23 Aug 2026 18:44:25
Minteh personal terms agreed and £67M transfer negotiated between the clubs.
After that performance today, thank God.
23 Aug 2026 18:58:42
The fitness coaches are going to be busy.
Come December, with Leone, Ekitike, Bradley, and possibly Minteh back, we might have some depth.
23 Aug 2026 19:03:07
Mr Bojangles delivers!
23 Aug 2026 19:04:26
Why, is he coming to play as a DM?
23 Aug 2026 19:04:47
We've heard the same about Barcola wks too.
Until they are at the AXA, I'm believing nothing, sorry.
23 Aug 2026 19:04:52
Not sure a different winger is going to help with none of our midfield being willing to defend space.
23 Aug 2026 19:05:33
Happy with Minteh, but we need a 6. A bat in with sunglasses in the dark can see that.
23 Aug 2026 19:12:03
I really don't think hrs good enough, and not fit for a couple, maybe more months. It's a strange deal for me. Wait untill January and see.
23 Aug 2026 19:13:13
We're missing Ekitike and Bradley quite badly.
23 Aug 2026 19:21:34
What's the excuse going to be to Barcola not being announced today then.
23 Aug 2026 19:25:20
We need a 6 and an 8.
23 Aug 2026 19:26:29
Yeah, he might actually be able to play before Christmas.
23 Aug 2026 19:32:43
I think today showed we have serious issues at both full back positions. Both Kerkez and Frimpong are nowhere near good enough.
That's where we need to be spending money.
23 Aug 2026 19:34:34
Right back is a glaring problem. Frimpong can only cover right wing in certain formation, and to come in late when points are secured.
23 Aug 2026 19:36:48
Can he play in midfield?
23 Aug 2026 19:37:13
Never known a club to be so weak in negotiations, you know. We agree personal terms with so many, then drag our feet over the price. Arsenal, City, etc. just get it done. Barcola could have been in and playing today, making a difference. It's glaringly obvious we need a 6. We have tried the last 4 seasons to get one. Just happy to take gambles on games. I think last season's window has destroyed the team.
Reasons like not announcing transfers on a weekend is so bizarre. What is the actual difference? City announced Bouaddi an hour before kick-off. Just so strange from the outside looking in. Based on that today, we are seeing the same stuff as last season.
And this isn't a dig at any ITKs, just a match going fans opinion on the football team.
Thanks for listening
23 Aug 2026 19:39:28
I doubt that either of those would have made a jot of difference today, Overkill.
23 Aug 2026 19:42:22
On the positive side, Munoz looks pretty solid. He gave us something else and I can see him pushing for a starting place. Jaquet also looks decent, and Araujo looked confident.
Taxi for Frimpong, Isak, Kerkez and Rio....
23 Aug 2026 19:52:52
Buy a 6 sell Wirtz? Controversial.
23 Aug 2026 20:15:00
You're right Origi, we've accepted a way of working on and off the pitch that isn't for winners. Iraola has a big task to turn us back into something better.
23 Aug 2026 20:16:00
Munoz looked far better than Rio today, he needs to start ahead of him in the next match.
23 Aug 2026 20:23:45
"I doubt that either of those would have made a jot of difference today."
Given the chances we created today, we had a 60% chance of winning (albeit with the stats skewed a bit with the late penalty), but Newcastle away and only a 33% chance of losing (without the penalty) wasn't as bad as we might have thought.
Most likely score was 1-2 Liverpool.
Happy to post the stats each week. I have the % chances for win/loss/draw for other matches as well, but that would be a bit of typing, so would anyone be interested in seeing them in the coming weeks?
23 Aug 2026 20:26:44
Did someone coming to a rumor page just say I won't believe anything till they're at the AXA?
Take the page off your bookmarks then.
On the match, full backs are a problem, but otherwise I'm quite positive about what I saw. Still don't understand why Dom didn't drop Wissa in his own half.
23 Aug 2026 20:33:03
Not controversial at all mate. I'd sell Wirtz too. There are not many of them I'd keep. We have gone from TAA and Robbo to Frimpong and Kerkez, who are both woeful. Our midfield does not take responsibility to track runners or put in a tackle. Awk, I can't even be bothered talking about the rest of them.
Not good.
The Barcola issue is being reported by most reliable journos saying both clubs are still miles apart in valuation. I see us missing out on this one and Arsenal sniping in. Hughes out, hopefully very soon.
23 Aug 2026 20:39:27
Not really, Red Reaper. Not for me anyway.
23 Aug 2026 21:07:43
Wonder if that plane has landed yet.
23 Aug 2026 21:22:50
You can't blame Wirtz for the team's woeful performance. He was the only player linking up play. Our other midfielders went on walkies, and left a massive hole in midfield. When they did contribute, it was simple passes. The occasional Gravy turn and dribble isn't good enough. And surely one sticks if the other goes forward?
It's all well and good saying Iraola doesn't play with a defensive midfielder, but your CMs need to be able to make a bloody challenge.
Our CMs can't tackle, intercept, or challenge. They may run, catch up with the opposition, but then do nothing... It's really weird.
