Are we stronger or weaker

[AngerManagement]

I think we should have sounded out some more of the young belgium talent too

Dembele and Felanni have already been successful in the league

Lukaku is looking decent at WBA and Hazard a likely sensation at Chelsea

They still have Witsel, Defour, Mertens and for £7m Benteke would have been worth a gamble as back up instead of letting Villa have him (although probably not instead of getting Dempsey)

 

[HotspurResi]

I think we are stronger and weaker !! No i am not sitting on the fence but look at it this way.

We are weak in creativity yes, without Modric and VDV and probs Huddlestone we dont have the players who can open defenses with slick passing and unpredicatble skill that cannot always be read to easily.

But we are stronger in Stamina and Strength, with the exclusion of Modric, VDV, king, dos santos, saha, Neslen, Pavleychenko and a lot of the other fringe players struggled with stamina. I am far happier knowing that if i have a player like Dempsey playing, the likelihood is he will stay on the pitch (barring injury) for the full 90 mintues the same would go for Dembele, Sigursdsson, Vertonghen.

For the last two seasons we have had players like King and VDV who at any point on a game would fold. We have one or two suspect players like that still Gallas for an example but not as many as last time.

In my opinion AVB has brought the likes of Dembele and Dempsey and retained players like sandro, jenas to an extent because we capitulate so often towards the end of the season these are the types of players that will give you the same stamina and strength week in week out.

Two players in my opinion that really need to step up there game, are Bale and Lennon, we know what they can do and they should not be doing anything different to what they would of done in Arrys 4-4-2 formation. In a 4-3-3 0r 4-2-3-1 they should be able to use more of the wing than they have before.

 

[DJS]

It's just a shame we couldn'tget Moutinho as then I'd have said we were stronger.

At the moment I'm on the fence although Modric wasn't up for it a lot of last season and perceived less glamourous players such as Dembele and Dempsey will probably give us a lot more.

VDV did blow hot and cold plus did pick up niggling injuries too.

It's a massive upheaval but if we'd have got Moutinho I think fans would have been a lot happier with the squad.

 

[The Apprentice]

Weaker first 11 and weaker squad. Don't really see how anyone can argue to the contrary.

Losing King, VdV and Modders from our first 11 has impacted but I think losing squad players with a bit of creativity like Niko, Pienaar, Gio and Pav hasn't helped. We don't seem to have a lot of options on the bench, bar an out of shape Huddlestone.

 

[StartingPrice]

it was only the last day that went wrong. if we'd have ended the day with vdv and moutinho i'd have ben over the moon, if we'd ended the day with either of them i'd've been pleased ... but to end up with neither of them was a disaster and i can't believe we let it happen. i blame myself for being naive enough to think rafa going must mean moutinho is coming in.

It was disappointing...very.

I do think, however, that once we get Dembele, Adebayor and Demspey up to speed, we should have more than enough to get through to January (I bloody hope so ).

 

[StartingPrice]

Weaker first 11 and weaker squad. Don't really see how anyone can argue to the contrary.

Losing King, VdV and Modders from our first 11 has impacted but I think losing squad players with a bit of creativity like Niko, Pienaar, Gio and Pav hasn't helped. We don't seem to have a lot of options on the bench, bar an out of shape Huddlestone.

Maybe you should read the arguments that we have a stronger squad, then

 

[Spurger King]

Maybe you should read the arguments that we have a stronger squad, then

I read your argument about how we have a greater squad. I just don't agree with it.

It's like taking a human body, giving it stronger legs and arms, then removing the brain. Initially it looks like it's been improved, but when push comes to shove the most essential component is missing.

 

[StartingPrice]

I read your argument about how we have a greater squad. I just don't agree with it.

It's like taking a human body, giving it stronger legs and arms, then removing the brain. Initially it looks like it's been improved, but when push comes to shove the most essential component is missing.

Yeah, but I wasn't responding to your post, and I didn't say no-one could disagree with me. As with your post, I was pointing out that there is, indeed, an argument to be made to a poster (initially, you) claiming there was no debate their opinion was right

I get your analogy, just think it is overblown a bit: It is more like taking a human body with a Wittgenstein brain, removing it and replacing it with a Bertrain Russell brain - whcih probably does mean we are fecked

Seriously, though, I think there should be a bit of neck winding in untul we see how the team is actually performing in 10 games time - is all. And, as per my argument above, the argument about the squad being stronger concerns replacing players who just weren't played because not good enough (in most cases), with players who look to give us genuine options for rotation, whereas your point relates specifically to the first team - and yes, not getting Moutinho is a massive loss but we should wait and see what a fully acclimitised Dembele and Demspey (alongside a bluddy fit Adebayor) can actually add before claiming the team has become totally brainless!

 

[degoose]

i think as for the first team it's i guess weaker as how the hell can you replace the class acts of modric ,vdv and king.

I do though need to remind everyone that king was hardly ever fit(15 games last season and 9 the season before). VDV could only handle about 60 minutes of game time before knackering himself out and got injured quite a few times and modric was just one player so when he got injured we had a few problems with creativity , so for them three out we got in and back to replace them.

