- Dec 28, 2017
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I think you understood what I mean...Was the club whispering that? Or was it itk which as you know needs to be taken with a pinch of salt?
I think you understood what I mean...Was the club whispering that? Or was it itk which as you know needs to be taken with a pinch of salt?
I disagree that we can't get anyone better than the likes of Willian Jose. Perhaps that may be true for a like-for-like Kane replacement who plays a traditional CF role, but Kane's presence shouldn't prevent us from bringing in another WF who can slot in up top like Son. If we transition to a 4-3-3 setup as many expect will be the case, there'd be plenty of opportunity for a quality young singing to come in and stake a place in the team.Even Lille have a backup forward, our situation is completely inexcusable.
I said in the winter that we should have just jumped on Willian Jose because Spurs weren't going to bring in anyone of higher quality than that.
I disagree that we can't get anyone better than the likes of Willian Jose. Perhaps that may be true for a like-for-like Kane replacement who plays a traditional CF role, but Kane's presence shouldn't prevent us from bringing in another WF who can slot in up top like Son. If we transition to a 4-3-3 setup as many expect will be the case, there'd be plenty of opportunity for a quality young singing to come in and stake a place in the team.
The real problem we've had, IMO, is that we've only had two options of the requisite quality which means that whenever Kane gets injured we're totally reliant on Son to play every single match, which inevitably leads to Son being run into the ground and injured himself. Another WF who is adept at playing up top would give us the third option we need.
It's true enough that our choices for out-and-out CFs will be limited to the Janssens, Llorentes, and Willian Joses of the world but we can bolster the squad without settling for mediocrity.
Ollie Watkins at Brentford might be that player.An alternative would be to pick up a promising championship striker, someone with talent and no expectation to be 1st choice. Alternatively there’s the Albanian striker who plays for Fenerbache who’s constantly linked with us. He looks a decent target-man.
We should have hung onto Llorente for another season IMO (and at least tried to play to his strengths when called upon).
Ollie Watkins at Brentford might be that player.
My only concern is that, whilst we were once the team that could afford to take the risk on a championship player, we’ve now got the pressure of qualifying for the champions league/winning a trophy.
Maybe we need to be looking at the likes of Danny Ings (if Southampton are desperate for cash), or another proven premier league player.
Either that or Muriqi, international looking to make the step up to the next level.
I’d support a move for either of these.
In fact, I’d do anything to avoid the state we got ourselves in over Jan/feb, with no fit attackers.
I was actually happy to see him go I'm not gonna lie, I remember being annoyed at seeing him ready to come on with it being a sign of us abandoning playing football on the deck. Despite that, I was delighted because I thought it was a sure sign that we would be getting someone else in instead... I think I forgot the team I supported in that moment I absolutely would have wanted to have held on to him if I knew we weren't getting anyone else.
Maybe we need to be looking at the likes of Danny Ings (if Southampton are desperate for cash), or another proven premier league player.
Llorente scored some key goals but in the league he was a waste of space. We didn’t play to his strengths and he looked disinterested.
With regard to holding onto him, I was under the impression he turned down a new contract offer? which did include a reduction in wages. No way was he worth 100k per week and especially not for a few appearances here and there.
It comes back to the usual problem- will we spend the money to maintain our place at the top table? Getting into the CL is one thing, staying there consistently is a totally different thing. I hope that our record-breaking profit from the last season might put us in a place to make that step, and take advantage of others weaknesses. In reality I’m sure our budget will be as small as ( if not smaller than) everyone else’s. I’d go for one of: osimhen, ings, Watkins, muriqi in that order.I like Watkins and that’s who I would go for.
What concerns me about Ings is that he recently missed 2 years of football due to two serious injuries and given he’s now 29 how much has he got left in him before his knees finally pack in?
Muriqi seems to be mainly agent driven but having watched his highlights and yes I know it’s hard to judge by watching occasional footage but he’s a brute of a player and really gets stuck in. He’s also very good in the air and a decent finisher. He’s a no brainer for the rumoured price.
Watkins is an interesting player agreed. Will do well in Prem IMOOllie Watkins at Brentford might be that player.
My only concern is that, whilst we were once the team that could afford to take the risk on a championship player, we’ve now got the pressure of qualifying for the champions league/winning a trophy.
Maybe we need to be looking at the likes of Danny Ings (if Southampton are desperate for cash), or another proven premier league player.
Either that or Muriqi, international looking to make the step up to the next level.
I’d support a move for either of these.
In fact, I’d do anything to avoid the state we got ourselves in over Jan/feb, with no fit attackers.
Piatek can't even get in the Herta side, that was a dodged bulletI agree hence why I thought it was stupid that we didn't sign Willian Jose or Piatek and that the club was whispering out stupid stuff like it was because they had a big target for the Summer.
So, I really don't think we are going to have basically any additional funds to play with. I think we are realistically looking at a pretty even Transfer Fees Out/In and Wages Out/In situation, given the circumstances. Anyone thinking we have a shit ton of money just lying around, I think is sorely mistaken.
We truthfully do not have a ton of players to just get rid of. We've got maybe 4-5 (Aurier, Lamela, KWP, Cameron Carter-Vickers, Dier) that are probably up for sale, and then 3 players who are just going to see their contracts expire. Unless across the board all clubs are hacking off millions from their asking prices, we aren't going to be able to appropriately fill the obvious voids we have in this squad.
I'm actually really concerned. We could sell those few players, but if we did, how are we actually going to fill the glaring holes? All of the sudden we have an aging squad that I think obviously has talent but some serious issues.
I see no reason why we can save our money for other areas and give Troy a trial run as the second string striker bearing in mind we have other options such as Sonny and Lucas who have done it for us.
The likelihood is we will not have CL so less money to spend anyway. Concentrate on CD, DM and RB.
mid we do somehow manage to get European football I think the EL would be another good stage for Troy to develop
I like the idea of more homegrown players being brought through. Add Aarons and Watkins and trade Eze for Amos and Clarke (Loan), and we really have an exciting bunch of youngsters. If we were to supplement with some smart frees like meunier and either Fraser or willian. Finally, trade KWP for hojbjerg.Yeah, I totally agree. I also think we've got to show some faith in Sessegnon, too. He was a large transfer purchase, and I think his development needs to be at fullback, given our options up top, and see if he can really make that position his for the foreseeable future. Skipp in midfield is another one. These three players (all incredibly young) could really be the ones to benefit from the current transfer situation, and quite honestly, if they all take full advantage, the club will, too. I still believe Skipp can sit behind a duo of Ndombele and Lo Celso and give us that all-action, harrier type.
I like the idea of more homegrown players being brought through. Add Aarons and Watkins and trade Eze for Amos and Clarke (Loan), and we really have an exciting bunch of youngsters. If we were to supplement with some smart frees like meunier and either Fraser or willian. Finally, trade KWP for hojbjerg.
If we can recoup some money by finding buyers for lamela, Aurier, Sissoko and foyth, that would be great. Personally I’d still keep Foyth. He’s good all the features of a top player, apart from a brain. He could certainly improve us at RB. If Jose doesn’t fancy him then so be it, but I can see him going into be a success somewhere else.
5 in/6 out maybe be wildly optimistic in the current climate of course.