He was someone I'd have liked last summer but not really been impressed with him at Chelsea. It's not even like he's got the excuse of making a stupid decision to join a **** side like Seri did with Fulham (well, debatable actually). Real will probably want something like £40m+ for him, I'd rather stick with Winks for that sort of price. SMS, Super Jack, Rabiot > Kovacic.
I've kept an eye on him because of the links...he's flattered to deceive. Maybe it's just me but I'm expecting a goal scoring threat from my CM aswell
Same. Well, I want either a creative or a goal scoring one, a bit of both would be even better but just need someone who’ll be involved in the forward play. I want our own version of a Pogba/ Gundogan.
kovacic isn't eriksen or alli which is what sarri is trying to turn all our midfielders into. Tbh i think he'll be a brilliant fit for the CM. He's got a decent pass if given time and he's pretty good all round. One thing he wont do is run and get onto things into the box and i've never seen him shoot. He would help you dominate the midfield though imo and technically he's pretty decent. Kovacic should be playing where jorginho is for us and should be part of a proper CM duo.
Thats like asking how many assists did dembele or wanyama get mate. That wasnt there job. Not saying hes as good as dembele but i can actually see kovacic being that replacement. Physical, can drive with the ball .Bundles of energy . Shame sarri thinks hes some sort of leo messi and can play in tight spaces
I expect my midfielders to have something to contribute to the attack. Wanyama is a proper DM and I did expect more from Dembele. His goal scoring and assist record was terrible. Yeah I understand that it's not everyone's job to score but I don't know why but I just always expect anyone who is a CM to be decent at most things. That's why they occupy the centre...a few steps back and they are defenders..a few to the side and they are helping the Wingers...a few steps forward and they are attacking. Now and again I expect an end result.
Kovacic just seems too basic for me, neat and tidy but no end product. I initially thought he was somewhat of a Modric-lite which is why he couldn’t get in above the real Modric at Madrid but just seems he’s a Croatian Winks and so for probably £40m+, I’d rather just keep Winks. Neither is good enough to be starting for a top four/ six side though in my eyes. Ideally I want either a creator in chief or someone who’s gonna get goals, if they can do both then fantastic but realistically I know that type of CM is likely to cost £70m+ unless you get lucky with a gem.
I think this sums up a lot of our potential options. If they aren't miles ahead of Winks, at least Dembele levels or better, why pay over the odds instead of just trusting youngsters and holding on to the cash. We can't stay here forever though. I think this is the difficulty that Pochettino describes in finding improvements. It does make me think that we missed a trick in grabbing Barkley when we could have. He would have been a good one for Poch to develop. As would Grealish and Brooks.
We didn't notice or suffer from it so much as our FB's created so many opportunities and assists per game the front 4 were well fed and watered. The terminal decline down the flanks over the past 2 seasons has brutally exposed the problem, so much so that I think our CB's have more assists this season than our CM's (Sissoko and Winks have managed 2 between them) whilst our 5 FB's have managed a combined total of 11. Both of these stats are pathetic. The strain on our attackers this season has been unreal. They have essentially shifted up a gear from sole goal-providers to sole chance-creators too.
In fairness Holtby got a **** load of assists by passing the ball 5 yards sideways and then watching as Bale smashed it in from 30 yards
100% agreed with this other than the point about Barkley. I thought he was criminally overrated at Everton (comparisons with Gazza?! Give me a break) and have seen nothing since his move to convince me otherwise. He shone in a relatively poor side which was given freedom to attack with careless abandon by Martinez and Koeman but with higher expectations under a coach who expects all of his players to defend (although they aren't very good at it unless we're the opposition), he looks a bit lost. Grealish is definitely worth a flutter. He has that something about him. Maybe it's the low socks. I don't know. There is a spark there to try the unexpected and I think that's what we are currently missing. A maverick. Like a VDV or a Ginola. We are far too predictable at the moment.
Barkley I’m not too fussed out on missing on, I don’t think he’s really done anything at Chelsea to suggest to me that I should feel disappointed we didn’t sign him. Under Poch he may have developed nicely but he’s 25 now and still seems to be clinging on to the potential tag, at his age he should really be a commanding force for club and country by now I’d say, or at least looking like he’s on that path to doing so. Brooks on the other hand, it looks like we really missed out on. He’s been a revelation at Bournemouth and albeit still only in his first season (could he suffer second season syndrome?) he looks more than capable of playing for a top six side and becoming one of the best midfielders in the Prem. Really impressed me and I think he’s got a huge future. Grealish I'm sure everyone knows my opinion of him. Really think he’d be a star in this side, his style is just perfectly suited to what Poch likes in terms of skilful and technical yet also hard working. I do feel we may missed the boat on him after last summer but if Villa don’t get promoted, I’d love to see us go back in for him (and not piss about this time and just get him signed!).
Barkley was a no-no as his wage demands extracted several gallons of urine, especially since they would've made him one of the club's highest earners in spite his career being a quest to see how long he can flatter to deceive (the answer being "Until he signed for Chelsea") Brooks was a definite miss for all manner of reasons: he clearly had potential, he can play in a variety of positions, Sheffield United were willing to sell, he was affordable given Bournemouth paid £11.5m, and he'd have helped our squad composition given he's HG and (at least this season) qualifies as an U21 player - and there wasn't the excuse of him being at the World Cup either, given Wales didn't qualify I genuinely can't see why we passed on him On the subject of paying over the odds, the Lunatic Fringe are banging on about how we should sign Mauro Icardi this summer, even though... a.) He's a toxic influence in the dressing room b.) There's this bloke named Harry Kane who starts up front, I hear he's pretty good c.) He's got the workrate of a rotting log, so while does have good scoring stats he's also a passenger right up until the ball is near the 18-yard box
We had a very successful early period under MP of continuing with the policy of recruiting young domestic players - Dele, Eric Dier, Ben Davies, Trippier. For some reason that's come to an end. Is it that we don't want those players or do the potential recruits want to go to the Leicesters, Bournemouths, etc. where game time is more likely than at Spurs? Is it wages or agent's fees or does MP want more senior options? We tried for Maguire and Grealish (and probably others) but didn't get them. However, we got Vinnie and GKN and Clinton N'Jie. Were they seen as better options, despite playing in much weaker leagues? Alternatively, were they just cheaper than any potential domestic alternatives? It's not clear why but we switched to trying young foreigners and there were stories at the time that MP was directly behind recruiting Vinnie and GKN. Since those failures, we seem to have gone for more established players like Aurier, Llorente, Lucas and Sissoko, who all have the whiff of Daniel Levy buys to me. The two things that unite them are MP's reluctance to pick them and that they had something of the 'bargain buy' about them. Personally, I can't help but think that since Paul Mitchell left, we've drifted with no idea of what we're doing. He may have had his faults but since he left, there's been no improvement with Davinson Sanchez the only recruit who appears regularly and successfully in the first team (prior to Moussa's rebirth). Given the lack of focus, planning and success, spending nothing last summer may not have been the worst outcome. This summer, we'd better have fixed those issues and be ready to go or we're going to suffer for the dwindling returns.
