How was it for you

Disconosebleed · Sep 1, 2017

Pretty, pretty, pretttttttttyyyy good. Going into the window we probably needed a centre back, a striker and an attacking mid. We then lost Walker and Wimmer, so we needed a right back and an additional centre back.

We got the centre back, Davinson Sanchez. I'm not going to pretend I've seen a huge amount of him, but what I have seen of him has been very impressive. He is pretty much the textbook Pochettino signing - a young player who is is already good enough to start, but has huge scope for improvement. He also offers the pace we lack in the defence, which should be a big plus. If things go according to plan, he is both the present and the future of our club.

We got the striker, Fernando Llorente. Is he the ideal signing? Probably not - he's ageing and he's not very mobile. But he's a good player, he scores goals, he knows the league and he's happy to play a squad role. He might not be an exciting signing, but he could be just what we need.

We replaced Walker with Serge Aurier. The transfer is done now, so there is no point focusing on whether or not we should have signed him on a moral basis. What we do know is that he's a very good full back in the Walker mould, and we've got him for a knockdown price. From a purely football point of view, as long as he gets his head down and doesn't disrupt the team spirit, it could be a very good signing indeed.

We replaced Wimmer (and/or Carter-Vickers) with Juan Foyth. Literally no idea about him, but he's been signed for the future and, with four centre backs in front of him and a team capable of playing with three or four at the back, if he isn't immediately up to scratch then it shouldn't cause us any hassle. A calculated punt on potential.

We also signed Paulo Gazzaniga, who will presumably take Lopez's place as the insurance policy - if Lloris gets injured we have Vorm, if he gets injured then you would hope that Whiteman would get a go, but if they don't see enough in Whiteman yet, then we've got a more experienced, cheap option there if needed.

So all we missed out on is the attacking midfielder. Is it a big miss? Depends. We have two attacking midfield roles to fill, and currently have Eriksen, Alli and Son to fill them, which isn't really enough over a potential sixty game season But we do also have Lamela at least on the horizon, and while he's been out a very long time, we have to remember just how well he was playing before the injury. We also have Nkoudou as a limited but potentially effective pace option and Sissoko who, dog shit as he was last year, hasn't done terribly since the summer.

So yeah...it wasn't perfect, and with only one attacking addition - and a 32 year old at that - it wasn't very exciting. But I think the squad as a whole has been significantly improved. We should be reasonably happy. We're no longer in a position where an injury to any one of three or four players will completely derail our season.

14/04/91 · Sep 1, 2017

8/10

Assuming Barkley signs in Jan, then imo the only change I'd like to see is an upgrade on Sissoko.
And if Lamela comes back 100% even that isn't a necessity.

JollyHappy · Sep 1, 2017

If we'd have done all this business before the start of the season I'd rate it at 9/10. As it is 7/10 as I think starting with Tripper injured has cost us some points

JimmyG2 · Sep 1, 2017

So the earth hasn't moved yet
for anyone except oohaahedgar
Disconosebleed felt something
but probably just indigestion
On the positive side
no-one's clutching wildly at the Viagra.

Neon_Knight_ · Sep 2, 2017

oohaahedgar said:
9/10, as good as we could expect. We've swapped a 29 year old fast talented right back for a 24 year old fast talented right back who many seem to think is an upgrade in ability as well.

We have also added winners, people who have won trophies. Llorente is in my opinion the perfect player for us, I think it also gives us the options to play him at 9 and Kane at 10 for the odd game as well as being an impact sub and something different to what we have and to give Harry a break when needed.

And we've bought one of the best young defenders in world football who is fast and can play in a back 3 and as back up for Toby and Jan. By all accounts a really good strong personality as well.

And we kept all of our players apart from KW.

And we will probably get Barkley or at least have money for an addition or two in January. I'm not sure what people expect if they don't think this was a very good window. Very astute buys.

Walker is 27, not 29!

