Raphinha

[Finchyid]

To be fair most of the posts on most of the threads are too (except mine of course)

Yeah but these were even more bollocks than usual!!!!!

 

[Dannyspur]

That just makes it more baffling to me.
Kulusevski scored 5 goals and 8 assists for us in half a season.
Raphinha scored 11 goals and 3 assists in a full season.

Being an assister is particularly valuable here because it's a good counterbalance to the goals we get from Kane and Son. You only have to look at Ronaldo joining Man United to see that even a high quality goalkicker can upset the balance of a settled attack.

I don't care what anyone here says, Kulusevski is a better/more talented player than Raphinha, and should absolutely start over him in our best 11. Sorry, not sorry.

you can't just compare numbers - how many more assists would Raphinha have got with Kane and Son on the end of his crosses and how many goals would he have scored with Harry and Sonny setting him up?

 

[St José Dominguez]

Raphinha wouldnt be depth, he would start most games

Love Kulu but people are treating him like hes irreplaceable at RW

Why on Earth would you replace him? The guy was absolutely phenomenal and barely needed to settle in. He got better and better as the season went on and was a huge reason we got top 4. Kulu has everything and is 3 years younger than Raphinha. To be honest it would be ludicrous to drop Kulusevski out of the starting 11 when he could easily develop into one of the best players in Europe.

Raphinha would be a brilliant impact sub option and he’d start a good amount of games but fans are obsessed over shiny new signings and hype them to the extent that even apparently one of our best players would lose his spot in the side. Swear it’s this pace lust once again too.

 

[SambaSpurs]

Really it’s a squad game, whoever deserves to play will end up playing, through application in training and matches. Bissouma is replacing Winks, not Hojbjerg or Bentancur. Raphinha + striker would be replacing Bergwijn + Vinicius (who we never replaced last year). This is the way we need to think now.

Completely agree that Kulusevski has been sensational though, and that starting spot for the first game should absolutely be his if everyone is fit. I’m not sure there’s any player we can feasibly sign that I would want to start ahead of him first game. If he tires, there’s fixtures congestion, has a bad run of form, then maybe Raphinha can claim it, it would be up to Kulusevski to claim it back. Same goes for Son/Kane, although they probably have more leeway due to long term world class quality (like Firmino getting rotated more often that Salah/Mane). This is what happens at City and Liverpool all the time and is what we need. We should stop worrying about who starts, the players and Conte will look after that.

 

[Timberwolf]

Why on Earth would you replace him? The guy was absolutely phenomenal and barely needed to settle in. He got better and better as the season went on and was a huge reason we got top 4. Kulu has everything and is 3 years younger than Raphinha. To be honest it would be ludicrous to drop Kulusevski out of the starting 11 when he could easily develop into one of the best players in Europe.

Raphinha would be a brilliant impact sub option and he’d start a good amount of games but fans are obsessed over shiny new signings and hype them to the extent that even apparently one of our best players would lose his spot in the side. Swear it’s this pace lust once again too.

Yeah we'd be mad to drop Kulusevski for Raphinha...and I'm a massive fan of signing Raphinha. But equally, if Kulu or Son needed a rest or had an off day, I would be happy as fuck to have a player of Raphinha's quality play instead or come off the bench.

The idea would be to actually have a genuinely equal level fourth attacker that wouldn't mean our quality massively drops off when either we rotate, or someone gets injured.

When Jota started games ahead of Mane last season that wasn't because he was 'better' necessarily, it was because they play 60 fucking games a season and need to rotate their best players and Jota is a top quality rotation option that can do a great job.

That's how we need to look at a Raphinha/Richarilison signing. Not fighting with Kulusevki and Son for their places in the first 11, but as legitimate squad options which mean we can still win the 'softer' CL matches and games against mid/lower table sides without relying on Kulusevki and Son playing every bloody minute.

It's really not rocket science.

 

[coy-spurs1882]

Why on Earth would you replace him? The guy was absolutely phenomenal and barely needed to settle in. He got better and better as the season went on and was a huge reason we got top 4. Kulu has everything and is 3 years younger than Raphinha. To be honest it would be ludicrous to drop Kulusevski out of the starting 11 when he could easily develop into one of the best players in Europe.

Raphinha would be a brilliant impact sub option and he’d start a good amount of games but fans are obsessed over shiny new signings and hype them to the extent that even apparently one of our best players would lose his spot in the side. Swear it’s this pace lust once again too.

I think he means rotation. Like when we have 3-4 games a week surely Kulusevski needs to be rested for 1 or 2

 

[chas vs dave]

I think he means rotation. Like when we have 3-4 games a week surely Kulusevski needs to be rested for 1 or 2

Same applies to kane and son. We can't run them ragged with 2 games a week.

 

[muel]

Anyone fancy starting the “we have Kulu” “it’s about having a squad” argument again? It’s been a few minutes.

 

[IfiHadTheWings]

Anyone fancy starting the “we have Kulu” “it’s about having a squad” argument again? It’s been a few minutes.

Personally i think your point here is invalid, we have Kulu but it is also about having a squad.

