LUFCTALK

To be fair, a lot of those signings are young, no point slagging them off. Kun is 17, Edmondson is 16, Stevens is 17. They won't all make it of course, but from bits I've seen/reports, Kun, Struijk, Rey, Machuca, Sarkic, Hosannah, Edmondson all look good enough.

SG90 wrote:To be fair, a lot of those signings are young, no point slagging them off. Kun is 17, Edmondson is 16, Stevens is 17. They won't all make it of course, but from bits I've seen/reports, Kun, Struijk, Rey, Machuca, Sarkic, Hosannah, Edmondson all look good enough.

I would tend to agree with you however I’m disappointed none have had a whiff of the 1st 11.... were a poor side and if they were players potentially of premiership standard surely they would be pressing ... Cook & Byram spring to mind .... if there not of that standard there not going to make the grade ??

isrodger wrote:

SG90 wrote:To be fair, a lot of those signings are young, no point slagging them off. Kun is 17, Edmondson is 16, Stevens is 17. They won't all make it of course, but from bits I've seen/reports, Kun, Struijk, Rey, Machuca, Sarkic, Hosannah, Edmondson all look good enough.

I would tend to agree with you however I’m disappointed none have had a whiff of the 1st 11.... were a poor side and if they were players potentially of premiership standard surely they would be pressing ... Cook & Byram spring to mind .... if there not of that standard there not going to make the grade ??

Too much pressure, especially as technically we could still make the top 6. I think we only have Fulham and Villa as tough games left, so certainly helpful fixture list and winnable games. Byram and Cook both made their debuts at the start of the season with no immediate pressure.

I was always sceptical of the length of contracts handed out to some of our more mediocre talent, and it seems the decision will come back to bite Radrizzani as he looks to pay-off multi-year contracts.

Out of interest, who would you stick on the deadwood list? Here's my cynical view:

Andy Lonergan
Felix Wieldwald
Liam Cooper
Eunan O'Kane
Ousim Bouy
Marcus Antonsson
Mateusz Klich
Luke Murphy
Vurnon Anita
Hadi Sacko

Plus the terminations of Pennington and Lasogga loans.

That's 12 players. I agree with recent statements that a smaller, higher quality squad c. 20 plus reinforcements from U23 is the model to go with.

I think we would require:

GK; Daniel Bentley from Brentford
CB; Bartley ilk
Winger; Heavily linked with Moise Kean (loan) and Alex Gallar (Huesca's Saiz replacement)
Striker; Jack Marriott (22 goals in 36 for Peterborough)

This is a realistic list on a non-parachute budget that would reduce the current wage bill.

It assumes De Bock is actually going to be the solution at LB, it's too early to deny that he may be.

Would enable a big statement CB signing, which I believe we need to partner Jansson.

Thoughts?

You seem to have skipped central midfield altogether and that's our weakest part of the squad, IMHO.

We wouldn't need a "statement" centre-half if we had three quality midfielders, ideally an all-rounder (Forshaw) and a grizzled tackler and a playmaker. I would prefer them to be ex-PL on their way down, so Gareth Barry and Charlie Adam would be ideal.

If we're looking to be promotion players I don't understand the transfer policy of ex-PL on their way down...with the signing of Forshaw I think CM has become less of a sticking point; with Phillips and Vieira showing promise and improving all the time. We also have Ideguchi who is a bit of a wild card but must have something, he was described as a deep playmaker.

In Saiz and Hernandez we already have two of the strongest central attacking playmakers in the league.

In my view, that makes from three positions two strong options (Saiz/Hernandez and Forshaw) with 3 promising players battling for the final slot.

When I said "on their way down" I didn't mean they had to be from relegated teams.
I meant they're winding down their careers, a la Strachan was supposed to be .. who knew he'd play till he was 40.

I disagree about the others you mention.
They've been too inconsistent (RV and KP) while Hernandez and Saiz are never played in central midfield, but further forward.

I can see your argument re an experienced head, but I'd rather give a promising player a chance than a quick fix. There will always be some inconsistency with them; Cook the exception but he was...exceptional.

So you're suggesting a change of formation? I would say we currently play two deep-lying central midfielders and one attacking central midfielder (i.e. Saiz)

We've played 4231 for most of the last two seasons and it doesn't work without a strong holding midfielder. Our MCs are all too young or too lightweight.

If you've read any of my posts in this or the matchday threads you'd know I've been a big advocate of the 352 to ensure more bodies in the middle of the park, or a 433 with the classic Dutch midfield of a tackler, a passer and a runner supporting a centre-forward and two wingers/wide playmakers.

So yeah ..

rigger wrote:When I said "on their way down" I didn't mean they had to be from relegated teams.
I meant they're winding down their careers, a la Strachan was supposed to be .. who knew he'd play till he was 40.

I disagree about the others you mention.
They've been too inconsistent (RV and KP) while Hernandez and Saiz are never played in central midfield, but further forward.

Hernandez played CM during Monk's first few games, when we played with a 4-4-2, playing alongside Vieira or Bridcutt. Given Silva and Cazorla's move to CM, I think that Hernandez could do similar, now that he's in the latter stages of his career, he would certainly help us keep the ball in the centre more.

I'm very much a 4-3-3 man, and agree with you about the Dutch midfield trio: tackler (Vieira), runner (Forshaw), passer (Hernandez). Perhaps another tackler is required, unless Anita, Rey or Bouy wish to step up, but I wouldn't call it a necessity, if we change our system. The front 3 should consist of a CF, a wide playmaker (Saiz) and a winger.
We definitely need a CB, winger and ST, as well as probably a GK (although I do like BPF, but that might just be sentimentality).