The bad news is you’ll have to relive the Brendan years.
Buckle up, 2014/15 is going to be a doozy…
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Why do you persist in this revisionism?
The changes he made last season were almost entirely forced.
Yes it didn’t work; he was then replaced. Period…
Even the new manager cannot be said to be putting in a new system from scratch, but rather returning to some of our principles…
But enjoy that squad whilst you can because come 2026 you’ll be pining for a bit of Christian Benteke and Jose Enrique.
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With Araujo coming in and essentially covering CB and RB, and assuming we get Barcola in, I think I´d go for a passing midfielder as our likely final signing. I really want a player that brings Wirtz into the game and has that ability to set Isak or Hugo or our wingers through on goal whilst running the game. A central fulcrum for our play.
Probably a cheaper one given I expect our budget is tight, like Joey Veerman at PSV. Been the best player in the Eredivisie for years. Or somebody similar.
With those 3 additions (and Muñoz) and Nyoni promoted as starting or covering DM, I think we are looking a more balanced team and squad again and you´d hope Iraola would have plenty to work with. Not the dream summer by any means, but a fairly cheap refreshing of the squad for year one.
For defensive midfielder we do have Endo. Personally I think he’s pretty good!
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Think the signing of Guimaraes changes that
He is 29 in a few months but a good player yeah. Much more positive passer than they had in midfield. It´s an upgrade in my opinion.
Still think they have no world class players though except maybe Saliba. Nobody I think ´wow, I wish we had him´. Maybe Timber on his day but just a full back.
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Maybe. But that doesn’t change the fact their front line is shit.
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Wow! I didn’t realise he’s nearly 29.
Well if you’re talking about upgrades to what we have, I’d take Saka and Rice in a heartbeat and any RB they have would be an improvement to our situation. I’ve pretty much lost confidence in Bradley’s availability. And we don’t know what version of Conor we will get back.
We definitely have better strikers.
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Yeah I was surprised. Still, could get 3 or 4 years out of him. He is in his peak years and not everyone needs to give you 10 years.
Oh definitely a better squad than us but with a few improvements I think we could catch them again quickly enough.
Rice is a good player but as we saw with England, he´s limited. He´s not a playmaker and he´s not really a great specialist DM either. He´s kind of an inbetween player with being exceptional at either. He´d get in our team but I don´t think I would have bought him still.
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Saka has already played close to 400 games at age 25. He’s been consistently injured over the last two seasons. I can see him starting his decline already, and it’ll probably follow the Owen, Sterling, Rooney pattern soon.
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I’d go with this as well. But I also want another attacker in addition to Barcola, whether that’s another winger or a guy who can play central. I’d like Iraola to have four wingers to choose from, and someone to cover for Isak.
But anyway, agree on the midfielder. I do believe Gravenberch will be the one who starts next to Szoboszlai, unless he looks out of sorts the last couple of pre-season games. But if Jones goes, there’s possibly some room opening up in the squad, maybe depending on Nyoni’s role and how Iraola views the likes of Bajcetic and Endo.
I like the thought of adding another player to the squad who is more of a passer and ball central at heart. I think Nyoni looks like our most natural one at the moment, but I also think he can play higher up and be a Szobo deputy when needed.
Mac Allister is a bit of an unknown here, at least for me. I’m very curious to see what sort of role he’ll play, assuming he stays. I think he’s got qualities to be the ball central, so if Iraola finds a way to not leave him exposed defensively, maybe he’ll be the guy. Or maybe he’ll be more of an #8 as well, or even higher up, backup for Wirtz.
But then I also wouldn’t be surprised if he leaves. And if so, that might be the opening to possibly get someone like Wharton, who I guess is the template for that player type. Angelo Stiller at Stuttgart, I’m surprised nobody has bought him yet. That might be a possible candidate.
And there’s probably several others I haven’t thought of. Veerman is an interesting suggestion, I haven’t watched him much, only the odd CL game or for the national team.
So many questions..
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Would Gakpo not be the 4th? Wouldn´t mind replacing him of course but I guess he would complete the 4 wide player options.
I´d like to see Nyoni sitting in front of the back four but I agree it will probably be Grav. Nyoni is a decent passer but I think a top passing player just adds so much to a team. I think Nyoni´s protective instincts would work well alongside one.
Veerman is 27 so not young but he´s a fine player and I think he´d be not so expensive. A better passer in Europe in midfield I think you will not find and he is very clever. Stiller is another good shout. Looks an intelligent and positive player. A player like that with a good holding player, in my view, sets a great platform for Wirtz to thrive and our speedy wide men.
To be honest I have given up on Mac. Was a good player but not sure he´s still got it and he´s not quite the passing player I´d like.
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I do think Gakpo will go, feels like a bit too much smoke currently for there to be no fire, and we’re under severe pressure for non-HG spots in the squad, so I think the club would be fairly happy seeing one-out-one-in with Barcola. I do think there’s a good chance we’ll sign Mbaye as well to be our 4th winger, who, of course, wouldn’t need to be registered for the PL anyway as he’s U21.
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Cannot buy another non-HG player without selling after the Araujo loan deal. And we haven’t landed Barcola yet.
I think we have plenty of players we could sell really without losing much.
We can buy them, and probably play them in the PL as the registration rules are slightly easier there (with a good number of our squad being U21 and therefore not needing to be registered), but we’d have to make decisions on who to not register for the CL. But we did that already last season with Chiesa, I think.
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I don’t see us spending big on midfielders. Both Gravenberch and Szoboszlai just signed long-term contracts on around £300k a week in salary. Both will be our main starters. If we sell one of Jones or Mac Allister, maybe one cheap option will be considered, but I think Nyoni will be the 4th choice here.
Our build-up is worrying for sure, but I think we need to fix that from the backline with the right setup rather than hoping one midfielder can magically change it. I’m also really hoping Jaquet’s ball-playing is a huge upgrade on Konaté. We’ll see.
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Yes, if Gakpo stays and Iraola wants to use him as a winger, then we’re probably not buying another one. Unless he’s also the Isak backup. I do think there’s room for another attacker anyway. Not sure about Chiesa.
A loan deal could possibly be a solution in attack as well.
Oh yes I think you are right. I am almost certain we won´t. It´s just what I would do. I don´t rate our current crop as good enough if we want to win things consistently.
I could see Mac leaving although not sure where he would go but I hope Jones stays as he´s good for cover.
Unfortunately I think no amount of ballplaying CBs can make up for a midfield that doesn´t have much of a passing game. Nyoni should help somewhat if he plays though.