 

[alexis]

They don’t need a 20-25 goal a season striker.
Their top goal scorer last season In PL was Saka with 12 goals. They finished 2 points from 4th. I don’t think it’s a huge necessity to have a striker who scored 20-25 goals for them.

For them, it’s a team contribution.

This makes no sense. Who wouldn’t want a 20-25 goal striker?

 

[markt]

Really it’s a squad game, whoever deserves to play will end up playing, through application in training and matches. Bissouma is replacing Winks, not Hojbjerg or Bentancur. Raphinha + striker would be replacing Bergwijn + Vinicius (who we never replaced last year). This is the way we need to think now.

Completely agree that Kulusevski has been sensational though, and that starting spot for the first game should absolutely be his if everyone is fit. I’m not sure there’s any player we can feasibly sign that I would want to start ahead of him first game. If he tires, there’s fixtures congestion, has a bad run of form, then maybe Raphinha can claim it, it would be up to Kulusevski to claim it back. Same goes for Son/Kane, although they probably have more leeway due to long term world class quality (like Firmino getting rotated more often that Salah/Mane). This is what happens at City and Liverpool all the time and is what we need. We should stop worrying about who starts, the players and Conte will look after that.

Exactly this. For too long we have had no depth so having first team options is great. I also think Kulusevski and Raphina have enough versatility to cover the other side if absolutely needed too. Kulusevski is quality, but competition and rotation options are needed.

The key is we have game changers on the bench or can rotate when needed. The Liverpool example is great example of having quality 4 or 5 quality players for 3 positions they will all get a lot of first team football.

 

[GetSpurredOn]

Playing 343 we need 5 first team ready centre backs and 5 first team ready forwards. There’s more than enough minutes go round with 50-60 game season and 5 subs from this year. As has been stated, we need a big club mentality. Keeping some those retailers starters a bit fresher could see us not hit the lulls where we struggle to break down/kill off perceived lower level teams.

Therefore Kulusevski, Kane, Son, Raphinha/Richarlison plus one other is fine. Personally if he has a good summer I’d keep Parrott at the club this season, let him learn from Kane, also get his club trained status completed.

 

[ThroughTheEther]

Haven’t heard that Leeds have rejected our bid yet which is a good thing, I guess

 

[Archibald&Crooks]

Having the ability to rotate with 'better' players will expand on the 'This is on Conte' moans after games where we don't win. The hindsight will be rampant. Shouldn't have rested this or that player, should have picked him, the whole lot. The 'best eleven' thing as it was when we weren't acting like a football club will be largely redundant but that'll take some time to seep into consciousness of the SC hive

 

[aliyid]

that'll take some time to seep into consciousness of the SC hive

The hive mind still thinks Ghaly is on form

 

[JacoZA]

Worth mentioning that statistically you improve your team more efficiently by swapping your worst players for better ones than by adding more quality at the top end of your squad, e.g. it's better to lift the floor than raise the ceiling.

 

[St José Dominguez]

Yeah we'd be mad to drop Kulusevski for Raphinha...and I'm a massive fan of signing Raphinha. But equally, if Kulu or Son needed a rest or had an off day, I would be happy as fuck to have a player of Raphinha's quality play instead or come off the bench.

The idea would be to actually have a genuinely equal level fourth attacker that wouldn't mean our quality massively drops off when either we rotate, or someone gets injured.

When Jota started games ahead of Mane last season that wasn't because he was 'better' necessarily, it was because they play 60 fucking games a season and need to rotate their best players and Jota is a top quality rotation option that can do a great job.

That's how we need to look at a Raphinha/Richarilison signing. Not fighting with Kulusevki and Son for their places in the first 11, but as legitimate squad options which mean we can still win the 'softer' CL matches and games against mid/lower table sides without relying on Kulusevki and Son playing every bloody minute.

It's really not rocket science.

For sure. Personally I think Son and Kane are so key to us that we need to hope they stay fit for the vast majority of the season in order to achieve anything. Raphinha would obviously not be a drop down in quality, I replied due to wording it that he’d start most games, which is just a bizarre take. The 5 subs rule is big though and Raphinha if struggling to break down an opponent or chasing a game or even holding on and wanting to counter would be amazing. Ironically I think it’s Kulu who could actually play all season as he’ll have a mid season break. It could be Son who ends up being the more rotated player.

 

[oobaties]

Worth mentioning that statistically you improve your team more efficiently by swapping your worst players for better ones than by adding more quality at the top end of your squad, e.g. it's better to lift the floor than raise the ceiling.

Nailed it!

Still want Raphinha though ?

 

[Nerine]

Worth mentioning that statistically you improve your team more efficiently by swapping your worst players for better ones than by adding more quality at the top end of your squad, e.g. it's better to lift the floor than raise the ceiling.

Pareto analysis ftw

 

[jurgen]

Worth mentioning that statistically you improve your team more efficiently by swapping your worst players for better ones than by adding more quality at the top end of your squad, e.g. it's better to lift the floor than raise the ceiling.

In which case after upgrading our wing backs, which is half done so far, upgrading Bergwijn and Moura is probably next on the list as that’s where the biggest drop off in quality is within the squad.