Yeah that's fair enough, plenty of games until January so it's enough games to back into a rhythm. There is a risk he may never get back to the level he's capable of but then there's no assurances that <insert new CB name> can come in and guarantee better. In my opinion there aren't many better CB's out there available to us who are better than a fully fit and on form Kaboul, so it's a tough decision to make.
Its hit and miss on goalscoring transferring from the Dutch league. Van Nistelrooy did ok, people like Kezman not so much.
It's not up to the fans to encourage players, this isn't a play group where parents sit and encourage their kids to walk and have fun. If we carry on buying players that need encouragement to do the basics then we can look forward to more flops, from abroad. I'm just looking forward to this window ending as it seems we never have a team which fans are happy with, always wanting new signings, players sold, new arrivals. If Pochettino is a good manager he should work with what he has first and then reassess next summer.
When it comes to like for like changes, I agree. Lamela, Townsend, Chadli all deserve a further chance - it's not obvious that anyone else (who we can afford and would come) is going to come in, settle quickly, and be better. But I still fear we have an unbalanced squad, especially in midfield - too many strong players and not enough who will bind the play together and make us work as a team. And if, as many are suggesting, Kane should get a chance up front on the left, we are still a striker short
Boss We should not be discouraging players either. Some of the supporters around me last year were tearing into players after 5 minutes, which is not at all helpful. I would quite happily stick with what we've got at the moment unless we get Depay at a good price. If we can sell Townsend with the English player bonus and the Levy tax we will probably make a profit! I hope that Lamela and Chadli get a good run of games to show that Lamela is worth the fee and Chadli will turn out to be a steal at 8 mill. Definitely no to Hernandez and any of the misfits from United.
Rockspur and Paul. Valid points as yes the squad could be improved and no I'm not suggesting fans verbally attack players..... But the squad balance issue isn't going to be fixed this summer. If players can't win over fans or let verbal abuse effect their game then they won't last. Real Madrid fans are notorious for being overly harsh to new signings as they see it as a test of their mental strength and if they crumble then clearly they aren't able to be relied upon.
"Real Madrid fans are notorious for being overly harsh to new signings as they see it as a test of their mental strength" No, that is supporter plasticity masquerading as doing it for the greater good of the team. The contents of the Madrid squad is all the pressure their players currently in the starting XIs need.
Well whatever the reason or view you take, players aren't given a chance to play with their hand held and if players are going to struggle without fan support instantly then I would question their self confidence. Players like Bale, Adebayor have had to deal with a lack of support but they believe in their ability and want to prove fans wrong, and that is a great quality to possess.
Surely our support is needed though? A player will hardly play his best football when the crowd are huffing and arghing every touch he has on the ball. Some of our fans are actually shocking too, to the point the where they send abusive messages to players on Twitter. This has actually caused some to deactivated their accounts, Rose did and Walker did temporarily, Chadli hasn't used his since September 2013... No wonder some of these lads underperform at times, why would they want to perform when we've got knobhead fans abusing them? That's the problem with our squad and fans and why many are usually unhappy, they moan of unbalanced squads and how we need x,y and z but the squad will always be unbalanced when new players are coming in all the time and needing to adapt. Vicious cycle.
"Well whatever the reason or view you take, players aren't given a chance to play with their hand held and if players are going to struggle without fan support instantly then I would question their self confidence." The team as a whole IMHO certainly do feel the atmosphere of the supporters when they are playing. How that affects particular individual squad members, who knows ??
Walker I have admiration for as he handled the abuse and improved his game. Not at all condoning the abuse as fans who log onto twitter and insult players are clearly socially ******ed but fans abusing players has been happening since football started. Plus I don't have too much sympathy for footballers who create a twitter account. They are opening themselves up to abuse.
If the players give 100% then they deserve our support. If they mope around the pitch not trying like large parts of last season, then they do not deserve support. They deserve a few home truths. All the best teams fans don't give players much time to adapt. It's the way it is at the top. You either sink or swim.
Yes to Hernandez and Fellaini, offload Ade and keep Soldado up front with Hernandez, good partnership.
"Plus I don't have too much sympathy for footballers who create a twitter account. They are opening themselves up to abuse." They are. But if they keep their account to solely talking about football matters, it is a nice way for them to interact with the supporters.
Hernandez needs to play on a regular basis and he needs to be paired with a striker that'll complement his game. He isn't suited to playing the lone role in the Premier League and would struggle to impress at WHL, much as Soldado has and for many of the same reasons. Man Utd seem to be struggling to offload some of their players so that they can balance out their squad and sort out their defensive inadequacies. Rojo will help, as will shifting Nani, who's gradually gone backwards for a few years, but they need to bring in more defenders and they already should've done so.
