This isn’t so much to say that I think he would be our starting RW, incidentally, but I wouldn’t be surprised if it wasn’t as cut-and-dried as him ONLY being a LW for us.
I do wonder however if the plan would be for him to play mainly at LW, given the smoke there’s been about Rio playing on the right… maybe him, Munoz and Chiesa will share time there.
Andoni, has had previously swapped his wingers over during the game
Im not concerned because in my view what we have on either flank isn´t of the required standard, so a very good LW is still welcome.
Plus Rio and the Muñoz can play on both sides.
Was about to post the same thing. He does this regularly in games and I think the wingers are asked to be a lot more flexible than left or right
Yep same as what I have heard in regards to his coaching.
Really liking having a more flexible coach that seems to want to improve players within a tactical identity
Any chance we see some movement to cover the gaps in the defensive ranks and the midfield? It feels like the entire plan for the summer was to sign Diomande.
Preseason is well underway, Iraola is publicly stating that the squad is thin and yet nothing seems to be happening, except for tenuous links. There are a lot of moving parts to signings, but that never seemed to stop us before.
This transfer window feels like it’s poorly planned and poorly executed.
I’m not sure how much there is to read into the transfer write-up in The Athletic, the one they call the Transfer Deal sheet, but this was maybe mildly interesting. Sort of:
“Sources stress that if Liverpool bring in Bradley Barcola, who Paris St-Germain value in excess of £100m, then there will be limitations to what more they can do in the market.”
That’s concerning, considering our needs.
My guess is that if we are sacrificing any position it will be midfield unless Curtis or someone else leaves.
Our defense feels like it would be okay with the right budget signings to increase depth as well. Those links to Tomori or Zabarnyi seem like they wouldn’t cost too much.
I’m expecting a winger and a CB. It does feel like Iraola was given a job of getting the most out of what we have so I expect to see someone like Nyoni kept as a 1st team midfielder.
I guess but realistically if you spend 100 mil on a player it´s going to significanly impact what else you can do as budgets are always limited and that´s a lot of money. So I don´t know if it´s as dramatic as they make out.
I want us to buy a ballplaying CM, DM, RB, CB and even RW, but realistically there is no chance of all of that as soon as we spend 100 mil on anyone.
More of Nyoni and potentially Elliott actually adds quite a bit more on top of what we had last season. Plus less of Jones and Szoboslai at right back would also help.
Wonder if there’s even a world where they’d consider the sale of Macca without buying a direct replacement for him and instead look at adding a CB and a RB instead.
Carry an extra CB/RB option in Gomez but basically consider him a luxury option if we can get him on the pitch. Not like we’re overflowing with homegrown options and given the injuries and inexperience at the back if you’re going to be one heavy somewhere that feels like the place to do it.
Wing and centre back will probably be done. I’m open to seeing how others play during pre season.
The only thing that stops me being alright with Szob, Grav, Jones and Nyoni for the two deeper roles is that we’ve heard it before from Liverpool - a kid is a genuine option and we don’t want to put a player in their way, only for it to become obvious very early on that the manager thinks the kid is nowhere near ready.
I really like Nyoni. He never looks phased, very composed and (as we saw the other night) shows real ability to punch the ball through the lines. He is going to be a very good player. And at 19, he isn’t quite the baby that Rio was last summer, when we were being told we didn’t need to replace Diaz. But if he is going to be included as a genuine first team player, that has to be the managers decision.
I wonder if the sensible move is to let Macca go, give Jones the contract and the status, that he now one of a first three with Szob and Grav, promote Nyoni, but also keep Endo around as an insurance option. He only has a year left, and the injury means we aren’t selling him.
Nyoni looked great the other night, but I’d like to see him against something other than Sunderland kids before I am comfortable getting rid of Mac and not replacing him. I love Nyoni as well and think he will be a very good player. I am just not sure if he is ready now or needs a good loan.
Probably just a winger and a CB this window but I must say that RB worries me a bit, especially considering Bradley is nowhere near ready and Gomez can’t stay fit. I don’t want Dom or Curtis playing RB at all. Ideally, we find someone like Gomez who is comfortable at CB and RB, possibly even on loan.
My main concern here is dealing with PSG for both Zabarnyi and Barcola. They could easily drag them out leaving us hamstrung. Lets hope the club are setting early deadlines and have alternative options, if ofcourse the aforementioned are the primary targets.
I get the concern about dealing with PSG but the rumors around Zabaryni don’t seem that strong and could easily be just the fact PSG want to move him on combing with the lazy journalism of linking him to Iraola.
I think if we get Barcola, the club might consider that enough. It’s technically two for each position, and they’ll say that they aren’t in the business of doing panic buys to cover injured lads.
However the question I would have are
It’s obvious that Joe Gomez, God love him, cannot be included as a reliable quarter of our CB ranks. So what is the plan - roll into the season with three (of which one is injured)? Is Endo considered a CB? Or are we looking at bringing through Ndiaye or Ndukwe (who I think has work permit issues)
What are we going to do with Right Back? Bradley needs an injury free run before he can really considered our starting option, and there is a question over Frimpong’s quality (I know it’s pre-season, but he looked wretched against Sunderland). Are we going to be asking Midfielders to play there again?
What are we doing to cover striker with Ekitike’s injury (and I don’t think we’ll see anything of him until 2027). We cannot ask Isak to play every game.
I think Zabarnyi cost almost 60M for PSG, and with him still having a long time left on his contract, I can’t see them letting him go too cheaply. If they are open to a sale then presumably getting their money back might be the right sort of sum?
If we are looking at right backs, what about Givairo Read at Feyenoord? He’s still fairly young, but he looks like he’s got it.
I’m on the Barcola bus and I hope we can do that deal. Yesterday I was reading crazy rumors that we also might be interested in Rayan, in addition to Barcola, and if so, that would have implications for Gakpo’s future here.
If we are playing with a double pivot in midfield and we are in a world where we sold Macca, like others I’m wondering if Szobo, Gravenberch and Jones (on a new deal) will be enough, if they are backed by Nyoni and Endo? (Arguably Bajcetic comes into the picture as another back up). Would that be enough for two positions? I think it would be, especially if we are in a world where the sales of Macca and Gakpo (hypothetical at this point, just thinking out loud) would help to offset the large outlay we would be making on the sort of players mentioned above.
Three main options going into two positions, and Nyoni in particular should start to see some action too. He’s a silky player and now looks to be growing into a man. Don’t get me wrong, he’s not going to be a Prem regular just yet, but he could be of great use as a back up.