Neon_Knight_ · Sep 2, 2017

Disconosebleed said:
Pretty, pretty, pretttttttttyyyy good. Going into the window we probably needed a centre back, a striker and an attacking mid. We then lost Walker and Wimmer, so we needed a right back and an additional centre back.

We got the centre back, Davinson Sanchez. I'm not going to pretend I've seen a huge amount of him, but what I have seen of him has been very impressive. He is pretty much the textbook Pochettino signing - a young player who is is already good enough to start, but has huge scope for improvement. He also offers the pace we lack in the defence, which should be a big plus. If things go according to plan, he is both the present and the future of our club.

We got the striker, Fernando Llorente. Is he the ideal signing? Probably not - he's ageing and he's not very mobile. But he's a good player, he scores goals, he knows the league and he's happy to play a squad role. He might not be an exciting signing, but he could be just what we need.

We replaced Walker with Serge Aurier. The transfer is done now, so there is no point focusing on whether or not we should have signed him on a moral basis. What we do know is that he's a very good full back in the Walker mould, and we've got him for a knockdown price. From a purely football point of view, as long as he gets his head down and doesn't disrupt the team spirit, it could be a very good signing indeed.

We replaced Wimmer (and/or Carter-Vickers) with Juan Foyth. Literally no idea about him, but he's been signed for the future and, with four centre backs in front of him and a team capable of playing with three or four at the back, if he isn't immediately up to scratch then it shouldn't cause us any hassle. A calculated punt on potential.

We also signed Paulo Gazzaniga, who will presumably take Lopez's place as the insurance policy - if Lloris gets injured we have Vorm, if he gets injured then you would hope that Whiteman would get a go, but if they don't see enough in Whiteman yet, then we've got a more experienced, cheap option there if needed.

So all we missed out on is the attacking midfielder. Is it a big miss? Depends. We have two attacking midfield roles to fill, and currently have Eriksen, Alli and Son to fill them, which isn't really enough over a potential sixty game season But we do also have Lamela at least on the horizon, and while he's been out a very long time, we have to remember just how well he was playing before the injury. We also have Nkoudou as a limited but potentially effective pace option and Sissoko who, dog shit as he was last year, hasn't done terribly since the summer.

So yeah...it wasn't perfect, and with only one attacking addition - and a 32 year old at that - it wasn't very exciting. But I think the squad as a whole has been significantly improved. We should be reasonably happy. We're no longer in a position where an injury to any one of three or four players will completely derail our season.

Nice summary. I'd add that the signing of Sanchez has freed up Dier to play in CM more often, which adds depth there, as well as strengthening our defence. We can now play 3-2-3-1, without any weak links, even if Wanyama, Dier or one of our main CBs is injured.

Neon_Knight_ · Sep 2, 2017

Compared to some of our rivals, we had a great window.

I was concerned that, by leaving everything so late, we would be priced out of the market. Many of the other clubs paid well over the odds for average-decent players simply because a few other massive deals had already gone through (e.g. Neymar & Lukaku). We did well to keep things sensible, whilst also improving our squad.

Chelsea replaced Matic and Costa, who were both key to their last two PL titles, with Bakayoko and Morata. The new guys are both good players and younger than their predecessors, but I think they are downgrades in the short-term, despite being signed as starting players.

Liverpool have added strength and depth with Salah and Oxlade-Chamberlain, but are likely to struggle to get much from Coutinho. Had they sold and adequately replaced Coutinho, it would have been an ok window for them. I do think their primary target should have been a defender though.

Arsenal had a very similar, but potentially worse, window than Liverpool. Lacazette may well prove to be a good signing, but they clearly don't have a happy squad right now. Oxlade-Chamberlain forced a move, while Sanchez and Mustafi also tried, and will surely continue to give Wenger difficulties between now and January.

The two Manchester clubs probably had the best windows. I'm hoping FFP won't allow them to continue with net transfer losses of circa £150m on a regular basis.

