If we are keeping the other 3, will he be 4th choice, or even 5th if we were to sign Konate? Or do we think we are offloading one of them?
So playing the realistic card we should be looking at what we will do GK: I can see adrian staying. we have 3 keepers. so nothing will be done RB: I doubt we will do anyhting. I am starting to feel that its possible to move trent but it'd be hard to find as influential a RB again. LB: no changes imo RCB: We have 2 crocks plus Phillips and then konate rumour. 4 into 2 seems a bit much personally. LCB: We will only have vvd. this is still an issue?? this means phillips could fill here but then theres the amazing ben davies. no 6: Fabinho and who? thiago? No 8s: jones, milner, henderson, thiago, ox, keita. two crocks and two old boys. Seems to me a CM is a possibility LW: Mane, Jota. no changes it seems CF: Firmino. Issue here RW: salah, elliott. it seems to me that should we buy a senior CB they should either be for the first team or be a left footed player. I see a wijnaldum replacement for sure and a desire to sell a few crocks. I see striker as a huge huge issue.
He's going to be doing some of the work on the stadium expansion. Either there's an injury issue not made public, off-field circumstances that haven't been made public, or he's just not been good enough to make the matchday squad for most games despite a plethora if injuries. I don't know which is most realistic tbh. Surely he can't be that bad?
Konate and Kabak for CB Camavinga for CM (although Bissouma and Zambo would be good options) Raphinha for AM (unless we push the boat out and go Sancho).
he still reminds me a bit too much of traore with a lack of real end product. Also seems to have a nack of getting injured a lot
why would you guys want half these guys? St maximin is not great. he's a runner but he doesn't defend at all. traore comes to mind Periera is alright but is he going to step up? who knows. The wolves fnas were disappointed to lose jota but rated him as inconsistent and happy to take 45mil. but he was a success. Rafinha is certainly one thats going to be in dmeand with a lot of pace but as you've said massive massive money and will compete as wide forward. surely the priority is someone who can finish?
Salah, Mane and Jota weren't natural goal scorers before they joined us (maybe Salah in his last season at Roma) but they get goals. We need to move away from his idea that we need a number 9 / clinical finisher. We need players who suit our system, have good underlying metrics which can be scaled upwards when they join LFC. Someone quick, direct, can dribble, works hard, gets into the box, high number of touches, and no. of shots. Those are the key metrics we should be focusing on.
Agreed. St-Max and Raph have been excellent whenever I've seen them play, both would make a difference to our squad. I'll admit to concerns with the formers injury record and defensive work ethic but he'd be a great impact player when chasing a result.
Jota is a left sided forward playing left forward mostly and salah is a wide forward playing wide. Mane was always a winger, we played him narrow and swapped him over where he could cut in and his goals went up. The reality is this stuff about strikers is a fallacy. you exploit the player you get. We want people to run onto things not run away from goal but you absolutely need to be able to finish. Its that simple. City's long term success is based of aguero no matter how guardiola tried to get rid of him at the outset. Barca have had suarez in and villa and messi, and e'tto and all these guys. top goal scorers Real have had benzema for ages and ronaldo etc. top top finishers Bayern, lewandowski inter have transformed lukaku with diet and tactical awareness. You can name teams off as we go theres a top top finisher at every one. the fact is bobby got by cos his work rate fitted a system but that system is now blown and we need to evolve. We need the shots on target more. there s reason clubs are falling over kane, haaland, and even mbappe. Mbappe is a top top talent but very very different to a false 9. If we are saying we can only play a false 9 so haaland, mbappe and kane would be terrible buys ok then
We were briefly linked with Watkins a while back - would be expensive but possibly worth it? I'm not sure he's clinical enough, so would fit right in.
My point was he doesn't play as a false 9 either. hence the "even" comment. these guys can finish, proper goal scorers. they don't need to be number 9 target men. they don't need to be "of a type" we need a striker not a blooming dribbler who the lashes the ball at goal with his eyes closed.
We tried to play with a natural number 9 before - Benteke and it didn't work out well I'm not hell bent if we sign a natural striker or a wide man. Of course, I'll be happy if we got someone like Haaland. But we definitely need an option and preferably one who ticks all the boxes I mentioned previously. Someone who can play centrally and out wide would be ideal.
