Next Year - PL - Changes

Our squad looks all kinds of awful when listed like this. Need at least 6 quality new additions. Other than GK (which isn't brilliant), we're too weak in every position. Striker, central midfield, left wing and center back look most worrying. LB, RB could also do with serious attention. Dire.

 

Job number one.....get promoted.

Job number two.....keep Rafa.

Job number three...bring in new players.

Simples

 

No. Not a Rafa type keeper. Thankfully he is pretty obsessed with goalkeepers playing out from the back. Krul can't do this. Not only that but he has regressed in other areas of his game too. His shot stopping has gone backwards, and the progress made on dealing with high balls seems to have gone back to zero. I think he will be sold but it may not be easy to find a buyer. Another season on loan could beckon.

We have a keeping issue. Sels looks like he needs time. Darlow and Elliot are just ok but pretty calamitous at times.

 

Darlow looks class .at times, some of the saves his made have been worldies, but he has the craziest errors. best example was when he came rushing out literally had in his hands, dropped it and then rushed back to make a world class recovery save. But he shouldn't have been in the position where he would have to make that save.

GK's are a tough one, they are scrutinised so much and were not going to be in the market for a courtious or a Neur, therefore I think we should stick with what we've got.

 

If we can secure promotion with a few games to go then I'd like to see Elliot get a run in the team just to give him a few games. He really turned it around last season before the injury and would do him good to get some first team action under his belt.

 

Yep, stick with what we have is right. I mean, Stockdale's had a top season, but dropped some clangers against us. De Gea in his first season looked terrible as well; I was listening to Jens Lehmann talking about it and he was on the money - it's a faster, aggressive league and it does take some adjusting. It's why for the most part the shot stopping element is good up and down the country (apart from Bravo...). The commanding the box/decision making/dealing with crosses takes time and experience. The playing out from the back is either something you can do, or you can't.

I think however you spin the squad we have, six good-enough-for-the-first-eleven players are what's needed.

 

hmmmm, not gonna do my whole thing, but several bits here that I strongly disagree with:

Murphy - why does he have to go? He's delivered the good when he's been needed, he's just hardly been played. Worth hanging on to as a back up in the Prem in case we can a few striker injuries.
Gouffran - ditto, he does a job, and we generally win when he plays. Yeah not 1st choice, but once again hang on to him as a squad player.
Atsu, Dummett - again, hang onto as squad players, esp Atsu who just needs to tighten up a bit and could potentially be really good.
Anita - leave? Nooooooo!!!!! Proved himself as a solid and decent Prem player and has once again been good this season, Yedlin attacks too much, Anita is much more defensively minded, and will be an asset in the Prem.
Mitro/De Jong/Diame - lower tables duffers at best in the Prem, I'd cash in not keep them.
Gayle - I would actually be tempted to sell, I can see him being another Duncan Ferguson/Andy Carroll/Keiron Dyer, is just injured far too much to rely on.

 

Quite wide ranging opinions on our squad. Probably tells you one thing, it is way off PL quality required to survive with any comfort. Personally though I think there has to be a bit of realism about it all. We are not going to have the funds to go changing everything in one go.

Goalkeepers
Retain: Elliott, Darlow, Sels
Loan: Woodman
Sell: Krul (loan if not)
Sign: No one

Centre Backs
Retain: Clark, Mbemba, Lascelles
Loan: Mbabu, Finlay
Sell: Hanley
Sign: Get one leader type in - Maguire or Gibson ideally would fit the bill.

Full Backs:
Retain: Dummett, Yedlin, Anita, Lazaar
Loan: Sterry
Sell: Haidara
Sign: A left back

Midfield
Retain: Shelvey, Hayden
Loan: We have no one to loan
Sell: Diame, Colback, Saivet
Sign: A holding midfielder and ball player

Attacking Midfield
Retain: Perez, Ritchie, Gouffran, Aarons, De Jong
Loan: None
Sell: Thauvin, Ameobi, Atsu
Sign: A number 10 and a winger

Strikers:
Retain: Gayle, Mitrovic, Murphy
Loan: Armstrong
Sell: Riviere
Sign: A quality out and out goalscorer

So I'd have us shifting out up to 10. Atsu loan ends, Thauvin leaves automatically. The other 8 are not really required. 7 requirements but being realistic we may have to suck either Hanley and/or Lazaar and/or Diame for a season. Certainly Rafa will need at least 4-5 to have any hope of staying up comfortably. The squad as it stands would be entrenched in the lottery of the PL relegation battle. You could easily add De Jong to the sales.

