GK - Sels Darlow Elliot CB - Lascelles Mbemba Hanley Clark Dummett FB - Yedlin Gámez Haidara Lazaar CM - Shelvey Hayden Anita Colback AM - Ritchie Aarons Diamé Gouffran Atsu Pérez ST - Gayle Mitrovic Murphy Tioté (will he still find a way out??) Loan Out - Krul Mbabu Sterry Saivet de Jong Thauvin Vuckic Ameobi Armstrong Riviere Nice to see a squad where we have two players in each position! In, every position!
A lot of versatility too. Anita hopefully will continue to excel at RB. Lazaar and Yedlin I expect will be used as wingers on occasion (Lazaar possibly quite frequently if Atsu flops).
It's bizarre. If you had shown me that squad a year ago and told me we'd be starting this season with it, I probably would have cried. 'On paper' it's not a shadow of the squad we had last year. But that 'on paper' squad of last year would disguise the fact that we had a bunch of wasters, including perma-crocs missing in action, plus others who either list form and/or lost interest in fighting for the club. In theory a team inclufong the likes of Krul, Janmaat, Saylor, Colo, Sissoko, Gini, Townsend, Cabella, DeJong, Cisse should wipe the floor with the current lot. In theory. But not based on the reality of last season where I'd say only 2 or 3 of the above were of any benefit. The new signings seem like a good blend of hungry youth and experience, plus we now have more 'home grown' players. So in light of the year we've had, I like the new squad and am optimistic about the season ahead. l have doubts about how many of them are capable of keeping us in the Prem IF we get there. But that's a worry for another day. For now it's a case of well done Rafa and co for getting so many deals over that elusive line - in both directions. And well done to the club for finally realising that such business is best left to those who actually know what they are doing ( it took a while but they got there ).
I think even then we knew the "on paper" was exactly that thin. There wasn't one of us thought Thauvin would work, nor did any of us want Colo to stay. Many knew Cisse was done, Sissoko had shown his worth the previous season. Gini came with quite a fanfare but just wasn't right for the fight. It has to be the right squad for the job. Our hodge podge of cheap imports using the club as a stepping stone are gone. They were never fit for purpose of achieving in the PL. Trouble was, we had no purpose as such. If your sole aim is to stay 17th, inevitably one day you'll end up missing out by one place. Which we did. The squad now is infinitely better because it has a purpose. Get out of the division. Is Murphy a better striker than Cisse on paper or on their respective days? Not a chance. But which one would bag you 10 in the EFL? Same for Gini vs Ritchie, or Sissoko vs Diame, or Janmaat vs Yedlin. Rafa summed it up perfectly when he said all he wanted were players who wanted to be here, in this moment, and achieve all they can. For all the detractors, nobody has had a more seismic impact on this club since KK/Sir John. And although SBR was legend for so many reasons, we were already doing ok in a way. We've had an appalling 8 years with one positive blip; this has turned it all on its' head and for that we should all be incredibly pleased. Roll on the season.
What you have there is much more in the way of pure competition for places. Some balance at last. In recent years basically the whole starting 11 considered themselves untouchable. Some might not of even realised they felt this way themselves but that was the case and it means that they lost their edge and fight. I still think we are potentially a bit light up front. Hoping Mitro can become the goal scorer we want him to.
A bit light on the wing with Aaron's crocked so just Atsu and Ritchie. I can see Atsu being crap, hope I'm wrong though
Yedlin can probs do a job on the wing in a pinch. One thing's for sure, we need to expect the unexpected in terms of squad selection while Rafa's in charge, and if it brings success on the pitch then long may it continue. Edit: I'd also expect Gouff to feature regularly in Atsu's place if he isn't performing, so I think we're actually pretty well covered.
Good little round up of our transfer activity this summer and little work from Rafa on what he thinks of the squad up on .co.uk http://www.nufc.co.uk/page/Teams/SummerTransferWindow I think there may be a tiny dig at the rats that jumped ship in there..."while the likes of Moussa Sissoko, Andros Townsend,Georginio Wijnaldum and Daryl Janmaat headed out" Looking forward to seeing how this squad gets on in the coming weeks. Got a ticket for QPR away so that will be my first chance to see a game live this season.
