The Daily ITK Discussion Thread - ENIC EARNING EDITION 14th November

[allatsea]

People are mentioning a bloated squad. But we only have 27 with Disco Benny pulling a Bogarde. So effectively 26.

West Ham has 31 and Liverpool 34 from a quick glance. Chelsea has 24.

So it's not numbers that are the issue....as we want 25. What is really at issue here is the vast number of these 26 players who we are paying way more than they deserve.

That and no room to give younger players a go. There way is blocked by players we don't seem to want

 

[philip]

That's a great point. I don't think I remember a time with this few injuries. Did we finally get a physio?

Or a training ground that has great medical facilities and decent ground?
Or a manager who gets his players fully fit?

 

[dovahkiin]

cabinessence on ftl:
Bit of Rock Solid

but not what you all prob want to know i.e. ins and outs.
Levy was after Benteke but AVB said is we're spending that sort of money I'd rather have Soldado.

Half-time team talks are delayed till Poch spends 5 mins with the stats analysts first. The team talk among themselves till he comes in. Had row with Lennon at HT against Chelscum for not tracking back. AL argued that he was, till Poch got the screen in and showed him. AL apologised.

Thinks it will be difficult to shift Soldudo and Ade in Jan as they're both too expensive. Seems like Jackson is someone that's liked, but think that was just his opinion not from the horses mouth as it were.

That's all folks.

 

[SamR]

cabinessence on ftl:
Bit of Rock Solid

but not what you all prob want to know i.e. ins and outs.
Levy was after Benteke but AVB said is we're spending that sort of money I'd rather have Soldado.

Half-time team talks are delayed till Poch spends 5 mins with the stats analysts first. The team talk among themselves till he comes in. Had row with Lennon at HT against Chelscum for not tracking back. AL argued that he was, till Poch got the screen in and showed him. AL apologised.

Thinks it will be difficult to shift Soldudo and Ade in Jan as they're both too expensive. Seems like Jackson is someone that's liked, but think that was just his opinion not from the horses mouth as it were.

That's all folks.

At least the analysis shows fact and will help Poch with his message (be it facts can be massaged)! It's things like this that show me Poch has got what it takes...and the poor performances are generally a case of the players not doing their jobs or not interested in carrying out instructions.

Being sensible, i think we should use January as a time to replace senior players with youngsters. As much as I'd like a new shiny, unless it's a first 11 addition or great talent (i think Berinho is great) we should promote the youth.

I'd much rather us sign one 8/10 every summer than a number of 6/10s throughout the windows. We can do this if we manage recruitment better

 

[loaderspurs]

cabinessence on ftl:
Bit of Rock Solid

but not what you all prob want to know i.e. ins and outs.
Levy was after Benteke but AVB said is we're spending that sort of money I'd rather have Soldado.

Half-time team talks are delayed till Poch spends 5 mins with the stats analysts first. The team talk among themselves till he comes in. Had row with Lennon at HT against Chelscum for not tracking back. AL argued that he was, till Poch got the screen in and showed him. AL apologised.

Thinks it will be difficult to shift Soldudo and Ade in Jan as they're both too expensive. Seems like Jackson is someone that's liked, but think that was just his opinion not from the horses mouth as it were.

That's all folks.

Well that's just a swift kick in the nuts ain't it...

 

[RuskyM]

Not only is Benteke not that much better than Soldado, it's worrying that those two appeared to be our only choices.

 

[Ghost Hardware]

Not only is Benteke not that much better than Soldado, it's worrying that those two appeared to be our only choices.

Im not entirely sure Jackson Martinez would be the answer to our striking problems ether, especially considering he wouldn't be remotely cheep. Its not the first time ITK has mentioned his name so there could well be some substance to our interest.

 

[225]

If you look at our top 10 transfer fees paid (or supposedly), I think it shows that we very rarely do well with big fees.

How many of these would you sign again? There's £184.7m worth of players here (not including inflation)

1. Soldado (£25.8m)
= Lamela (£25.8m)
3 Paulinho (£17m)
4 Modric (£16.6m)
5 Bent (£16.5m)
6 Bentley (£15m)
= Dembele (£15m)
8 Defoe (£15m)
9 Pav (£14m)
10 Keane (£12m) (post liverpool)
= Palacios (£12m)
= Lloris (£12m)

Besides Lloris, Modric and Defoe, it gets a bit sketchy. A lot of them have had important moments or scored important goals, but we didn't really see the player we paid for.

