30 Jul 2024 14:25:30
My feeling as we head into August is that the plan may now be to keep SVDB rather than fork out £50M on a Centre Half, the difficulty will be convincing Sepp he will get enough playing time. After seeing his post game interview following the Betis game, I think he wants to stay, but is not content to sit around picking up a big paycheck for doing nothing.
He may have to settle for Carling Cup starts for now and see how the season pans out with regards to others getting injured/ suspended.
As for DM, Endo will battle/ rotate with Bajcetic, Morton and Nyoni may have pushed his name into the mix also. I would anticipate they will buy a player but I'm not overly concerned if they don't.
I still think the club need an RW to back up and eventually replace Salah. I'm not sold on Doak at this point and a loan move may be in his best interest. Harvey Elliott is an enigma but I'm not sure where he Slots in. Most players linked seem to be predominantly Left sided wingers, so I'm not sure what the plan is Szoboslai perhaps?
30 Jul 2024 14:36:55
We were weak in midfield last season and if we’re not bringing a top class defensively minded centre midfielder then we’ll be weak in midfield again. I am not expecting us to challenge for the title, 4th place or 3rd is about as high as we’ll get.
30 Jul 2024 15:24:52
On a previous post you said we would get nowhere near the top four. Make up your mind.
30 Jul 2024 15:31:25
It's a fluid situation, Endo-san.
30 Jul 2024 15:42:43
Midfield wasn’t the issue last season.
30 Jul 2024 16:40:55
Probably fair to say the consistency in midfield in the last third of the season was one of the issues @Drogie.
30 Jul 2024 17:44:54
Good post AK.
I think the main issue last season was we had a management team who had checked out so as soon as the momentum stalled nobody knew how to get us back in gear.
Individually I don’t think we have very many weak players. I wasn’t impressed with how much Endo struggled with the quick passing against Betis the other night. So I think it’s fair to say it makes sense why we want a midfielder. Other than that I think our squad is great and I’d just like to see Diaz go (mostly because he didn’t silence his Dad) and be replaced by Gordon who can play LW/ CF/ RW and more importantly actually wants to play for us and sees our club as the pinnacle, not a stepping stone to Barcelona. Anything else though is a luxury far as I’m concerned. A left footed CB and maybe a new 3rd keeper would be nice but I reckon we’ll cope without them.
The drama isn’t necessary. There’s plenty of time left in the window and anybody who signs will be coming in to start pre-season with what is basically our best XI anyway as they all return from their international tournaments around the world.
30 Jul 2024 18:08:42
Drogie. Behave, the midfield was a huge issue. Jones, Gravenberch and Szoboszlai were weak and inconsistent. Mac and Endo were good but again were bypassed in certain games. VV is right the midfield was a huge problem.
30 Jul 2024 20:40:14
Midfield solidity was an issue last season. We need a world class DM. Not sure why we sit on issues like this instead of getting on with buying someone.
30 Jul 2024 21:49:21
Rubbish. Do you actually go to the games?
31 Jul 2024 10:47:41
The way we were playing was a bigger problem, IMO.
31 Jul 2024 13:03:22
The midfield was so easily by passed at times last season. A player of Fabinhos when be bought him quality in there last season would have helped a great deal.
The strikers not scoring was a massive blow but every team seemed capable of scoring against us….
Ali saved us so many times
Need atleast 3 fresh players brought in. A new CB and DM are a must for me. Otherwise we’ll be out of champs league in group stages easily.