We need two players per position.
Currently we would need a CB and a forward or two (depending on different aspects).
I sincerely hope we don’t play to go into next season with Gomez being 3rd choice and the 4th being anyone of the likes of Gravenberch, Robbo or Endo. Those should be emergency options.
The rest is fine and normal, hopefully we get a good offer for Tsimi and get the deal done.
At this point. Gomez is a utility player who (while mostly injured) is best used as someone who can see off matches across all positions. He can’t be relied upon to be the 3rd of 4th choice CB.
We should be getting one CB at the bare minimum and if possible another one just to have some more breathing space.
Even someone like Klavan as the 4th CB is welcome at this point. Someone who can play the early stages of the domestic cups etc.
I’d be fine with him as 4th option (and the time for Gomez not to be at this club anymore will also come). But we need someone in, not only for backup, but for competition and also preparing the future, that has some question marks (Konate’s deal, Virgil’s age, etc.).
But what happens if there are no takers for Tsimi in January? We carry an additional player we don’t really need for the season. That financial cost could be something we use to offset other expenditures elsewhere. It’s also another non homegrown slot taken up.
Isn’t it a World Cup year too? Not sure even Tsimi would be that keen to be third choice in that case.
As much as I like him, I think it is much better to allow him to leave if he is happy with the move and continue looking for young talent to bring through.
Like Darwin, I think he is a well-liked member of the squad, but he doesn’t appear to be a leader on or off the pitch, so his moving on is unlikely to have any big negative impact on the squad.
If we are being ruthless in the transfer business and not letting emotions rule , I think we would have seen Robbo being the first to leave.
Robbo’s lost his legs more and Tsimikas is happy to be second choice. It’s a non emotional business but Tsimikas possibly has more to offer to the club at this point.
That’s what the club did look at. The move for Robbo to Atletico didn’t work out but they looked quite happy to see either leave.
I don’t think we can trust Gomez to be the 4th choice.
The best case Gomez makes to be in the squad is because he’s someone who can play across the backline as a substitute to see off matches. The last 15 min etc etc.
At this point , there’s a usecase for using him as a backup /substitute RB when Frimpong is played upfront and Bradley starts as a RB. There’s possibly a case in using him because we need someone to see off matches in LB when either of Kerkez/Robbo gets taken off.
Same goes for seeing matches off as a CB.
I don’t see him as reliable in terms of fitness to be starting matches.
A third or fourth choice CB should be capable enough to start matches. Even if they are in the league or the fa cup.
But you could say that about pretty much any position group on the field.
What Frimpong gets a long term injury and we can’t trust the fitness of Bradley or Gomez?
What if Salah gets a long term injury and we have to rely on Chiesa?
What if Gravenberch gets a… You get the point.
Ultimately we have to balance the squad and three dedicated left backs is overkill when in our ideal scenario it would mean one of them barely seeing the field.
And selling him January is all well and good but what if your hypothetical Kerkez injury happens first week in February and you’ve only got Robbo to play out the last four months at the crunch time of the season? Where does that safety net of a third option really end?
All good points, @rab, I take them on board, although that’s why I’m also against letting Chiesa and Elliot go.
It’s just that there are so many players leaving that, despite a good season of transfers with plenty of quality players coming in, we are still in danger of being less well-balanced going into the new season, in terms of the squad, than last summer. And with letting Tsimi go, we lose once again a lot of substance in terms of winning experience and maturity.
Anyway, things are what they are (for whatever strange reason), and I completely brace myself for a transitional season, in which qualifying for the CL is probably an achievable goal, with a little bit of luck.
I get that, it’s been a big upheaval this summer having had almost complete continuity the summer before. There’s definitely something to be said for trying not to rock the boat further and to be honest I’m not sure I’d have let Quansah go for that reason alone.
If we were talking about Robbo leaving I’d be of the same opinion to you. Another change we could do without, another senior voice gone, a player at the heart of our success in recent years lost. And whilst Tsimikas seems well liked and has definitely contributed to recent trophy wins I don’t think him leaving leaves that much of a hole in the intangible aspects.
I also reckon Tsimikas probably knows the writing is on the wall and he might be keen to go play some more too.
I guess it might feel different had we got a replacement for Quansah before he left and had them bedded in. But at this late stage it does feel like we’ll see a few more comings and goings before the window is done.
The Diaz one is still the most baffling.
Yeah. Another where the continuity would have been good to keep him but maybe the money spoke too loudly in the end given the players desire to move.
We did offer him a new contract.
End of the day if we are not willing to go over our offer to secure him so be it.
I am kind of with the opinion of keeping Quansah I think that was a mistake at this moment anyhow, Robbo I also agree should be kept. The guy is fine a game a week what happens is flogging him into the ground where even a game a week looks too much.
He had 2 years left there was no rush to do anything.
Club decided they wanted to turn a profit for whatever reason, same goes for Quansah.
Spending a gazillion quid elsewhere probably had something to do with it.
I believe they has to be wheels in motion if not its an unnecessary gamble.
The Wirtz deal looks to be a rich mans folly.
I’m sure something similar was said about van Dijk. I suspect that these are the sort of deals that we would have hoped to have done after winning the league in 2020. They have been cautious since due to the financial situation following the pandemic. Clearly the club feel that this is affordable. As a fan, it feels odd because we have never really been the sort of club to make the first move on big transfers (e.g. Virg and Alisson were on the back of the Coutinho sale or, further back, we bought Dalglish having sold Keegan to Hamburg.)
I’m not questioning the spend. Its more questioning has it been spent on the right position.
yes it has.
