i wouldn’t say slater is aggressive or a particular ball winner though, he covers ground and pressures well but he’s not the out and out ball winner we need.
No, not really. Slater isn't a defensive midfielder and rarely makes tackles. He's a box-to-box midfielder who is good at carrying the ball forward and pressing high up the pitch.
He's good at that stuff, and he was good at the defensive side and getting stuck in even before he became the all-round midfielder he is now.
Think you're imagining his defensive work, mate. He makes the odd tackle every few games and runs around a lot. Doesn't make him a defensive midfielder. He's a box-to-box midfielder and always has been.
Slater doesn’t get stuck in and defensively isn’t great. He’s has plenty of energy and looks to get up the pitch when he’s on the ball, but if he’s not on the ball he’s quite anonymous in most games.
From what I remember we did try to bring in a defensive midfielder last summer but the player turned us down.. some Turkish guy. So clearly it's been on the agenda for a while. Also just because we're in for the Derby lad doesn't mean we're bringing him in for that role. As others said he might be Woods replacement. As always time will tell, still a long way to go before the window shuts.
Im not sure we do need a physically imposing CDM, it does seem obvious on the surface but it looks like we want to develop in a way we are eventually dominating possession in games. I think its more important that we have technically sound players that are prepared to graft rather than physically imposing but I guess its a little bit what you like. Max Bird looks like a good young player and I welcome that kind of signing. Most the names mentioned don't seem like they will be the difference between a promotion bid or not but I'm really not sure we should be getting caught up in that at the moment. Feels like we are very much still in a building phase and typically fans don't seem to allow new signings a period to settle in which is important. This season should be about embedding our style and settling everyone in, promotion or playoffs would be a welcome bonus for me.
We were linked with a few iirc. There was Berat Özdemir at Trabzonspor. He told some media outlet not too long ago that he wanted to join us last summer but Trabzonspor blocked the deal. He ended up going to a Saudi club later on in the same transfer window so he must've forced Trabzonspor's hand. We were also rumoured to sign Youssouf Ndayishimiye last summer but apparently his wage demands were too high as we had already signed Seri, Tufan etc. on big wages and we didn't want too many players on £20,000+-a-week. He signed for Nice in January for €11 million. I think we tried to sign Okay Yokuşlu as well but he decided to go to West Brom instead as he previously played for them on loan. Then we signed Ryan Woods...
I was thinking this, Doc did that a lot in L1, unfortunately he didn’t transcend to being that player in the Championship, I was surprised when we signed him for the year option. Only thing I can think is, it’s as cover, or they want a fee for him, which I think we should get. Regarding Seri, he’s getting up there into his mid 30’s, which for his position isn’t really his prime, I wouldn’t be surprised if a Saudi club comes in for him, maybe if he’s not up to it early season, it might be a January transfer, free up some wages maybe?
I could definitely see Seri going to Saudi Arabia at some point. Whether he stays with us until the end of his contract is another matter.
Thing is what is “long term” how does he get experience if he doesn’t play. we’ll sign someone else for the first team who’s the same age. Seems to be if they come through our world class youth system we trust them, however this lad only came through Chelsea’s so obviously we want some young lad from derby. If we hit top 6 or promotion simons won’t be what we need, so the “long term” goes out the window. We’ve paid wages in someone that actually we don’t really rate
I imagine Simons will be a lot more involved next season. It sounds like we’re going with a more long term building strategy from now on anyway so chance for him and others to gain experience this season
-> Gone For A Walk: Seri = Hughes Slater = Marney Traore - Garcia No 'Ashbee' That's the problem. -> PLT: Still? Christ. "We never replaced Ashbee" is basically a meme at this point. Who was the Ashbee in 2013 I wonder. ...... and someone posted that article the other day about how Busquets redefined the role showing it doesn't have to be about physicality. ------- Nobody is saying "We never replaced Ashbee"! Meyler, Livermore, Smallwood, .... It's just that Ashbee is the most obvious, clearest example to use to demonstrate what we are currently missing (and currently including the leadership aspect too). As for Busquets? As well as being a fantastic footballer (which is why he played for years for Barcelona) he had presence, physicality, and leadership in spades!!! He was a master at breaking up play, protecting the back 4, giving the ball to (even) more talented players - actually, a lot like Ashbee but on a different level obviously.
