NewStats: 3,265,013 , 8,185,333 topics. Date: Friday, 13 June 2025 at 07:15 AM 94d21

Pereira was the worst of the midfield trio by far today. If that man no ready to chill and wait for his turn while better people are getting the job done, he can go in the summer jare.
I'm not sure the standing he has at the club to be demanding anymore than he already gets in of appearances.
Perhaps a fresh start is what he truly needs to Kickstart his career

afrodoc2:


Godin is going to be 33 next month and you think you will get 3 yrs from him in the EPL?

His lack of pace has not been an issue because all his teams play low blocks and especially international football is played at a slower pace.

Bringing him at 33 to a faster league, with a less defensive formation, lots of space in defense with high flying full backs will be suicidal.

The first quality we should be looking for in CBs in this new system is pace. Godin would have made more sense under Mourinho but in this system with space as big as Niger State in our defence buying him will be a mistake.

And yes, comparing him to Messi is outrageous.
Messi is a GOAT candidate, Godin is not even in the discussion for top 10 CBs.

all well and good..

Anyone following the frenkie de Jong saga will notice how the contrast in what Barcelona is trying to entice him with and what PSG are trying to use to turn his head. PSG are in desperate need of a midfielder and for all the money they plan to throw at him, he may end up choosing Barcelona.
Even if he doesn't, Barcelona will be fine and I'm sure they will be in the running again for the next break out star in Central midfield


Man city backed down when the money for Sanchez was becoming too much but we dove in because we were desperate and they were not. They turned out fine without him and we are still struggling.

Under slightly different conditions, Chelsea would probably have gotten kepa for significantly less.

The list continues..

afrodoc2:


It is not until something happens to a player. We need to learn to be proactive rather than reactive. I am not interested in someone that will need replacing in 6 to 12 months.

Everybody gets old and the fall is often without warning. There is no skill that Godin has shown me that Baresi and co didn’t have in multiples, and even they had to go.
There are at least 5 defenders I will take ahead of him despite his quality.
He is old and reaching that age when players kaput. He is not the quickest and might not fancy the high line we are playing now.
If we buy him it will be another Zlatan/Schweini scenario.

I agree with the general direction of the point you are making. It makes sense but saying we will need to replace Godin in 6-12 months is a bit of a stretch.

We would have to consider ourselves extremely unlucky If we do not get 3 years out of him, the kind of bad luck that would be akin to having your 100m player suffer a double leg break or a career changing knee injury few matches into his 1st season.

Also I believe if we have the chance to get someone like messi to come play for us for the next 3 seasons, nobody would consider his age and the need for his replacement shortly after for obvious reasons.

Comparing messis potential contribution to this our team to what Godin will do to our defense may also be a bit of a stretch but it is to understand the general direction of my thinking.
Pace has never been a key component of Godins game.

I am also tired of being asked to pay for being a few months late to awareness of a player: Maguire, milenkovic, Militao, Skriniar, zagadou(free transfer in the summer) the list goes on and on.

In those 2-3 years, we should then be able buy quality players for that position without even waiting for him to go kaput and without looking desperate.
Part of why we almost always overpay for players is that we always look desperate, and the selling club feeds on this.

If it's not Koulibaly I'm not comfortable breaking the bank for any other CB.

elrony:


How much be Gimenez release clause again?... spray the money on Atletico and cart away that gem in a Red duffle bag

IMO he's better than everybody on this list. ..

120m.
It was 65m in the summer.. Lol
At the rate we are going in this market they are probably regretting they didn't make it higher.
They are about to lose Lucas hernandez too, in the summer if at all he stays beyond January.
Thinking about this now sef, I suspect they will give Godin the money he is asking for.

No way they allow themselves lose Godin and Lucas hernandez at once

eph12:

What will one year of his service add to the club? The premier league trophy?

If this won't distract the club from going for the likes of Koulibaly, no problem. But if it will, I don't . This club is more than capable of spending that much for a player if they want to.

that was a worst case scenario statement, he will deliver for a longer period than that for sure, and you will be surprised by what it will add to the club.

The ideal person still is koulibaly but if the club sees 120m as too much to pay for a central defender, then alderweireld is there for 25m pere. Another very good pick.


other names that have been mentioned include..
Skriniar, 23 years 80m
Milenkovic, 22ish 60-80m
Militao, 20 50m

Every time I've seen milenkovic play, he's at right back. He has played just one full season in a top 5 league and cost just 5m 2 years ago

Militao is playing his first season in Europe in Portugal, after arriving from South America and I can't even be sure he is better than what we already have

Skiriniar is excellent and rated very highly by a lot of respected people but there are still no guarantees and for 80m, there should be guarantees.

afrodoc2:


We should have learnt our lessons from Schweinsteiger and Zlatan. We need long term solutions and not all these short term fixes that people are talking about.
You spend 6 months chasing a player and finally get him, only to start another 6 months of chasing his replacement in a year or two.

we are talking about Godin here o and not Boateng or Koscielny.
Or has something happened to Godin in the last 6 months that I've missed?

eph12:

What if the Godin isn't able to cope with a change in environment and the experiment flops? I say the club makes use of its expansive network of scouts and get someone that plenty of years to give, has the skill set or showing potential and with the winning mindset. We should be thinking of building a team that will dominate in 1-2 years time, instead of looking for some short term glory that may not even work out

lol, have you seen Godin play?
Even if na one year we go get at the level he currently is, I'm grabbing it.
The man is arguably still top 3-5 CB's in the world.

