How will Levy weaken us this window?

[DaSpurs]

Cant recall myself ever suggesting Yedlin as a winger. The little I have seen of him I'm not hugely impressed, his pace could be handy but plays very much in straight lines. Tbh I'd have preferred giving Fredericks a chance before him.

That's exactly correct. I think he'd be a good wingback as he has the pace to get to the byline or back on defense and he's skillful enough to get the ball out of a tight situation on the flank, but a winger in this league while doing nothing but hugging the touchline is just not going to cause sufficient problems for any opposition.

 

[DaSpurs]

AM isn't a problem, now that Dembele has been pushed up we've plenty of options.

Right side of the three - Lamela/Townsend

Centre - Dembele/Eriksen/Paulinho (at a push)

Left side of the three - Chadli/Eriksen


It was cover for Kane that was always the concern IMO.

Only two players on that list have multiple goals in the league, and the crew is desperately lacking in pace and the ability to dribble into the tight spaces we face so regularly. It is no coincidence that we're sixth in the table despite having a top scoring striker and the league's single most scoring midfielder, but have a thin and inconsistent AM corps. There's no denying the fact that if Kane goes down our striker situation is limited severely, but we needed more options across the AM for when the ones we do have aren't getting it done as they're entirely too similar and entirely too dependent on a few players themselves.

 

[beats1]

AM isn't a problem, now that Dembele has been pushed up we've plenty of options.

Right side of the three - Lamela/Townsend

Centre - Dembele/Eriksen/Paulinho (at a push)

Left side of the three - Chadli/Eriksen


It was cover for Kane that was always the concern IMO.

I didn't watch the last game but dembele was the deeper player in the highlights and Eriksen on the left doesnt work. Yes we beat WBA but he needs to be playing in the middle as then we have no width and against WBA we did well because Kane was drifting in to the left.

 

[Mr Pink]

Only two players on that list have multiple goals in the league, and the crew is desperately lacking in pace and the ability to dribble into the tight spaces we face so regularly. It is no coincidence that we're sixth in the table despite having a top scoring striker and the league's single most scoring midfielder, but have a thin and inconsistent AM corps. There's no denying the fact that if Kane goes down our striker situation is limited severely, but we needed more options across the AM for when the ones we do have aren't getting it done as they're entirely too similar and entirely too dependent on a few players themselves.

I think we have a better balance now with Dembele playing higher up the pitch and we'll see our whole attacking unit function better. If Kane gets injured we're buggered though, he's key to our pressing from the front.

So don't agree with you mate I'm afraid.

 

[Sp3akerboxxx]

@davidmatzdorf and @Sp3akerboxxx please, by all means, I'm curious to hear your logic in contradiction to the post above.

"one of league's leading scoring strikers + league's leading scoring midfielder + x = in sixth place with a +5 goal differential"

How can you refute the above? How would you solve for x?

If football was a mathematical equation then Wenger would be celebrating his 20th league title.

"Solve for X" is astonishingly facile.

 

[Mr Pink]

I didn't watch the last game but dembele was the deeper player in the highlights and Eriksen on the left doesnt work. Yes we beat WBA but he needs to be playing in the middle as then we have no width and against WBA we did well because Kane was drifting in to the left.

Eriksen has more of a free role if anything. He's wasn't stationed on the left as it were, look at his touch map for the West Brom game - everywhere. He was on the right at the time when the penalty was awarded, he slipped it through to Walker.

People need to get past this rigid position talk. Dembele was not playing a deeper role either. He earned the free kick on the edge of their box that led to our first goal, and assisted Kane for the second - just outside their box when he released the ball. He was much higher up the pitch than usual.

 

[DaSpurs]

I think we have a better balance now with Dembele playing higher up the pitch and we'll see our whole attacking unit function better. If Kane gets injured we're buggered though, he's key to our pressing from the front.

So don't agree with you mate I'm afraid.

