Brilliant to get this sorted, wonderful news.
I do t think thatās what she had in mind ![]()
Yes, I really think we should pay more attention to foreign sources; weāre seeing that now with Szobo, and we saw it with Wirtz and Isak, too. The established journalists here often only make a move once those sources get ātoo loud.ā
Edit
https://x.com/BenBocsak/status/2077713515486269944
Edit
https://x.com/davidlynchlfc/status/2077714273543819640
I just hope this doesnāt end up like the KonatĆ© situationāthere was talk of an agreement there too, but then nothing happened. Iām going to wait until heās actually signed before I get properly excited about it.
If there is one thing we know, if rumours of a transfer are doing the rounds, they wonāt have come from us. It will be a selling club, playerās agent, or Frank down the pub who makes up random shit for clicks.
To be honest I think he“s not the right direction our midfield should be going and I don“t see how he fits in, but good to get him a contract and not lose him for pennies like Konate and Trent.
Also suggests he“s confident about our future as I think he“s a player other big clubs would want, rightly or wrongly.
You donāt see how Szoboszlai fits in? He isnāt an unknown quantity; heās been part of the team for the past 3 years.
He“s a good player at what he does, running hard and getting some goals, but he“s not a creative player (and Wirtz is), he isn“t a player who protects the back four, and he doesn“t run a game with the ball or break the lines with his passing (which Wirtz in the 10 needs).
The only way I see a fit is if we shunt Wirtz out to the left and play Szobo in the midfield 3.
We have signed a very expensive number 10 and I don“t think Szobo fits the setup to get the most out of Wirtz.
Wirtz is 100% going to be on the left, with the freedom to drift wherever he feels like.
Would be a mistake in my opinion but in that case I could see a fit for Szobo yes.
I think a player with the skill set of Szoboszlai can do pretty much anything on a football pitch. Him and Gravenberch may not be an ideal match if we think about football in terms of roles and dividing it into ādestroyersā and ācreatorsā etc. But I think itās a great starting point, having two players who can both cover a lot of ground and also play. And score goals. Theyāre good both in big and small spaces. If itās a transition game, theyāll cope with that. If itās a compact game, theyāll cope with that as well.
Edit: and it might even end up with Szoboszlai in the #10. We havenāt watched anyone kick a ball yet, so itās all up in the air.
Heāll be with the medical staff 90% of the season.
To be honest, I donāt think Wirtz is suited to play in midfield. His skill set is better suited for the attacking line.
Please elaborate on what you mean by midfield?
Villa have also lost Onana for what is expected to be pretty much the entire season so have a big hole to fill in CM
The second line in the formula.
He has two obvious weaknesses: strength and pace.
He canāt cover a big area. Weāve already seen that when he plays in front of double pivot, he has to cover too much ground and then canāt join the counter-attack because he lacks pace. So he also canāt drive the ball forward on the break. Also his long-ball game also looks average.
His best qualities are his tidy technique and finding chances in tight spaces. So playing him as close to the opponentās box as possible is the best solution for me.
Iād still be describing him as an attacking midfielder. Iād say playing him as close to our striker as possible would be beneficial.
What if we play him Infront of a single pivot?
I suppose weāll find out what Iraola thinks.
ATM Iām just hoping we can do better than last season.
While Iāve been leaning towards this option for a few weeks now, the only thing that makes me rethink it is the reported interest in Barcola as his best comes when playing from the left (Iām not sold on him, though, not at 120M+ euros). That would leave us with a small matter of bringing in a starting right winger, a starting defensive or central midfielder, a right back and a centre back.
I do wonder if that is a role we are more relaxed about now with the new manager. One of the problems we faced with Arneās system last season was that they often had too much space to cover, which led to the players having to decide which opposition player to play against or Grav getting caught between midfield and defence.
From what Iāve read, Andoni sets up his teams to have his wingers drop into midfield when defending and has a CB pushing into midfield to join the press. That may help get the best out of the midfielders we have?
I canāt see Spurs selling Spense but after questioning his inclusion in the world cup squad heās probably been Englandās most improved player. He wasnāt just good last night, heās put in impressive performances in all the knockout games.
I donāt think heās starting quality for us on either side but as cover for both heād be a very good option.
Wonder what spurs value if him was before the WC in comparison to now