I think the 'money buys quality' thing can be a myth some times (I wonder how it would look if you took the best players in the PL and compared their relative signing fee.), so I wouldn't be too fussed if we got a few bargains in (even if it were a striker with good form in a weaker league).

 

[Everlasting Seconds]

cabinessence on ftl:

Levy was after Benteke but AVB said is we're spending that sort of money I'd rather have Soldado.

This we've heard before, and I suppose we can assume it to be actual facts. Based on what we knew back then, I'd say it was the right call. I supported it back then and still do, as a matter of fact. Soldado isn't a hit, but Benteke hasn't exactly made positive headline either. Besides, he really preferred Arsenal anyway.

 

[mike_went_bananas]

I'm struggling to understand that with AVB's system of inverted wingers and a lone striker, he thought that soldado would be the better option - a player who seemed to thrive with a striking partner and traditional wing play with crosses into the box... Who knows...

 

[DaSpurs]

If you look at our top 10 transfer fees paid (or supposedly), I think it shows that we very rarely do well with big fees.

How many of these would you sign again? There's £184.7m worth of players here (not including inflation)

1. Soldado (£25.8m)
= Lamela (£25.8m)
3 Paulinho (£17m)
4 Modric (£16.6m)
5 Bent (£16.5m)
6 Bentley (£15m)
= Dembele (£15m)
8 Defoe (£15m)
9 Pav (£14m)
10 Keane (£12m) (post liverpool)
= Palacios (£12m)
= Lloris (£12m)

Besides Lloris, Modric and Defoe, it gets a bit sketchy. A lot of them have had important moments or scored important goals, but we didn't really see the player we paid for.

I think the 'money buys quality' thing can be a myth some times (I wonder how it would look if you took the best players in the PL and compared their relative signing fee.), so I wouldn't be too fussed if we got a few bargains in (even if it were a striker with good form in a weaker league).

To answer the question, Modric and Lloris, that would be it.

 

[tiger666]

There is an article on the Guardian website now that has Poch talking about how each player has his own personal training regime to help keep players fresh and fit.

I'd imagine every premier league club gives its players personal training regimes.

 

[prawnsandwich]

That and no room to give younger players a go. There way is blocked by players we don't seem to want

Mourinho said he had no regrets about letting Lampard go because it frees up a space for a younger player.

 

[225]

To answer the question, Modric and Lloris, that would be it.

I was thinking the same, but I would probably add Defoe on to the list, purely his goal returns were much better in his second stint (£15m) and he wasn't too far off a goal every 2 games.

 

[prawnsandwich]

If you look at our top 10 transfer fees paid (or supposedly), I think it shows that we very rarely do well with big fees.
1. Soldado (£25.8m)
= Lamela (£25.8m)
3 Paulinho (£17m)
4 Modric (£16.6m)
5 Bent (£16.5m)
6 Bentley (£15m)
= Dembele (£15m)
8 Defoe (£15m)
9 Pav (£14m)
10 Keane (£12m) (post liverpool)
= Palacios (£12m)
= Lloris (£12m)

Wow! Thanks for that.

 

[prawnsandwich]

I'd imagine every premier league club gives its players personal training regimes.

If not they should do. These guys are worth multi millions each.

 

[225]

If not they should do. These guys are worth multi millions each.

This is why it confuses me that they wouldn't hire one (or even a team) of specialist coaches to get Soldado firing again.

Comparing his transfer fee, wages and potential value at the moment, in literally any other business it would be asset protection surely?

 

[Air Jordan 3]

Think the bloated squad stands out this year due to not as many injuries so we can/need to trim back.

Not even 1 injury according to physio room at the moment.

Poch clearly doing something right on that front!

 

[DaSpurs]

I was thinking the same, but I would probably add Defoe on to the list, purely his goal returns were much better in his second stint (£15m) and he wasn't too far off a goal every 2 games.

Yeah that's fair. Nonetheless, your point still remains, and I agree with it. It is a very unfortunate trend.

 

[Lilbaz]

Think the bloated squad stands out this year due to not as many injuries so we can/need to trim back.

Not even 1 injury according to physio room at the moment.

Poch clearly doing something right on that front!

Think we should aim for a squad of 23. Then have the likes of Winks etc... make up the shortfall. Although it depends how far we get in the cups.