 

Murphy, No!!! he hasn't delivered the goods, thought he looked tired and unfit on Sat, he actually made Mitro look fit! I would say his is a good Championship squad player and that's a long way from being able to supply the goods in the PL

Gouffran is a dreadful player, he can do a job in the championship, but his distinct lack of goals/assists at this level indicates that he wont be good enough for a step up, we need someone quicker and more creative. I would worry going into any PL game where he is starting

Atsu, perhaps worth the purchase for a squad player, can come on late in games, but he needs to be more clinical. If we had a player on the left as good as Ritchie on the right we would have won this league. Imagine Knockeat on the right this year, we would have topped 100 pts

Dummett, Id get rid, his 180 turns are slower than a truck, yeah he has done okay this season, but when the likes of sterling, hazard, martial come at him we will get torn to shreds

Anita, does just about enough to appease fans, works hard so we ignore his frailties. Not PL standard, not a DM, not a RB

I probably most agree with the point on Gayle, just depends on the offer, if someone came in at £25m obviously we should snap their hands off

 

I agree with a lot of that. I would only buy Atsu if we couldn't find someone better to buy. I could see some value in keeping Gouffran on for another season since we'd probably need to buy two top wingers otherwise which may be difficult and expensive. I think we will offload one of Gayle, Perez, Mitrovic or Murphy. The way Rafa has picked his teams and subs this season you'd be looking at Mitrovic to be favourite tbh. I'd like a RB personally as I'm not convinced by Yedlin at all but I don't expect us to sign one. Anita should and probably will get a couple of years extension on his contract since he is okay, won't cost anything vs bringing in a new player and is very versatile. Diame willnprobably have to do for back up to Shelvey for a season. I'd swap Hanley out for a better CB and certainly keep Dummett who you can get away with in the Prem. We can get by with 3 from the 5 decent if not spectacular keepers we have so no incoming players there.

The money needs to go on a CB, DCM, Winger, No 10 and No 9. Maybe a second winger if we can afford it. Full backs, keepers, and further attacking signings will have to wait until January or the following summer.

 

The sensible man would buy quality in the spine of the team and build from there. These are the most expensive areas, which is only natural as they largely dictate how your season will go. We have got it right a few times in the last 20 years. Srnicek, Kilcline, Venison, Bracewell, Clark, Lee, Peacock, Kelly was a cracking spine.

Given, Harper, Krul
Albert, Woodgate, Peacock, Coloccini
Batty, Lee, Speed, Cabaye, Tiote
Cole, Shearer, Ferdinand, Ba

All these guys and a few more provided good quality in our spine that results in our better teams. Ginola, Beardsley, Solano, Robert, Bellamy, HBA provided a bit of stardust to affairs. We'd do well to get something similar in place next year. As Leicester showed with Schmeichel, Huth, Morgan, Drinkwater, Kante, Vardy - get it right the middle, sprinkle a bit of Mahrez and you are laughing.

 

As much as I'd love to see us winning games regularly in the Premier League, I'm not sure it would be fair to play a 3-4-5-4 formation.

 

Well, some of them are getting on a bit.

 

Did you back that horse each way yesterday?

 

Nope. Why? Did it come in?

I did put a tenner on Jonas' new team winning last night - they drew

 

Came 2nd at 9/1. Would have been a little profit at least. I hate these bookmaker tricks I have to say. The small print stuff is a joke. I understand fully they don't give away free money but they do advertise as such and some poor sucker always latches on.

Don't have anything I really like today for you though.

I do think Oriental Relation will go close (good each way) in the 4.00 at Lingfield if it gets away on terms. I backed it at 20/1 though and its about 8/1 now. Jakarta should be backing that one .

 

Well I'm up to £112.36 of the £240 I need in settled stakes, but my pot has gone down from £60 to £33.34 cos I took a couple of losses yesterday between that Argentinian game and Arsenal getting beat. The pot doesn't include the £10 I have on Borrussia Dortmund winning tonight though. Would have been down to £25 but I managed to pick up a win on some Brazilian game. It's actually quite good fun as long as you're playing with free money - which I technically am.

 

A good assessment pretty close to my thoughts. Not sure any of the keepers will be happy to be third choice though so can see two leaving and a new third/second choice keeper being required. Agree with many on retaining Murphy but have to consider if he will want to stay on for another season of half a dozen games at this stage of his career. Whisper it but would not be surprised to see Ameobi stay. We will need wide players and Aaron's still a risk in terms of progress and fitness and with a squad limit of 25 I believe then a few home grown players who don't count in that list will be required and we have very few of those who won't be out on loan so he may be a fit in those terms and has looked an ok sub recently. Certainly looks stronger and cleverer. Personally would also recall Mbabu.
Ideally though I think this is a conversation we should be filling the long summer days with in between the constant transfer speculation and for now support all the lads as promotion is not yet secured.
Howay the lads

 

Honestly I think the lines between hit and miss are really fine in football. People like Huth, Morgan, Albrighton and Drinkwater lifting the title are clear proof. Kante was French 2nd division and could have moved anywhere, now the best DM possibly in the world! Then you have folks like Lamela who was just garbage for a whole year, now class, vs Soldado who just stayed garbage having delivered for years in La Liga.

The point here is that a spine of Darlow, Mbemba, Lascelles, Hayden, Shelvey and Mitrovic could just as easily be talked about in the same breath as the teams above. No matter how unlikely, football is just that unpredictable. Some of the teams mentioned by Hank served up more than their fair share of crappy results an'all, or did we win something I forgot?!

 

Eve got a few you can have if you want. Do you a discount

Moreno for £10m
Sturridge for £30m
Markovic for £15m