- Oct 2, 2004
- 48,327
- 47,573
- Staff
- #41
Soooo...plenty to chew on over the weekend.
I love 'first of the month' editions...IIRC last years was epic.
Interesting to hear that deals are as good as done in some areas...Paulinho, Villa (maybe) and the two young Croatians.
The Kaboul info is a worry though...is he still struggling or is he ready for pre-season? With him and Sandro back in the fold, I've started looking at competitions next season...who AVB will play in EL and league matches. The ITK on 4 more after Paulinho (not including the Croats) gives us the depth we need to succeed in all competitions. Rotation is key but so is, to a large degree protection for the likes of Kaboul and Sandro. They can't be playing week in week out at the start...but I reckon AVB will have planned around this.
It'll be an intriguing 2 months finding out who those 4 (if 4) will be. ITK have pointed out how quickly targets change so who we're linked with today might be completely different tomorrow.
I'd still like to see us sign 2 forwards (Villa and 1 other) If this is Leandro, I'm happy with that. Keep Ade and we have a very strong selection there. With another pacey, creative wide player added, our only concern is LB.
Happy days...pinch and a punch motherfuckers
Sandro and Kaboul are both key considerations.
If Kaboul's injury is very serious (i.e. long term like Ledley's) then we'll probably need another centre back unless AVB trusts that Caulker can step up. It's an area where it's important to have a partnership so we need someone to be consistently playing alongside Vertonghen, and I'm not sure if AVB thinks Dawson or Caulker are that player.
As for Sandro, we need a sensible backup option for him. When he's out we look much weaker so we need to sort that out. Will Paulinho be able to play that role? If so who else comes into the midfield, particularly if we're selling Parker and Huddlestone.
They're both very important positions and we need to make sure we aren't reliant on one player. We've got a lot of work to do to have a strong squad rather than just a strong first XI.