Over the course of the season, a pretty clear first eleven has become apparent : Lloris, Rose, Vertonghen, Alderweireld, Walker, Dier, Dembele, Alli, Eriksen, Lamella, Kane. It's also become clear, that that's a pretty bloody good first x1, with at least two players (Toby and Moussa) who would get in any team in the league, a few others who could get to that standard (Rose, Dier, Alli, Kane), and with no player really being below a standard that you'd describe as 'very good'. We've also taken pride in how other players have been able to fill in and do a job, and in how our second string looks decent in its own right : Vorm, Davies, Wimmer, (CCV), Trippier, Bentaleb, Mason, Carroll, Son/Njie, Onamah, Chadli Players like Trippier, Davies, Mason, Carroll, Son, Onamah (who must be another great talent) and Chadli, have looked far from out of place in the less difficult prem and europe ties, and Wimmer has done a good job against allcomers. But we've also found out, with games such as those against Dortmund, that a team containing any of our second string, is no match for Europe's heavyweights, or even middleweights. So how do you see this second string fitting in next season, when in all likelyhood we will be competing against the top clubs in he Champions' League, and against stronger opposition at home ? Can we compete with these guys in our squad, or do we need to try to make an upgrade on as many as we can ?
I said a couple of weeks back that it looks likely that we'll be overhauling our central midfield this summer, something which looks more likely given Youri Tielmans and now Domingos Quina continue to be linked with us - and this certainly points to Tom Carroll's future at the club being a very short one (especially since he is out of contract in June) Of the second string you listed, Wimmer was obviously signed as a long-term prospect and he appears to be well on the way to achieving this, while Son also appears to have been signed for this reason and was showing signs of this prior to his injury (although he definitely needs to regain his form and confidence over the summer), and arguably Davies fits into this category - and it appears CCV and Onomah fit into this category too. Chadli is a conundrum, though: on the one hand he knows where the net is and has been an effective weapon coming in from the left, but on the other hand he doesn't have the all-round game to fit into Poch's system, similar to Clint Dempsey in AVB's first season - yet if we sell him no doubt we'll be reading articles saying how we were mad to sell him, similar to ones that pop up every time Sigurdsson scores for Swansea.
We've got to be very careful about disrupting the "team". This is a very difficult balance and hard to quantify. Basically it means that you don't necessarily get the best team by filling it with the most expensive individuals (as shown by us and Leicester this year). In fact our squad is so "together" that there is almost a risk that someone being brought in might be seen as an outsider! For this reason it is almost as important to buy players based on their personality (ability to fit in) as ability. Therefore lets be very careful before we get rid of anyone that we already know fits in. On a slight tangent, this is also one of the reasons why next year's PL is by no means as decided as the pundits believe, who seem to think that the usual suspects will just load up with a batch of superstars. There is no guarantee that those superstars can make a team (even if available, even if wanting to go to non-CL clubs (!), and even if they are able to cope with the PL).
I think he may have reached the end of the line. At best, he stays and he'll have to battle Pritchard as well as Eriksen. At worst he gets someone like Lorenzo Insigne coming in as well. He's 26 and he's not going to get much better than he is now. If we intend to follow Dortmund then Chadli is not up to it. There's lots of money in the league next season and he'd bring in a decent fee. I'd like to see what M.Pochettino and Paul Mitchell can do with a decent transfer kitty and looking at the players we could upgrade upon, Chadli's name comes second or third after Fazio.
So who are the 'outs' then ? : Fazio OUT Yedlin OUT Bentaleb OUT Chadli OUT Carroll KEEP Mason KEEP Son KEEP NJE OBVIOUSLY KEEP Vorm OBVIOUSLY KEEP Davies OBVIOUSLY KEEP Trippier OBVIOUSLY KEEP Wimmer OBVIOUSLY KEEP Onamah OBVIOUSLY KEEP ?
Interesting. I'd be very surprised and disappointed if it was Wimmer or Onomah. The fullbacks also seem fairly unlikely. Vorm or N'Jie? I'd go with the keeper, I think. Too hard to assess the forward, due to injuries.
I've heard a couple of people questioning Vorm before. He's always looked alright to me from what little i've seen. Don't know what we expect for a back up keeper ??
He might actually want to play a bit, though. Not likely with Lloris in the side. I think that Vorm's a good goalkeeper, but I don't think that he's very well suited to being backup. He needs a run of games to get the best out of him and normally looks a bit off when he hasn't played for a while. Probably been a bit spoiled by the likes of Friedel and Cudicini though, to be honest.
Hmmmm. Josh Onomah on loan? Would make a good deal of sense to get him more regular football. Michel Vorm may want more game time? Clinton N'Jie? Has his bus left? If there is an obvious area for improvement from this wonderful season, it's that we haven't turned our excellent play into goals in quite a lot of games: Everton (H) - 0 v 0 Liverpool (H) - 0 v 0 Arsenal (A) - 1 v 1 Chelsea (H) - 0 v 0 W Brom (A) - 1 v 1 Newcastle (H) 1 v 2 Everton (A) 1 v 1 Leicester (H) 0 v 1 We could have won all of these games. We played well enough to have won all of them. If we had, that's 18 points. On the grounds that the usual names will improve next season, so must we to stay ahead of them. So where are the goals coming from? We could purchase the additional striker(s) we need and play Harry just behind or as a 2 up front. It doesn't look like Clinton is a great goal threat. I think that diminishes Clinton's opportunities even more than is already the case and I feel that he is not a CL club option.It's a shame but we've made an enormous leap forward as a team and not everyone will keep pace.