To clarify, I can't argue with you that if Kane as an individual goes down, that holds the single most impact. There's absolutely no question there and I'd be a fool to debate that. However, what I'm arguing is that the AM corps itself was more in need of an upgrade because our first team striker is absolutely set considering Kane gets it done no matter what, while conversely our first choice AM's are not always consistent and are too easily befuddled by compacted boxes. So the point is not so much "we needed an AM backup more," but rather "an AM addition would have had the most impact on net gain in points and potential for winning a trophy."

If you disagree with that notion, then fair enough and I've got nothing else.

 

[DaSpurs]

If football was a mathematical equation then Wenger would be celebrating his 20th league title.

"Solve for X" is astonishingly facile.

So you disagreed with an entire post because of the inclusion of a rhetorical mathematical equation?

 

[Mr Pink]

To clarify, I can't argue with you that if Kane as an individual goes down, that holds the single most impact. There's absolutely no question there and I'd be a fool to debate that. However, what I'm arguing is that the AM corps itself was more in need of an upgrade because our first team striker is absolutely set considering Kane gets it done no matter what, while conversely our first choice AM's are not always consistent and are too easily befuddled by compacted boxes. So the point is not so much "we needed an AM backup more," but rather "an AM addition would have had the most impact on net gain in points and potential for winning a trophy."

If you disagree with that notion, then fair enough and I've got nothing else.

I know what you're arguing mate, but I just don't agree.

Cover for Kane was more critical IMO.

 

[Sp3akerboxxx]

@davidmatzdorf and @Sp3akerboxxx please, by all means, I'm curious to hear your logic in contradiction to the post above.

"one of league's leading scoring strikers + league's leading scoring midfielder + x = in sixth place with a +5 goal differential"

How can you refute the above? How would you solve for x?

So you disagreed with an entire post because of the inclusion of a rhetorical mathematical equation?

Well, it was your entire question....

Plus i'm not entirely sure asking me to solve for X makes your "equation" rhetorical, quite the opposite in fact

 

[DaSpurs]

Well, it was your entire question....

Well, what's your explanation then? Forget about the rhetorical usage there, but how do you explain us being in sixth and having a miserly goal differential despite having one of the league's leading scorers and the league's leading scoring midfielder? How do you reconcile this with the fact that we only have one other AM with multiple goals in the league? Are you content with our AM/winger corps despite these facts?

 

[Sandwich Technician]

It's always going to be disappointing to not get a new shiny attacking player that the likes of Chelsea, Man City etc splash out on window after window without even checking their change. Without trying to lifeboat Levy, we do have a lot of financial commitment and uncertainty at the moment - no-one really knows the situation with the stadium and how that will be moved forward. What I will say in Levy's defence is that he seems to be bringing in a lot of technically astute football brains at the moment, Paul Mitchell and the highly regarded scout from Leicester who are a new breed and look at football in an entirely different way.

As we know we have to think outside the box to compete with the financial muscle of the big five. It does seem that the clubs aiming its focus towards cultivating new home-grown British players rather than the scattergun approach to recruitment that was adopted with the Bale transfer funds. I for one would like nothing more than to see a team of 11 ex-academy products who play their absolute heart out for the shirt. I totally agree much like other years recently we seem on the crest of a wave and perhaps a couple of astute signings would give us just the impetus we need to do something special. I personally would be stupidly happy if we won the Europa League and were the first team to gain a champions league place through it, whilst finishing above the caravan club down the road so we can celebrate Saint Topplewoolwich Day. I may be horribly deluded and optimistic, bordering on the insane, but for the players it's all about having that belief and desire, and the more home-grown players we have the more unswerving the belief and stronger the desire will be. With the promise this season still holds and all the exciting young players in or on the cusp of the first team I'm willing to give Levy the benefit of the doubt.

 

[penfold_99]

I thought levy would have gone with the ade to west ham deal mainly because it got some of his wages were off our wage bill, even if it was sub 50k.

Plus him playing for them would have made Torres look like a poacher while he was at Chelsea and they would start dropping a lot of points as his touch is shot.

 

[Sp3akerboxxx]

Well, what's your explanation then? Forget about the rhetorical usage there, but how do you explain us being in sixth and having a miserly goal differential despite having one of the league's leading scorers and the league's leading scoring midfielder? How do you reconcile this with the fact that we only have one other AM with multiple goals in the league? Are you content with our AM/winger corpsl despite these facts?

