Ricardo Pepi at PSV Eindhoven

Wes will be our starting 9, but Pepi will be a late game sub...

 

If he recovers in 2 months. by March 14th, the Eredivisie will have exactly 8 games left, with games against the likes of Utrecht, Ajax and Twente.

That's decent opposition with the ability to test a player's form and fitness. More than Enough for Poch to make a judgement on whether a guy who'd been knocking on the door pre-injury is worth the risk in terms of a place in the squad, but with 34 MNT appearances already, Pepi is well beyond that stage.

Given the lack of alternatives, if he's fit, he goes. Then it comes down to who does well in camp to select the starting No. 9 and I'd put a week's pay on a fit Pepi being that guy. I'm off to Paddy Power in the morning to see if they'll offer odds

 

I wouldn't actually put any money on it, but I think Pepi is the better option to start against Paraguay. I'd start Balo against Turkey if they are in our group, and I think I'd start him against Australia, too, because I don't think they'll sit in all the way against us.

Even if Pepi only plays a few games before the end of the season, as long as he's fit, the two weeks of camp and two (maybe there's a closed door scrimmage, too) seems like plenty of time to get him ready.

 

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Some transfer discussion out of Ireland that may shine light on where Pepi is and may be of use to @bshredder is that Fulham had also been in contact with AZ's Troy Parrott but they stepped that up shortly before the injury, which suggests that Pepi remained lukewarm towards Fulham and they're looking for alternatives.

Parrott isn't that keen on Fulham either - he'd rather stay in Europe for the time being and has a €20m offer on the table from Wolfsburg with Betis in the wings - which may explain this latest offer for Ricardo. IMO it's likely to be the Cottagers' last, in this window at least.

FWIW my take on Fulham is "good club but he could do better", doubly so if he does well in the summer, but they are at or close to his ceiling for Parrott and would disrupt his WC playoff preparations. In addition, that he wants to go to the EPL but would rather stay in Europe for now likely means he doesn't feel ready to for England right now

I'd love to see Pepi join Fulham and Troy replace him at PSV, but I don't know whether they're in the habit of dropping €20m on an Eredivisie player. Then again there are some similarities in their stories in that both struggled in the Top 5, went on loan to an Eredivise bottom-feeder and scored for fun there before landing a move at the top end of the league's food chain

 

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I hope Pepi can light it up at Fulham. Raul should be gone this summer. Would be Pepi and Muniz. Just one man to beat for a starting spot in the top half (ish) of the EPL. That’s not bad.

 

If PSV didn't already have the Eredivisie trophy in the bag I think they would hang onto him... but that is a large number and even with a complete gaff of a draw against NAC at home today they still have a 14-16 point lead on AJAX/Fey. They are not going to go far in the CL so I think it would be prudent to strike while the iron is hot. 32 million euros for a striker on the injury list? He isn't expected back until March anyways... right?

After Fulham's big win they are currently in 7th... that is nuts. They are only 2 points behind Liverpool w/ 23 GP. Unreal. Fulham in Europe next year?

 

I like your optimism. Fulham are also only 4 pts above 12th and most of the teams around them are yet to play this weekend. It’s very tight in the middle of the table this year. Good for fans- meaningful games. Bit the dream of Europe will remain illusory for most. Probably including Fulham.

what gets me is that Fulham are in an amazing location in London. They shouldn’t have any trouble recruiting. Would you rather live in Manchester???

 

Craven the Lifestyle is already taken, unfortunately.

 

I think they are how many London teams? If baseball had pro-rel, the Mets would have been sent down many times!

 

Yes, but there's London and then there's next door to Chelsea London. Brentford is in London - no one wants to live there. For pete's sake, CHELSEA play in Fulham. And our stadium has a nicer location being on the river. Anyway, just goes to show how hard it is to break through to the very top. Consistent CL play brings money, attracts top talent and helps the team stay there. And it has to be consistent. Wrexham beat Leicester City the other day . . .

 

14 in the traditional league pyramid - 7 EPL sides, 3 in the Championship, 2 in each of Leagues 1&2 - with another 4 in the National League and 1 ex league side (Dagenham) in National League South.

Then there's another half-dozen in what Americans might call the London exurbs, i.e. Watford, Luton, Stevenage, Gillingham, Crawley, Southend

And the Jets every time

 

I grew up a Jets fan and loved the Namath era. But after that it was pure suckage

 

Not sure if you don't know or are being funny. If you don't know we never say exurbs we say suburbs. If you did know I failed at getting your joke / sarcasm.

 

We say both since they mean different things no?

 

PSV need to cash in on their oft injured striker.

 

It sure seems like a no-brainer to me. 14 point lead after 20 matches played... Eredivisie is in the bag. They have no real shot at CL and Pepi is still going to be out for a while. Not sure why this isn't done already?.?

 

Dumb money says he comes back, has a good world cup, and goes for stupid money, ála James Rodriguez in 2014 (?)

Smart money takes it now

 

Can’t look desperate about it in order to milk as large a transfer fee as possible. Roll of the dice for Fulham.

 

Another Texan in the West-Pep in Fulham

 

Pepsi makes a splash in west London at Fulham.

 

Cottage Buy

 

Yet Another Yank at the Cottage.

 

El Tren Pulls into the Cottage

Mind the Gap, El Tren is Here

Full Steam Ahead at Fulhamerica