Not enough attacking threat that. I think Slot loves his wingers.
I think Slot loves people stretching the wings. He’s not really concerned whether it’s the wingers who provide that or whether those are wingbacks.
The late arriving midfielders scoring those goals is one of the best things we saw with Slot so far. And this probably allows the likes of Dom and Mac to do just that.
It’s totally different whether Salah, Diaz, Gakpo do it or Mac, Dom and Jones.
Goals from midfield haven’t been anything special so far.
Mac 5, Dom 7 and Jones 3, Grabenberch 0?
I’d say considering their roles and skills, Mac is just about where he should be. The other two should provide more.
If Szobo ends this season on 10, that’s what he really should accomplish in this team, at this level.
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There’s no reason why Dom can’t get close to 10 goals this season.
Every season! Once he gets his shooting boots sorted he should be having some bumper seasons. Always thought TAA should be scoring much more too
He is close already, he was also last season.
10 should be his minimum. No reason why he can’t get more, but so far it’s the reality.
Also be more creative. Running and pressing is very nice and useful, but we need more from our #10, basically second striker in most games.
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Some retail therapy after a loss:
GK - No worries
RB - with Trent likely leaving and Bradley still in development, we definitely need someone. Looks like we have an eye on Frimpong.
LB - we desperately need a strong first choice. Robbo’s days are clearly numbered, poor sod. Kerkez would be great.
CB - even if VVD stays, we need a successor, and probably another for depth. It’s been a difficult second season for Quansah.
MF - we need another for rotation depth. Our midfielders are stale after all their efforts this season.
LW - not a priority given our other issues.
CF - we need to replace Darwin. Hardly a radical opinion.
RW - whether Mo stays or goes, he can’t remain undroppable. Either Chiesa plays, or we find a replacement. Personally, I think he’ll go. I don’t think we can offer him what he wants.
So, who would I buy?
A RB, a LB, 1 or 2 CBs depending on VVD situation, a MF, a CF, a RW.
That’s a lot of players, and a huge turnover in the squad, but I don’t see an alternative if we want to remain competitive.
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I find it hilarious how I was criticised and put down last summer for saying we needed 4-5 new bodies, yet 12 months have passed without us signing a single first team player and now we’re having others saying the same thing. Make it make sense.
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Because we are about the win the league having not made those changes you said we needed, but moving forward we are facing losing 3 key players and have some other players another year older so will need to make some moves this coming summer.
What are you even asking?
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We may be about to win the league…. Not done.
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Good point. We definitely needed more players last summer then
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I think he’s another victim of being an irreplaceable player for his national team and a key player for his club. His style of play is such that he sometimes looks like Mascherano in an attacking midfield role, rather than the composed, all-action playmaker that he is for Hungary.
Slot called him out relatively early in the season about the lack of goals and assists - his stats aren’t bad in that sense but I’m certain he can do better.
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Yeah me too. I also wanted to see more signings last season. I think the ideal (when the squad is looking really good) is turning over 2-3 first team players EVERY season. Helps keep the group fresh which is vital if a team is to stay at the top
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This contract news puts a completely different perspective on this summer.
There is obviously fewer holes to plug meaning more focus can be put on doing the big needed ones, and more of the money concentrated on those. But I think it also changes the profile of the moves we’d be looking at.
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Is Huijsen a better profile for a new CB now Virgil is staying? Presumably this would now be done at the expense of Gomez, but if Virgil was out it would likely mean keeping Gomez and having pressure on the new guy to be an elite every game sort of player very quickly. Would that have been him?
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If we dont need to also find a replacement Mo can we be a bit more ruthless in our moves elsewhere in the forward line and likely makes it easier to do the business we reportedly are interested in doing. I dont want to see Diaz leave but there are enough reports that you can see either him or Jota following Darwin out and being replaced by one big singing like Isak. I think it is probably harder to move on that many forwards at once if we were also having to deal with finding a Mo replaement, which likely would have made it that much harder to stretch far enough to target someone like an Isak or even an Etikete.
Even still, this likely leaves us looking at a RB, LB, Striker and CB at minimum, at least 2 of whom would be expected to slot straight in the side. That’s a big summer already, but seemingly made a lot easier to get done without these enormous holes to fill.
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Frimpong, Kerkez, Ekitike, Huijsen.
Plus Salah and Vig signing new deals. That would be a very good summer.
Frimpong doubles up to cover Bradley and Mo.
Kerkez bosses it at left back while Robbo gives us what’s left in the tank for the top level.
Ekitike becomes the striker we were hoping Nunez would be - pace, but more reliable in front of goal.
Huijsen comes in with a view to taking over from Virg, but he will see plenty of action from the off. The sting in the tail here might be what central defender leaves to make room. It could go as high up the list as Konate, if he doesn’t sign a new deal.
Obviously we could get even more greedy with signings, and I’m tempted to list one or two more, but I’m trying to keep it realistic.
The contract news adds a further dimension - do we now find space to pay Konate more given his contract situation seems to be dragging or do we see if we can move him on this window rather than Gomez who may find opportunities elsewhere limited given his injuries this season?
I think we have more chances to secure Kerkez than Huijsen.
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I’d expect that Konaté’s contract wouldn’t be too far off if van Dijk’s one is settled. Not sure whether he would also be waiting to benchmark Alexander-Arnold’s.
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If all 3 were to sign new contracts then LB, CB and forward once Nunez and Jota/Diaz move on. I also think we should be looking for a midfielder if Endo is to go, someone who we rotate regular to allow others time to recover and avoid end of season burnout.