22 Jul 2026 17:07:55
So interesting we have enquired for Akliouche, stylistically he is so different to Barcola and Diomande… This is turning into quite a bizarre and interesting window.
22 Jul 2026 18:13:25
All our rw links seem to depend on PSG making their mind up first. Maybe this is to hurry things up one way or another.
22 Jul 2026 18:22:01
Maybe we aren't trying to force PSG's hand, but more to force Roc Natiions?
22 Jul 2026 18:41:02
Indeed, Gols Star.
22 Jul 2026 18:44:52
I don't understand, though, how it forces PSG's hand. They have strength and depth in wide areas, and don't need to sell Barcola. They could just say f*** u, sign Akliouche, and not sell Barcola. Strange tactics indeed...
22 Jul 2026 18:56:51
Or we could sign their target Akliouche?
22 Jul 2026 18:59:35
We want a right winger. By the sounds of it, we would be happy with Akliouche, Barcola or Diomande. PSG hold the cards with two of them, so we bid for the other. Makes sense to me.
22 Jul 2026 19:03:30
Top attribute: can thread the ball through the eye of a needle, no need to dribble when you can do that, statistically more goals are scored from crosses into the box than individual dribbles.
Dani Carvajal, free agent, is being considered for RB as a stop gap one year deal offered with the option to extend. AI sees a bit of James Milner in him. He ended his season at RM as club captain.
22 Jul 2026 19:05:12
Hopefully Work From Home Richard isn't about to use his powers of making us overpay for someone by pissing them off again.
22 Jul 2026 19:26:03
At his peak, Mo surely broke that rule? I.e., his dribbles into the box resulted in far more goals than his crosses?
In fact, I can't really remember either him nor Mane crossing a huge amount. Trent and Robbo did that.
I would have thought crosses are more high risk than a dribble on goal - so many variables involved.
There is a book, more of a pamphlet really, by the much maligned Charles Hughes, who was seen as the guy behind the long ball theories which ruined English football - as practiced by Graham Taylor (Villa & England), Don Howe & George Graham (Arsenal), and Joe Royle / David Moyes (Everton), and, of course, Wimbledon.
But I am not sure Hughes can be blamed for those long ball managers. He espoused quick breaks, a high press, and the idea that a team is most vulnerable when in possession.
Sounds like Jurgen and Jose read the manual properly, though Jose was closer to the George Graham of Arsenal's interpretation.
22 Jul 2026 20:46:33
Yeah, I don't see how this forces anything, this is nothing like the Newcastle situation some have likened it to. PSG are incapable of being bullied right now. They hold all the cards.
22 Jul 2026 23:15:21
They won't want all 3 players on the books that I mentioned. If we go after one of their targets (Akliouche), they either out bid us and don't bid on Diomande...
They outbid us and also bid on Diomande, with Barcola then surplus...
Or they don't bid on Akliouche.
Us making an offer on Akliouche starts the dominoes falling.
I see us signing one of the 3, maybe even 2. But our need is far greater than theirs, and we need to get things moving somehow.