Hope so. We’re told everything is planned and I agree it likely is, but at the same time I can’t shake the feeling that last season upset that timetable in more than one way and far more than they expected.
And I don’t think we’ve seen the end of it yet either. I still think there’s at least a couple of players in this squad that are, for whatever reason, declining before we had estimated.
Oh for sure. Anyone advocating for a clear out is mad in my eyes. Only real first team players I’d even consider selling would be Jones if he’s adamant he’s not going to sign a new deal or Mac Allister if that allowed (or was needed) for us to bring in a CM to give us a better balanced unit.
If neither of those things are on the cards then Chiesa and Endo are the only guys I’d be comfortable seeing move on as neither seems to be of the standard and we have young options who could take those rare minutes they get.
I guess in the scenario you mentioned two of the 9 could be covered by Tsimikas and Elliott returning but 7 still feels like an awful lot of turnover on the back of a big turnover last summer.
A new manager will mean a settling in period and even if we had stuck with Slot, it would have been a wait while all the players, old and new melded and Slot’s vision realised.
The Klopp era in a way had to be dismantled to allow a new identity to form but we may be were a victim of bad good luck… We won the league and then we tried to change. Should we have invested more at the start of Slots era than we did?
Agree on the sales, really think we should keep Jones as he was one of our better performers last season.
Unfortunately, Tsimi and Elliot are still below the level of replacing the 3 free transfers leaving.
Like many I like the potential of the Munoz transfer as it looks like a quality buy at a good price and as I said we need more players not less.
I believe that barren summer in the market was a mistake, but I’m on the outside and don’t really have any idea what they’re actually looking at and so on.
It does make me feel uncomfortable that there are people say all of this is planned. I can’t believe we looked at the squad and said it was 100% fine, especially when we were screaming for a DM the year before.
At the end of preseason (after we find out what formation Iraola wants to use) and the end of the transfer window I want us to have two players for each position available. That’s without Bradley and Ekitike.
I think with Woodman, Tsimikas, Danns, Wright, Gomez, Leoni, Nyoni, McConnell, Endo, we have a pretty strong core of players for the League and FA Cup competitions as well as backups. Hopefully with Iraola, he can turn some of the above into first team mainstays.
I dont think anyone has, have they? The club made moves that window for both a DM and centre forward but failed to land both. Arne repurpurposed Grav and we moved on. There was obviously a plan that window. It didmt work out and we adjusted. There are always going to be plans and plans within plans, and sometimes opportunities that present themselves that weren’t initially planned for.
We’re obviously getting Diomande, Minteh and Scott.
And word on a new CB?
We played a double pivot of grav and Mac in arne’s first season.
Arne proceeded to fuck that up royally by using grav as a enforcer / breaker type #6 which he is not.
Arne stayed true to his principles of the midfield in the first season and then attempted to play klopp ball without the personnel needed in his second season. Absolutely mind boggling that
I don’t disagree. You need a plan and you need to be flexible for when things change. I just feel we’ve made some very big adjustments recently, and yet we’re told it’s all part of a plan.
My point is I think our plan changed, a lot.
Has it really though? In what way?
In my opinion we need at least 3 new players:
Versatile winger /Diomande is the primary target, according to reliable sources/
Defensive midfielder - Baleba /did not have a very good season, but still he is a top player and maybe he will be much cheaper/, Scott, Bouaddi /Lille/, Wahrton /Palace/;
Central defender - we need a more experienced central defender. Gomez is injury prone and can be used as a cover for the right back, Leoni is also inexperienced and had one of the worst injuries, missing almost a year of football. And Jacquet still young and inexperienced, also missed almost 3 months of football at the end of the season. We have only van Dijk who is 35 years old and already is playing too much footbal. If we lose Virgil with a long term injury, Iraola will have huge problems.
right back - still think that central defender, winger and defensive midfielder must be our top 3 priorites. Then, if the club provides all 3 of them to the manager, the club must look for a right back.
Not seen Konsa’s name linked but would be a could player to cover CB and RB.
Not sure any of us can answer that fully. That’s why it feels a little uncomfortable. Or perhaps reactionary is a better word?
Which is fine, I’m just uncomfortable that we’re told it’s all going according to plan and we’re supposed to nod approvingly. No way was last season according to plan. The final result might have been acceptable, just buy the circumstances leading to it were not.
Serious question. Who was our last Spanish centerback? Did we ever have one?
Slots second season was nothing like Klopp ball. if anything the first season was closer to latter day Klopp teams and the second season was a departure from that into slow, possession based attritional football.
I think what we need from a more defensive midfielder isn’t some enforcer type. Very few top teams who control possession need that type of player. We need someone who can hassle and break up play, be super mobile and reasonable on the ball to transition turnovers into quick attacks.
My worry with Gravenberch in the DM role is he lacks that tenacity and mobility and he’s a better carrier of the ball than he is passer. And if we’re thinking of Wirtz playing in that midfield three you need the other two to have plenty of legs to get about the place and Grav is just so languid.
If we’re adding to midfield I’d want that hustler type of player. Baleba is a good shout but his second season drop off is a bit concerning. It’s probably too early for us to be making a move but I like the look of Noah Sadiki at Sunderland. He’s diminutive but has a great engine and that hustle we’re lacking. Think he could well be on some big teams radars next summer if he can build on last season.
Was Pelegrino argintinian? He came when Benitez was here. I think we had a couple of youngsters who moved to Brentford and/ or Spain
I remember Mikel San Jose. Not sure if he had any notable senior appearances for us.
Daniel Ayala
Wellity Lucky is also Spanish but I can’t remember if he played last year or not.