19 Jun 2026 07:39:16
{Ed's Note - OptimumShots has posted a new article entitled, Everton Need One Clear Squad Plan
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Chelsea Banter
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19 Jun 2026 09:44:01
In order to view all of today's banter, you may have to visit our Chelsea banter 2 to Chelsea banter 10 pages linked at the bottom of this page.
19 Jun 2026 09:44:01
In order to view all of today's banter, you may have to visit our Chelsea banter 2 to Chelsea banter 10 pages linked at the bottom of this page.
18 Jun 2026 09:41:17
Of course it’s early days and we shouldn’t get carried away but unbeaten after ten games is a better start than I had dared hope for. The team is showing real commitment and a desire to win every game. Well done the owners for appointing Alonso and well done the SD’s for recruiting some real talent.
Or
I can’t believe how bad these players are.
They do not deserve to wear the badge, they are an embarrassment to the club. The owners never fail to disappoint with their choices as manager and all the SD’s should be sacked.
I personally can’t wait for the new season to start. Not having mood swings doesn’t agree with me!
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18 Jun 2026 16:17:29
Tom, we haven't challenged for the Premier League title for 10 years, 6 years under our much-loved Roman, and 4 years under the much-derided Blue.co, partly due to poor recruitment under both regimes, and partly due to poor coaching, but equally because of the competitive nature of the league and our rivals.
Arsenal went 24 years without winning the title, Man U have gone 13 years, and Liverpool went 20 years. These things are cyclical, and our time will come again.
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17 Jun 2026 21:36:55
Stones said recently in an interview that he has been fit virtually all season.
I think we could do a lot worse than sign him on a free transfer.
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18 Jun 2026 02:12:34
Think it would be a hard pass for me.
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18 Jun 2026 08:19:15
Tom
He has been fit because he never plays.
Definitely a no.
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18 Jun 2026 08:24:11
Historically, he would have a no from me, but he is experienced, and he has always had ability. My guess is the salary would be too high for us, but if the club signed him, I could see the logic.
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18 Jun 2026 09:29:21
Physically shot, injury prone and on big wages... sounds like just what we need at the minute, Tom.
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18 Jun 2026 09:46:27
If my mate is right yet again, this may not be so outlandish as it first seemed. He tells me we are, along with other clubs, talking to his representatives.
Apparently Alonso is a fan, like Tuchel, as a player and dressing room influence.
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18 Jun 2026 11:52:29
We need someone to start games more than we need dressing room influence. What good is leadership and xp when you play 10 games a season and we're left with Chalobah or Fofana starting still?
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18 Jun 2026 13:28:37
It would be an absolute disaster.
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18 Jun 2026 14:03:52
I thought Stones and Konsa were below the standard last night, Tom, and would like to see Marc and Trev start the next game. So that probably sums up my view on Stones joining us. Is he better than Trev? Our starting back 3 should be built around a pool of Levi, Josh, James, and Hato, with a world class leader thrown in as well.
Bastoni would be my pick, Trev as a back up. That would be 6 players vying for 3 places, with a couple of them also able to cover for our wingbacks. Clear out Disasi, BB, Tosin, and Fofana.
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18 Jun 2026 15:48:58
Konsa was ok although maybe he's not a devout enough christian to deserve to play for your liking greenway
Stones struggled and looks like someone that hasn't played much in a couple years
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18 Jun 2026 16:40:36
How we all see games differently, I thought James was the worst defender last night, with the other full back not far behind. Of course, that could be because Tommy Tickle had them both playing halfway up the pitch.
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18 Jun 2026 17:05:05
I agree about Reece James, Tom, which is why I see him competing for one of the right-sided centre-back slots and not as a marauding right wing-back after his injury issues.
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18 Jun 2026 18:17:16
I was also told that Gordon played last night? He has to improve as the tournament progresses because he was anonymous.
