I think this is the perfect summary of the Konate situation.
We know he’s been made offers that he’s rejected, and we can probably infer that the club and the player are some way apart in terms of what they want.
We also know that the club are really strict on valuation and would rather lose players for free than budge on principle.
If Konate wants to be in the £300k bracket, he has to show the club that he is worthy of that kind of money, and he simply hasn’t.
We have discussed ad nauseum the idea that we dont just buy players because, but have to be really confident that the best options out there who are obtainable would actually improve us, and that is not always the case. Well this is the flip side. If after evaluating the market we have identified two or three players we think are obtainable and good enough to replace him then Ibou’s ask will be benchmarked not just against the other players at the club, but against the cost to bring those new players in. Holding a firm line would probably indicate a degree of confidence in what we can get out of the current market
But even if he goes here who he will displace? Not Mac (if he gets his form back), not Szobo, not Grav. Of course he is better than Jones, but that’s not enough to make it to our starting midfield.
Agreed, but i have been worried with the amount of times he has gone down with hamstring injuries, but we are really missing a midfielder who can pass like Wharton can, especially with Macca being off it
I can also recall the Morgan Rogers rumour. Thing is, buying him is pointless unless Wirtz is a complete failure.
I haven’t seen enough of Wharton to say he’s better than Jones, but I’ve seen enough of Curtis to know he’s really very good and should be starting ahead of Alexis.
Rogers seems like the kind of unnecessary signing that Chelsea would make. We don’t have room for him and we have other pressing positions that need addressing first.
Rodgers is a better short term wide option than heaping too much pressure on Rio.
Wharton would walk into our team. We struggle to get the ball from back to front and he’s elite at it.
Outclassed our midfielders twice already this season, he’d be straight in.
Ahead of who? Alexis perhaps on form. Not Flo, Dom or Grav. Not to mention we have other priorities.
We also struggle to foul effectively from corners and don’t have a good low throw weapon but I doubt we’d be in for a Newcastle defender or Brentford/Bournemouth low throw specialist.
I think one of the biggest issues we have right now is the system we play. We are not very good on the wing any more. When we had peak Mane and peak Salah, we were devastating. At present we have Gakpo and the current version of Salah. It’s not bad, but it’s not great either, in terms of wingers you might have.
So to my mind we should change the system, and I would go with a diamond midfield, with Wirtz at the tip, behind two of Isak/Ekitike/Salah. Grav at the base, two of Macca/Szobo/Jones with Frimpong and Kerkez offering width mostly due to their stamina and ability to get up and down the flank.
It looks to me as though the personnel we have brought in are better suited to something like the above, or even a box 4222. Our wing play seems fairly average these days, so I would change the system.
yep.
the way our transfers have happened its really only Mo Salah stopping us
it does feel like a team with a strange identity at the moment, which is weird considering we won the league last season and are actually really fucking good at this football thing when we click.
leaves Rios development up in the air…
I thought this is what we were going to do when we brought in all these new players. I think this makes total sense…at least to try as it gets the best out of the players we have. Salah is the only one who may struggle in a front 2, but I’m sure he’d figure it out. It does get him closer to goal which is a positive IMHO.
Getting the ball from defence to your forwards is a more fundamental skill than long throws, so it isn’t really comparable (Gomez has a good long throw anyway).
He’d probably improve this team by replacing any of them. Wharton is a top talent, no doubt about that. The idea that we have 3 or 4 midfielders better than him is very much rose tinted glasses stuff.
Well Flo is for one and some on here want him benched. Sometimes the sum of the particular parts means a ‘better’ midfielder doesn’t have a place. So who would Wharton replace in our midfield 3? Clearly not Grav nor Flo (who is superior on the eye test) and I’m not sure we’d want to swap him for Dom right now. Alexis is out of form (I’d argue shouldn’t be starting right now) and Curtis is clearly undervalued but I don’t see why we’d spend big on Wharton when we have much more pressing demands.
No questioning Wharton’s ability. I did get the impression that he has some niggles from time to time and that Glasner tends to manage his minutes but Transfermarkt says otherwise. Lovely and intelligent player, and one I’m genuinely concerned will end up at one of our rivals.
It’s debatable whether he walks into our starting XI when all are at their best, though. At some point last season, I thought that Mac Allister would end up on Real Madrid’s shortlist, he was that good. Gravenberch and Szoboszlai have also taken their game to the next level under Slot, though with definite room for improvement. At their best, I wouldn’t have anyone else - not because there’s no one better but because they serve their purpose so well.
We haven’t seen anything like last season’s Mac Allister, though. The fickle me now wonders if Mac Allister could get something of Diaz’ treatment, i.e. not get a new contract and be sold to fund a more athletic replacement, someone like Wharton or Baleba.
Other than Van Dijk we have no progressive passers in that back 7. Dom and Grav are very limited. Wharton is the best in the league, perhaps only behind Rodri if he returns to the best.
I think he gets in this side comfortably. If Trent was still here, I’d see the arguments against it, but certainly not as it stands.
Wharton is absolutely class. He has looked brilliant every time. I’ve seen him
I could see Mac Allister moving on at some point and Wharton replacing him.
I could see that too. Wharton, possibly Baleba, depending on what the stattos think. The point being we might want a bit more athleticism to shore it up, if the bulk of the playmaking is going through Wirtz. With that said, Wharton is good at passing and progressing the ball too, though obviously a different type to Wirtz.
Mind you, Macca was so good last season I almost feel guilty for thinking this.
Right. Obviously excluding Flo and (albeit out of form currently) Alexis.