duke313

Cucurella looking like flop of the season so far. Having a mare here

Must have been trying to impress Pep in order to get more starts

You’re comparing a season in which Ings played for Southampton? You make it sound like there was a massive gulf in the goals scored, Watkins scored 14 and Ings 12, and Watkins had the advantage of over 1000 extra minutes played. Here is a nice graph I’ve found that shows pressures from forwards in top 5 leagues. Our two are slap bang in the middle, not much separating them. Which only confirms it’s a myth that Ings doesn’t offer anything in that department. Watkins is still an asset, but Ings should be the focal point of the attack, with Watkins out wide or in support.

If pressing is all that matters to you, then Watkins is clear of even Haaland in that regard. But for me a striker needs to do more than just press. Watkins is let down by his composure, first touch, passing even. Ings is clear in these departments. Emery will be forced soon enough to start Ings more regularly.

The only thing not covered there is distance. Do you even know what pressing is? I'd say that's covered quite well with tackles, interceptions and blocks. Maybe you can't read?

Was decent when called upon last night. I can’t remember what game it was that he played a few months ago. There were people in this very thread looking his loan terminated he was that bad.

Again, that's simply not true. A myth. A Fabrication. Ings has similar passes attempted, pass completion, progressive passes, dribbles. And he has more tackles, blocks, clearances. The only standout for Watkins is aerial challenges won, which is not terribly important unless you're playing Burnley hoofball.

Where did the myth start that Ings doesn’t do any of that? Is Watkins better at it? Probably. But again, it’s pointless doing all that if you aren’t going to put the ball in the back of the net.

That may change now if Digne falls out of favour. Perhaps we will see Bailey switch to the left if Augustinsson plays. I think Bailey would be much more effective on the left, his cutting in from the right is not really working at the minute IMO. The good thing about Emery is he won't be afraid to change things.

As @villa4europe has said, these young English players at Chelsea are now getting pushed to the wayside. Chalobah and Gallagher would be decent acquisitions for a lot of teams and could probably get them slightly cheaper if the push for moves.

I wonder could we get Conor Gallager? Feel like he would be decent in Emery's system.

Not heard of him before. The work permits could be an issue, but you can always loan the player back until they are eligible for a WP.

How much money have they spent now? And how many players have they? They can still only register 25 players right?

17 today

Good to know. Will bare that in mind when Ollie has missed a few more sitters costing us points. As long as his pressing stats are good though.

Leeds and Everton finished mid-table the season before, and that's how much they paid for mid-table players. Far enough on Guedes only signing this season, but Wolves will be aiming for mid-table, and so far, Guedes has only shown mid-table ability. Fornals cost 4 million less. Not exactly different ball parks, is it? The point is that's how much average or slightly above average players are going for in that position. Are there examples of them costing less, sure. But chances are a player with exceptional talent in that area, will cost a lot more than what we paid for Bailey. I would also add Buendia to that. So, we either need better scouts, or pay more money for better players.

I just thought a Danish Sporting Director would have some inside knowledge on one of the biggest Scandanavian talents playing in Denmark.

Here you go: Wolves - Goncalo Quedes - €32.60m Leeds - Daniel James - €29.10m Everton - Alex Iwobi - €30.40m West Ham - Pablo Fornals - €28.00m

Boehly thinks he's playing Football Manager, and signing as many wonderkids as he can. We should start a rumour about a brilliant French right back, that's gone under the radar of all the top clubs. He will only cost £30m, a mere pittance in today's market.

This 100%. Bailey is a midtable player, who cost us a midtable fee. He’ll have some good games, and have some bad games. He might even have the odd exceptional game. But we can’t really expect much more than that, he’s not suddenly going to turn into an elite forward. If he was good enough for a top 6 team he’d have cost twice as much as we paid. The starting price for elite wingers is £60m+

Looks like Scjelderup is off to Benfica. What’s the point in Lange if we can’t even attract the best Scandinavian talent, surely he should be a step ahead of the rest on this?

Sounds like an exciting talent. Wish we had some scouts in South America.

But the first comment you’re saying he’s worse than a youth player and shouldn’t be signed, then the next comment he’s better than our £25m player. It’s one extreme to another. It’s the same in every player thread, when a player plays bad they are the worst signing of all time. And when they play good they are the best thing since sliced bread.

Better finishing but has scored less goals this season in a worse league?