I think Elliot could be useful and he always gives 110% and will press himself silly.
But I also think we are looking to generate funds. So a decent offer for him, Jones, Macca and I suspect we sell.
Our squad was big enough that not everyone could be registered for the CL. Number of players was not the problem
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I saw some IG footage of him doing drills yesterday and he looks like he needs to lose 15 lbs before he gets into playing shape. It was concerning.
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Technically, one Szoboszlai could play more minutes than Chiesa, Gomez, and Endo combined.
Our squad isnāt lacking numbers; the problem is that too many players arenāt involved much.
Hopefully we keep Elliot. He could be a good backup to Wirtz and gives us more homegrown depth.
The issue with the squad is not squad size as much as whether or not the manager will use them. If the manager just wonāt play five of them, the effective squad size is diminished.
I was really encouraged by Iraolaās words when he joined, saying that he will have a good chance to work with some of the squad men and younger players, before the main group returns from the World Cup.
Itās a fresh start and hopefully there will be a few who will stake a claim, and also be used this coming season.
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Yeah, there are a lot of players like Bajcetic, Elliott, Danns etc who we havenāt seen for a long time. Weāll just have to see how they show up for pre-season.
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A nice talent, maybe even a great striker in the making, but heās too young for us at this stage. He has just one full Bundesliga behind him. Heās at Freiburg now, a widely known club for developing young players and making them better. If I was him, Iād stay there for a further season. At 20, he has plenty of time to grow and then to move towards a bigger pond when heāll have proved himself on a consistent basis.
But yeah, one to monitor for sure. The confidence and joy he displays on the pitch is really refreshing, especially for a Swiss player. Since Shaqiri retired, we have cried out for such a player, even though heās very different from Shaq. But like him, he seems to be the type of player who can really hurt a defence, and decide a game with one moment of genius. Which doesnāt mean that he doesnāt need good team-mates around him of course.
But as said, not now, and especially not us.
Thatās what Iām thinking as well. If we look at all the young midfielders we have, and Iraola thinks some of them can contribute off the bench and as starters in domestic cup games, then weāre in good shape there going into the season.
And what about a player like Luca Stephenson, is he a guy who can be kept around while theyāre waiting for Bradley to return? Or could McConnell be used for that purpose?
Then thereās players on the fringes, like Endo and Chiesa. I donāt expect them to stay, but I could also be wrong.
Like you say, itās all about the manager; whether he has an approach similar to Klopp, who didnāt mind turning to young/fringe players when needed, or if heās more like Slot, who seemed quite reluctant to do that.
Edit: My guess based on what Iāve heard and read about Iraola is that heāll be able to get more out of players we might not expect much from. He seems to be the type of coach who looks at the characteristics of a player and a way to use him, rather than thinking this player doesnāt have exactly what Iām looking for in this particular area of the pitch, so therefore I wonāt bother with him.
Thereās obviously a question of quality in the end, about whether or not a player can contribute for a team who want to win. But I think when you have a mindset like Iraola seems to have, thereās a grey area to the answer, rather than a definitive one.
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It was very hard to Slot youngsters into a Slot team with no real pattern. They did ok under Klopp as we knew the style. AI seems the same. A machine with interchangeable parts.
So many players are being written off because of a lost season with injury.
If they are healthy, there is no reason not to use them. In fact it is crazy not to if we have need.
If we utilize our youngsters there is no reason we should be very short.
We should be building a squad that is capable of helping us win the league or the CL in as many of the next 5 or 6 seasons as possible. It doesnāt have to be next season, it should be as many seasons as possible.
To me finishing 2nd or 5th (with CL) is meaningless. We are already a CL squadā¦
If some development game time to Rio or Danns or Bajcetic this season will help us win the following years, we should do so within the confines of remaining a CL team. Unless we are on track to win everything.
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Also, we have already lost 3 more than adequate 1st team playets in Robbo, Mo and Konate.
Therefore selling 6 we need 9.and the post I responded to had him selling Macca, Dom and Grav as part of the 6 we were selling.
Elliot does offer good squad depth and so does McConnell and Bajcetic, but the latter have missed a fair few games and possibly are added bonuses if they can keep fit as would Danns be, all big ifs!
Just an open question.
As we have a new manager, with a different style of play than before, does the extent of turnover matter? Last year it was somewhat different as we were trying to transition with a set manager and so maybe there was an argument that we tried to change too much - style and personalā¦
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Part of me thinks we will cheepskate this window. Thatās based on Iraolaās reputation of getting more out of a squad than others may.
But then again we need 2 central defenders, a right back, a left back, and at least 2 midfielders
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I think turnover wonāt be as much of an issue as everything will be new to all of them.
The quality and fitness may be, but I do agree that a player coming on or into a well drilled system and team can function better even if his quality is less, but fitness seems a must in Andoniās teams.
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I wouldnāt use the term ācheapskateā I prefer the term, shrewd 
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I wonder if the manager is irrelevant. We will buy what the number crunchers allow and the coach will make do. We seem to be in the middle of a rebuild and so it is about stocking up on a certain standard to ensure CL and the rest is up to the coachā¦ no pressure.
Iām just covering my ass for when we start arguing that we needed a right back but didnāt buy one.
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To some degree yeah, but undoubtedly theyāll be looking at performance and holes in the squad. Right now looking in from the outside we have a lot of holes to fill.
Hence will it matter if we change a lot? May we will do the rounds in all aisles - cheap, not so cheap and down right opulent - we will buy what we can.