If we take our Leeds specs off… on the face of it we’ve bought a bunch of journeymen. Typically Mid priced, mid aged from unfashionable teams. As ever, it comes down to whether our scouts/strategy have made better choices than the competition. I understand re having to wait for the dominoes to fall for the attacking signings but we do need them to, and at the moment we don’t know what chairs we’ll have when the music stops. Mixed my metaphors beautifully there but it seems I’m a bit less confident than some. On the one hand I think we came up with a much more prem ready side than many thought… on the other I’m a bit underwhelmed with the business so far. I also think we have a tough start to the season and momentum can be everything. We look like starting the season with 1 unproven striker I think it could be a really interesting PL season as all 3 promoted sides have a chance, though Sunderland have a lot of gelling to do with what looks like a completely new team.
In a rare moment of optimism for me, I actually think Piroe will surprise a few, he is a decent finisher.
The Bornauw signing is a waste of money in my opinion. Nmecha wont get 5 league goals this season. Bijol isnt any better than Struijk. Longstaff offers competition in midfield but isnt an automatic starter. Perri will be an upgrade on Meslier but I have my reservations about him. He has a few mistakes in his game. Very erratic, very eccentric. Not reliable. Stach is the only one so far that pushes our starting line up to a higher level by any margin.
I like to think I can pick a player. Ive a good track record. I said Tanaka wasn't good enough last season. The flip side is that i watched Gnonto for 5 minutes in an u21 game and instantly knew he was going straight in to the first team. Same with Summerville, said he was the best winger we had whilst he still hadnt made his debut. I also predicted Sonny Perkins fall from grace when he was scoring every game for the 21s. Jock got very cross when I suggested Robbie Gotts wouldn't make it. Just for fun, give us your predictions on our new signings.
The good news is that i think last seasons players are capable of not only stepping up but excelling at this level. Bogle, Rodon, Struijk, Ampadu, Tanaka, Gnonto, James, Ramazani, Aaronson, Piroe are all capable of cutting it at PL level. They may not be superstars but they all have aspects to their game that can survive and even excell in the PL. Bijol, Gudmundsson and Stach look capable. Perri has the talent and now has to prove it. Nmecha and Bornauw will add depth but I can't see them having too much of an impact. In my mind, we need a magician like Pablo. Some real quality to take us to the next level.
To be honest l can’t. I’ve made no pretence that I hadn’t heard of any of them before they joined, I’m trusting (hoping) that the scouting team are good. We seem to be signing players that can mix it and are physical enough to keep us up. Think it’s a good approach depending on whether they are actually good. Missed the preseason games so only going on reports from here.
Like what I’ve seen of Stach, Gudmundsson. Think Bijol will do a job. Been a bit disappointed with the rest of the new outfield players but hopefully Longstaff will show a bit more. Too early to really judge the keeper thought he did ok, though his feet distribution looked suspect.
