Daniel James

[Albertbarich]

I think the scums start, Chelsea throwing money around like confetti and the early summer promise is what's causing this negative reaction.

It feels like we're trying to secure fourth as opposed to win the league but considering their record so far Paratici and Conte have earned our trust.

 

[fishhhandaricecake]

This is selective at best. It cuts off in December 2019. United finished 3rd that season and 2nd in 20/21. Their struggles didn't start until 21/22 and James was completely peripheral throughout this time.

He has pace but he's not a great dribbler and defences have worked out how to play him. But for Bamford and Sinisterra's injuries this season he would be a bench player at best for Leeds and there's no way we should be considering him.

Yea it was selective on purpose mate, no point picking stats from when he was coming on for 10-15mins a game, almost impossible to make much of a difference in that time.

I was simply pointing out that when he's had a good run of games and his confidence is high he was averaging an attacking return every other game at least. I don't think on that basis it is fair to call him 'shite'.

I'd prefer we signed someone better sure, I'm just saying he's also not as bad as some are making out.

Ultimately it depends on the skillset Conte wants and if he sees something in James he can work with then great.

 

[Bjrixson]

I think for me, the expectations this season, carrying over from last season have been set high. They have been set high by the club, by DL by AC, FP and by the fans.

We are now in a position, because of two successful windows, we are questioning a link to a player that a couple of seasons ago we may have been more positive about. I’m not sure that this should be seen as moaning or a negative but an example of how we have raised our expectations of the club, players, manager etc.

I think the expectation is that we improve and the quality we now have makes it difficult to accept any player that doesn’t match or appear to match the same level of the quality we currently have. Signing a player to be a potential 5th choice off the bench is of course underwhelming and whilst I agree the work rate and pace is great, he doesn’t excite me.

Final days of the window, the expectation is always higher that any other time but I can’t understand why any player would except being a 5th choice off the bench (potentially). If they do accept this, is this really the player we should be looking for? Shouldn’t we be bringing in better to replace what we have?

I hope we sign someone better than James but if we don’t sign anyone or if we do sign James then there must be a plan for him, we aren’t buying players just to fill a spot on the bench, AC must have a role in mind that he can fulfil and that goes for every player we bring in.

Maybe we just sit back, stop posting shit and enjoy the ride! ?

 

[Trix]

I think they want a player to come on in second halves and run at defences or carry the ball up the pitch quickly. That player has to come with the realisation that he’s not going to be first choice or probably play that much. That’s probably a hard sell to a player. Also, it seems we don’t want to spend much money on the player.

But we’ve all seen him play. He’s a run fast and do everything else average kind of player. There really isn’t anything else to him. Whilst I agree on your post, I think in this instance, this particular player is just too one dimensional. Anyway, I’m still sceptical we want him despite my first paragraph.

and that's exactly my point....."I think". What you see isn't what Conte will possibly see. He might for instance think with a couple of tweaks he can get a specific output from him that we can't fathom. That's why he's a world class coach and we are not. Anyway It's all just hypotheticals and nothing more right now..

 

[teddy1066]

I agree he is not the star signing many want but we play on the break and he has pace to burn. Watching him for Wales he works his socks off giving 100% in everything he does. We will never be a team full of superstars so if Conte thinks he can do a job for us stop moaning

 

[fishhhandaricecake]

I think people forget that every top side that wins stuff always has a few journey men that can do a job and make up the numbers when necessary in there as well. Personally I'd rather we didn't end up with James and hope it would only be a loan if we did, but I'm not going to lose my shit if AC thinks he can do a job.

Completely agree mate. Man.U under Fergie used to win multiple trophies with a few journey men filling in for them over the season.

I would also rather we didn't end up with James, certainly not on a permeant LT deal but again yep if Conte thinks he has the skillset he can work with then no problem and I'm sure he'll be effective within the system Conte plays.

 

[spursfan77]

I think the scums start, Chelsea throwing money around like confetti and the early summer promise is what's causing this negative reaction.

