How many players are we really short?

The ideal scenario is to have two players for ever position, with 2 or 3 utility players to cover. How far off that are we?

GK: Krul, Elliot

RB: Simpson, Tavernier?
RCB: Taylor, Williamson
LCB: Colo, ?????
LB: Santon, Ferguson?

RW: Ben Arfa, Obertan
DM: Tiote, Abeid?
CM: Cabaye, Guthrie
LW: Jonas, Marveaux

SS/AM: Ba, Vuckic?
CF: Cisse, Best

Versalite: Raylor, Perch, Gosling


I know people will dispute some of that ^ (Ferguson at LB, whether Tavs/Vuckic is ready etc) but how many players do you think we really need to sign in summer to have a "full" squad?

I actually think the minimum we need is just 1 - Colo needs genuine cover. Other than that the only position I would dispute is whether Tavernier is good enough to cover RB yet, as I have no doubt Abeid and Vuckic are (or rather, will be) good enough for the first team.

 

Personally I think Harps has at least another season or 2 in him (unless he looks out, in which case he'll easily play for a Prem team if they have any sense to buy him!)

We need another RB/LB and CB, Another RM another ST (remember, ACoN is on next year as well!)

 

To me we are short of a left back, a centre half, a quality right winger (depending on how you view Ben Arfa), and some cover for Tiote (defensively minded, we have Guthrie/Abeid/Gosling to cover Cabaye) 4 players and I think we are very very competitive in terms of Europe and beyond. Can't all happen at once though unfortunately! Quite happy with where we are in us developing.

 

CB x2 - one to slot in between saylor and willo in the pecking order and another younger one to back up
LB - move santon to RB and get in a good quality LB
RW - We havent got an out and out decent RW, maybe a youngster like Zaha to help out oba and get HBA more central
ST - Ba, Cisse, Best and the rest are crap, maybe a younger star from the championship

 

I like Harper too but I think he'll go in summer, even just for the sake of playing a few years regularly. He'll never be #1 again here barring injury.

The AFCON's a bugger like, we could do with another striker but who could we get that would sit on the bench for the majority of games? I think we should maybe try an MLS loan next season, covers the AFCON perfectly and you arent overloaded with strikers for the other 11 months of the year.

 

I think that as long as we keep all our players (apart from the deadwood eg. Smith, Ranger, etc) then we really only need a CB and then another LB or RB (does not really matter which because Santon can play on either side).

After that it is just upping the quality, such as Best and Obertan.

 

Really need to add to the CB positions to cover for injuries and as JWAG mentioned, a striker to cover our African contingent.

Also makes me think that a DM may be needed as well to cover for Tiote and Abied as they play for African nations.

 

I think we definitely need a CB like you say, and I think with time (that could be by the start of next season) players like Abeid/Vuckic/Tav will have improved and can provide cover for players.

I would still maybe prefer another LM because Marveaux (on the basis of his injuries past and present) can't really be relied on as cover. Though maybe in time Ferguson can be a trusted LM.

 

I'm starting to consider Ben Arfa as a right winger with Cisse's signing, there's no realistic way of playing him in the middle with Ba and Cisse. What I've seen of Abeid is a defensive player though, I think maybe give him this season to show us whether he can be a first teamer yet. A genuine left back would be nice as Ferguson is definitely a winger, but he hasnt let us down playing in defence yet.

 

I think we need one more centre back, a left footed full-back, a left footed winger and then when January 2013 comes around we should loan a striker out for two months to cover for the losses of Ba & Cisse.

 

RB - Simpson should be backup, despite the effort he's put in this season imo we need more quality. Whether we put Santon at RB and replace LB or simply bring in a new RB I don't mind, but we need a better RB.
LCB - Obvious.
LB - Ferguson should be LW in my opinion, unless he gets loaned out and we see him do particularly well at LB. He's small, nippy and has great footwork for taking on defenders.
RW: Ben Arfa is fine playing there for me, but if we could get better backup than Obertan that would be great.

 

I forgot about Abeid playing for Algeria. Even during the AFCON, we still have a good midfield though.

 

Oh and we should also sign Nathaniel Clyne as back up, because he is going to be class and cheap!

 

Great prospect (I think we're monitoring him in case Simpson leaves), but I'd love at least 1 left footed full back.

 

Also in terms of names we should sign the following (because MA has turned into a very generous man)...

Vertonghen
Cissokho
Barnetta
Clyne
Lukaku on loan in January to cover ACN

 

As you say I think Benni may be limited to the wings now with Cisse. I don't have a problem with it as I've always known he can play there from his time in France wehere he spent the majority of it playing wide. Whether he will be happy himself is another question. We are desperate for a first team left back in my book. Funnily enough we have square pegs with rounded edges to cover it (Santon, Raylor, Ferguson) However if you really want to push on, you need players playing in their natural position. A left back will allow Santon to move into his and give us a natural balance which we lost with Enrique. Fergie is a winger all day for me but Pards has mentioned him a few times with regard to the left role.

From what I've seen of Abeid I'd have him down as more attack minded. Certainly in the FA Cup he started very very deep. But he looked much happier and performed a lot better when given more license to push on 2nd half. He reminds me a little of Jenas to be honest. He looks a ball player to me and doesn't look the type to put his foot in but time will tell.

Centre back is first priority. I just want them to be quite pacy as its the one thing we lack. A pacy centre back who can play would give us the whole package centre half wise I think. After that I'd look at left back and right wing. I'm close to giving up on Ober due to the lack of a footballing brain. Its the one thing you can't train into a footballer. So for me I'd happily bite the bullet now and look to get some competition for Benni. Then I'd look for defensive midfielder and probably offload Gosling who seems to have little to his game except being good at getting into goalscoring positions.

Lastly a non african striker would obviously be nice to cover our african duo. Essential, probably not but a Jordan Rhodes type youngster would be nice. Ideally I'd sign up him and Jamie Forrest of Celtic (right wing)

 

I think you've summed it up perfectly there to be honest. The only thing I would say is that while Abeid is comfortable on the ball I dont know that he has the craft/technique to be a player like Cabaye, I can see him being a bit of a lightweight (not in a bad way, just smaller) version of Tiote - he's not a bad tackler, just needs to nail down one position.

A big issue is how happy HBA is on the wing. I think he could be just as good or better in the hole, but having not played there much he would need a run of games to master the position.

 

I think he is capable of both is Benni. And to be fair there may be times when either Ba or Cisse has to drop to the bench to accomodate it. Sometimes you need more in the midfield area and need a bit fluidity to your play depending how the oppo set up. Some competition for him will give the manager the options he needs to compete with the best.

One of the key things for me is patience. When I say 4 or 5 I mean over a period of time. I'd rather us just get one or two a window if it means we get the right guys. I think the misconception some have is that it is like a computer game. "Right I need this, this and this" transfer martket, players bought and on you go. Its much more complicated in real life with all the scouting and background checks that need to be done.

 

True, and I think he would play particularly well with Cisse, as Ba wasnt used to leading the line when they played together but Cisse is a more natural #9. And as you say, some games we will feel better with a 5 man midfield and drop one of them.

Agree, a centre back and one more in summer will do me. The more important thing is keeping what we already have IMO.

 

One quality CB. Saylor is definitely more than good enough to be in our first 11, and isn't far behind Coloccini in terms of quality, but he can't be relied on for fitness. We can only really expect 20 games max out of him.

We need a quality, solid CB that can be relied on for fitness for at least 30 games a season.

A LB, so we can put Santon on the right and have an all round solid defence.

I think we could do with another winger as well, one that has good pace, skill and can whip in a good ball.

So I reckon we should sign 3 new players.