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18 Jun 2026 18:31:26
Reece was average, but I don't see him as a full time CB. Gordon was very poor, and definitely needs to step up. Any argument about Bellingham and Morgan Rogers should be put to bed. Admittedly, Mr has come on as a sub, but he looks bang average.
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18 Jun 2026 21:53:45
Jimbo, I'm sort of with you on Reece. He is probably our best player, but where do we put him? He is injury prone, so wing back won't work. In midfield? Sure, he can do a job, but there are better options. Right back? Probably his best position, so maybe Alonso sees what I see and goes 4 at the back.
Right side of a back 3? A little short, especially with Hato the other side, although he, Hato, has an incredible leap. Alonso will be on £5m plus to sort these questions, and my faith is with him.
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19 Jun 2026 07:19:07
Greenaway, yes, that is a conundrum for Alonso if he adopts a back three. James is a natural right back, which is his best position. I am a believer in playing players in their natural positions, if possible.
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19 Jun 2026 09:22:02
I agree, Jimbo. Play to our strengths, and as Reece James is our best player, go with a back 4 and play him at RB?
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17 Jun 2026 07:39:16
{Ed's Note - thefutureisoldgold3 has posted a new article entitled, Wolves Face a Reckoning After a Chaotic Season
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16 Jun 2026 23:10:58.
I enjoyed the France v Senegal WC game this evening. A very competitive game with moments of magic.
Jackson yet again showing what a marmite type player he is. Can be a real handful but occasionally looks so raw!
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17 Jun 2026 08:44:27
Agreed about Jackson Tom, but he did only play second fiddle to Mr Pain, maybe let's see him playing regularly again, then we can judge.
Also greed on the game, end to end, just shows what can happen when you don't keep playing sideways and backwards, just to get out of your own area.
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17 Jun 2026 17:49:49
Bill, Nothing to judge. Jackson can't hit a barn door at six paces; can't head the ball and has discipline issues. Nothing has changed.
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17 Jun 2026 18:36:19
Well, let's hope Alonso can bring about some improvements in Jackson's play, because I think he will be in next season's squad.
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17 Jun 2026 19:27:56
Tom, I hope not. You can't make a silk purse out of a sow's ear. The only positive thing is that we didn't spend a huge amount of money for him.
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17 Jun 2026 20:17:11
I'm not sure how accurate the reports are about loan fees, but we must have recovered about 35% of his transfer fee from last season's loan fee. If that makes sense?
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16 Jun 2026 20:08:52
Well done to Trev for being called up to the England squad, a lovely fella, devout Christian and worthy of his chance to represent his country.
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17 Jun 2026 08:45:00
100 % agree, Grenaway.
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17 Jun 2026 09:16:27
Completely agree, and he has been one of our better defenders in recent times, demonstrating 100% to the cause every time he plays. He also happened to be our CB with most league goals last season ie 3. 2 more than Delap, and only 6 other EPL defenders scored more - the most being 6 by Van Dijk.
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17 Jun 2026 09:28:53
he might be a devout christian but he's still hopeless in defence. weird you mentioned that.
good luck to him and rest of the squad- we're in serious trouble if he's starting games though
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16 Jun 2026 18:35:00
Spurs agree fifty odd million fee for Van Hecke. Feels like a benchmark for this summer's CB market. I’d expect to pay a similar fee for Lacroix, with the rumour mill heating up around our interest in him.
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16 Jun 2026 20:05:43
Or we trust Hato, Levi and Josh?
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16 Jun 2026 20:14:26
I think we need one more high quality starting, out and out, CB to play alongside Colwill. They would also need to be the figurehead in the case of another prolonged absence from Colwill. I see Acheampong and Hato as hybrid CB/FBs who will both see plenty of mins under Alonso.
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17 Jun 2026 02:03:44
£52m for Van Hecke, when he has one year left on his contract, is crazy. He's nowhere near that good, imo. Didn't he make the most mistakes leading to a goal this season, too?
