Well Henderson had a tabard on. See if he makes the team sheet.
I guess I can see it, though Quinnen Williams is twice his size. There are a fair number of wide receivers that you could compare him Lavia to in terms of explosiveness, quickness, physicality, slipperiness.
I agree there are better physical comparisons and obviously Williams would eat Lavia. It’s not so much the physical form but the fact that Williams was an outlier as a DT in how slippery and evasive he was - Lavia is similarly an anomaly in DMs in the way he moves.
As Lavia improves and becomes a more accomplished passer I can imagine him being able to slide through midfield and become a really devastating weapon from a position the opposition isn’t used to dealing with.
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I think we can probably include some youth players in either a loan or a buy deal to get it done a bit cheaper.
Say 45m plus one youth player. Who saints can then have a chance to sell at a profit?
That’s what saints essentially are.
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His passing is pretty good for his age. My concern is that his defensive (tackling plus interception)numbers are low and he still concedes yellow cards. 11 yellow cards in 37 games. Maybe it’s something that can be worked on later.
Tackling and interception numbers can sometimes be a little overstated but certainly he can be more diligent defensively. As I said above, if he could develop that terrier-like DM attitude he would be a complete midfielder.
His passing is fine, just not expansive or particularly creative. That isn’t his first duty so not surprising and I don’t think it’s an immediate need for a defensive midfielder but if he could develop a bit more of a passing range to go with his elite press-resistance then he’d be truly one of the best midfielders in world football. It’s not easy to develop that skill but the potential is there.
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Anyway from what it looks like , it seems that Fabinho is staying. Hopefully Thiago stays this season as well.
Getting him into training with the likes of a Thiago and Fabinho and getting him slowly into the first team is going to be the best way forward. Not to mention Bajcetic, Jones, Mac who can also play in the #6.
If this remains the way it is , get Lavia and focus on one CB to close out the window.
I wonder how many of those yellows were due to him being the entirety of Southampton’s midfield and them being overrun in every game… hopefully he would have much better support there playing for us
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Combination of that , youthful mistakes (young footballers do commit those mistakes , it’s when you refuse to learn from them and become a yellow card magnet like Pogba that this becomes a problem.
I’m really curious as to what this primary role will be then? If we’re truly losing Henderson & Fab (which at least one sounds somewhat confirmed now in Henderson, what do we need Lavia for if he’s not going to displace Fabinho immediately?
We’ll have a LOT of funds tied up in midfielders again when we really do need another CB. another hurdle to the path for Bajcetic into the first team, with Macca and SloboCop already tying up 80-90mil?
I’d really like to see Bajcetic get some playing time this year. Jones too.
Did Robbo displace Moreno instantly when he joined the team ?
Maybe the fact that Fabio deal now looks ‘shakey’… Saints might be considering our needs for Lavia are not as urgent as they once were… and they starting to stress we may back out of any deal…
Different styles for different oppositions. The addition of Lavia shouldn’t be against Bajcetic getting minutes. Having more numbers in the midfield probably allows us to even try out a 4-2-2-2 formation (which we have done in the past) especially when Trent is unavailable /rested etc and someone like a Bradley plays in RB or even a Gomez
Gomez/Bradley Konate/Matip Virgil Robbo/Tsimikas
Lavia/Fabinho Bajcetic/Thiago/Mac
Dominik /Elliot Jones/Mac/Diaz
Salah/Nunez Gakpo/Jota
There’s nothing wrong with having bodies in midfield. The concept i see is the midfield box which Liverpool seem to be following.
Still need a CB though. Can’t be relying on Gomez/Matip to stay injury free. And Virgil needs some replacement , even if not immediately. 2 seasons down the line.
I think there are funds for a CB, its probably just a little difficult to prise their preferred target away from their current club. Presumably negotiatins for other players continue.
As for needing Lavia, i think a season we can ease him in would benefit both him and others such as bajcetic.
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We will be getting a CB. If only to replace the minutes that Gomez/Matip spend on the treatment table this year and Phillips leaving as well. I won’t be surprised if we get one senior CB and promote one or two from the youth teams as well
As of now , with one unexpected senior midfielder leaving , We’ll need to focus on that first. The search for a CB will go on.
Well I assume he can play CM as well.
I’m really not keen on going into the new season reliant on Thiago and Fabinho.
With the injury record of Jones as well I think you just have Thiago hang around and if he is fit then you can use him. Bit like Keita, we’ve got used to having 3 of them so down to 1 isn’t a massive issue and if Fabinho does go then the funds go on a CB.
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There might be a lot of things depending on each other. We might have been waiting on Hendo or Fab to ‘go’, then we can sign Lavia, then we might be happier about letting Phillips go because of homegrown factor, then once we let Phillips go that frees up a CB spot which we can fill, pushing Matip down to 5th choice.
What we probably don’t want is to sign Lavia and a CB and then the deals for Fab/Hendo and Phillips to fall through and be stuck with too many players.
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Regarding his tackling & interceptions I would say that he would have better numbers in a team with a better structure that were better picking up second balls & recoveries than Southampton. He was able to get a foot to loads of things that would a team-mate would have benefited from in a team with better shape.
Also, his passing is really good. He was good vision, can break lines & hit long off both feet.
Yup, probably Henderson is now done as I said before and it’s pushed this.
Anyhow he starts.
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