19 Jan 2018 10:49:21
Fair point ed001 and thanks for the response.

I have only seen seri once and was impressed but agree his passes were unproductive. But that was not his role. He was there to protect.

As a player protecting the back line he was brilliant imo and I feel he would do wonders for our defense and my thoughts are that is what we are missing.

As for lemar, I agree it is knee jerk and I would like to see him again.

But to pay 90m on a young kid with little experience is not the best way to spend our barcelona loot.

We can't afford to buy potential where we are at the moment. By the time he has matured, salah will be in Madrid, mane at Barcelona and firmino killed in a freak dental accident (hypothetically speaking) .

And then the building starts again.

Imo it is the most important purchase we are about to make since Torres left.

Now, people like yourself understand what is out there far better than I do hence why this site is so great. l and why i shall watch lemar again.

{Ed001's Note - brilliant? Whenever I have seen Seri he has shown no ability to protect a back line at all, he was wandering off, ball watching and offered little. He is seen as a playmaker, so I disagree completely with your assessment of his role. He is there to create, not destroy. Like I said though, I would want to watch more of him before I judge him. I have heard lots of scouts and managers say they can tell quickly whether a player is any good or not but that is just cack. Complete cack. You simply can't tell because you need to see them against different opponents and facing different styles of play to really judge them properly. Twentyman used to watch the players he recommended over and over before he would make a recommendation. He also would speak to fans of the team, staff, friends, family etc to try and get a full picture. Sadly that art seems to be dying in favour of watching a few youtube clips etc to make a judgement!

Sorry gone off on a complete tangent there, it is just a pet hate of mine that people make snap judgements on players. There is so much you need to take into account as well when judging them, for instance are they playing their 10th match in a row or is it their first for a while? A misplaced pass could be down to being a bit rusty, or not knowing his teammates well or he could just not be a very good passer. There are so many variables it is impossible to really be 100% on anyone even when you have seen a lot of them.

As for Lemar, he is far more than potential, last season his actual was amongst the best midfielders in Europe, which is what we should be looking to buy.}

1.) 19 Jan 2018
19 Jan 2018 11:09:50
Geez Ed01, longest response I think I've ever seen from you. Quiet day at the office?

{Ed001's Note - quite the opposite mate, really busy I just got carried away!}

2.) 19 Jan 2018
19 Jan 2018 11:11:16
Lemar or a player in that mould is our need not a luxuary. If you want someone to protect and pick a pass then it need to be better than Seri ( what you claim we need to buy readymade ) Then watch Jorginho or Rabiot. Best players in that role. I don’t know about the interest but those are the players that will walk through out first team!

3.) 19 Jan 2018
19 Jan 2018 11:26:36
Lemar stats last season were great. Got 15 goals and 17 assists. Think he would do very good in a team like ours with the front three we have. Agree with the ed he's a lot more than just potential.

4.) 19 Jan 2018
19 Jan 2018 11:27:22
Ed01, are there many ‘destroyers’ left in the game?
Kante has been the stand out one for a few seasons

If you had to pick a player for protecting the back line who would it be?

{Ed001's Note - Ndidi, there is also Nampalys Mendy of Leicester and Amartey.}

5.) 19 Jan 2018
19 Jan 2018 11:40:52
I have not seen enough of these players play to say if they are a need or a luxury tho I saw Jorginho play once and he was quality BUT that does not mean anything as you need to see them play over and over again before I can say if they are good enough. I'll leave all that to the scouting dept.

6.) 19 Jan 2018
19 Jan 2018 11:59:31
Please not Seri.

Lemar definitely!