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Risk vs reward with his passing out from the back, I think he's up there for line-breaking passes, too. I'm not sure how good he is defensively. It feels like a strange thing to say for a CB, but it's getting said more and more.
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17 Jun 2026 11:30:16
Badiashile gets slaughtered for being a player that makes risky forward passes.
I wouldn't mind £52m for him.
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17 Jun 2026 12:23:06
Badiashile struggles to walk, he runs like he's got a garden rake up his top, saying that a lot fitter than me.
We need defenders, for me, all the way across the back line. Hato is still raw.
Josh will end up going, it's only a matter of getting players in before that's allowed to happen, and the others are OK on their day, but none are at a world-class level for me.
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17 Jun 2026 12:39:57
When I see how Hato is now described by some fans, he seems completely different to how he was in the early days of last season.
I cannot see Josh or Reece leaving anytime soon, but it's rare for a player to spend his whole career at one club. So, I guess they will leave at some stage.
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17 Jun 2026 17:27:40
We need more than 3 CBs tho, preferably someone solid to play next to Levi. A lot depends on which formation Alonso settles on - as if 3 at the back, we may even need 2 CBs.
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15 Jun 2026 15:32:29
Nice goodbye message from Cucarella.
It would appear he is leaving for family reasons and just shows that fans like me shouldn't jump to conclusions.
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15 Jun 2026 17:35:59
That's fair enough, good luck to him. It's good that some of previous top players still care about the club, Drogba, Obi-Mikel, Hazard, Jimmy Floyd etc. Nice to see a photo of Eden at the Bridge wearing the new Chelsea shirt.
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15 Jun 2026 18:44:50
Very classy from him, Tom, and he has my best wishes for himself and his family. Jimbo, I totally agree about those former players you mention, who, along with the likes of club legend JT, bleed blue.
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15 Jun 2026 19:54:13
Greenaway, I have been critical of recent home kits, but I like the new shirt. It would look good with blue shorts with a white stripe on the side and white socks. Even better if we had a top FOS sponsorship deal at the start of the season.
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15 Jun 2026 22:39:49
I like this home kit as well. I have bought the shirts (prefer it with no sponsor) for all the grandkids.
I wonder if the Oracle sponsor rumour is still a runner. Time will tell.
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15 Jun 2026 22:17:11
I love the new kit Jimbo and prefer no sponsor on it. I have no interest in finances only trophies and limbs flying everywhere on the terraces when we win.
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16 Jun 2026 07:48:28
Greenaway, given the lack of Champions League football and PSR, we definitely need a sponsor. No money; no trophies.
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16 Jun 2026 07:59:20
A FOS sponsor would be a nice revenue stream, and our finances will definitely take a hit by the end of the next financial year.
This season is important for lots of reasons.
I'm not sure how true this is, but I was told we now receive more from other sponsors than the last complete season we had a FOS sponsor. Still, some icing on the cake would be nice.
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16 Jun 2026 09:07:38
Tom, agree. The new season is extremely important for us in many ways. The ins and outs will give us some indication of how things might go. Fingers crossed.
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16 Jun 2026 11:03:57
Tom, the lack of a FOS sponsor can't really be defended anymore.
'More from other sponsors' is irrelevant, as we could still have all of those and sorted out the kit sponsor, but hey ho, they're billionaire businessmen, so we must bow to their wisdom and skill.
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16 Jun 2026 11:25:05
My guess is, they know more about business than most fans!
I could, historically, see some mathematical sense in delaying a FOS deal until we qualified for the CL. We not only managed to qualify for the CL, we became the first club to "win it all" when we lifted the CWC. For me, that was a green light to do a deal. We didn't, so it became impossible for me to work out the owners' logic.
Of course, we have had FOS sponsors for part of the last two seasons, but we almost certainly haven't received full value.
We also had one full season with a FOS sponsor, with what I would call an "in-house" solution.