United added the striker, holding midfielder and CB that they needed, whilst hanging on to their entire starting XI from last season (even Ibrahimovic). Letting Rooney go back to Everton was probably the best thing for everyone involved, even if it seems ridiculous to let your all-time top-scorer leave for free in the wake of all the money that has been thrown around this summer.

City was successful replacing all of their ageing fullbacks and also bringing in a competent keeper. I'll wait to see how good a signing Bernardo Silva turns out to be. They arguably have less depth in their squad now (I fail to see how Silva will cover for all of Iheanacho, Noilto, Nasri and Fernando), but have simultaneously improved their starting XI and reduced the age of their squad.

goughie1966 · Sep 2, 2017

Neon_Knight_ said:
Walker is 27, not 29!

And only 27 in May. 27 1/4 to be exact. Which makes him closer to 27 than 28...............

You're going to have to have read a thread with a couple of posters arguing about a players age to get the joke

Wirral Spurs · Sep 2, 2017

Will be good if key players sign new contracts on market rate wages that keeps hem relatively happy.

Expectation made too high by ITK that just was not correct which just wound people up. Not that I didn't enjoy it at the time but probably worth remembering going forward.

Some very funny comments and posts. Glad it's all over tbh.

piedpiper · Sep 3, 2017

oohaahedgar said:
9/10, as good as we could expect. We've swapped a 29 year old fast talented right back for a 24 year old fast talented right back who many seem to think is an upgrade in ability as well.

We have also added winners, people who have won trophies. Llorente is in my opinion the perfect player for us, I think it also gives us the options to play him at 9 and Kane at 10 for the odd game as well as being an impact sub and something different to what we have and to give Harry a break when needed.

And we've bought one of the best young defenders in world football who is fast and can play in a back 3 and as back up for Toby and Jan. By all accounts a really good strong personality as well.

And we kept all of our players apart from KW.

And we will probably get Barkley or at least have money for an addition or two in January. I'm not sure what people expect if they don't think this was a very good window. Very astute buys.

Except that right back we sold is 27yrs old....But we have replaced well in Aurier.

Whats that saying... never let the facts get in the way of a good argument.

Edit....i see its been referenced by other's.

Everlasting Seconds · Sep 3, 2017

Didn't buy any players I didn't want. 10/10
Strengthened all the positions I thought were the most important. 10/10
Bought a RB that will make Walker look like a fraud. 10/10
Didn't sell Sissoko. 0/10
All in all 7.5/10

davros · Sep 4, 2017

I'd grade this transfer window as a solid B+. We've strengthened what was last season's strongest defence by adding youth, pace, and potential. We lost Walker but his replacement seems to have the same attributes plus a decent delivery. Llorente could prove to be a stroke of genius. I would love to have seen us bring in an attacking player with pace, control, and vision. I didn't expect Llorente, but he's certainly very different to what we have and could be perfect for when we are up against a stubborn defence. I think we should have kept Onomah but hopefully he'll flourish at Villa and come back ready to challenge for a starting place.

hellava_tough · Sep 4, 2017

We're getting close to the point where we'll have a great first XI and also great cover for every position. That will hopefully mean only needing to bring in 1 or 2 players in future transfer windows, just to keep the squad ticking over/fine tuned.

On Barkley btw - do people here think he'll actually play for us in the second half of the season?

I think it'd be more likely he'll sign on a free and we'll get him for next season, which would be fine btw. Just can't see Levy stumping up £10 to £15m for a player he gets for free later on. Not Levy's style.

Japhet · Sep 4, 2017

hellava_tough said:
We're getting close to the point where we'll have a great first XI and also great cover for every position. That will hopefully mean only needing to bring in 1 or 2 players in future transfer windows, just to keep the squad ticking over/fine tuned.

On Barkley btw - do people here think he'll actually play for us in the second half of the season?