It feels like we're trying to secure fourth as opposed to win the league but considering their record so far Paratici and Conte have earned our trust.

That is 100% part of it and I’m not talking about James solely. Plus it’s a while since we bought a player in people’s eyes. We’ve had a good window and made some solid signings. There’s lots to look forward to. Personal I’m fine roughing it out until January and looking for another attacker then as I think we will need him then a lot more than during the first half of the season. And I wouldn’t be surprised if that’s what ends up happening.

 

[dvdhopeful]

I think people forget that every top side that wins stuff always has a few journey men that can do a job and make up the numbers when necessary in there as well. Personally I'd rather we didn't end up with James and hope it would only be a loan if we did, but I'm not going to lose my shit if AC thinks he can do a job.

Plenty of people to do that for you.

 

[Guntz]

I think people forget that every top side that wins stuff always has a few journey men that can do a job and make up the numbers when necessary in there as well. Personally I'd rather we didn't end up with James and hope it would only be a loan if we did, but I'm not going to lose my shit if AC thinks he can do a job.

Don't we already have a fair few of them?

Dier, Davies, PEH, Moura, Sanchez etc...

We're still missing that bit of star quality to really challenge IMO.

 

[fishhhandaricecake]

Don't we already have a fair few of them?

Dier, Davies, PEH, Moura, PEH, Sanchez etc...

We're still missing that bit of star quality to really challenge IMO.

That is a very valid point to be fair. We have a lot of solid pro's but maybe need a bit more stardust.

Ultimately it comes down to Conte's judgement as to what he thinks he needs in the squad.

 

[felmani26]

4 goals and 5 assists last season playing all over the place

Negligible difference to that of Moura which underlines my point of the preference of utilsing what we have at our disposal.

 

[Dwallace]

I’ll probably get heavily criticised for this but what’s actually wrong with Dan James? He’s still a young player with a lot of potential who had a big move to Man United which didn’t work out(but what young players are succeeding at Utd atm) He’s young enough to improve and get better under the right guidance. He’s already an international player his pace scares defenders and I don’t think any top-level defenders were like playing against him. I don’t see why this is such a bad move. He’s already in international player he’s pace scares defenders and I don’t think any top-level defenders like playing against him. I don’t see why this is such a bad move?! Of course if you’re expecting some of the names that we’ve been linked with them it’s a bit of a let down in that regard. However I think this would be a really good signing and potentially another Aaron Lennon.

 

[ParkySpur]

I'm not particularly excited by James, but the meltdown (by some) is classic SC.

Don't forget that Conte plays the game differently to a lot of managers. He looks at the best way of winning a game, however that might be, and wants players that fit that way. If one way is to soak up pressure, then use superior fitness in latter parts of games to counter attack teams with pace, then James might be a decent back up option to achieve this. I think one of the reasons Conte seems to coach mediocre players into good ones, is that he gives them a focus to be good at a particular thing, making the most of their strengths.

 

[Darth Vega]

I’ll probably get heavily criticised for this but what’s actually wrong with Dan James? He’s still a young player with a lot of potential who had a big move to Man United which didn’t work out(but what young players are succeeding at Utd atm) He’s young enough to improve and get better under the right guidance. He’s already in international player his pace scares defenders and I don’t think any top-level defenders were like playing against him. I don’t see why this is such a bad moodHe’s already in international player he’s pace scares defenders and I don’t think any top-level defenders were like playing against him. I don’t see why this is such a bad move?! Of course if you’re expecting some of the names that we’ve been linked with them it’s a bit of a let down in that regard. However I think this would be a really good signing and potentially another Aaron Lennon.

I'm not one of those having a meltdown over it but I completely get why people don't want him. He's pretty unremarkable beyond being really, really fast. There's every chance Conte can turn water into wine as he has done with so many players but we can only have an opinion based off of what we've seen and what that is is someone who is only good for running in a straight line. If we do get him I'm always one to give the manager - especially one of Conte's calibre - the benefit of the doubt but I think people are right to wonder if there aren't better options that are also attainable.