Of course, other sponsors become "more" relevant when a club doesn't have a FOS sponsor, and I applaud the club for increasing revenue from other sponsors, but as I said, a FOS would be like the icing on the cake.
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16 Jun 2026 11:58:46
We are forgetting they did have a deal with Paramount, which would have been great, but for the Premier League to say no.
Maybe now you can't have betting companies, we could have Paramount. 🤣🤣
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16 Jun 2026 12:17:11
Finchy, good point, I had forgotten about Paramount.
I'm sure there must be a reason, and it's probably just about valuations as it's impossible to believe it's deliberate.
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16 Jun 2026 15:53:18
We didn't have a deal with Paramount because it breached the terms of the contract between the Premier League and the broadcasters - it was a non-starter. Nobody is suggesting that the failure to obtain sponsorship is deliberate - "there must be a reason" - yes, indeed, I wonder what it is. Let's see what happens at the start of the season.
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16 Jun 2026 15:54:38
Could also just be plain incompetence, Tom... With what we've seen elsewhere at the club, it wouldn't be too surprising.
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16 Jun 2026 16:23:31
I have been saying for ages now. I do not have a clue what the owners/commercial dept are doing, or, should I say, not doing.
I agree with Tom. We should have secured one from a position of strength when we won the CWC and qualified for the CL.
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16 Jun 2026 18:00:54
Thanks to Cucurella. Up and down for him at Chelsea, but he will do very well at Madrid.
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16 Jun 2026 19:53:07
I doubt it's incompetence. I was under the impression we did agree a deal with Paramount, but it got the thumbs down from the authorities, as a sort of conflict of interest.
I hope Cucurella does well at Madrid unless they play us.
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16 Jun 2026 20:13:52
I wonder how many clubs will be without sponsors next season with the ban on betting companies coming into force? Finchy, that Paramount deal was an indication that the owners do know what they are doing, but the Premier League decided they didn't like it. Maybe a challenge should have been made?
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16 Jun 2026 20:20:23
Tom, the Paramount "deal" was never mentioned by the club because it never had any legs; it had no chance of being approved. It wasn't a thumbs down because it was in breach of the rules.
If there was any doubt about it, no doubt we would have taken the matter further. I can't understand why people are suggesting that this was some sort of success by the commercial department.
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16 Jun 2026 20:42:52
I'm not sure anyone is suggesting it was a success. It can't, because it didn't pass the regulators' scrutiny.
It's a long time ago, but I honestly thought it was the club who mentioned Paramount. Not that it matters, all water under the bridge.
I would love to know the shirt sales numbers with or without a Fos sponsor?
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16 Jun 2026 21:47:36
Tom, the club didn't mention it: why would they? A deal that never got off the ground. Shirt sales won't make up for a lack of sponsorship.
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16 Jun 2026 22:15:53
As I say, all water under the bridge, but I am confused, because I'm pretty sure the regulator said it was a no go. If that was the case, then someone presented it to them.
I would never suggest that the sale of shirts would compensate for not having a FOS sponsor. My question was just curiosity, do we sell more shirts without a FOS sponsor?
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17 Jun 2026 09:33:12
tom. i'd avoid any sorta financial/sponsorship talk as you clearly don't have much understanding. focus on what's on the pitch fella
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17 Jun 2026 11:35:13
Kaz, you are entitled to your view of me as a poster and fan. I certainly have a view on you and your posts. You very rarely fail to live up to that view.
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17 Jun 2026 17:28:46
its not my view of you as a fan, its my view of you commenting on issues you don't have a clue about tbf
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17 Jun 2026 18:34:00
Like most supporters on most topics, I am always only guessing.
I wouldn't have the arrogance to suggest others have more or less knowledge on any subject. I will leave that for others to decide and those who specialise in that arrogance.
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15 Jun 2026 12:59:31.
Chelsea manager Xabi Alonso believes Chelsea have a very strong squad that can be improved this summer - and the club want to add players with exceptional talent and character.