The last thing we need is another potential in that central defensive position.

We have young centre backs with many years to give already at the club in lindelof and Bailly(if we ignore football age).
There is Tuanzebe doing very well in the championship too. He is at least one more good loan to a top flight team from being ready to start killing it for us at the back. That is if he isn't even ready at this moment.

We have been crying for a leader at the back and he fits the bill even if he is already very slightly on the wrong side of the age curve.

All the other options cost too close to 100m for us to not give Godin a proper look in if indeed he is available for free

ChristineC:
isn't he like 45 yr old now?

that man has at least 2 years to give at the highest level, for free I would jump all over it

raumdeuter:


Does the coach need to come out and say it before you know? Was it any coach that signed Ronaldo or Bale for Madrid? Pep at Bayern wanted Neymar, Management got him Gotze

Will Sarri say he doesn't know about the g of Jogginho, or Conte will say he knows nothing about Zappacosta, Bakayoko and Morata?

in fairness, at that time Goetze was supposed to be German messi and the next big thing.
Not many people knew pep would eventually ruin him to the point of being a fraud

The highest I've been able to reach this year is somewhere in the lower reaches of the 2nd page. This year has been somehow

Oasis007:
“You can play with two of them [Rashford and Lukaku], no problem. One can play on the right, or two through the middle. It gives me options.”

- Ole Gunner Solskjaer

with Lukakus goal contributions becoming harder and harder to brush aside, this may be the way forward in the coming games.
One of he or Rashford can be peeling wide while the other remains in the middle from time to time too

patrickmuf:
Dude still thinks it's Mourinho, he'll get over it, hopefully he does. We need all our players firing before the UCL restarts.

we have more than enough cover at RB tbh. Young, Dalot and Darmian are all currently better alternatives.
Darmian has impressed me everytime I've seen him this season.
He is going to be a decent player for the club in Italy that signs him

afrodoc2:


That was not a good call by OGS as neither Mata and Valencia can beat their man 1v1 on the outside and whip in good crosses consistently.
Anytime we start those 2 together the right side will be dead.

yea.. the 2 of them must never start together, at the very least.
All Mata was interested in the whole game was cutting in and switching play. It was frustrating to watch

eph12:
Hopefully, one of these days, we'll get to see our fb high behind enemy lines, pulling crosses into the box or playing one two with wingers. For now, nothing special with what they're doing. Probably not fit enough to rub the length of that field or coach asked not to because the defenders and CM left behind are not trusted enough to cut out attack should there be a break

they were begging Valencia to push up at some point today.
He seemed confused af.
Didn't know when to push or fall and was ultimately in no mans land on several occasions.

I don't know if it's lack of match fitness or sharpness or he is just completely and totally finished.. Whatever it is, I hope he never starts for us again, especially when Mata is on the pitch

patrickmuf:
Front 3 has got to be Martial - Rashford - Sanchez...The 3 of them have the skill set to do damage from just about any position. I am quite happy that Martial is doing well coming from the right cos it looked like it was impossible with Mourinho.
A fluid front 3 is the way forward with Lingard, Mata and Lukaku as backups.

all other things being equal, this is our best front 3

Happy birthday odunharry

nihilistjnr:
happy New year mofos

more Ws for you personally.

more Ls for unitef

lol.
Happy birthday..

afrodoc2:


Outside Ruud Van Nistelrooy he is perhapbs the best pure finisher i have seen at the club, and yes his celebrations were controlled.

Why was he a sub?

1) We had 4 good strikers, all with different strengths and weaknesses.

2) He cost little, compared to Yorke and Cole. He and Sheringham were brought in essentially knowing they would likely be substitutes.

3) While all 4 were good strikers, Yorke and Sheringham were the 2 best in of technique and creating for others while Cole and Solskjaer were better in of the hunger for goals.

4) He had the greatest likelihood of scoring from the bench with even his 1st touch, unlike Cole who usually had to miss a number of chances before getting into rhythm.

5) He had the least ego, and this unfortunately made him the most suitable for the bench while maintaining team harmony.

Lastly, that Yorke/Cole combo could be very,very deadly. Ask Gbenga Okunowo.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4mFFczFDFVY

they definitely do not make them like this anymore..