 

[Aphex]

Yea it was selective on purpose mate, no point picking stats from when he was coming on for 10-15mins a game, almost impossible to make much of a difference in that time.

I was simply pointing out that when he's had a good run of games and his confidence is high he was averaging an attacking return every other game at least. I don't think on that basis it is fair to call him 'shite'.

I'd prefer we signed someone better sure, I'm just saying he's also not as bad as some are making out.

Ultimately it depends on the skillset Conte wants and if he sees something in James he can work with then great.

I think purely talking about James, I’d be very surprised if Conte rated him at all. This seems, if we do it, to be a deal to purely make up numbers because he’s available for cheap.

Dan James looked like a championship winger that got a lucky move when he was at United. He looked crap, did anyone here watch him at United and think “yeah good player”. He’s a headless chicken. All pace and nothing else. He looked totally out of his depth and they couldnt wait to get rid. Has anybody anywhere on this forum since he moved to Leeds watched him and thought “yeah good player”. I doubt it. He’s a bench player at a midtable side. Honestly he’s so clearly not good enough to earn a move to Spurs.

If we weren’t linked with him, would anybody be posting about his stats saying that with a run of confidence we should bring him in?

 

[Flobadob]

Agree.

It is interesting looking at the other top teams its a mix of 4,5,6 top players in the AM positions. We have 4. If we sign e.g. James then we have 4 top players and 2 decent squad options. I'm with you that given the fixture schedule etc we need 5 top AM's.

I don't mind James but would hope we can do a bit better. I agree with others he's not a huge step up on Gil tbh just a bit more prem experience and homegrown.

Man.City : Haaland, Grealish, Foden, Marhez, Alverez, B.Silva (YES 6) but they have a cheatcode of a squad
Liverpool : Nunez, L.Diaz, Salah, Jota, Carvallaho (not amazing quality yet) (4 top players and 1 rotation unless i've missed someone?)
Arsenal : Jesus, Martinelli, Saka, Odergaard, Smith-Rowe, Nketia (I'd say thats 4 good quality and 2 ok quality)
Chelsea : Sterling, Mount, Havertz, Pulisic, Ziyech (5 top players)
Man.U : Rashford, Ronaldo, Sancho, Elanga, Anthony?, B.Fernandes (5 top players + youngester)

You missed Firmino for Liverpool and Carvalho is class for his age, as well as Harvey Elliot too. So Liverpool, Chelsea (likely to add more), City have at least 5 if not 6 top options and Arsenal aren’t going to need as many because they can cruise past Europa opponents with lower quality players. So yeah we’re 100% short compared to the teams we are competing with

 

[Flobadob]

A lot of clubs in the same boat with the same squad problems

Not the teams we are competing with. They all have at least 5 or 6 top players for their forward line and Arsenal aren’t going to need as many as us because they can easily beat their Europa league opponents with second rate players mixed in with their 11

 

[jurgen]

You missed Firmino for Liverpool and Carvalho is class for his age, as well as Harvey Elliot too. So Liverpool, Chelsea (likely to add more), City have at least 5 if not 6 top options and Arsenal aren’t going to need as many because they can cruise past Europa opponents with lower quality players. So yeah we’re 100% short compared to the teams we are competing with

We've found that not to be true in the past, Europa is a big drag.

 

[mattspur1]

Think some of us just need to get out of the mindset that how a player performs elsewhere, doesnt mean its going to be the same here. There are many variables that differ between clubs which can all impact that players overall performance at that one club.

My concern is he didn't perform well at Man U either. I feel the standard SC meltdown is fuelled by the better options out their maybe?

 

[WiganSpur]

Don't we already have a fair few of them?

Dier, Davies, PEH, Moura, Sanchez etc...

We're still missing that bit of star quality to really challenge IMO.

Exactly how many times are we gonna say "Can't say no to an experienced pro". We've got enough of those types and we've got enough numbers it's quality of depth that we need.