looking to push you and Arsenal down too. £23m I think, players and MP just wanted him gone, so we took a hit to stump up cash for the Gomez deal. I thnk most Hammers are fairly pleased that we have Haller instead of Gomez, I certainly am, he's been my first choice for months. Going to enjoy watching him in the claret & blue for the next season and a half before someone activates his release clause, probably United or Chelsea.
Arsenal close to sealing the Saliba deal according to Ornstein https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/49023498 This ain't looking good for Kipper after all his wumming.
Worth noting Davies was carrying an injury for most of the season but I think he held off having surgery until the season finished due to Rose’s fitness concerns. Neither Foyth or Davies will rack up assists but they’ll make the backline really solid alongside Vertonghen and Sanchez. That’ll then allow other positions more freedom to attack which then hopefully makes up for any lack of assists the FB get. Could be completely wrong though, we might sign a new RB and LB and then that theory goes out the window. Poch said to expect big changes so no one really has much of a clue as to what will definitely happen, everyone’s just speculating.
Ain't saying it as a wum, but I think you'll be a lot more predictable with a flat back 4. And I don't really rate Foyth or Davis either tbh. Vertonghen and Sanchez are a decent CB pairing, but your flanks will be pretty barren in attack as Bobby pointed out, most of your MF players like to play through the middle.
I rate Davies massively as a defender, just not as a wing back. Foyth is still raw but has so much potential. But the point of having a flat back four is that it chances our dynamics. Our CMs will have more licence to dominate further forward and Son and Lucas won’t have much pressure to always chase back meaning we can leave them up there and play a few balls over the top for them to run on too instead of always hoping they can beat a man. It’ll kind of be like trying to copy parts of Atleti’s style in terms of sacrificing style for substance but we’ll still have a bit of style, if that makes any sense? As I said to Bob though, I could be completely wrong and we may end up signing two new FBs.
I'm disappointed no one went in for Lozano, I'd like to see him in the prem, as long as he's injured/susp v WH
Atletico's style is based on a solid defence and being really hard to beat though. You lost 13 games last season. And as I said, I don't think Davis and Foyth are very dynamic fullbacks.
Atletico in their heyday were solid defenders but had 1 really good full back going forward in felipe luiz (we criminally underused him). Then the rest of the team were mainly carthorses with a smattering of skillful players but most of all who worked hard and defended well. Not saying spurs cant be that but they never left players up there even if they did break with speed and counter attack
Last season was a write off for us. No strengthening, still at Wembley for most of the season and injuries to a lot of key players. The fact we secured managed to secure top four was all that really mattered in the end. We've already plugged our weakest area in the squad and could be further improving that if Lo Celso signs, the failure to dominate the midfield last season why likely why we lost so many games. If we then either bring in new FBs or look at making a more rigid back line with Davies and Foyth, I'd fancy us be a lot stronger than last season. There's a lot more optimism this summer than there was last for us.
I think the thing you are missing is a winner, someone who has been there and done it who can then steady the nerves of the rest of the team.
Yeah for sure, I'm not saying copy Atleti to a tee but take parts of their game and implement it into ours whilst trying to keep some of our strengths. Ultimately I think we've gotta change it up in areas because for as good as we've been in recent years, it's never been quite enough so it's about trying to find that little solution/ tweak that pushes us on.
Yeah but that's easier said than done. Dani Alves is someone I've said I'd like to see come in for a season but realistically most of the born winners are at clubs bigger than Spurs so tempting them away is borderline impossible.
I love how you lot are getting excited over the Saliba and Ceballos signings as if it's some win over Spurs. One we've forced you to pay more dough for after you were initially being close to signing for a cheaper fee and the other you've agreed to sign on a loan-only deal with no purchase option which we refused. You're essentially being to Madrid what Vitesse are to Chelsea As for Alves, guess he's lost his mind in his old age
