Elliot is potential back up for Salah. He is much better in midfield then he is right forward but when the only other options there at the moment are Chiesa (who is also covering center forward and potentially left forward) and Frimpong (where we at least have Bradley and Gomez as the potential right backs instead of him). Itās looking a little light in the forward lineā¦ of course that could all change before the end of the transfer window and even one more forward option would have me feeling fine with Elliot going.
According to my information, the Bayern supervisory board has taken a stand and refused to buy any more players this season. Apparently, to ensure depth, only loan players are allowed. Chiesa would unfortunately fit the bill, as he would be a very affordable alternative, which could possibly be pushed through at a lower price.
I donāt like that! But I just read that he doesnāt want to anyway.
After the last match he would not be cheap anymore.
Only Wirtz should be clearly ahead of him as an attacking midfielder. Neither Szoboszlai nor Jones seem to be better suited, despite the former spending a lot of games under Slot playing there.
If Elliott had a clearer pathway to a lot more minutes, he might want to stay. As things stand, with him no closer to more time on the pitch than last season, itād be stupid for him to stay; which is a shame, because he could make a difference. Especially if the window closes and we have fewer options for the forward line. In fact, Iād say that if itād be negligent to both sell Elliott and fail to recruit another forward.
It remains a CB and Forward end of the day.
Arne Slot: āI donāt think it will be a busy couple of weeks in the window. That would mean Iām unhappy with the squad but Iām very happy. Having two for each position is ideal but Iād sooner have less than more as youād have to disappoint a lot of people. But if there are players who can really make us better then the club has shown they can bring them in. But only if things are right - the right player, fee and position.ā
Nothing new as expected
Effectively Isak and Guehi.
Had the feeling that reducing the squad a little bit was something Slot wanted. He had a lot of players he barely used and I think he likes to focus on his core ābestā players and less of the squad players than Klopp.
Isak of course is an immediate starter so would be part of the core group, same with Guehi, but I think their signature would also open up another one or two to leave. Slot doesnāt like the bloat.
Donāt knock the bloat baby!
Yeah people treat the max squad size of 25 as the goal, but almost all well put together squads are going to be smaller than that. The moment you are required to leave a senior player who expects to get games out of the match day 20 you have an issue to deal with. And while you want some wiggle room for injuries, most managers who are happy with their options would prefer that to come from fringe guys you can get something out of but you donāt need to defend leaving out for a given game.
Last week we had 2 kids on the bench. That did not include Bradley nor Leoni, and we still also have 2 new signings to potentially add to that. That is 2 first team players missing out of even getting kitted up on a match day if everyone is fit, plus two top youth talents as back up. You can justify one of the CBs missing, especially if its Leoni, but it still leaves one more and that is why the light is flashing over Harveyās head. There is sense in keeping him, and hes certainly good enough to stay, but you can also see why a manager would be ok with letting him leave under those conditions.
Heās not going say anything more than this anyhow.
And weāve lost Frimpong so no one for the rightback position. Sob is being touted, which is pretty bad.
It wonāt take too many to go out injured and weāre fucked.
This seems to be the cut off for lots of managers. If all our lads are fit, Slot has to tell two they arenāt making the matchday squad. And that doesnāt include Rio or Trey.
You can probably legislate for a couple being injured at any one time, but talk of bringing in Guehi and Isak, and possibly another forward, just to keep the squad manageable and provide opportunities for the young lads, weād probably need to move on Tsimikas, Chiesa, Elliott, and possible even Endo or Gomez.
That is literally true for every team.
As soon as you start getting past four or five injuries, squads start looking stretched.
But you canāt buy lads and just have them sitting at home twiddling their thumbs in case we get an injury crisis.
It puts the issue in perspective when you realize my numbers had already removed Tsimi from consideration.
For a fourth choice he is probably really good.
How he would react to being asked to play there, something that might reasonably be seen as a demotion, would be far more of a concern than his actual ability to do it. Just like gerard would have been the best RB who ever lived had he not been more useful further forward, Dom has everything you need to be an incredible RB.
Itās just to get us through the situation where our three RB options are all injured or unfit in some way.
I really donāt want see Endo rhere again.
Kerkez at RB, Robbo LB. VVD and Konate CB.
Gravenberch with MacAllister and Wirtz.
Gakpo, Ekitike and Salah.
Szoboszlai and Jones for MacAllister and Wirtz/Gakpo after 70 mins.