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1 month ago
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To replace Mateta, Palace appear to be signing Jørgen Strand Larsen and his one league goal so far this season. For what it’s worth, I think he’s a much better all-round player than Mateta and platformed correctly, might still develop into a really good player.
The centre-forward to whose leaving I refer is Jean-Philippe Mateta. You can’t argue with numbers, I don’t suppose, and he’s done a fairly good job in patches, I just can’t get on board with a striker so bad at finishing one-on-ones. If Milan are seriously prepared to give £30m for a 28-year-old, I’d say thank you very much.
In an effort to save themselves – an effort that ought, perhaps, to have been made in the summer, strengthening a team doing brilliantly to give it a chance of performing both domestically and in Europe – they’ve taken Evann Guessand on loan from Villa. I can’t say I like what I’ve seen so far, but perhaps Oliver Glasner’s system suits him more than Unai Emery’s.
Are Crystal Palace in trouble? They’re nine points above West Ham, who are third bottom, but they’re in woeful form, the captain has left, the centre-forward is likely to, and the manager is off in the summer. Meantime, below them, teams are improving.
Something to read:
And might they begin the process today? Er, probably not, but there may be an outside chance of a loan signing to take a bit of pressure off the wonderful Casemiro. When he came off yesterday, United struggled – yet again – and given he tends to be withdrawn after 60-70 minutes, they could do with a finisher who isn’t Manuel Ugarte.
Similar is so of Manchester United. They couldn’t get the midfielders they wanted – data systems, scouts and a DoF came up with Carlos Baleba, Elliot Anderson and Adam Wharton, incredible knowhow – so sorted the front of the team. And guess what? It’s working. We’ve said this before, over more than a decade now, but surely this is the summer they finally fill the hole that’s been in the middle of the pitch since before Fergie left.
It’s strange, really, that Liverpool spent so much money on forwards last summer, the part of their team that was working, and ignored the midfield and defence, which were not. I guess the way they’ll see it now is that they’re sticked in attack for the next few years – if Isak can stay fit and Wirtz get used to the physicality of the league, and not everything going through him – and they’ve now started overhauling the rest of the squad.
For those wanting to know a little more about him, these lads’ breakdowns are excellent.
I’ve heard great things about Jacquet…
Preamble
Morning all! It’s that day again on which, just for a little while, we get to forget all that peripheral stuff like football, goals, and support, to focus on what’s really important, and why we all fell in love with the game: transfers, money and contracts.
I say that but, at the same time, the window – and its final day in particular – bottles hope. Can ailing seasons be salvaged? Will decent seasons become great ones? How do we invest today to share glory tomorrow?
Let’s see…