Caulker
Vertonghen
Sigurddson
Dembele
Dempsey

so three players who are pretty creative and goal scorers and two defenders who are younger and fitter so squad wise its more options to use,more stamina and hopefully more availability.

Just putting the positives out there.

 

[DJS]

I'm annoyed that we are still lacking so badly up top.

Reading snapped up Pavel Pogrebnyak who scored 6 in 12 league games for Fulham the second half of last season.

Newcastle snapped up Papiss Demba Cissé who scored obscene amounts of goals for them again second half of last season.

Why do we struggle so to sign forwards...

 

[dagraham]

I read your argument about how we have a greater squad. I just don't agree with it.

It's like taking a human body, giving it stronger legs and arms, then removing the brain. Initially it looks like it's been improved, but when push comes to shove the most essential component is missing.

So a bit like Sol C***ball then?

 

[EastLondonYid]

I think we are mixing up weaker and stronger with are we fit,available and on form..answer..no

Bale,azza,sandro,walker,benny have all been under form so far and will improve.

Ade not match fit
Parker not available
Kaboul not available

Lloris,dempsey and dembele just arrived and will play big part.

I think we are stronger than our results show...will be fine COYS!

 

[SteveH]

As much as Luka and Rafa did well for us - I still believe getting £40m+ for these two was great business.
I also think our current squad will come good. I still remain slightly sceptical about all the hullabaloo regarding JM.
I not saying JM would have been a bad signing - I'm just not sure there is not better value out there.

 

[moomin]

I think we should have sounded out some more of the young belgium talent too

Dembele and Felanni have already been successful in the league

Lukaku is looking decent at WBA and Hazard a likely sensation at Chelsea

They still have Witsel, Defour, Mertens and for £7m Benteke would have been worth a gamble as back up instead of letting Villa have him (although probably not instead of getting Dempsey)

Completely agree. Belgium is becoming a damn good national side, and Seems there's lots of young talent there. I could see them becoming one of the next dominating forces in international football..... Why go Dutch or Spanish when you can go Belgian?

On the topic of witsel, hes off to zenit with hulk though, which is a bummer

 

[AngerManagement]

Completely agree. Belgium is becoming a damn good national side, and Seems there's lots of young talent there. I could see them becoming one of the next dominating forces in international football..... Why go Dutch or Spanish when you can go Belgian?

On the topic of witsel, hes off to zenit with hulk though, which is a bummer

Yea that is a shame, I would loved us to sign Witsel.....suppose he's a bit too established now though

 

[Twizzle]

I am starting to wonder if no champions league has caused some of the problems in getting some of these transfers over the line.

 

[StartingPrice]

I am starting to wonder if no champions league has caused some of the problems in getting some of these transfers over the line.

I don't think that it was that big an issue with Muotinho, as him and AVB are such good buddies and he really wants to work with him again.
In general, probably, and I still think we should have been compensated for losing our place in the competition...as the ramifications are monstrous to a club like ours.

 

[Spurger King]

I don't think that it was that big an issue with Muotinho, as him and AVB are such good buddies and he really wants to work with him again.
In general, probably, and I still think we should have been compensated for losing our place in the competition...as the ramifications are monstrous to a club like ours.

I can't remember who said it but I loved the suggestion that Levy should have put a £15m bet on Chelsea to win the Champions League. We would have made a profit either way then

 

[StartingPrice]

I can't remember who said it but I loved the suggestion that Levy should have put a £15m bet on Chelsea to win the Champions League. We would have made a profit either way then

Never saw the suggestion...knowing our luck the bookies would refuse to pay up as it wasn't within the 90

But they would still get the CL spot

 

[ultimateloner]

I think we are stronger because the team is about the same on paper but we've made money in this transfer window. Modric was a goner and VdV, much as I rate him, was a good sale. We probably made good profit off him, he's a 70k player, AND he is a player in decline; he contributed less in last season both in goals and assists, and his fitness level is not improving. On the other hand we got Dempsey who looks a late bloomer and scored even more goals.

When Parker comes back we will be more efficient moving the ball to the final 3rd. I dont expect to see a repeat of Norwich performance.
Dembelle fits the bill and most things will flow through him in the final 3rd. He looks like a jack of all trades and gives us abit of vDv (individual goals) and Modric (penetration). My only concern with Dembele as our playmaker is that our style will become too short, so we make less use of Bale/Lennon. I expect to see more triangle passing (tikitaka anyone?), slower attacks and alot more possession. I think avb should be able to transition us to this, and hopefully soon enough.

My main disappointment, like many on the site, is Sigursson; he doesn't seem to have a fitting role. If his job is to score or make goals then he doesn't seem to have a weapon potent enough. As a link-up player we have better/cheaper options too. For counter attack we have enough pace. He looks like a box-to-box but we already have dempsey/dembele to do that.. Maybe he was brought to learn the game...in which case lets hope he learns fast.