The defence needs major surgery, imagine if ENIC miraculously made £130m available and went out and got Porro, Bastoni and Gvardiol.....yeh I know, pure fantasy, but we can dream. As it stands, Royal, Sanchez and Tanganga need to leave and Dier should not be first choice, he is a utility defender and should be kept as a squad player for his versatility. New RWB, Doherty, Spence Romero, New RCB New CB, Dier New LCB / Lenglet, Davies Peresic, Sessegnon, Doherty Realistically this squad also needs another forward and attack minded midfielder, so it could cost up to £200m (depending on who can be got and at what prices) to build a capable squad. I think we all know that is not happening under the misery of ENIC.
And that is now a war. Remember these two were dynamite at Dynamo Kiev smashing Arsenal at Highbury, a superb Ukraine Kane & Son
There have been 8 Russian players in the Premier League. Small sample, really. 4 of the 8 were forwards: Arshavin, Pavlyuchenko, Kanchelskis and Pogrebnyak. I'd say that one of them didn't work out. The others either did well or very well.
I hope that isn't the case, because Rebrov never came to terms with England, although some might argue that Graham misused him.
His goals highlights package is superb scored some absolute crackers for us and I would put him above 75% of our signings in the last few seasons.
I've been wanting to say he's just in dreadful form but it feels like this is *too* long of a bad patch. I said on yesterday's thread I'm really worried he could be on the turn. Gutted if so, love Sonny, but this just feels different to his usual seasonal inconsistency, looks like he's lost a yard of pace, his finishing (or lack of) is woeful and his general play just seems off. Style of football isn't helping but I thought he was dreadful for Korea too, was hoping that was gonna spark him back into life but his performance yesterday was no different to his form pre-World Cup. First time I've genuinely worried about either he or Kane.
If you believe the latest rumours, Levy has told Conte there is not much money being made available for transfers, pinch of salt of course but I would be staggered if a savvy businessman like Levy did not strengthen the squad significantly in January, given that qualifying for the CL gravy train again will not be easy in the slightest, even more so with how our competitors will be (some are already) strengthening their squads. Levy is a master of pulling the wool over the fan`s eyes, he is very clever, so what better way to get fans on side by declaring a limited budget, only to then make a big signing or two, thus giving the impression the club has gone the extra mile to back the manager, which subsequently keeps the fans off Levy`s back for a while longer. If everybody is expecting a quiet window and a big signing suddenly arrives, it creates some excitement and good feeling for a while. He never misses a trick old Blofeld.
The freekick vs Kazan still lives in my memory, absolute thunderbolt. Excluding Defoe's return in 2009, he may well have been the last successful striker signing we made too. Crouch obviously provided *that* goal so you could argue he covered his fee alone but other than that wasn't really a regular goal scorer. Ade on loan was great, once we signed him permanently he went to pot. Soldado was woeful. Janssen was woeful. Llorente was underused. Vinigoal on loan was underused. Richarlison so far has barely been a £6m worthy signing, let alone a £60m one.
Have we ever played him as a striker? His two goals against Marseille have probably been worth a few quid, too.
Whether we have £300m or £30m to work with, as long as Paratici's here and in charge of the signings I have full confidence in him to deliver.
Which will inevitably result in Kane "having a rest" at key points during the season. Then he'll come back early, be chucked straight back in and play ****, as is tradition.
His performances for Brazil as the main striker certainly support this and I'd presumed he was initially signed to primarily be a back up to Kane with one eye on becoming his long term replacement if/when the latter leaves and if the former proves to be more prolific in a better team than Everton. Since then, Conte has insisted on playing him as a wide forward, and usually on his weaker flank so as to accommodate a piss poor Son on the other.
The lingering worry with Son is that he doesn't have the skill set that is adaptable to different stages of his career. His game has always been about using his electric pace and close control to get him into shooting positions, at which point his accuracy with either foot is devastating. The risk has always been that there will come a time when he will lose half a yard of pace and a split second of mental sharpness, and his game will inevitably start to unravel. I personally don't think we've hit that time just yet as it is uncommon in the extreme to see such a sharp decline from one season to the next - we're talking about a guy who as recently as May was playing superbly and returned 6 goals in our last 5 games of the season. Fast forward barely 3 months to August and he is suddenly on par with vintage 2022 Vardy? I don't buy that. Fwiw I don't think that time is far off and at the moment we are wasting what precious few months if not years we have of peak Son with a tactical approach that stifles his game. HBIC's analysis is really helpful imo as it highlights how the projected evolution of our WB system essentially bypasses So entirely. In fact one of the main reasons Kulu is so productive is that whoever he is partnered with on that flank is so ****e they just give him the ball on demand. Perisic isn't like that at all, possessing a fiendish cross and the ability to beat his man with ease. That plus our negative tactics have left Son in something of a tactical no man's land and unlike Kane, it is clear that he doesn't have the raw talent or reading of the game to adapt year on year. It serves to highlight what a remarkable player Kane actually is - very few players are able to adapt their entire game to new tactical systems. This doesn't absolve Son of blame btw, I think his confidence is shattered and Conte isn't helping matters at all with his preferred approach.
