eholm
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Everything posted by eholm
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Agreed. However, I guess Dendoncker is his current deputy although I am sure Unai would like to upgrade him. Our biggest issue will be moving players like him on. We’ve got players who fill out the squad who are on very good wages but need improving on e.g. Dendoncker, Traore etc. FFP will hamstring us to a certain extent in this regard. I cannot see a way in which we sign another CDM without shifting Dendoncker on - and that will not be easy unfortunately.
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Agree mate. It will be interesting to see how this window pans out…..I still wouldn’t be totally surprised if we did nothing (although would be a bit disappointed). Let the fun and games begin !!
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Please God....no more left footed attackers!!!
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Indeed it has mate. Just seems to be all too frequent now…..or maybe I’m just less tolerant in my older age
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Yep, agree on YT. I’m just not sure we will do a great deal in Jan, principally due to FFP and so if we are able to recruit for an attacking position after getting a RB, I would prefer someone who could cover Ollie and also give us more creativity in the central no10 area to enable us to better negate the low block tactics that the majority of teams we play will now look to do. These players cost big money so doubt that will happen until the Summer…
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I think that some, including myself, have disagreed with your JJ comments as your initial post inferred that you wanted to replace him and Zaniolo with a new addition. This made no sense to me but now you have clarified that you were referring to using YT as an alternative until JJ gets back to sharpness, then that seems a good approach - after all we have 4/5 players in the squad who can fill that LHS role.
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Absolutely agree but for the OP to suggest we need to recruit to replace JJ seems very short sighted, imo, for the reasons I stated. The lad will get back to the levels of last season after a few more games and with BK and YT returning imminently there is simply no need to recruit for the LHS position as we have plenty of options should JJ take longer than expected.
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What’s with the aggression?? Years ago this forum used be great for reasoned discussion and debate - now, any difference in opinion or aspect often generates this type of response. FWIW, my opinion, is that he needs the games to get to his pre-injury level asap and so the alternative i.e. recruiting another player seems a bit premature as that player would also require time to adapt to our system, new country etc etc. especially when we have other areas of the squad that are more in need of reinforcements e.g. RB.
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Ramsey not good enough? He was phenomenal last season on the left and will be at that level again very soon. Only way to get him up to full speed is to play him - short term pain and all that......
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I think maybe Unai, indirectly, has been saying all season that he doesn’t currently the squad is quite capable of top 4. He consistently says that we are not contenders and that there are 6-7 more than us. Now this could simply be expectation management or potentially he sees our squad as insufficient to manage progression in our 2 remaining cups as well as the league. This could also explain the late substitutions last night - lack of 100% conviction that the subs would really change the obvious flow of the game. We’re only in the first full season and, as ever, patience will be required as building a CL squad will take some time over a few windows especially with FFP. Bloody love what we’ve become already in such a short space of time
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The main issue with JD is that he needs to be able to come on and potentially change a game if we are drawing or losing. I know he did that vs Palace but that does appear to be the exception as opposed to the norm at this stage of his career. In the majority of PL appearances he looks significantly out of his depth and that frustration often leads to petulant reactions. At this moment in time he is simply not good enough and requires a huge amount of development to get to that standard. IMO, we can’t afford for our league matches to be that learning zone for JD - he is too far away for that at present. We need to be in a position whereby our subs can produce when called upon. We are trying to get CL football and cannot afford to carry any passengers Obvs it’s not easy to acquire an experienced CF in Jan but should Ollie get injured our whole season could depend on it.
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Wow! Fair play mate that is some analysis there! Ever thought about a career as a psychiatrist . I can see where you are coming from but it’s all a lot simpler than that with me. I would love us to finish 4th (heart) but just feel in terms of where our squad is now 5th is more likely (head).
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Yeah, I’m the same. Heart says 4th but head says probably 5th which would still be a remarkable achievement imo. Really don’t see us doing a lot in Jan window so think we will go with what we’ve got. UCL will obvs be a factor and I guess decisions around team lineup strength will be made in the latter stages assuming 4th is still a viable target. Very interesting thoughts on the impact of the euro coefficient
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True……but we’re losing Bertie as well
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True but as our success develops we will face this type of set up more and more. I would love to see Buendia be that player; just not sure if he is. Him aside, I don’t see the profile of player needed in the squad at present. Hopefully Unai can improve individuals accordingly to give us that player but we can’t rule out the fact that a squad addition may be needed.
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Agreed. We have players are good running into space. It’s players that can create in very restricted space that we need.
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Still don’t think we have replaced Grealish tbh….or rather that type of player. A player of his ilk would have made the difference last night. However, as we know these types of player cost serious money and we just don’t have the FFP room presently.
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Concerns about Carlos playing 3 games in 9 days (including the Utd game) I presume.
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Really significant potential but not a PL starter yet for me. With CL now a realistic objective for us this season, we should look to loan in an experienced striker in Jan and loan out JD to Championship. The lad needs consistent game time. I know that Ollie has been an ever present however should he get injured for a couple of months JD would not be adequate cover.
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Agree to an extent, however, I think this is being exacerbated by the incresed speed in the PL and so he has even less time to make those decisions.
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As long as he gets more PL minutes, I dont think it right or fair to judge him until at least the 2nd half of the season. He has only played in Serie A and Süper Lig. I really don't undertsand why we are so quick to juge players when they are adapting to playing in the PL for the first time especially when their careers have been predominantly in leagues with a slower tempo and/or quality. Lets give the guy a chance. The ability and and skill is clealry there and things like decison making, sharpness etc will significantly improve as he progresses. As ever, patience is the key.
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Not to go OT, but our 2 toughest games are Warsaw and Alkmaar (sic) away. Unai knows 6 points here puts us in very strong position. Could well be wrong but can see him pretty full strength on Thurs as well as Sunday (obvs).
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No chance JD starts in Poland. Unai will go as strong as possible until we are effectively through. Also, his temperament is too rash to risk in a hostile European environment. Ollie starts, as he should for a game like this.
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2 terrible shots from ridiculous angles/distances, overall poor touch and control. As I’ve said the kid has huge potential but, for the fear of repeating myself, I have concerns that if he ever had to play multiple games from the start in the absence of OW we would struggle. Super goal yesterday and I could be completely wrong in that for a squad looking to break top 6, we needed a better quality of CF to back up Ollie. It’s just how I see it…..I’ve already eaten a a bit of humble pie…..and if I have to finish the whole thing then no one would be happier than me.
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Nope not reactionary at all. His performance vs Liverpool was very poor imo. As per my post earlier today, I still do not feel he would be adequate cover if OW is out for an extended period BUT he clearly has significant potential and scored a superb goal yday - the two views are not mutually exclusive of each other. Also, never compared him to Benteke
