Turf Moor is one of just 3 current Premier League stadiums I have yet to visit – the other two being Luton Town (just promoted, did not get a ticket for this season) and Wolves (no idea why not).
It is not that I have not tried to go. A few years back there were no trains to or from the game so me and my mates hired a mini bus. It got to just outside Coventry before breaking down.
3-hours and a quick temporary repair later, we were in a pub in Coventry whilst the mini bus driver searched for a garage for a more permanent fix to get us home. As 10 of us marched into this pub, we were met with comments such as “why don’t you support your local team” and “didn’t fancy going to the game did you?”. Clearly the locals thinking we were students or something. We soon put them right.
Today I will once again miss out on the trip to the suburb of Manchester as I will be away! I will miss the entire game while travelling.
Mikel Arteta has been cagey when it has come to team news saying “hopefully we’re going to get a few back for tomorrow” and refusing to rule anyone out. I am not sure if these comments include the long term injured trio of Fabio Vieira, Thomas Partey and Jurrien Timber.
Later in his interview, he did clarify that both Partey and Vieira were close to returning, and Porto is a more realistic target.
He really did not get any more away, speaking on David Raya, Kai Havertz and Kylian Mbappe. As always, I would advise everyone to spend 5-minutes reading every word from Arteta rather than just the click bait headlines.
You can not expect a West Ham performance every weekend. A win against Burnley will make it the first time in our history that we have won the first 5 league games of the calendar year. Whether it is 6-0 or 1-0 it will be 3 points. And that is what matters.
A final thought, I have quickly calculated that I have also been to 14 of the 24 Championship stadiums. So only 13 out of 44 missed! Hopefuly I will be add Wolves ground soon…
If you are going today, enjoy. And if your bus breaks down outside Coventry, go to the Tudor Rose!
Right off the bat, I would not pay what PSG are going to ask for.
Mbappe’s contract expires this summer, but they reportedly retain a one-year extension option (although there has been some disputing this). They will trigger the clause to ensure they get the transfer fee they want – north of £150m and maybe even above £200m.
That would be our entire transfer budget gone for next season.
Whilst Mbappe is a world class performer, we need more than a single signing to remain competitive into next season. His recruitment will mean no further midfield or defensive reinforcements.
Personally, I would rather see us spend in the region of £60m on a new striker (Ivan Toney), £50m on a new midfielder (Zubimendi?) and have another £40m to potentially buy another winger and central defender, rather than spend £150m+ on Mbappe. And if Mbappe is “free”, he would merely demand the transfer fee to be paid as an additional singing on fee.
Wages
And the wages Mbappe will demand will be ludicrous.
He is reportedly being around £1m a week by PSG. I can not imagine him leaving for much less than that.
Paying a single player north of £500k a week is structure breaking. It will cause ramifications throughout the squad and will be a misappropriate use of funds.
The other issue is he turns 26 towards the end of this year. Whoever buys him will be tying up a huge fee and massive wages for a player who could soon fall off a cliff.
The cliff
Mbappe made his debut before his 17th birthday.
He was just 18 when he joined PSG and had already played 60 senior games for Monaco. In December, he turns 26. He would have played in excess of 450 games for club and country by this point, in a senior career that would have seen him play regular week in week out football for 8 seasons.
Mbappe relies a lot on his explosive pace. The way he burst onto the scene and stayed there, alongside his reliance on pace, makes comparisons to Michael Owen and Fernando Torres easy.
At 26, Owen was a busted flush. He had left Real Madrid and was sitting in Newcastle’s medical room week in week out. His career might as well have ended there. Likewise, Torres was also on the wain at 26.
The Torres story is the warning for those looking to spend big on Mbappe – Chelsea spent £50m bringing the Spaniard to the club and it quickly became clear that he was not the player he once was. In his 4 and a half years at the club Torres would score just 20 Premier League goals.
Now both Torres and Own did suffer injuries throughout their career, whilst Mbappe has stayed relatively clear from any issues. But I would be surprised if Mbappe is still playing at his current level in 2-3 years time.
And as we saw with Thierry Henry, when a player who has such blistering pace begins to lose it, they fall off the cliff.
But what about Messi and Ronaldo?
What makes Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo the greatest two footballers of all time was the way they reinvented themselves as their physical attributes changed.
