I think we’ll get there. As predicted the balance of the right side is a bit off with our RB options and Bentancur unavailable. Hopefully Ange won’t be afraid to drop Son if long term the form doesn’t pick up. We have decent options there. The big gap is at 9. Richy works hard and has a great collection of instinctive finishes and plays over the years but he doesn’t have the consistent first touch and ball striking that this team needs as a focal point. I was very pleased with VdV and Destiny. Both will be raw, particularly the former who has barely trained with the team yet. But they’re exciting players. I wouldn’t dismiss Vic yet either. Hugo took some time to settle as well let’s not forget. The PL is a different beast.
If you had offered me a draw at kick off I would have taken it. Brentford is tough place to go and the fact that we are disappointed not to have won is a good sign. There were enough good things in the match for us to be pleased with the side, but a lot to still work on too The debuts of Odogie, Van De Ven & Maddison were very positive and we were totally dominant in the 2nd half without really creating enough genuine chances so plenty to work on there. We can't rely on defenders to score twice every game, so the forwards have to be more productive than they were today. Unbelievably good from Bissouma today like another new signing really, I do hope that more signings of this quality are in the offing and that we can conclude some sales too this week and go into the Utd game with some optimism.
The subs he made I didn’t have too much of an issue with, it was more the subs he could’ve made. Kulu had a pretty poor game and one or two definitely tired towards the end, most notably Udogie who was great for the most part. Considering how impressive and heavily involved Solomon was in pre-season I don’t get why he didn’t come on for Kulu at any point. We know we definitely need a new striker too though to call upon. One game in or not, we also saw last season Richarlison just isn’t that guy, he’s a backup calibre player, simple as that. If Veliz isn’t ready then someone else has to be.
Completely agree re striker situation...Richarlison has a poor first touch and is not good at holding the ball up...he works hard but when that's all your most expensive striker bring then change it asap
As I said when news he was going to sign broke, Veliz's game looks so uncannily like Richy's it can't be a coincidence Surely the plan is to have him replace Richy next summer
then we need to hope richarlison has at least a reasonable season. Otherwise we’ll be losing a lot of money.
I think that happened the day he signed. When you severely overpay for a player you’re never gonna recoup anywhere near what you paid.
Wasn’t able to watch the game yesterday, so caught up with MOTD highlights, which were very different to what I’d expected, based on what I’d read on social media and here. apparently we had the majority of possession, but the footage looked like we barely touched the ball and were outplayed by Brentford. from what I did see (which no amount of editing can alter) was Maddison looked like he’s really comfortable and slotted in well. We’ve needed a player like him for ages. the Son “tackle” was never a penalty. Once again VAR proves to be totally inadequate. At the same time, vicario was very lucky to get away with that challenge where he rushed out of goal. Really surprised we didn’t concede a penalty there. The small amount of highlights we got to see of him didn’t look great, to be honest. But it’s his first game in the PL, so we need to give him time. Fingers crossed we’ve not got another Gomes/Gollini. Also, didn’t see Richarlison touch the ball once, until the pundits started highlighting his game, which showed some poor decision making over shots at goal.
I haven’t watched MOTD but if they didn’t highlight how incredible Bissouma was then they’ve failed miserably. In a system and with a manager that suits him, he’ll be the closest thing we’ll get to a Dembele replacement. He ran the show yesterday and Brentford couldn’t get the ball off of him. Maddison was impressive, still plenty more to come from him I feel once he settles more but you could immediately see he’s got what none of our midfielders since Eriksen have - an eye for a pass. Udogie was also seriously good. We might have hit jackpot with this kid. Still a bit raw and did tire towards the end but a very good Prem debut and carried on his impressive performances in pre-season. Micky also done well considering he’d had three training sessions. Was unlucky the second goal came off of him but **** happens. He was solid in general and made a really good challenge/ clearance in the second half. Vicario though… it feels extremely harsh saying it so soon but I’m just not convinced. Won’t say too much more until we see more games but yeah, not convinced - at all. Not much needs to be said on Richarlison, I think everyone/ almost everyone on here is aware he’s not good enough and if we don’t sign a new striker we’re leaving Ange up against it. Overall though it was nice to enjoy a football match, even if the result wasn’t the desired one. I said to the lads on the Prem board that I think Spurs are gonna be the league’s entertainers this season and I really stand by it. We’re gonna be involved in some high scoring games, some (or hopefully most!) will go in our favour, some won’t but we won’t be dull that’s for sure. We’ll be a higher calibre version of Bielsa’s Leeds.
Reflecting on it, I was at the time disappointed we dropped points. Still am a bit but with 3 relatively young debutants in our defensive unit, including a kid who’s been here about 5 minutes, and the obvious deficiencies in the squad that have been covered at length, a point away isn’t awful. Brentford are very strong at home. The most glaring addition needed is proper competition for Richy. If we can get that done before United and weather that game then we have a chance to build some momentum before the NLD.
It’s not competition we need for Richarlison though, it’s a replacement. If we only get competition then we’ve essentially already lost the battle as it’s borderline suicidal if we finish the window having lost Kane and being left with Richarlison and a backup whilst Veliz settles. The drop from Kane to Richarlison isn’t too dissimilar from Berbatov to Fraizer Campbell. We know we’ll never replace Kane but we have to find a way to ensure that gap is closed more significantly than it currently is. Whether that’s Orban for his potential or maybe going Juve to test their financial situation for Vlahovic, something needs to be done to ensure we’re not left up **** creek for striking options.
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