To be honest I'm not sure, At the back I think the answer has to be yes. In midfield I'm not so sure. We still havn't addressed the left side? Will Sess play there now? I liked Henderson, I liked Zenden, I liked Malbranque, all good players, is what we have brought in any better.....I'm not sure yet. Up front I would say we are weaker even with Bentdner in (although Welbeck was playing the left wing this time last year) Overall we are stronger due to less loan players so we know what we are building from next year too.
Only the final league positions will determine if we are indeed stronger but what I will say, we have much better 'options' in case of injuries this season. Whereas the squad was paper thin on quality last year, outside the best 11 we could put out, this time we have a few options of better quality cover except of course up front where Gyan, Won, Wickham and a newly aquired Bendtner are not stronger than what we started with last August in Bent, Campbell, Gyan and Welbeck IMO. I just hope we start and pick our best 11 first?
Sess is doing well for me on the left so I'm not so worried about the LW as I was. I agree defensively we look much stronger. I never rated Turner and thought him as slow as a very slow thing. I think attacking wise, as long as Bruce plays two up, we may surprise a few teams. I also agree about not building a team on loan players.
I actually feel we are a lot weaker in defence now. Yes we have brought in 2 quality players in Brown and O'Shea, Bardsley is doing a sterling job but then the quality ends i'm afraid. Turner and Bramble can do a job playing beside Brown as both seem to player better when alongside quality but should anything happen to Brown and remember he doesn't have the best track record then our cb pairing will be Turner and Bramble who, at times last season played quite well together but it didn't take long for the mistakes to start creeping in. I dont want anymore winless streaks!!! We need more quality at the back!!
I think in defence we are stronger We have midfielders who can score so thats an improvement Up front we are weaker with losing Wellbeck and Bent. Im hoping Bentdner can liven things up a bit Only time will tell
If Bruce play players where they are best suited I'd say we have a much better team/squad. Hopefully I won't see Bendtner playing central defence any time soon!
IMO Defence - same standard. But if O'Shea, Brown or Bardsley are injured, weaker. Midfield. Play Sess on the left = stronger with excellent reserve. Attack. Slightly worse just because of missing Bent. That will change over the season as players bed in. I really like Bendtner and the 2 young'uns can only kick on. Gyan will rediscover his form when he buckles down to training and losing the pounds. If Campbell comes back without any harm done to his head due to the injury, it doesnt take much to be better than last year. Overall, better. x
Wahooooo. We agree. I however have been saying that all along. As our league position has without doubt improved year on year under Bruce, are you becoming a closet BIB Cest? Welcome aboard mate.
4 pts 3 games; W 1 (against /Man City); D1; L1 GF 5; GA 3 PLUS we wereinto the next round of the Carling Cup. After 10 games, we had 12 pts and that should be our benchmark I guess. However, it was our early season home form that kept us up last year as we were unbeaten until December 28th (Blackpool). In 10 home games up to December 31st 2010 we W 5; D 4; L 1. That represents 19 points at home up to the New Year. We are going into the next 2 home games already with out home record broken. Thats got to change lads and lasses.
This idea we have good depth to the squad now, i have some problem accepting. Granted, if Catts gets injured we'd barely even notice - but what if Sess or Gyan were injured? Larsson even? Defence, no problem. Attack, hmm. It's not just strikers we need to attack well.
I think we are an unknown if we gel then yes But also it could go the oppossite way. Whatever happens it's going to be interesting as long as we can keep Brown/OShea/Sess/Gyan/Larsson fit then we should be fine, better than 10th fine I don't know.
