I’m really hoping for a midfielder to help ryan with the workload this 2nd half. A cb would be nice too
The same Gomez that played 3133 minutes last season without an injury?
Gomez and Quansah barely saw any minutes until Konaté got injured. Quansah has had 5 league games with a total of 225 minutes so far, and 270 minutes in the League Cup. That’s it. 2 minutes in the Champions League this season.
It’s like you have absolutely no clue at all.
Yeah, remind me how shit he was last season?
Is there meant to be some logic here?
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That’s what I meant you’d buy now and then someone leaves in the summer. Bit like Diaz but that was done because he became available and Spurs were trying to do a deal.
Any signings will be done in a similar vein
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Really. Go ahead and then moan around when there’s no alternatives. Being pragmatic on the chances of injuries isn’t a bad thing. Have you had any clue on playing sports in a decent level ?
You’ll be the first guy moaning if we don’t get over the line
It’s not “being pragmatic” to stockpile players who don’t have a chance of playing when we already have players who don’t have many minutes.
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Our squad size is “perfect” really. We had more seasons with bigger numbers than too small squads. Overall I mean, we sometimes had a lack of depth in attack for example.
It’s not unusual to have 9 or 10 defenders in teams that play 4 at the back, when the ideal number is 8. Depends what kind of mix you have also, experience vs youth, versatility (or lack of), styles.
Different circumstances lead to it sometimes, it’s hard to get rid of players when you’d like to trim the squad down.
The thing is here, I’m totally fine with us having 8, but it does carry a bit of risk because we still have someone as important as Konate, who it seems that even after 4 seasons (3 of 4 if we’re fair to him and his evolution here in the pecking order), won’t get to the numbers you want from a CB, and a physical one in his potent years at that.
But it’s clear that we’ll have to do something in defence next summer. Trent leaving possibly opens a gap if not at RB, then at CB (if Gomez remains at least one more season mostly as a backup RB). Plus, we’re being linked with LB’s.
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You cannot imagine how happy I would be to see that…
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I’ve been intrigued by him for a good few years now, but was too lazy to watch more games to get to know him better.
Started to be a bit suspicious how come he’s not linked with a move more often, or hasn’t left Lille yet and even with his contract running out, still not a lot of smoke. Began to wonder is he even that good as the numbers might suggest…
Seems to me like a player who can do a bit of everything. Goalscorer, but also someone who offers quality in other aspects as well. Is that true?
How would you describe him in terms of style?
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Seriously speaking though I think surely if there’s a Canadian we need right now it would be Davies?
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Yes, but Davies is from out west. David is local to me, and I had a hand in getting him some opportunities to play out of his age grade, because at 14 he was already tearing apart the highest level of U-18 play in the area. You do that kind of thing to develop young talent, but to see him wearing the red jersey might in some way be the pinnacle of my own active time in the sport.
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I think he is a more natural attacking midfielder than striker, certainly than as a lone striker. That is a little odd for Canada, because he is by far the best striker in the squad. I have not seen him in Ligue 1. He has the classic problem of good North American players - often spectacular athleticism, but missing a certain refinement that makes what they are trying to learn a bit mechanical in action, and somewhat predictable off the ball. That in turn sees his productivity taper off against tighter defences, especially low block style. He is still I think learning the game at the highest level. But when he has another aggressive forward to work with, his passing is good enough that his movement becomes less of an issue.
In terms of player comparisons, maybe a Lacazette - I think he is slightly smaller but quicker.
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Attack minded player would surprise me if I’m honest.
Yes you can make the case that we may sell someone but I’m not sure we would do it unless a Diaz type deal came up.
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Totally agree. Attack is where we’re most heavily stacked. We’ve excelled and haven’t even really missed Chiesa or needed to call on Danns at any point (which is good because he’s been injured too).
Only forward I could envisage would be someone like Jonathan David but on a pre-agreement for the summer. That would pretty much spell the end for Nunez and I’m not sure we’d want that hanging over us for the rest of the season.
If a defensive option or defensive midfielder on our radar does come up then I could see us being opportunistic and we’d find a way out for an Endo, Tsimikas, Morton type to make a deal happen.
Personally I see us sticking as we are, at least until we see some decisions on certain contracts.
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The problem is that we can stockpile centre backs all you like, but if they aren’t playing regularly they are of no fucking use to us. You can’t keep lads on the back burner in case they are needed, and then drop them in cold if they are.
Four centre backs is about right, because there is usually enough games to keep players in rhythm, and you rarely need depth beyond four.
A fifth choice centre back isn’t even getting on the bench.
We’d be better off using Endo, Gravenberch, or a youth prospect like Nallo.
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That Diaz rumour sounds as reliable as the Titanic’s claims.
A) I doubt they have any financial ability to sign him.
B) His dad collapsed last week so I assume this isn’t top of his mind.
The Spanish press aren’t that far from Franco’s controlled press but now they help two clubs not just the one.
Seems there is a concerted effort to derail us.
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I see only YouTube videos and he is fast enough but nowhere near Salah fast I guess. If he works hard, then I guess he can be like our new Firmino. Linking plays, good runs into the box and maybe a better score rate than Bobby.
Anyway, part of Slot taking over a team that has been brought back to good ways, after Klopp repaired a good portion of the damage made in 22/23, is that we didn’t have to be wild in our last and his first transfer window.
Coupled with what might be a successful season, club doing well in terms of revenues, it’s a very good situation to be in. Regardless of having an unpleasant situation with 3 key members with their contracts running out (but it seems like we know what to do and possibly an agreement with 2/3 incoming).
Slot will have much better knowledge about what he has and where we need to improve next. Will be interesting to see what kind of striker he aims for next.
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I think the last 5th choice one we had was Ragnar Klavan. He did get some game time but I don’t recall how our injuries were at the time.
I prefer the idea of utility players - those that can play multiple positions competently if needed. Obviously, Milner did that in the past and Gomez has served that role as well, at least when fit.
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Yeah, that is something City do well, almost all of their defenders can play multiple positions in that system. Their total numbers aren’t any better than ours but they have less specialists.
Ake, Gvardiol, Akanji, and Stones have all played full back and center back (Walker too to a lesser extent). Rico Lewis plays both full back spots and midfield and Stones also plays midfield.
They also have just 8 senior defenders (Dias, Akanji, Gvardiol, Ake, Stones, Walker, Lewis, Simpson-Pusey) but they have more flexibility if they lose a couple of center backs than we do.
I still think the answer is trust the academy vs bringing in a 9th senior defender, but having another Joe Gomez type instead of say Tsimikas would also help.
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