I'm keeping an open mind. I was thinking the other day that we have a few stars who have underperformed this year. It started when the serious injuries kicked in and their heads dropped a bit wondering where the next win or goal was coming from. But I've seen that many times over the last 40 years and one think I have noticed is that a a proper summer break does wonders to bring back a bit of form.
Look at Villa. Just escaped relegation last year and then had a good season. Look at Leicester the year they won it...the season before they were woeful. Sorry. Too positive.
Well, I would have to say letting Shane Long go in our current predicament now seems foolish. He would have been worth having at least to come off the bench, Sad to see him farmed out to Bournemouth as I think he still had something to offer. At the least, he is a better option than what we have coming out of the academy.
Indeed, time to get on message (or similar new speak bollocks). Better a weeping and a wailing and a moaning and a gnashing of teeth. Above the entrances of St Marys. Abandon all hope ye who enter here.
There is no denying that we could be good next year. New season, new start etc and depending on whether you think Ralph is particularly good or not having a "normal" pre season (not sure how many players we have going to the Euros?) should help with fitness/understanding of the way we play. There is also a chance that this awful run could roll over into the new season and, if that happens, well we are pretty ****ed. It is far too early to make any predictions about next year imo, lets just get this one out the way and see what happens over the summer
Always wanted Theo to sign for a year or two this summer, but his recent performances have been dreadful and it's made me wonder whether it's a good idea or not. The club certainly like his effort and how he is behind the scenes but he's lacking a lot on the pitch at the moment. Adam Armstrong would be a decent signing. Is Che Adams ever going to be a regular 10-15 league goals a season striker? He's on 7 at the moment but should probably have had a handful more.
Again it is very hard to know really what we want without having any idea of how much we have to spend. Obviously fullbacks are really important and easily the biggest weakness in the squad. I would say CB is probably our strength (if we don't have to keep playing them at LB). Stephens is our 4th choice and whilst not great is still decent for a mid table sides 4th option. We obviously could improve everywhere as we don't have many/any really top players, but if we went and spunked a large chunk of our budget on a centre back (assuming none leave) and that means we don't address other areas then I would be questioning wtf we are doing.
I think we might sell Vesty, have Bedders and Sailsu starting with Jack and maybe this lad on loan as back up. And use the Vesty money elsewhere.
You may well be right. Chelsea have just extended Guehi's contract and he looks to have been a regular at Swansea this year, who finished 4th. Not sure they will want to loan him somewhere where he isn't first choice. I've no idea how good he is, he might be better than what we have so would be first choice and Vestergaard's replacement potentially.
We're pretty well stocked in our wide attacking positions and yet it's probably one of our weakest areas. We need more quality there imo, but would probably need a bit of an overhaul of that position to get it and adding Walcott, although a decent utility attacking option, doesn't really add the quality that we need. We have plenty of options but they're all a bit meh. Armstrong is the only stand out player. Tella is an exciting prospect but is young and needs time to develop. You could add Djenepo into the young catgeory too, but he has had more chances to prove himself and has had a very disappointing season. Redmond blows hot and cold, but mostly cold. Elyounoussi, who knows, Ralph will obviously have another look at him in the summer. If I was being brutal. I would keep Armstrong (ofc) and Tella, aaaand probably Djenepo and ditch the rest. Wouldn't be upset if we sold Djenepo too really, but think he deserves another season to step it up since he is young and very occasionally has shown something special. Would then look to buy one in and probably loan in another given our financial restrictions. Redmond and Walcott are okay for us as backup, but problem is most of our wide attackers are just that...'okay as backup', not really good enough to be regular starters and don't show enough to change the game from the bench. Given that we are probably signing Walcott, I think we will stick with the having lots of okay options and hope they blow hot more often whilst leaving Armstrong to run the show.
Yeah it is quite a big issue as whilst we have depth, the quality is simply not there. Out of the 5 attacking mid players, I'd say only Armstrong is consistently performing to a high standard. Redmond and Theo aren't good enough to start if we want top half and whilst neither are Tella or Djenepo, they are at least young and could well improve significantly. I would try and get some cash for Redmond and then have our 4 options as Armstrong, new starter, Tella & Djenepo. One player in each position should be our aim.
I truly believe that if we go into next season with a full squad and cover for the full-backs then we will have a decent start with more energetic performances and a return to the high press, fast tempo style that took us to the top in the autumn.
Theo's recent performances certainly haven't been up to scratch. But if he was still performing every week, he wouldn't be with us right now and he wouldn't be available for free in the summer. It's also quite harsh, in my view, to read too much into his recent performances given that the team in general has been pretty awful. Even Ings, whilst still a million miles away from being awful, hasn't been his usual self. It's more important to look at the season as a whole, and for me it very much remains the case that I have more ticks than crosses when considering the idea of Theo remaining. Particularly considering our small transfer budget and even smaller first team squad. Armstrong's numbers are certainly be tempting. But so were Che's. Without the luxury of seeing how Armstrong would cope in the PL, I'm on the fence. That said, I believe his contract is up next summer? That could make him a fairly cheap gamble.