vazquez

59 minutes ago, Philosopher said:

The other option we have is to play a 442 diamond. Watkins an Wesley (once fit) would make a really good partnership on paper. Their qualities really suit playing with each other. Move Jack in the middle alongside Barkley and you have a very dangerous team.

Also Traore's best position according to his stats is actually second striker so he could easily play along side one of that front two or Davis.

I'm not saying we should do that, but it presents an interesting option we can call upon.

We could also go with Wesley up top and Traore and Watkins either side of him, Jack in the middle if Barkley is out and Barkley in the middle if Jack is out. 

Wesley being fit will be like a new signing. I think he would thrive with inside forward / fast striker types around him in a 3 or a fast striker like Watkins slightly ahead of him in a front 2.

I see Wesley as a cross between a target man and a false nine. When we are defending he is a good target to aim for. In the transition from defense to attack he will drop deep and link up, and then in the final third get into the box to be on the end of things. This would work really well with Watkins who would be close to him to when we are defending in the transition will lead the line and in the final third feed off Wesley and alternate (with Wesley) linking with the midfield.

Only problem with the 442 diamond is you need good quick fullbacks, so the left back position would be a potential weakness.

I think 4-5-1 is the way to go forward, Jack has just produced 2+3 from wing position against champions, I would not move him to middle. I believe we will have january transfer window before Wesley is back and fully fit. 

For now we have decent cover with Steer, Hourihane, Guilbert, Hause, Taylor, Elmo, Nakamba, El Ghazi, Lansbury, Ramsey, Traore and Davis. Heaton, Engels and Wesley coming back at some point.

I think Trez and AEG are more complete players, but Traore has superior speed and strength. I doubt you will see him placing crosses in too often, but maybe we rely on Cash with those.

Ok, I base my opinion on just few of his YouTube highlights . But really never seen so one legged player in this level in attacking role before, never ever touches the ball with his right. Of course based on his stats he has still produced, but I'm limited in that sense that I can't see past his handicap.

Then again he will do nothing with his right leg so just focus on blocking his left and any chances to cut inside. Easy. Just like having basketball player with one hand.

my 12 year old son said that Traore is one legged and very limited player. So I watched few mandatory youtube highlight videos and yes the right leg is there only for running. At the same time seems also fast and strong. 

Still would rather we signed someone like Benjamin Henrichs. 

Offer the 20M for Hradecky or If needed 30M, then we would have really world class goalie imo.

There must be better value than paying 20M for 28 year old who has scored 3 goals from open play during last season. C.Wilson I would have understood as short term solution. Still hoping that this is total media speculation and Lange will soon work "his magic".

Josh King is rubbish and only going to get slower = end of his game.

Have mentioned Lukas Hradecky few times here, he would be amazing signing. Better than Heaton.

Gary Shaw

All the speculated targets might be just rumours, but the fact is that this team needs several first team players to have good chance to avoid relegation next year not to mention climbing up table. And for them to have maximum impact they should have arrived already. That definitely must have been the plan, anything else would have been just amateurish. So for some reason we are not able to deliver to the set plan. I think we are already limited to the current players when considering september starting lineups. Thats Steer or Nyland in goal and Samatta or Davis upfront. I think the current team can improve as well as the above mentioned players, but this is still huge risk also considering lack of squad depth.

Ah shit we did not get Eze, would have been one of the first names on my shipping list. Will be amazing in 2 years time.

Got a feeling that this window will be a huge dissapointment and next season a struggle.

2 hours ago, useless said:

As we get closer to the close of the window they will panic and have no choice but to lower their asking prices, we're adamant that we're not going to over pay.

Or we panic as we consider going into season trusting to Davis, Samatta and Hogan to provide the goals. And then have to pay premium to get at least someone in.