Both begun their careers as rapid, tricky wingers. By the time their European careers ended they were very different players.
Ronaldo turned himself from a fancy dan trick merchant into an out and out number 9, whilst Messi went one stage further and went from winger to number 9, then played deeper in the 10.
I am not sure Mbappe has either the capability or drive to adapt his game as his natural pace reduces. He is already behind Ronaldo and Messi in terms of his deadliness in front of goal, and he does not have either of their technique.
Once Mbappe’s pace is gone, he will be done.
The Man
Mbappe clearly thinks he is bigger than PSG, and his influence on both the dressing room and wider structure of the club has been evident for decades,
The fact he has announced he will leave when it is not his choice shows his character.
I have always felt Mbappe and Neymar are bad eggs which is why both decided to stay in PSG so long. no top club would tolerant either demands.
Whoever signs Mbappe will be getting someone who has been pampered in France all his career and never faced the challenge of playing for a top club.
I also wonder if he can handle the physicality of playing Premier League football week in week out compared to Ligue 1 which is a level below. He certainly will not get the protection he gets from referees.
A chip on his shoulder, if he comes to the Premier League, my theory is he will be complaining about the weather, the food and the rough treatment within 6-months.
Kylian Mbappe – Arsenal will be right to stay well clear.
Morning. Anyone else been up early to watch the cricket? Decent start with India 95 for 3 at lunch.
There is very little Arsenal news around today, as is the norm on a Thursday when we are not playing mid-week.
I see Bayern Munich lost last night. Will still expect them to go through against Lazio but it does feel like it is all going a bit “Spursy” for the since the Harry Kane signing.
“Maybe Kane was the problem” I have seen some Spurs say in jest. This of course ignores the fact that Kane made his Tottenham debut years after their last trophy, and Spurs are 4th in the league and out both of the cups. I do chuckle everytime their fans talk about how good a season they are having.
Another group of fans make me laugh are Evertonians.
Since their points dedication, their fans have been all over social media playing the victims, posting up misleading information.
I am not sure if they are all just thick, but they all bash on about net transfer spend whilst ignoring that this is just one factor of spend.
They compare their spends to Manchester City, Arsenal, etc, ignoring that these clubs generate 2 or 3 times more revenue. It is therefore only natural they are spending more.
Everton’s problem comes from buying a load of rubbish in the late 2010’s, spending 95% of their income on wages and losing around £400m in the last 4 or 5 times. Their low net spend over the last 3 years (which they keep showing) is because they have no money and are millions in debt. They have to take out loans every few months just to keep running.
If it were not for FFP/PSR, Everton would have kept spending and probably now be in administration with a half built stadium.
They loved celebrating Moshri (and Usmanov) when he took over the club and began spending big, but they had no thought of the consequences of him signing spending money that the club did not have.
And let’s not start with their claim that their Covid impact was £100m more than any other club in the Premier League! No idea how a club with such a small stadium would suffered such a large loss due to no games!
Everton only have themselves to blame.
As for fans of other clubs (Nottingham Forest, Wolves) jumping on the bandwagon, saying FFP is forcing them to sell too players to bigger clubs, this has always happened in the history of football.
Brendan Johnson and Pedro Neto were always destined to play at a higher level than Forest and Wolves.
As I saw someone say “FFP wasn’t why Andy Grey left Wolves for Everton in 1983”.
If you are going to blame FFP for every player your club sells, then are you also going to kick off about those players your club buys?
Everton’s new star Jarrad Branthwaite was signed from Carlisle. The way these clubs moan, if it wasn’t for FFP, Branthwaite would still be at his home club. And let’s not ignore what Nottingham Forest spent on Morgan Gibbs White!
Ultimately, players have always moved from lower clubs to those higher in the league. Everton buy from clubs below them. Arsenal huy from clubs below us, and we sell to clubs above us. There is a food chain.
Everton fans are just upset that they have lost their place as a top 8 team due to how poorly the club has been run. Typical Scousers though refusing to take responsibility for anything.
If you are planning on going to Manchester City in March, be aware of planned engineering works meaning no trains out of Euston.
You will now have to go via St Pancras the journey will now take at least 3 hours, requiring 2 changes. The return journey taking 4 hours and ends at Marylebone at 23.18 Sunday night.
She Wore A Yellow Ribbon 