Like Joe said, we are going to have to hope that every signing is a success and the team gels. Rather you than me, Ronald.
This is quite a good article, even if the headline is abit OTT http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/fo...here-no-ambition-Southampton-I-fear-drop.html
Don't get your hopes up on getting replacements from the Eredivisie lads, De Vrij, Moisander and Blind are the only proper defenders remaining in the league. There is no one left to buy. Ronald will have to look somewhere else to splash that cash.
I really do not buy the team cohesion thing at all. If there was solid team cohesion then they wouldn't all be asking to leave and claiming they wanted to play for liverpool for half of last season or longer. If the cohesion was that great it wouldn't have mattered that the manager left and a couple of their friends sold. They would have stood firm together rather than fighting each other over who can get out the door first. What was in place last season is increasingly looking like a cult of personality of Mr Cortese and Poch. And when the figureheads left the players just wilted. In this case starting afresh with new signings (hopefully) and youngsters who were not part of the 'cult' and fringe players not in the previously alluded to Pochettino 'inner circle' may not be a bad idea. May take some time to work but it should work out ok overall But this team cohesion was clearly built on a very shallow foundation and in the long run an attempt to sure it up may well be something to be pleased about (NB: I am trying to stay positive because it is just football and the way the game is structured with a few dominant teams and not enough good english players to fill quotas something like this was inevitable)
We're talking personal terms with two players at current. I'd expect at least one of them to arrive this week. One other deal is definitely being delayed, but then both parties are aware of the reasoning.
By team cohesion I meant more along the lines of knowing each others roles within the team because they have played together for awhile, how teammates play with runs etc. Not so much about how they felt about each other and the club.
We have been linked with De Vrij as a defender from the Eredivisie The other main links I have heard have been Rojo (Portuguese league), Van Dijk (Scottish) and Richards (English). Also remember some mentions a while ago about central defenders from France and Germany. So I don't think we were ever planning on relying on defenders from the Eredivisie You are also forgetting Veltman, Kongolo, Willems and Bruma from that league to name a few. Young relatively promising defenders and on the fringes of the Dutch team / squad
well defenders wise we've only really been linked to de vrij from the eredivisie, so we're alright there. edit: do you not rate either of willems or kongolo then?
Willems and Bruma are crap, Veltman and Kongolo are far from ready for the EPL, let alone the Eredivisie. Veltman seems to make are least one cock up a match, Kongolo has only played like 20 solid matches for Feyenoord last season. I wouldn't even call them promising as they've barely even played! Veltman has potential but dear me he is weak physically and tactically.
In that case fair enough. But on that principle Man Utd could well end up doing even worse this season (don't see it myself....)
Kongolo played 25 or so games for Feyenoord in 3 years time, he is showing promise but the lad hasn't even played half a season solid, no one can say anything sane about the kid cause he still has to show it on top level. Willems is just terribad. Average going forwards, painful to watch going backwards, slow, poor marking and tackling, no vision, poor mentality and complacent to boot. Do not rate him at all.
It is worth noting that you can take the first sentence and replace "Kongolo" with "Chambers" and it would still hold true. Yet one of the two made a world cup squad and said squad of players came 3rd But it is a relatively moot point because it seems like we have only been linked with one defender from that league anyway
Kongolo played a full 4 minutes at the WC during the 2-0 victory over Chile, and only because Dirk Kuyt cramped up and couldn't go on. Being in the WC squad as a defender barely means anything for the back ups. There were big discussions here why Virgil van Dijk wasn't brought in, much more experience and a lot more qualified than a rookie defender like Kongolo. On the level of Kongolo we probably have 3 or 4 more defenders who could've gone with just as easily to be honest.
Like I said in a previous post, the players signed since we got promoted with the exception of that cock Lovren and obviously Osvaldo seem happy. Clyne, Davis, Boruc and Wanyama have kept quiet or said good things. It wasn't a hard sell by Cortese to get these players as we were already in the promised land of the Premier League so I doubt they would've been too concerned when he left. Get rid of anyone else who doesn't want to be herehere(poss Morgan) and then we can really build a team for the future. Also to those talking about Cork being surplus, if this was the case would he have featured in the promo for the new kit? Clyne, Davis, JWP, Rodriguez and Fonte also appeared.Does this mean we aren't expecting them to leave or is it just simply that the big names were all in Brazil?
As we ideally need about 6 new signings are there other deals at earlier stages/enquiries. Could other potential ins speed up this week to try and bring some positivity back to the club. 1 signing is not going to stop the current total negative persona around the club from both press and fans alike?
I don't know, sorry. I was just told that there are 2 players talking personal terms and another who will come but there is an understood delay for now.
