawson are doing nothing wrong at all.

I know this isn't a popular opinion but I'm a brave boy so I'm going to say it anyway. I think Diop was at fault for City's opener last weekend. He's been good, but he switched off and Dias got away from him. I think the quality of the ball in has made people not pay full attention to what was actually pretty loose marking and a lapse in concentration. IMO, if Ogbonna was on the pitch, he is where Dawson is and Dawson heads that away. As it stands, Diop isn't (IMO) playing better than Ogbonna was, and Ogbonna should come back in for him. HAVING SAID THAT, there is plenty of time for Diop to change my mind, and if he is playing at a better level than I would expect from Ogbonna then I would keep Diop in the side.

OutcastLondoner

I watched it back and it's true Diop has completely lost Dias. But it also looks like he thinks Stones is his man and Dawson is taking Aguero or something. If it comes to Stones, Dawson's done just as bad a job as Diop. At the end of the day, I think they're undone by a good ball but also it can't be easy trying to account for two CBs being up alongside the striker from a deep ball.

alderz

Yeah I mean I’m not saying it’s a howler or anything like that. I’m just saying I think Ogbonna deals with that better than both the guys on the pitch.

BubblesNeverDies

I also don't think that the cross-field pass out to KdB has been given enough credit. It completely bypassed our midfield.

baracks_a_hammer

alderz said:

Yeah I mean I’m not saying it’s a howler or anything like that. I’m just saying I think Ogbonna deals with that better than both the guys on the pitch.

Well “who’s scored” wouldn’t necessarily agree on that front. Apparently we are the only side in PL not to make a single error leading to an opposition goal this season.

alderz

baracks_a_hammer said:

alderz said:

Yeah I mean I’m not saying it’s a howler or anything like that. I’m just saying I think Ogbonna deals with that better than both the guys on the pitch.

Well “who’s scored” wouldn’t necessarily agree on that front. Apparently we are the only side in PL not to make a single error leading to an opposition goal this season.

There is a difference between someone dropping a clanger and a team conceding, and a player losing a marker. People said about Cresswell missing a header at the near spot not so long ago - again, not a clanger, but an errror.

buffybegood

Imo, for the first goal it was a case of Diop "could (maybe even should) have done better" rather than it being an absolute howler of a mistake. Yes, it was a very good ball by DeBruyne, but we shouldn't really have been conceding there.

OldCastleSwift

alderz said:

baracks_a_hammer said:

alderz said:

Yeah I mean I’m not saying it’s a howler or anything like that. I’m just saying I think Ogbonna deals with that better than both the guys on the pitch.

Well “who’s scored” wouldn’t necessarily agree on that front. Apparently we are the only side in PL not to make a single error leading to an opposition goal this season.

There is a difference between someone dropping a clanger and a team conceding, and a player losing a marker. People said about Cresswell missing a header at the near spot not so long ago - again, not a clanger, but an errror.

Yeah, I think there's a good deal of subjectivity involved in this kind of thing. Whilst poor defending isn't considered an 'error', we've certainly conceded plenty this season because of it.

Ravel49

Financial pressures could force Valencia to sell 24-year-old Portugal forward Goncalo Guedes, who is a West Ham target, in the summer. (O Jogo, via Sun)

BubblesNeverDies

Aguero may possibly be available
https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/56257193

Would he be a suitable backup to Antonio?
Thoughts.

I saw him score 2 against us in the last season at the Boleyn after Enner Valencia had put us in the lead twice and thought "hmm, he could be useful." . Mind you his first was from the spot.

alderz

I saw a rumour circulating on Instagram yesterday that Barcelona are interested in Soucek and are prepared to offer £26m for him. I doubt it’s true as he really isn’t their sort of player, and also because that money is not work half of him, but thought I’d share.

Cuz1

Perhaps that figure was for the potato salad recipe though and that seems a fair price 😂😂

Lukerz

Carlos Sanchez has joined Watford

yoyo

Barcelona will go through a change this summer and Soucek may well be an attraction but £26m seems an insult

OutcastLondoner

We're better than Barcelona.

Expat_Hammer

OutcastLondoner said:

We're better than Barcelona.

...... and our stadium is easier to get to

MunichHammer

yoyo said:

Barcelona will go through a change this summer and Soucek may well be an attraction but £26m seems an insult

If Sully managed them he'd be offering £12m over 4 years. But sure, £26m is not nearly enough.

claretandbluesky

alderz said:

I saw a rumour circulating on Instagram yesterday that Barcelona are interested in Soucek and are prepared to offer £26m for him. I doubt it’s true as he really isn’t their sort of player, and also because that money is not work half of him, but thought I’d share.

Agree with this, not their type of player and in my view as he is under a long contract they would need double that offer. I don't think he is as valuable as Rice to the team or in money but £26m is just going nowhere.

alderz

The goals he’s got this season have been pretty valuable. Tbh I think he’s our second most important player, and there’s not a lot between the first and second.

Cuz1

Lukerz said:

Carlos Sanchez has joined Watford

And as come on after 66 mins, never thought I’d see him again

steve

Cuzi,Shows how far we have come in a short time

thornburyiron

If they thought he is a replacement for Dawson then I think they confused him with Les.

alderz

thornburyiron said:

If they thought he is a replacement for Dawson then I think they confused him with Les.

Les Sanchez

baracks_a_hammer

Danny Ings injured again today. Even if it wasn’t previously the case, surely this would now quash any thoughts about the club trying to sign him in the summer

Ravel49

West Ham have joined RB Leipzig and Roma in monitoring versatile Austria striker Sasa Kalajdzic, 23, who Stuttgart are willing to sell for about £15m. (Mail)

Kuchinghammer

Yes, but does Soucek rate him??

ASLEFshrugged

Various sources say Mark Noble is about to sign a 1-year extension

claretandbluesky

In my opinion Noble will be invaluable to the squad even if not playing beyond the odd substitute appearance so a good move. I imagine Rice is learning what being a Captain is on the pitch from under his wing at present. I would hope he would have a place at the club beyond his playing days. We have some very strong leaders in the background beyond Moyes with Pearce and Nolan on board, so if Noble enters that back room also it should set us up for contingency beyond Moyes.

Parker, Nolan & Noble possibly