There are likely to be fewer promising youngsters through the doors of Cobham, therefore, and more established names instead, with goalkeeper, centre-back, central midfield and new left-winger the main areas of concern.
Chelsea are one of the clubs with serious interest in Aston Villa's Morgan Rogers along with Arsenal and Manchester United.
In the goalkeeper department, they expect to put Mike Penders in first-team contention following his loan at Strasbourg but have been looking at others too, while in midfield, Sky Sports News understands Chelsea are admirers of Adam Wharton.
The future of Enzo Fernandez may be pivotal to any bigger changes in midfield, with his name high on the list at Real Madrid.
Fernandez is valued at more than £100m and Chelsea are not trying to sell the player. Contrary to reports, Manchester City are not looking to sign him.
Chelsea have agreed the sale of Cucurella to Real Madrid which means they will likely have to sign a replacement, although Jorell Hato is in contention to take the starting left-back spot from the departing Spain full-back.
With Emmanuel Emegha coming in from Strasbourg and Nicolas Jackson returning from his loan at Bayern Munich, there are doubts around the future of Liam Delap, with Chelsea having a surplus of strikers.
Right-winger Geovany Quenda is set to arrive from Sporting CP following the deal Chelsea did last year, and manager Alonso will want to have a good look at all the players at his disposal before making final decisions.
As per Sky Sports.
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15 Jun 2026 15:33:45
Rpd, thanks for the summary, mate.
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15 Jun 2026 09:44:05
To be honest, it's nice to have that first big move done and dusted. We all knew Cucurella was leaving, good that it's sorted early and for a decent enough price too.
There have been a few reports that Alonso is keen to keep hold of Fernandez, and the club won't budge on his valuation, I think it's 60-70% likely he stays.
The news now shifts to replacing Cucurella, Hall and Grimaldo seem to be the favourites at the moment. Hall, I'd really like but don't see it materialising. I've said on here recently, for me, Grimaldo ticks a ton of boxes. But is there an answer within the squad?
You want your best players on the pitch, with that in mind, can anyone see James successfully bombing up and down the pitch from RWB? I can see why there would be concerns about his body holding out. It might make more sense for James to invert into the midfield pivot, in turn, pushing Fernandez into one of the 10's. That would leave Hato becoming the LCB from a LB position, and/or Barco deputising as a more progressive LB/LWB. Now, this all sounds very Maresca like, with FB's inverting into a pivot, but, if Fernandez stays, it's a way of getting him and James into Alonso's system and on the pitch as much as possible, without impacting other key players like Palmer, Estavao or Joao Pedro.
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15 Jun 2026 10:06:04
Personally for me, I think we need to find out what formation he will play. I think he played a back 4 at Madrid.
But I do think he will be flexible and it will change in game.
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15 Jun 2026 10:16:50
I think Enzo will be leaving along with Badiashile, Tosin, Disasi, Delap/Jackson, Guiu, Jorgensen and maybe Garnacho.
When I watched Bl under Alonso, it always seemed to be a back three, but I have no idea about his preferred shape at Rm.
It sounds to me that, like most good coaches, he can be flexible.
Throughout last season, we were generally passive with and without the ball, and a change to a more aggressive/progressive style of football is what I'm looking for.
I hate seeing my team outworked.
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15 Jun 2026 10:37:21
He tended to start with a back four at Real, but ultimately, in possession it still ended up as a compact 3-2-5, with the pivot and two 10s making a box midfield.
I don't think it really matters if it starts as a four or three at the back, it just comes down to how the team manoeuvres into that in possession setup.
But the type of lb signing we make will give us a great indication as to whether he wants to start with a four and traditional fb's or a three and wb's. Definitely going to be an interesting bit of the market to see develop.
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15 Jun 2026 13:06:51
Quenda shouldn't be forgotten in all of this either. He could easily play the same wb role as Frimpong did for Leverkusen, just from the left, rather than the right.
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