The ITK Discussion Thread - 7th December 2021

[Ron Burgundy]

That would be amazing - tough call for Jan though

 

[cjsimba]

Then a creative mid in the summer when more are available I presume

 

[brasil_spur]

That would be amazing - tough call for Jan though

3 players isn't too tough IMO.

 

[slartibartfast]

3 players isn't too tough IMO.

3 good players is.

 

[dontcallme]

3 players isn't too tough IMO.

Care to name the last time a top 6 Prem side bought 3 good players in January?

 

[brasil_spur]

3 good players is.

Well for RB we're looking for a rotation player for Emerson, so doesn't need to be first team starter. The same can be said for LCB for Davies rotation. In fact even the striker situation is potentially a Kane rotation, unless we get Vlahovic.

So good players, but not world class starters, makes things a bit easier, particular with clubs still suffering from COVID finances.

Care to name the last time a top 6 Prem side bought 3 good players in January?

West Ham last season and the season before. It's pretty common that top teams bring in 2 players in January, so 3 is hardly a stretch. Add to this that it's more an incentive thing - most top 6 teams have a manager in place from the summer and get their business done then, obviously with Conte arriving when he did it's expected that he will want some players and should be backed in Jan.

 

[rossdapep]

Makes sense as we are a light in these areas specifically.

Kane gets injured and we have to rely solely on Son and hope Bergwijn steps up but also lose our creativity.

Emerson gets injured and we have to rely on Doherty who won't have the same stamina energy to get up and down.

Davies gets injured and we have to play Tanganga (did okay yesterday to be fair) or Sanchez there and it's not ideal.

Probably have enough midfielders to rotate and probably need to wait for the ones we really want.

 

[Timberwolf]

Care to name the last time a top 6 Prem side bought 3 good players in January?

Not a perfect comparison, but it's worth noting Conte's Inter were very active in his first January window, bringing in Eriksen, Ashley Young and Victor Moses, two of which ended up being regular first teamers.

I agree that we're very unlikely to spend huge money on 3 mega signings, but it's not too hard to see us doing one big signing and a couple of cheaper/loan deals in positions that are currently thin to provide cover.

 

[dontcallme]

Well for RB we're looking for a rotation player for Emerson, so doesn't need to be first team starter. The same can be said for LCB for Davies rotation. In fact even the striker situation is potentially a Kane rotation, unless we get Vlahovic.

So good players, but not world class starters, makes things a bit easier, particular with clubs still suffering from COVID finances.



West Ham last season and the season before. It's pretty common that top teams bring in 2 players in January, so 3 is hardly a stretch. Add to this that it's more an incentive thing - most top 6 teams have a manager in place from the summer and get their business done then, obviously with Conte arriving when he did it's expected that he will want some players and should be backed in Jan.

West Ham aren’t top six and never have been.

Look through the transfer history and you’ll see that “it’s common for top teams to bring in two players in January” isn’t remotely true unless you’re counting young players that don’t play for years.

 

[dontcallme]

Not a perfect comparison, but it's worth noting Conte's Inter were very active in his first January window, bringing in Eriksen, Ashley Young and Victor Moses, two of which ended up regular first teamers.

I agree that we're very unlikely to spend huge money on 3 mega signings, but it's not too hard to see us doing one big signing and a couple of cheaper/loan deals in positions that are currently thin to provide cover.

The thing is, that we’re already seeing improvements from the likes of Bergwijn and Winks. Even a glimmer from Alli.

I’d hope we’re only looking for quality. 3 in January isn’t going to happen for us or any team in the top 6 in the Prem.

 

[Timberwolf]

The thing is, that we’re already seeing improvements from the likes of Bergwijn and Winks. Even a glimmer from Alli.

I’d hope we’re only looking for quality. 3 in January isn’t going to happen for us or any team in the top 6 in the Prem.

Yeah I agree regarding quality long term, but those players you listed don't play in the positions that Ally G says we've earmarked.

We only have 1 striker, 1 reliable RWB and Davies is our only left footed CB, so I think Conte is probably worried about what happens if Kane, Royal or Davies get a serious injury as we could be in trouble.

 

[WhiteHart4Ever]

Yeah I agree regarding quality long term, but those players you listed don't play in the positions that Ally G says we've earmarked.

We only have 1 striker, 1 reliable RWB and Davies is our only left footed CB, so I think Conte is probably worried about what happens if Kane, Royal or Davies get a serious injury as we could be in trouble.

Still have Rodon, don’t we? Had fairly high hopes for him actually.

I still feel like we need the player Ndombele was supposed to be: powerful box-to-box with goal threat. As for creativity we do have Winks, Alli, Lo Celso, Gil and none of them are getting much game time so can’t see us finding much better without spending big money.

A striker is probably number 1 priority for me, but agree rotation at RWB is also needed as Doherty does not look the part at all..

 

[Erm33]

Assuming no creative midfielder as a priority as we have to figure out what we're doing with Lo Celso, Ndombele, Alli and Winks long term.

I'd be happy with what Ali Gold has said we're looking at.

 

[Stoof]

Care to name the last time a top 6 Prem side bought 3 good players in January?

In which case it’s even more likely if it’s not happened before …

 

[YB123]

Care to name the last time a top 6 Prem side bought 3 good players in January?

Because of players running down contracts becoming more and more popular, january transfers will therefore become more and more popular.

 

[brasil_spur]

West Ham aren’t top six and never have been.

Look through the transfer history and you’ll see that “it’s common for top teams to bring in two players in January” isn’t remotely true unless you’re counting young players that don’t play for years.

They are literally 6th in the league today, but sure I get your point.

I think there's enough examples of it (year before last we bought in 2 players for example) to call it common.

Perhaps it's also worth looking at what happens in Italy, given our new setup. If you go back to the last winter window before COVID you can see:

19/20:
Atalanta - 5 players
Fiorentina - 5 players
Inter - 3 players
Milan - 4 players

Again I don't see 3 players in being all that tough, but i guess we'll know for sure by the 1st Feb.

 

[jedimonkey]

Still have Rodon, don’t we? Had fairly high hopes for him actually.

Pretty sure Conte said recently that he only sees Rodon as being able to play as the middle centre back in his system, and that he is effectively a back up for Dier.

I don't think we'll see him at LCB or RCB any time soon, which is why we will be looking for a LCB to cover Davies.

 

[dtxspurs]

He also mentions in the article that RWB is likely because Doherty might be looking to leave for regular game time.

 

[Cornpattbuck]

Have we been even weakly linked to any LCBs or RWBs recently? All the talk has been around Dusan and Kessie. Interesting... ?

 

[Yid-ol]

He also mentions in the article that RWB is likely because Doherty might be looking to leave for regular game time.

I think it's most likely we want 3 players in those positions, and then depending on who goes we might need to replace a couple also.