January Transfer Requirements

OUT: Roberts

 

He is and has been a complete waste of space

 

Out:
Roberts
Rodrigo
Klich
Shackleton

They’re immediate ones for me, I’ve thrown Rodrigo in hoping we can recoup some of the high fee we paid for him and put it towards someone better.

In
Midfield
Midfield
Left Back

 

OUT -

Nobody

INS -

Two ball playing midfielders.



As for the summer. Big changes needed. Players currently in danger would include Roberts, Klich, Dallas, Firpo, James, Harrison, Rodrigo, Cooper, Koch.

 

Will these ball-playing midfielders be able to play CB or CF, 'cos that's EXACTLY what we need atm.

 

We have 5 centre backs (Cooper, Koch, Llorente, Struijk and Cresswell) with Ayling and Phillips also able to play there. Do you want to pay more wages in that department?

We have Bamford, Rodrigo, Roberts and Gelhardt up front. That's very much one out and one in. Bamford and Rodrigo ate injured. Roberts currently is playing in midfield because we have no alternative. So Gelhardt is the one to go yeah?

We have no midfield. We need midfielders.

 

Sorry Ayling cannot play CH at this level, maybe in the Championship but not PL.

 

He's not exactly first choice is he. My main point is why would we spend on a centre back in January with the players we already have there?

Defensive injuries are ridiculous at the moment but panic buying more defenders? I mean who is there available better than we have?

 

You missed my point completely. I most certainly did not advocate buying another CB. I'm making a point that another 2 or even 10 midfielders will not solve the current problems. Our problems, as I said, are in defence & attack.

You've listed the squad CBs & strikers, but not the available ones. Currently we have 1 CB just back from injury (& it shows!), plus a RB who, as mentioned by Infidel, is most definitely not a PL-quality CB. Indeed he struggled in the Championship at CB. Almost every time, in fact! We also have only 1 striker in the form of Gelhardt. You mention Roberts, but that's another story. Even Bielsa plays a kid in front of him up top.

We have no midfielders, you say. Really?

So, how many midfielders have we got for the DM & 2x CMs? Using your format of player's positional capability, we have Koch, Forshaw, & Klich available, who have all played DM. Can't remember if Dallas has, so won't include him. For the 2 other slots, again using your format, we have Forshaw, Klich, Roberts, Greenwood, & Dallas available. 5 of them. Not none.

 

We have no midfielders who are good enough is probably what he means.

Hindsight is great but we’ve spent big money poorly. It’s okay saying Firpo will hopefully come good, the fact is he cost a lot of money for a LB and he can’t even do the basics. It’s not like he looks rusty he’s just completely lost.

Rodrigo was signed to play……….. Fill in the dots as nobody seems to know, if he’s back up for Bamford he doesn’t do the donkey work Bamford does and he misses as many if not more chances and he’s useless at 10.

Harrison is just poor, he was good in the Championship but he still had lots of very below par outings, if we were looking at James then why activate the £15m purchase clause. James himself is a lot of money and if he is an upgrade on Harrison why are we playing him as a striker.

Augustin probably the worst signing in our history, okay we’re appealing it in court but come on, we’re in the wrong, we are not winning that case.

I truly feel sorry for Radz, those four alone cost over £85m and we’ve got zero return on them. I’m hopeful James will come good when he has an extended run and played in his rightful position but I’d be very cautious throwing more money at it.

 

The question I answered was about transfers in and out of the club in January. You said centre backs and centre forwards were "exactly what is needed".

I think we have the right quality at centre back with Llorente, Koch and Struijk all PL quality. The other players mentioned are all capable of filling in that role. Unfortunately we have unprecedented injuries in that department but some are short term so I wouldn't panic and spend in that area.

You rightly mention the amount of midfielders we have but it's this area that we really seem to lack quality and it's been a problem all season. Even when everyone is fully fit (which hasn't happened once in midfield this season) we still lack a #10. A ball playing midfielder. Out of all midfielders only Phillips and Forshaw have done OK this season. The rest have been a massive let down. This is an area we need one more to start and another to back up without a drop in quality. You rightly state we are OK for DM. I agree. I want a #8 and a #10 in. I.e ball playing midfielders.

If we buy a striker then whatever our budget is (it isn't much) will be gone on a player who won't play when Bamford returns in 4 weeks time. No point buying strikers if we can't play the ball through the middle.

Like Bielsa states over and over again.... the players coming in have to be better than the ones we have. I think, even in a January window, we could source an upgrade on Roberts/Rodrigo and Klich on their performances this season.

 

We never replaced Pablo yet when we had him we were all still crying out for another midfielder back then.

This season we signed Firpo, we needed a LB so okay, someone or more than one got the quality wrong but we needed one. We activated the purchase clause for Harrison and also signed James, over £42m worth on two left wingers whilst ignoring midfield. Not to mention we signed Firpo for LB leaving Dallas (another left winger) spare and we also had Costa and Poveda available. No our transfer activity has been truly ****

 

The James transfer confused me. I don't mind having 4 wingers as they can be hit and miss form wise but spending 25 million on another winger when we were screaming out for a Klich replacement was confusing. I kind of give it a pass at the time as Bielsa had picked him out early in his time here and trusted he could turn him in to something. So far James hasn't really added anything.

Firpo has started to look decent going forward. He runs some really good lines in between defenders and he is probably the only one over the last 3 games to actually get in behind the full back. However, defensively he looks all over the place. I hope it's just a bit of settling in to a faster league, a couple of injuries and covid but yeah, so far a complete flop.

I'll tell you what is an option. Get Berardi in on a 6 month contract. He is free, knows the system, will fight for us and maybe give the squad a boost. Might sound daft but he would have been a stronger option off the bench yesterday.

 

I never wanted us to sign harrison. Never saw rodrigo before we signed him but feel the same now. As for the midfield i have been wanting two for three seasons.
Said all along bielsa is not the messiah and got shot down for it. He never learns from his mistakes because his mind will not allow it. He put summerville on yesterday as even i could have predicted. Yet everyone could see we needed to start with a better midfield. Sorry but he will be leaving and i for one will welcome a new manager and players. Oh and rads needs ti move along too and take Orta with him before he signs any more dross.

 

Ben Brereton scored twice yesterday...19 goals in 24 appearances this season.

 

Berardi is a great call, but is he still turning it on? I have no idea. Proper googly that!

 

Did you not see him at the club or were you away. He visited couple of weeks back.

 

Do a swapfor rodrigo plus some cash.......... From us.

 

Still in middle of Atlantic. Not home until Jan 6th.

 

If you had gone on a proper cruise liner instead of rowing yourself, I'm sure you would be home sooner