DecidedByPoll

One his coaches did a ‘farewell to Manchester we’ve loved being here’ insta post as he left.

He put in a transfer request before the summer, so I presume he still wants out.

Have you been spending more time on Twitter recently? This has all the hallmarks of someone who’s desperate to make their own deliberately inflammatory and vaguely comic post without engaging with the substance of the original point.

Agents make nearly a million by securing moves for young lads. It’s partly why so many move at that 15/16 age group. it rarely has anything to do with the right career, and plenty to do with parents not looking after the best interests of their child and agents blinding them with money.

Maybe the manager could do the right thing and call out the very obvious thing affecting his players……. ? Oh…

Saw an AI chant for him to the tune of Wild Rover. Not bad…..it was something like: There ain’t no better, no better ever before than Bradley Barcola Barcola j’adore.

I think in part because it felt comfortable. The team managed the game well at that point. We didn’t feel under pressure particularly and they didn’t even get into our box in time added on.

He’s really, really good, his passing is magnificent.

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I think Grav had relative youth on his side and they were protecting his value.

I read ‘not in a position’ as corporate bulls*** speak, rather than directly saying to a player, you were crap last season so we’re going to wait.

So the model works with the right person in place?

Can you name a successful club in Europe in the last 10 years that has the model you suggest?

Who actually does the negotiation for the transfer fee, the negotiations for the contract with the player, who works closely with agents to ensure that the player and their entourage (it’s a thing!) feel like they want to join the club? Who manages the overall spend within the parameters set by the owners/financial limitations of the club? Like it or not, there has to be someone who leads all of this and works with the data/scouting teams to find the players who fit what the manager wants and needs. Arsenal’s recruitment has been consistently good. They have a sporting director who leads it, so does every team whose recruitment works well - eg Brentford, Bournemouth, Brighton.

He’s the opposite of what is needed. Part of the sporting director’s brief is to build and manage relationships with agents. Rafa, I imagine, hates agents and would tell them so.

Not gung ho at all. On current form I think he might be a better option in some games.

Yeah - he made 3 big front foot interceptions where he read the play really well, which, considering he was on a booking was an impressive mixture of bravery and composure.

His last 25 mins was infuriating. He gave the ball away relentlessly. His desire to take the pace off every pass is really annoying too.

He knows damn well there’s a problem, in midfield, he’s just not going to talk about it in public.

Yes, but The Athletic does through Ornstein.

Every player deserves some time to transition to a different league and a different team. We just need to see effort, intensity and moments of quality.

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The issue might well be that there’s a price for other clubs and then there’s a higher price for Liverpool. It might explain the tactic of waiting until another club agrees a fee and then we swoop in.

I think it’s Koumas. Harvey had a shot at impressing Iraola and he could’ve spent the whole summer running in order to fit in with the new manager’s style. He didn’t and needs to work hard to salvage what looked like an incredibly promising career. At least his Dad won’t be driving around in that obnoxious Lamborghini anymore.

Re Barcola - he’ll get goals and assists, but mindful that Jarg spotted how he made PSG play worse whenever he came on. There’s a player there though. And his pace (potentially with Munoz on the other flank) will be transformative compared to last season.