I think it'd be more likely he'll sign on a free and we'll get him for next season, which would be fine btw. Just can't see Levy stumping up £10 to £15m for a player he gets for free later on. Not Levy's style.

He wants to go to the World Cup. If we want to sign him we have to give him the opportunity to show he is an England player, which means signing him in January.

hellava_tough · Sep 4, 2017

Japhet said:
He wants to go to the World Cup. If we want to sign him we have to give him the opportunity to show he is an England player, which means signing him in January.

But he can still do that at Everton

Everlasting Seconds · Sep 4, 2017

hellava_tough said:
On Barkley btw - do people here think he'll actually play for us in the second half of the season?
.

By January, or indeed February, since Everton will draw it out all January, he won't have played football for 9 months nor know anything about Pochettino's system and what's required. His participation will be extremely insignificant. That being said, I think Levy would very much pay a modest fee even if the player is out of contract a few months later. That is in fact Levy's style.

whitestreak · Sep 4, 2017

Everlasting Seconds said:
By January, or indeed February, since Everton will draw it out all January, he won't have played football for 9 months nor know anything about Pochettino's system and what's required. His participation will be extremely insignificant. That being said, I think Levy would very much pay a modest fee even if the player is out of contract a few months later. That is in fact Levy's style.

I agree, Levy would far rather pay 15m for a 50m player, and be guaranteed to get him in jan
then 40m for a 50m payer in Jun- Sept, when he finds out he has lost him!
After Barkley there is only one or 2 squad places that need filling, to have an amazing squad..
In fact he can achieve all of it for Zero net spend, as he would have to sell the likes of GKN, Janssen and or Sissoko to make room
I hope Lamela comes back really strong, he may not, which means that there may be a need to upgrade there as well.
One of the ITKs said we were still in for Zaha,that would makes sense and with him as well our squad would look pretty impressive.
Whilst we normally do not buy in January, if we progress on all fronts including the CL it may be that we go for Barkley and Zaha, in January, as neither will be cup tied.
My guess is we may go for a superstar signing next summer, to go into the new stadium with a bang. Not ITK. I would love Bale, but even I don't really see that happening! But stranger things have happened
Bearing in mind by then we could have no obvious squad deficiency.

Kiedis · Sep 4, 2017

7/10.

Would've liked a player in the Balde ilk, that's genuinely both pacey and productive in terms of goals and assists.

Everlasting Seconds · Sep 4, 2017

whitestreak said:
I agree, Levy would far rather pay 15m for a 50m player, and be guaranteed to get him in jan
then 40m for a 50m payer in Jun- Sept, when he finds out he has lost him!
After Barkley there is only one or 2 squad places that need filling, to have an amazing squad.. d.

Right. Well, I don't actually feel a huge need for Barkley, I think his potential importance is hugely overvalued on here. I also find it hard to believe that Pochettino wants him that badly. That being said, I'm positive he'll be signed on deadline day in January, if injury free.

buttons · Sep 4, 2017

8/10 - kept all our key players (bar Kyle) and apart from Danny boys brief outbreak of verbal diarrhoea, everyone seems to be content - unlike Sanchez, Coutinho, VVD, Costa etc.

In terms of incomings, would have loved a wide forward but otherwise we have improved the depth of the squad and in Aurier have potentially upgraded the best defence in the league. Llorente is about as good a back up to HK as we can get.

Glad we didn't add a Moura or a Gomez with hindsight, will be great that the likes of Winks, Oakley Booth and KWP will still be very much part of the squad.

Forums

What's new

Matches

Sportsbook

Members

How was it for you

Well-Known Member

Well-Known Member

Well-Known Member

SC Supporter

Well-Known Member

Well-Known Member

Well-Known Member

Well-Known Member

Well-Known Member

Well-Known Member

Well-Known Member

Well-Known Member

Well-Known Member

Well-Known Member

Well-Known Member

Well-Known Member

SC Supporter

Well-Known Member

Well-Known Member

Well-Known Member

Similar threads