DeadPresidents:


We are not tolerating Ole slander in 2019 sir. Ole Gunnar Solskjaer was all about keeping things simple and effective--the ultimate prototype for the modern attacker. He was the equivalent of a bench tactician studying the strengths and weaknesses of opposition defences while plotting the most lethal means of putting the ball in the goal.

Ferguson enjoyed having Solskjaer as his ultimate secret weapon. The man could have easily starred for other top English clubs as a starter but his loyalty to the club ensured he stayed back.

Tottenham were fierce irers and wanted him as a first choice striker. The guy also had a hell of a cross on him.

I guess his engine and tactical nous was much more suited to playing the assassin as opposed to the main act.

LOL. Nothing there was meant to be slander, but thanks.

Selfishness is not necessarily slander.
But it stands to reason that for all those times he opted to shoot(and score) instead of square when the angle was acute, there must have more than a few where it didn't work out.

PietroRick:
Sarri is just a Behind LVG with Eden Hazard.
Breeze go blow and expose he yansh like fowl soon..

why Tf is nairaland censoring tüsh.. Lol

Oasis007:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y3eVIJ9dAN8


....... Art of Fox in the Box. OGS Career at United from dawn to Dusk.

1. This man had zero celebration skills
2. How did was such a deadly finisher remain a substitute across generations? Damn
3. He was also selfish af

Really for those who watched him for most of his career, why exactly was he always on the bench?
Afrodoc2, elampiro, ruudie, Nihilist, raumdeuter, ibime.. Anyone

With Jose around, it was difficult to be optimistic about any potential incomings. We were beginning to look like a huge black hole for talented footballers.
Now that he's gone, we should keep our eyes peeled for break out stars, with the hope of snapping them up before other serious clubs do.

My eyes are currently on Nicolas pepe of Lille for that RW. That guy looks like the truth.
The man is rapid, direct, has some deft touches and can put the ball in the back of the net.

SIRcumalot:

They already have their own malfunctioning Belgian.

Lukaku go give us goals.

using the same 'malfunctioning' to desribe lukaku and benteke is extremely harsh on lukaku and generous to benteke.

Lukaku is probably playing at his peak or very close to it atm and it is almost certain he will never break into category of strikers who are supposed to be leading the line for clubs who are serious with themselves.

At the time of his move, there weren't a lot of available alternatives and it was understandable at that point but my guy if we see person wey wan take him and he wages off our books, while giving us our outlay back, we will not be wise to refuse to take and run.

BlueAngel444:
I strongly Sarri but didn't we have a similar number of points this stage last season with Conte in charge. Even after having one of our worst transfer windows spending £130m on Morata, Bakayoko n DW, and even playing in UCL.

I don't like how we barely win our recent games, a goal difference or lose a goal difference because we still can't score goals.

Sarri is just a Behind LVG with Eden Hazard.
Breeze go blow and expose he yansh like fowl soon..

Oasis007:


..... I don't want to drop any Comment on Lingard to avoid being misunderstood as hating on him, but I am kinda not sold on him yet.

He's full of Pace with no techniques, stamina and football intelligence. He's better off as a Sub, squad Player precisely - gets sub-in in the last 15Mins of a Match to overrun already weak Defence of the Opposition.

I believe the Trio of Martial, Rashford and Sanchez Combo definitely gonna be superb and more productive.

lol. This kind of Lingard slander will not be tolerated in 2019

Better be careful and put some respect on that name.

elampiro:


I don't know how to answer this. We already have Valencia, Young. As for William, it depends on what price he goes for and whether he is willing to move. Although someone like him might stifle the growth of Lingard because I see some similarity in their game.

the answer to the question is in there.
The price Chelsea wanted, which mourinho was ready to sanction had Woodward not stepped in didn't make sense.
Willian is not worth losing martial over.
If anything we were supposed to be turning down Willian plus cash for martial.

elampiro:


They are old and playing their last football. But their last football still better than that of many young players.

I agree but the question here is how far will you be willing to go to bring them to your team?

eph12:

I'm not convinced on OGS ability to adapt his team to different circumstances yet, but if its about performances against really good sides, Poch still need some convincing. He couldn't keep a lead against Chelshit to win the league in 2016. Forget the once in a while wins, Poch is very good and probably better than OGS but as far as I'm concerned, at this moment, OGS is the man

you missed the point.
By now I assume it is common knowledge that Pochettino is the favorite to take over as manager when OGS is done being interim.
That OGS will need to perform a miracle for him to get the job.
He has had a nice start, but he has a long way to go and part of what he has to do on the long journey is impress versus big teams.
Then again, even this may not be enough, but we will cross the bridge when we get there.

I could go on but I believe this should be enough to clear my initial post up

eph12:

What has Pochettino done against really good sides?

lol.
Baba e too early to dey compare OGS to poch
I'm one of Pochettinos biggest trolls but come on nau..