Well, if we have "one of the league's leading scorers and the league's highest scoring midfielder", then I would suggest that the problem of our GD lies further back.

However, I don't expect 4th, and I don't think signing yet more players would help in this situation. You are acting like signing another AM guarantees additional goals. It doesn't.

I am actually reasonably pleased that we haven't signed anyone of note. I would prefer the players we have to learn the system, develop a strong understanding, and incorporate some new youth players. Ideally I would like a consistent front 4 that plays a lot of games together until they become a seamless and cohesive unit.

It may not be a popular opinion, but I am content with our business this window,

 

[stov]

There very few quality players available in January. Those who are come with an added January desperation premium that only the foolish will pay.

 

[DaSpurs]

Well, if we have "one of the league's leading scorers and the league's highest scoring midfielder", then I would suggest that the problem of our GD lies further back.

However, I don't expect 4th, and I don't think signing yet more players would help in this situation. You are acting like signing another AM guarantees additional goals. It doesn't.

I am actually reasonably pleased that we haven't signed anyone of note. I would prefer the players we have to learn the system, develop a strong understanding, and incorporate some new youth players. Ideally I would like a consistent front 4 that plays a lot of games together until they become a seamless and cohesive unit.

It may not be a popular opinion, but I am content with our business this window,

On the surface of it, "signing a new AM guarantees additional goals" is indeed nonsensical, but it's not difficult to improve upon a corps in which only two have multiple goals in the league in February. No, nothing in the future is "guaranteed," but it is much more likely given the circumstances at hand here and especially when you take into account how inconsistent that group has been on a consistent basis when teams sit deep and compact quickly against us. We have only one player among that group who even has the ability and will to actually dribble directly at those compacted boxes, so it's no coincidence we struggle so heavily against them.

The conclusion that our GD is to blame on issues further back is true generally, but again it's not entirely comprehensive. It is without doubt a partial explanation, but it doesn't account for the fact that we're so overly reliant on just a few players for goals.

We didn't need to sign anyone of note, or even spend that much. What we needed was to find a player who offered something entirely different from our current options as those options have found it difficult to open up sides when they defend in a certain manner, especially since they are all very similar. We could have spent very little (relatively) for a squad option who provided a skillset more conducive to unlocking these compacting sides, and had very little effect on continuity on the side which is a notion I agree with you in advocating.

So IMO, the ratio of net gain to financial expenditure and impact on continuity would have been extremely favorable for us this season, and I think it's a shame we passed on that opportunity. Furthermore, I think even the little cost of even bringing Pritch back would have been extremely favorable, and I'm disappointed we didn't even take that option.

 

[St José Dominguez]

It feels like we now have a smaller squad without getting rid of anyone but Lennon.

I just don't see a chance of Adebayor, Kaboul or Capoue even making squads for rest of season unless we have serious injury problems.

With Bentaleb back it feels like we have a squad of 22 with 3 guys on the outside. I think Pochettino clearly trusts these 22 and this is from what he will pick his squad of 18 from.

I don't think it's weaker, Lennon wasn't even playing and neither were the 3 we seemed to want gone today. I like our GK, defence, CM and attacking midfield (although a lot rests on Lamela improving) options. My only concern as has been all window is the if Kane gets injured issue. Don't see a chance of Soldado working in a Poch team to extent of rather playing Chadli or Lamela there and bringing Dembele, Townsend or Paulinho into team instead.

 

[Nerine]

He always seems to find a way....

So far shipping out Lennon is doing that. What next?

Negative rating whore.

 

[JerryGarcia]

Not happy with the deadline day? It could be worse...

Worst deadline day ever? - West Ham fail in eight deadline day deals

http://whufctv.com/blog/2015/02/03/worst-deadline-day-ever-west-ham-fail-in-eight-deadline-day-deals

David Gold is blaming Levy too by the looks of it. "no matter how hard you try there are people who you just can't do business with"

 

[Ionman34]

I see Cornelius has found a new username.