But we also got very lucky that there was a three month gap between the Newcastle and Norwich games. It allowed Redmond to recover from his injury. In a normal season, Boufal would have had a real run in the team. Especially with Djenepo also having his three match ban. People shouldn't be ignoring the rut we were in before lockdown, without Redmond. Losing to Burnley, West Ham and Newcastle. Our wafer thin squad couldn't cope with his loss. And I'm only talking someone like Redmond - not Ings or Bertrand or JWP. Now not for one moment am I suggesting that we would miss Boufal as a player. He started in all three of those losses. I personally wouldn't miss him. My point is that I do think we would need an extra body for squad depth, if he was to go. We may have to agree to disagree that Armstrong, Redmond and Djenepo, complemented by kids, is sufficient wide options for us. Like I say, I would be looking at bringing someone in a loan, as security.
Woeful defending though, from start to finish. How the **** did he run through the West Brom midfield and defence, and no one put a foot in?
appreciate I missed the bulk of this debate, but Ferry featured on the bench for most of the run in games even if he didn’t get any minutes. He is definitely part of the first team training.
I agree with both views - needing to replace Boufal and also not wanting to block a path through to the first team for a youth player. In a usual season I think we’d probably be fine by not replacing Boufal, but the high tempo pressing way we play combined with a congested fixture list makes me think we might need to rest players more and also deal with more injuries. We were fairly lucky last season that most key players stayed fit. Djenepo and Armstrong have both had issues with injuries, if they’re both out we have Redmond and then an inexperienced youth player so it’s a tough one for Ralph to call. I don’t expect us to have two good players per position but outside our starting 11 we look quite poor.
If we bring in a CM/DM (which should be the priority, JWP can play the “wide” role. He obviously won’t play the same style as Boufal, but I would guess he would be equally or more effective. I also think Che Adams could do it. Let’s be real, for all of Boufal’s skill, he ended up just being a warm body. I understand why you might not want a youngster in there who might make bad mistakes, but most halfway decent modern PL forwards or attacking mids could replace Boufal’s minutes if you ignore the skills, and just look practically at the situations in which he would be used and his relative low level of contribution. Still, I think I a point could be made that if we were going to sell Boufal, then perhaps we should not have loaned out Elyounoussi, who never got much of a chance and could possibly even challenge for a starting spot.
Seems like Bedders rumour about a move for Ings was true, Leicester made an offer apparently and we considered it.
He considered it only because the question was asked! Took all of 2 secs. I find it doubtful if I’m honest.
Ings wanted to come here and he’s done well here, even getting an England call up. Would take a lot for him to want a move.
It's not completely impossible that Leicester were interested and Ings was initially considering a move. They are in Europe and in a much better position than us.