N'Jie is probably safe as he qualifies as our Plan B - as he offers an injection of pace from the bench against tiring defenders.
It'll be Vorm surely, and none of us would be surprised. We'll look for a backup keeper who is not in the prime years of his career surely. I always thought we signed Vorm because we thought Lloris was nearly gone and it just never quite worked out that way...
There will be incoming I hope, at least in the form of cover to the standard of Dier, Kane and Toby. Losing one of these 3 to injury would wreck us. No one in our second string can currently do this. Edit: On the subject of goalkeepers, a young up and comer - maybe from down the leagues? I can imagine training/playing with Hugo would be a draw.
The fact that nothing seems to have happened re Tom carroll's contract, probably means you can add him to the out list. Mason and son will need to pick up their performances next season too, both have been relatively poor.
I'm a bit surprised how quickly people are writing off Bentaleb or expecting that he'll leave. Last year I remember a thread about who should be our captain and I remember his name coming to mind for myself and a few others, at least for in the future. Of course if he's fallen out with the coaching team or is out of favour for non-ability-related issues then it doesn't matter how good he is and he'll be off. But if he's fully fit and on board with Poch's ideas then I wouldn't be at all astounded if, due to an injury or a suspension or the Europa League next year, he gets a couple of games and starts to look undroppable, as quite a few players have done this year - Wimmer being just the latest example. I know he's not a like-for-like replacement for either Dembele or Dier but he could still have a lot to offer and I just hope that people are reading too much into his current distance from a very successful, very settled and fit first team after missing most of a season through injury. I can only assume that Poch's continual use of Carroll is because he's not yet made his mind up on him. If he's like me it'll be some years yet and unfortunately he only has 7 more games, none of which Tom'll start, to assess him further. Think that means he may well be off. Fazio HAS to go. In fact I think he's the only one. I've never been a fan of Chadli but wouldn't be overly disappointed if we keep him - he adds something as a sub.
Interestingly, physio room currently lists Nabil as out due to a "knock" with an unknown return date.
I'm happy with the second string and don't think many of them need to go, it's a strong group of players who could hold their own in the Prem but the problem was we played a number of them against one of the best teams in world football which I think has caused some fans to doubt their ability, ultimately our first team would've struggled against them out there away from home - as any side in Europe would. Providing no major hiccups, in the Champions League next season we'll be playing our strongest XI, teams don't really rotate in that like they do in the Europa unless they've qualified early in the group stages but I think you can expect to see 11 changes when it comes to domestic cups. Vorm - Would like to keep but is too good for the bench Tripps - Definitely keep Wimmer - Most definitely keep CCV - Definitely keep Davies - Definitely keep Mason - Keep, been below par season but had a number of injuries, proved last season he's a very useful player. Nabs - Tough call, injuries and loss of form have thrown him well done the pecking order, still one of the best young CM's in the Prem but it's hard to find a place for him at the moment, would happily keep but not sure what his mindset is like, he may want a move. N'Jie - Keep, needs a pre-season with the club, if he can produce more moments like he did when he span Kolarov and crossed for Lamela then he'll be a tasty player and one not to automatically presume as being a back up, could surprise a few in 2016/17 in my opinion. Carroll - Release Chadli - Keep Son - Keep, needs a pre-season with the club. Showed great promise in early weeks but post-injury has been pretty ****. Of the youngsters in and around the first team squad: Onomah - Definitely keep, should take Carroll's squad role next season. Winks - Loan KWP - Loan Oduwa - Loan Harrison - Loan once a striker is signed! McGee - Loan even if Vorm is sold unless Poch sees him as being good enough as the number two.
I agree that Vorm is likely to be on his way. Beyond him and Fazio there aren't many players who I'd like to see the back of. Yedlin - guilty of being in the wrong place at the wrong time. He's starting regularly for Sunderland and hasn't been doing too badly for such a young player caught in a relegation battle. We're well stocked at RB but I think another season out on loan to really assess him. Maybe he could be pushed further forward as more of a winger? Bentaleb - The tea leaves don't read too well for the lad at the moment. Perhaps the only aspect of Poch's style that I'm not so comfortable with is his apparent ruthlessness. He demands absolute commitment and loyalty from the players, and it seems one mistake or slip-up (cf. Townsend) and that's very much it as far as he's concerned. There was an article on the Beeb this morning that described his personality in this way. I'd only be happy seeing Nabs leave if we invest the money in proper cover for Dier. Mason - he has struggled with injuries this season. I think he fits the team better than Nabil because he is better as an Alli-type box to box midfielder. He gives 100% every tackle and clearly has an eye for a pass/shot. If Tommy leaves I think it's essential that Mason stays. Carroll - I've seen enough from him to convince me that he should stay, but he'll never be good enough to hold down a place and I get the feeling that he'll leave in search of regular football. He's going on 24 in May (he's hoping to hit puberty in a decade or two) so it makes sense to leave now. Njie - Definitely keep. Impossible to be drawing conclusions from the 45 minutes of football we've seen from him so far. Chadli - Never underestimate a player who can come off the bench and score. I felt that we did just that when we sold Defoe. Let's not make the same mistake twice, especially for a player who didn't cost all that much. So for me: Fazio - OUT Vorm - OUT Carroll - OUT Bentaleb - OUT IN New Striker Cover for Dier Cover at CB Back-up GK
Mark Warburton's apparently keen in loaning him next season: http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/sport/football/football-news/rangers-boss-mark-warburton-back-7587223
