I think Emu was just pointing out that Pablo doesnt have a natural replacement yet. Roberts has had enough chances at it and failed to deliver and Rodrigo is a striker who is able to cover there but that still leaves us lacking if Bamford fires blanks or gets injured as he can do?
The new signing needs a nickname, you can't rhyme anything in a terrace chant with Raphinha. He seems to average a consistent goal every 4 games, which bodes well. Like Costa though, he could do with a few pies.
I hope/think we have enough goal scorers in the team now, as long as others chip in, Bamford will continue to look good.
We've got Raphinha or Poveda who could both be moulded by Bielsa into a no.10. I'd say our weak point is the position of backup keeper. Wouldn't like to see any of the current ones thrown in as they're too young and inexperienced imo.
Will we get away with chanting about Ribena and Raphnha But lets be honest Elland had 4 goes at giving him a new name in the original post
Costa doesnt track back or doesn't know how to tackle, so maybe the new lad, who apparently does those things, is going to be on the right, to give Ayling more protection and Costa who is adept with both feet will be moved into the 10, he would probably look better given a freer role.
Like Doc says. It's not the players, just the position. Hernandez is good enough but has started missing games more regularly. That's to be expected at 35. We have to manage him wisely. Rodrigo has done well there but I feel he would be even better further forward. We don't want to waste him if he can improve the team elsewhere. Question marks over Roberts. Personal opinion is that he is a striker and can't play at this level in midfield. The game moves too fast for him. For me, he is fighting with Greenwood, Gelhardt for third choice striker behind Rodrigo and Bamford. Cantwell seems to tick alot of boxes. So did Kent. If we get another in I hope its Cantwell.
I wouldn't play Costa in there. Too lightweight and lacks the guile of Hernandez to get away with it. You feckers will laugh at this but Alioski at #10 would be better than Roberts at the moment until we get someone in or get Rodrigo Bielsa fit. Alioski has an eye for goal, works back tirelessly and knows the team. He looked good off the bench the other week in there. Just saying that surely identities the need for someone new.
If we can get Benrahma in for a reasonable price he'd be my choice out of those mentioned. Question marks about his attitude and whether he's too flash etc. but if we only signed players who weren't up themselves we'd sign hardly anyone.
I don't think we'll spend anymore now, we're up to the limit Kinnear said we had to spend, not sure if what we need would be the quality any loan would bring in from the EFL
There is still the possiblity of players like Danny Rose having their contracts cancelled and becoming a free agent. Not that I would want him...but as he's in his final year perhaps can we finally put to bed the sell on clause nonsense that we've never benefited from
OK Emu if you are bidding Alioski in a big wig and false red nose in the middle, I will throw in free agent Jack Wilshire on a pay as you play
Bamford has played well for months and chipped in with goals. I'm really looking forward to him linking up with Rodrigo and the new winger supplying the ammunition
Raphinha is another quality signing, but we do seem overloaded with wingers don’t you think? Maybe Pep has informed Bielsa that Harrison is not for sale end of this season ......... just have to wait and see. I see the odds are now 6/1 to make top six, and I really do think that is possible.
I'm still not convinced that we need a #10. I'm not even convinced that we play with a #10! There's a lot of talk about us needing Pablo's replacement - i.e. a #10. Yet when was the last time Pablo started in the middle? Bielsa has always preferred him on the wing, only moving him into the middle if Roberts or his like was hooked. If you look at our playing style, we largely focus on the wings for creativity. KP & the CBs feed them. When we do play through the middle, it's usually through picking up scraps by tackles/interceptions, or by fast triangle passing - not by most of our play passing through any one player. Thoughts?
Exactly WJ, Hernandez had a free role l thought in some games .... He seemed to be available in space, pick the ball up, run at a defence or dink a nice killer ball into the box very similar to what Jonny Giles did. One thing is for certain is that Bielsa is not in the PL to make the numbers up.
pablo was a winger who became 'adaptable' when he lost his pace - it's also quite common now to play wide men who aren't traditional wingers - and who drift inside to pick up space, rather than start as a 10 and be marked by a dm. I think cantwell does this for norwich So I take your point about whether we play with a '10'... but we play with klich who is an attacking midfielder, two wingers a striker and 'one other'... who cares what it's called, but it's a playmaker role. I presume the idea is raphina can do this, rodrigo 'can' do this. People think Roberts can't. It's why MB wants lots of options. Last weekend we had one guy out and it meant alioski starting. what we're missing in terms of ideal squad balance - note i'm saying 'ideal' not complaining, in my view is: - replacement for foreshaw/cover for klich - 'safe hand' keeper - left back (dallas has been great, but left footed left back would be good - unless they think davis will be PL standard)
Free role? Good point. Never thought of it in those terms. Just remembered that one major feature of our centre mids is that they are required to move to either wing to add to the overload. And it's successful.
What I saw last week against City when Rodrigo came on we looked more like a 3-5-2 because a couple of times Bamford and Rodrigo were next to each other and almost challenging for the same ball. We saw Rodrigo attack from the 8 spot and also from the 10 spot, but he was johnny on the spot for the goal, for the header tipped onto the bar and when he attacked and hit the keepers right post. i take WJs point because its a subtle 10 and if its true that Bielsa raves about Kent what does he do for Rangers? It was said Benrhama was at the top of Bielsa’s list when the window opened and again he does most of his work from the left side to in, Cantwell same from the right but Buendia is a solid number 10;only?
Largely agree with you, but for me, #10 & playmaker are synonymous terms. It's a heavy feature in a lot of teams, but not with us imo. The very fact that we're signing so many wingers underlines the importance of the 'overload the wings' strategy we play game after game. Our distribution mostly comes from the back & our playmaking from the wings!