1 hour ago, Tez500 said:

Whisper it quietly, but I also have some minor concerns about McGinn. It was clear he wasn't right after his injury and I'm hoping the time off will do him good. However, I could see Buendia playing in his spot with Luiz and Jack, with a right winger agead of him. Of course he has also been playing on the wing for Norwich and is better than Trezeguet. Either way he is a quality player for reportedly lowish fee, we should be getting this done and dusted before other clubs move in. 

Midfield containing Buendia and Grealish would be defensively very week. I still see Grealish best used as winger with more freedom to operate.

41 minutes ago, The_Steve said:

Buendia is a no brainer unless bigger targets are already planned 

He is so tiny that this only rules out Ryan Fraser.

6 minutes ago, tomav84 said:

i like watkins too. he held the ball up once or twice, showing a lot of strength for someone that looks quite slight. wesley and samatta have never done that for us

Yes they have, they just do not score goals.

42 minutes ago, Wes said:

If you could only buy 4 players to improve the first team this summer, for a combined total of £100m (if rumours are to be believed), who would you buy?

Did not check prices from transfermarkt, but here is my list:

Abraham 40M

Eze 20M

Tarkowski 25M (or Tuanzebe 12M)

Hradecky 15M

Total 87 - 100M. 

4-5-1 or 4-3-3 Hradecky, Guilbert, Tarkowski, Mings, Targett, Trezequet, McGinn, Luiz, Eze, Grealish, Abraham. Subs: Heaton/Steer/Nyland, Elmo, Konsa, Hause, Taylor, Jota, Hourihane, Nakamba, Lansbury, El Ghazi, Wesley/Davis/Samatta.

First team good enough, subs not so.

6 hours ago, Jas10 said:

Its so important to have a nailed on, reliable, confident and even inspirational first choice keeper.

Agree, depending on length of Heaton injury, I would go for Lukas Hradecky . Challenge is that he needs to be no 1, like any great keeper we would sign. So what to do with Heaton when he eventually would be back. 

If heaton is expected back soonish, then maybe Reina (loan 6 months) or Foster (free agent). 

2 minutes ago, Demitri_C said:

Would your prefer tammy or origi for 40m?

I prefer Tammy 40m to Origi 20m.

11 minutes ago, John said:

The Mail claim Leeds have enquired about Buendia, but Norwich want at least £25m. That sounds a decent price to me.

I would keep away from Buendia, poor man's Bannan. Light-weight and defensively abysmal. We don't have Pukki to make the clever runs for him.

44 minutes ago, ramshackler said:

He had a good start with Chelsea but again dried up hugely. Tammy is a numbers forward, he scores but misses alot of chances in comparison. He would get a lot less chances here than at Chelsea and as a result could be far more costly.

Tammy also creates those chances with his continuous movement, strength, speed and aerial ability. He opens spaces up for Mount etc to score. If we could have Tammy for 30M, I would definitely go for him. Most likely Chelsea wants 40+. 

Going to new season with Samatta and Davis as only fit alternatives is anyway not an option. C.Wilson would cost 15+ M without resell value after contract ending, bigger risk. Bellotti would be inspirational, but moving to prem has risks. 

I would try to get Benjamin Henrichs from Monaco, currently on loan at RB Leipzig, can play full-back or midfield role. Reportedly has 15Meuro purchase price included in the loan deal. Very fast, skilled, strong, great vision. Absolute steal with that price.

It's early days with Alex, but so far not impressed!

I was expecting performances like this and now I'm quite depressed.

utv

With current transfer policy (SELL) I prefer McLeish. He is negative, but keeps clean sheets, I'm still very optimistic that with N'Zogbia and Bent we score enough goals to stay in top flight.

Hopefully Delph, Bannan, Albrighton, Clark and Delfouneso can make impact, even though McLeish (not known as one to nurture talent) is in charge.

Well we have Bannan, Delph, Ireland and Petrov left for the middle of park. Hopefully we get someone in before end of window, otherwise it's only going to be relegation battle. In my mind it is insane to loan out Makoun 2 days before window closes and before we have secured replacement.