QldVilla

If you hadn’t noticed there’s a little thing called FFP which prevents clubs going all in. We need quality now, not quantity. Maybe some players will be upgraded, but it will take another 2-3 summers before we will be close to be competing for top 6 regularly.

4 players; £90m

Or you refuse to look at the statistics, which don't lie. Since the new year we have dropped 19 points from winning positions. Before Xmas we had a positive goal tally of +15, which now sits at +8 I believe. Defensively we are still one of the best in the league currently 7th best, 4th before last night. We also lost our best attacking player for 3 months. Sometimes 2+2 = 4 It has been our inability to put goals in the net which has been our issue since the new year. Not the manager.

It would be funny, still some interesting permutations. Not sure whether I prefer Chelski with 2 Champions Leagues or Manure City with their first...

Also have their eyes on qualifying for the Champions League...

That’s not what anyone is saying. You have to take all the evidence into consideration, not just what suits your narrative.

Yes there is, a lot more.

On that logic, Leeds will be relegated like Sheffield Utd next season. If all you do is focus on the table, you don’t understand football.

I think the club need to be smart with the pre season training and most importantly ensure those players in the Euros have a proper break and pre season, even if that means not playing for the first 3-4 weeks. Hence, the strong recruitment, can see teams struggling with long term injuries if they don’t get the balance right. Players have been stressed for 18 months, they need to be smart, even if that’s an extra 2-3 week break.

I agree. I think we still need to buy the DM to give Luiz more time but also to share the load of the season. Jack may leave at some point for trophies, simply because we are still 2-3 transfer windows away from where we need to be as a squad to compete for the Top 6. We don’t get to spend silly money like Man City did to become a Top 4 club overnight due to FFP. Im interested to see who we buy this summer as IMO, we need a RW, DM, AM, but we also need competition for the CD pairing and back up for LB. Does Watkins need competition? When we’re working on a budget, the money only goes so far when buying quality.

The only thing I would caveat with this is Doug's age. The top DM's don't reach their best until at least 25 years of age up, they are like a fine wine. I believe he could play Barkley's role in the side given the opportunity, but maybe where missing something, he just needs time to become the DM we are wanting?

Sterling is a bit of a blunt instrument, fast yes, but not enough creativity for me.

I like what your thinking and would love to see Tammy back, but have the feeling Smith is going to give Wesley a chance and if we do go for a Striker will be something different to Tammy, who is more physical and offers us something different.

No... but have the view that Chelski will move some players on in the summer with Barkley being one of them, he might be available for far cheaper. I'd have him to sit on the bench at 12m.

Not sure about the war of words, because I certainly haven’t been part of them. I wasn’t a fan of Smiths appointment, but when he’s in the job, you support the manager. I was also quite open on this forum as early as November 2019, saying that I thought we were in trouble with how we were playing. The concerns with Smith are valid, but they aren’t all of his own making and he continues to learn from his mistakes and improve as a manager. Time will tell whether the project grows too fast for him or he continues to grow with it.

It’s ok to have an alternative view point, but you have to consider all the facts, rather than just those that suit your narrative.

There's a lot of unknowns with regards to Barkley, that only the coaching and medical staff know. They probably should have brought him back slowly in the beginning, rather than dropping him in the deep end, this was a huge error. Saying that, he has the next 5 games to show what he is capable of, I don't think it will change the opinion of the club, but at least he can leave with our gratitude should he play well and we go on a run.

Don't believe my point of view has changed maybe just expanded, as the issues are still there in the midfield, however I'm trying to look at the whole season holistically. I don't know whether COVID had an impact on the squad at all, but I also don't expect Smith to come out and say it had either way. What I do know is the players would have lost some fitness while they quarantined and while they put in a strong performance for the month after they played two games a week, Smith didn't rotate the squad enough and they looked emotionally flat for the following month. While we have a similar viewpoint on the midfield, I believe the problem lies a little deeper in that we lack a leader. They all seem to run around like headless chooks at times, they are good players, but need someone to give a bit of direction. we lack that intelligent player in the midfield who reads the game. Luiz has the ability to make the trains run, but he's not a leader yet and not a proper DM. I wasn't on the Smith bandwagon when he was appointed, thought there were better choices, still do. But I have to give credit to the man to where he has taken the club, he learns from his mistakes, puts good people around him and I see enough credible issues to say that the current playing style is not entirely of his own making, but there needs to be improvements. With regards to the attack, I'm not convinced Watkins is an out and out striker, he is great in attack, but I believe in some games we need something different. Although I am convinced he's playing tired and has been for a while. These are the challenges for Smith and the club over the summer.

I don't think it is as simple as a regression in points and it pointing to the form of the squad. We were very good up to the new year, we then had a COVID outbreak and we have no idea how or for how long it impacted on the team. IMO, we did very well to play twice a week for 3-4 weeks in a row, as it was quite difficult to come up in the latter parts each game. We then saw the drop in form, even Jack, and was the cause a psychological drop in intensity due to COVID and having to play all those games within a small time frame? These are some of the outstanding questions that only the Manager can his coaching/medical team know the answer. We then lose out most influential player for the next 8-9 games and we see a drop in opportunities and goals. Sometimes the answer stare's you in the face. IMO the problem over the past 3 months has been creativity in the final 3rd and taking our chances and putting the ball in the back of the net. Against WBA we could of had 5, but didn't work the keeper enough.

Yes, but your focussing on outcomes. The issue has been goal scoring and it has been predominantly because our best player has not been available for the past 8-9 games. As I stated in another post about 10 days ago, if we scored one more goal per game over that period, we would have another 12 points and be equal third and in the Top 4. So what is the problem the manager and general play or our best player missing and we are possible 1-2 quality players short in attack? It call comes down to what information you want to use to prove your narrative.

I don’t see how the last 6 games proves anything. Three of the games were against Plop, Man City and Spurs, the other three, were 2 draws and a win. No one battered us, we have been in all games, our goal scoring has been the biggest issue in the second half of the season.

Don’t know if I’d go as far as saying it is our fault, but it is part of the risk. We can do all the scouting in the world, all the psychology testing etc etc, but there are always some uncontrollable’s that can’t be identified. Even Sir Alex bought some duds.

The team is not the finished article far from it. Both you and I have been saying for a long time we need a proper DM to be physical in the middle. But the controlled aggression cannot be manufactured, some players just have it, and some of our players are a bit light. We are still 4-5 quality signings away from being a top 6 team, but it may take another 2-3 summer windows to get to that level.

Again, your focussed on the outcome. You don’t know what it happening on the training ground or taking in to account the experience of the players at PL level. Their ability to play at a high level week in week out, without having the squad depth to change things etc etc etc. I watch every game probably 2-3 times, but been around along enough to know it is only one of many elements that contribute to performance.

If you continue to look at outcomes, you generally find the evidence to support your theory. Our form has been ok, it has been a lack of scoring goals that has cost us points and the reasons for that are well known.