And Rio isn't ready to be a starter. Needs more development. Specifically, needs to learn to dribble with his head up.
23 Aug 2026 21:25:15
Definitely landed, tracked it all the way, never used flight tracker before, it's amazing.
23 Aug 2026 21:26:38
Midfield was a shambles today, lads. So were the fullbacks. Kerkez is not good enough, either is Frimpong. Don't really know what to say. Gravenberch and Szobozlai do not do the basics in terms of covering space when full backs bomb forward. Exact same problems as last season.
Only difference is, our team is a lot weaker now and VVD is another year older. He still thinks he is too cool to run or tackle also, so I really don't know what to say. Munoz looked good and so did the other wee lad, Koumas.
23 Aug 2026 22:04:51
I think Kerkez struggled today, as did Rio and Isak, but we at least had a directness and threat that we'd lost under Slot.
In terms of remaining business this window, I would love to see a top 6, two wingers and an LB. I think people hate on Frimpong too much, Kerkez feels a lot more of a risk to me.
23 Aug 2026 22:19:46
I personally like Frimpong. Seems like a nice fella. But he isn't good enough. The players we have let go for free and ones who have moved on, and how we have brought in to replace them will define our next 4 or 5 years. I can only hope Bezo and co start pumping in money for a rebuild. I know people are worried about the squad depth, but I am worried about the first 11. Doesn't look like a team, and too many egos afraid of doing hard work.
Then, just absolute chaos at defence because of the non existent midfield. We knew all summer we needed to replace Salah and get a right back in. We haven't done anything and the window has been an embarrassment. But, it is still open. But by the time it closes we could be 4 or 5 points behind Arsenal. Munoz and Koumas look great.
23 Aug 2026 22:40:01
We should have gone to 3 at the back at half time today, and got the full backs off the pitch as they were useless. Would have allowed us to either put another body in midfield or add another attacking option earlier in the game.
The subs made were far too obvious in my opinion, although I did like the look of Munoz. He needs to start the next game ahead of Rio.
23 Aug 2026 22:50:50
Wirtz and Isak
To
Go down as the two
Biggest flops in football history. We can finally put the Edwards myth to bed. Iraola would not have chosen Isak, Wirtz, Frimpong or Rio. Rio will
Never suit an Iraola
Side - he does nothing but run and step over.
Araujo will kick ass at rb and CB.
24 Aug 2026 00:04:57
I thought Gravenberch went too far forward. I really dont rate him, cant he just play a number 6 and give our full backs a chance to go forward so they are not blamed for being attacking when required.
Also Rio, omg he was shocking, he needs to play his preferred right hand side, but our best player was Gakpo.
The player we want to sell just doesnt make sense.
Koumas and Munoz fantastic, loved them coming on, changed the game a bit, maybe they both start next game.
Wirtz on bench with Grav. Macallister maybe starts next time.
Szob out, vice captain needs to step up and not for the penalties and free kicks.
24 Aug 2026 02:19:03
I like Rio, but he's clearly not a solution on the right. He needs to play on his preferred wing.
Not sure why everyone is slating Kerkez. I didn't think he was bad today.
I actually didn't entirely hate this match.
Always going to be a work in progress adjusting to a new system, but there were the makings of a team in there. Already an improvement over boring Slotball. I'll take it at this point in the season.
24 Aug 2026 06:37:16
You may be right, Shanks, in terms of the result, but I think both improve on what we have at rb and cf now. Reality is, both are injured, and will be for a while, so I know it's how it is. A disciplined midfield is probably more important.
24 Aug 2026 08:16:13
Baldrick, you need to lay off the lager posting. Wirtz as biggest flop in football history? You're having a laugh. If people can't see he is one of our best players, then there's no hope.
Everyone is so reactionary, making decisions on players after 45 minutes of football in the first match of the season. Half of you would still be whinging if we signed Mbappe, Rodri, and we cloned Maldini.
24 Aug 2026 08:40:11
So, I am fully sober on a Monday morning, and I will voice my opinion. I think Wirtz has been very very poor all of last season. I saw nothing yesterday to suggest that this is going to change or that he fits whatever it is we are trying to do.
24 Aug 2026 09:16:08
Agreed, Overkill, on the midfield. We need a top level guy in there to be competitive. And sn + inbeta, Wirtz has shown very little so far to justify his fee and hype surrounding his abilities. If he continues in this vein he is undoubtedly a bad transfer. However I believe that he is worth real assessment come next May. If we have Barcola and Rayan or Mbyae or whomever on the wings he should be a totally different football player and the team will benefit from that set up.
imo the full back situation is as important to solve as the porous midfield, though. We'll get nowhere with Frimpong, that's for sure. Why in the name of God we didn't pursue Kounde is beyond me. He's the player we require from Barca, not Gavi.
24 Aug 2026 10:21:07
We need to give the manager some time to tweak things and adjust players, we can't sell everyone, so some may end up being surplus and some will make it. Then others will come back from injury and things will be shuffled again.
It's hard luck that some of the injured are really needed now, but we need to have faith that things will work themselves out. We could still sign a game changer or two this week, so fingers crossed and let's keep the faith.