I am hugely concerned about LB and CM too. RW I think we will have just enough to make a go of it for another season, but Kulusevski is on his final warning as far as I'm concerned and Brennan needs to show consistent improvement (last season he definitely impressed, but in fits and starts). LB was an unmitigated disaster last season after Udogie got injured. In fact, with Werner injured too and Son playing out of position up top, that entire flank simply collapsed until we moved The Best Player in the World, Micky VDV out there to clean up the mess. However, even here the one comfort is that our first choice player is superb, while Davies albeit not suited to Ange's system is Mr Reliable and will always give 100%. I'd be very at ease with him starting at LB in the cups and Europa group stage, for example. CM is an area I feel we are being dangerously blasé about. Unlike RW and LB where the starting options range from superb to promising, it's difficult to understand what Ange was watching last season that gives him the confidence we'll be fine in CM going into another season. Last season provided ample evidence that it doesn't matter what combination of players we try there, we almost never had control of the middle of the park. We were far too easy to play through and with a defense that plays an incredibly high line by design, we looked like conceding every time the opposition crossed the halfway line. It isn't sustainable. Bentancur's injury record (and temper?) means he can't be relied on. Skipp is a squad player. Sarr still has a lot to learn - against the top teams last season the game simply passed him by. Bissouma as I've said is not a proper 6 or 8 and I can't see the point in persisting with him for a third season. There are high hopes for Bergvall but most reports say that Archie isn't ready for the PL yet. I've no idea why we don't play 4-3-3 more often to at least give us an extra man in midfield. I feel like we shoe-horn two unsuitable players into a pivot in order to get Maddison into the team, but the latter has done very little to deserve this. Have we done enough at CM to fill anyone with confidence? Not nearly.
Midfield concerns me because I think it was the root cause of many issues last year (aside from availability of players) and it’s where we have the most ‘Ifs’. There’s a lot of question marks there. But we have so many players there still that I’d be hesitant to recruit until we ship Gio out.
It's difficult to pinpoint where the 'control' of games comes from in Ange's system. Partly because it is genuinely built to be quite chaotic. Unlike Jose/Antonio where the control clearly came from the back line, or Poch who relied on the pivot for control, where does Ange see his coming from? I think we underestimate how important the ST is in this regard. I've said before, he doesn't look to his ST to score 20 goals a season, he looks to them to control territory and possession in the final third, which is why Solanke despite the ridiculous price tag makes a lot of sense.
Solanke looks like a really good fit for Ange. He’s better at Richy stuff than Richy, or was last season, and hopefully won’t suffer the same fitness issues. Today there have been a couple of tenuous ITK links to Hermoso, who left Athletico Madrid on a free this summer, and Brighton’s Simon Adringa. The former plays LCB or LB and would be a stop gap for a couple of years at 29, and the latter fits that young, dribbly winger profile off the RW. Both links are so tenuous I wouldn’t usually bother with them but both fit the needs of the discussion we’re having so just throwing it out there.
Control under Ange’s system will come from better players. There is talk of selling Lo Celso and Skipp and bringing in a central midfielder. I’m not sure who that is but I desperately hope it isn’t Conor Gallagher from Chelsea
Dan KP says we're looking to loan out Jamie Donley, Alfie Devine and Ash Phillips before the end of the window - but intend to use Mikey Moore going forward He also reiterates that we're trying to find a loaner for Manor Solomon
I can't see the point in selling Skipp, given the state of our club trained numbers. If he demands to leave then that's different, but we literally can't replace him.
Rumours that Solomon hasn't been allocated a squad number for the forthcoming season. I'm sure that the Ukrainians are pissing themselves laughing Oh well.... NEXT....!
George Sessions is backing him on it, while claiming that Lankshear is currently due to remain as part of the first team squad. Interesting.
Apparently he played 29 league games for them? Probably says more about me than him that I’ve never noticed him. I always noticed Koleosho for Burnley but not Odobert. Anyone know the fee?
Started 24 of their games last season, and was a fixture in their first team from December until the end of the season picking up 3 goals and 3 assists, which means he had a goal involvement in 1/6th of Burnley's 41 league goals last season Interesting pickup, given he played both flanks and a CF last season, while in Burnley's opening match this season played as an AM - though I do wonder if we're playing the HG long game as it looks as if he'll just get under the wire to qualify as HG in a couple of seasons
Supposed to be Eur 31m. It really looks as if we've decided to build a team that will reach its peak in 2 - 3 years time. Tbh, given our budget, it makes sense and provided that we don't sack the coach and employ another Mourinho/Nuno/Conte, it could actually work...
