It's one aspect of Ralph's high press that I dislike: Romeu was good, but he also wasn't the screen we need in front of our defense, because with a 4-2-2-2 we don't really have one; both midfielders need to push higher up the pitch to take away space in the center of the park. Poch played a narrower press, often with a defensively-competent player (like JWP, or Davis) in a nominal wide role, but working to compress space through the middle out of possession, which in turn meant that one of the CMs could play deeper as a screen for the defense, with the fullbacks pushing further to deny space down the wings. So we could really use a Wanyama, but we also need to play in a fashion that would actually allow them to play as a Wanyama. Our press, to the extent that we play it, is really reliant on the forward players disrupting the initial attack; if they fail (and our attacking players haven't been terribly good at it for the past few months), we're outnumbered. And if the midfielders step up to try to deal with balls played through the middle and fail, the ball gets on our CBs in a hurry, hence the interception stats.
This quote has made me change my mind, to Ralph in. You imagine interviewing for his job being told, “look, we are only in the premier league to make up the numbers”, “we will have one of the bottom 5 wage bills, oh and there probably isn’t much money to spend, but good luck.
That's a nice message, he always struck me as being a honest and humble lad and I think that he has a massive future in the game. I wish him all the best except when he plays against us!
Meh, Broja not coming back strangely doesn't bother me. Yes, he had a purple patch around November-February time, but his attitude was called out at the start of the season, and he's been pretty ****e since March (along with everyone else of course!)
Players from relegated teams tend not to be that cheap as well from memory. I doubt we’ll be looking at anyone unless they have release clauses
Tarkowski and Mee are out of contract Cornet has a £17.5m release clause Tbh I’d probably only go for Tarkowski, Cornet, Nick Pope and Emmanuel Dennis from the relegated sides. Probably more attractive offers from elsewhere for them anyway. ———————Pope——————- -KWP-Tarkowski—Salisu--Perraud- ————--JWP——Romeu——— -Elyounoussi—S Armstrong—Cornet- ——————Dennis—————— Actually looks quite functional….
He has improved a lot this season (well he had to really) but I agree that as a creative player he is no Dusan Tadic and we have to get a better, more effective starting #10 than him surely.
It’s really not. On Twitter all the anti-Ralph brigade are pointing it out and when challenged that he is ‘part of the club’ they get all tetchy. If it doesn’t fit their narrative….
