Was a figure of speech, to reflect what the POV might generally be on here when it comes to transfers in - although I'd say more people don't know who he is than do. You have to keep an eye on Bundesliga to watch him. Whenever I've seen Schalke on BT, they've shipped 3 or 4 goals per game, and 8 in one game. My point is that, as highly-rated as he is as a young defender, we would be going mad on here if we were filling spaces in the same way - plugging a long-term gap held by someone like VVD with untested youth. Yet they'll no doubt do very well.
Squad restrictions might have played a role. Liverpool had 24 players registered, with 7 of those being homegrown. So they couldn't add another player over 21 unless said player was trained in England; moving Minamino freed up a spot, but late enough in the window that they probably couldn't secure a deal.
Heres a list of free agent defenders. All nationalities, aged 23-30. So we still have hope of another signing. https://www.transfermarkt.us/spiele...e=23-30&wettbewerb_id=alle&seit=2021&yt0=Show
Sorry to see Shane Long leave as he has been a good servant to the club. It is probably the right move for him as he is unlikely to feature regularly for us given the younger competition. I have to say I think he was an absolutely brilliant competitor who refused to up. His tenacity must have been an inspiration to younger players. I am sad to see to go but thank him for his service. The departure of Yann Valery is odd. Two years ago, he really looked the part. I was convinced that he would be the next starlet for us and had big expectations for him. I am shocked that he hasn't pushed on and hope that he returns because I still think he has what it takes for the future. Shame he has lost his way and I hope the move to Birmingham helps him regain his form.
Just had Talksport on in the car. They gave the transfer news headlines and not one mention of Minamino. They then went on to focus their attention on a transfer that didn't bloody happen in Deli Alli - unbelievable Jeff! I don't know why i bother listening sometimes.
Good luck to Shane Long. It's nice to see that the Bournemouth Home for Retired Southampton Footballers is opening again.
No one does this window. But our strategy is unchanged. If you want to buy you need to raise funds with transfers out. I think we should see this as a very successful window as we have not sold Ings, Vestergaard or Bertrand despite numerous clubs showing interest. Saints of old would have sold at least one of those players to fund a 'strengthening of the squad' exercise. For all the criticism of our owners, we are now able to keep players. I see that that as great progress.
We have a small squad even before injuries, a large part of our back up is already youth. Then we get a load of injuries, including some to our back up youth. So the transfer window comes along and you think, okay...low expectations because we have no money, but if we can get one loan in then that will help us out a bit. What do we do? Loan out 3 players and bring one in. Shocking window imo and my expectations were low. Do I think Vokins, Valery or Long were important parts of the team? No. But they were bench players who had a part to play. We can't expect our injury situation to improve. We still have a lot of games, we are still not going to be able to use our recovery facitilities and if we are hoping to continue in the cup thats more games. We then are risking having to push players to play game in game out because we have no other options which is only going to increase the risk of injury. Walcott being case and point where we played him into the ground until he got injured. I really don't understand how anyone can come away from that window and think it was anything other than a **** show. And now we go into the rest of the season relying on our luck changing on the injury front.
Whatever you think of Shane Long, he has given me some of my favourite Saints moments from the last few years. His part in the Villa demolition and Manes HT. That run of form at the end of Koemans reign. That stunning goal at Anfield. 7.69 seconds. Shane, I've bloody loved it.
Agreed, just looking at the RB situation, is Valerie better than Djenepo at RB? Obviously he is JWP is the only front line central midfield left so he can't play there. Still don't understand the decision to get rid of Vokins and Valerie at this stage
Ask Ralph. He obviously thinks Djenepo is better at RB than Valery. I think the point Ralph is trying to get across is that there is not a lot of difference between a FB and a 10 in his team. In possession they both bomb forward and interchange to get a cross in. Against the ball, they both have to cover that side of the pitch. Agree about JWP though - with both Diallo and Romeu out, he has to stay central.
I get your point, but we've basically swapped Long for Minamino - a good move considering Long doesn't play, and when he does he may as well not be on the pitch. We've then sent Vokins and Valery out on loan, which might seem odd, but even as cover they didn't have a look in, so what's the point in keeping them? They're better off out on loan trying to build some form. I guess I'm not that annoyed because I would rather give minutes to an unproven academy player, than an academy player like Valery who has proven he's not very good. Hopefully these loans will change that and they come back better for it. Given our position (both financially and in the table), I would rather not take from whatever scraps we have in our summer budget.
Probably a bit early to say we can now keep players. Other than Virgil I don't think we've sold any big players in January. Who showed interest in those 3 this window?
