GREAT_BEARD_OF_ZEUS

20 minutes ago, Kiwivillan said:

When Kamara was not in the squad under Emery we won 5 drew 2 and lost 1. We didn't fare that badly. Most teams outside of Man City don't have this luxury of 2 top quality players for every position. It's pipe dream nonsense

Yeah exactly, with those extra midfielders we could have won all 8!! 

4 hours ago, Kiwivillan said:

We do, Luiz. Luiz and Kamara will be first choice. We're not spending mega millions on someone in that position as back up/rotation. We are top 6  under Emery. Why don't people discount the Gerrard 11 games?

4 hours ago, IrishVilla10 said:

I think we need a third, kamara or Luiz injury and we’re back to dendonker for however long. Don’t think dendonker should be sold but I think we’ll be still be looking for a signing in that area. The ugarte links could be that signing. 

I really wouldn't be surprised to see a couple of players come in for the DM positions.  Perhaps one on a free, but still a high profile player.

Think is we need to get out of the mindset of us having a first XI and backups.  It's old mentality.

If we want to progress, we can't have a midfield pivot as good as Kamara and Luiz, which as soon as one of them picks up an injury or a ban, drops down in quality to the level of Dendonker.  Just a few weeks of Kamara being injured disrupted the side massively this season - Dendonker came in and did ok, but then in some games when he wasn't available McGinn was switched from his new role back to DM, it hampered us massively.  And that's just injuries, let alone having the option to rest players when they need it.

The ultimate aim has to be 2 players of top quality for every position.  After that then sure, have one or two Dendonkers or Chambers types who fit that 'utility' or 'backup' role, but not a full back-up XI.

JWP had his chance, we're passed his level now.

He's a £40m Everton signing... if they stay up.

3 hours ago, nick76 said:

This is lovely 

53 minutes ago, HalfTimePost said:

I'm torn whether we will go for a CB or not.

Mings and Konsa don't deserve to be dropped, and should one be pushed down the pecking order, I'd assume Carlos is the guy to do so.

Chambers is the one that can be moved on and replaced as his utility man status is hopefully taken away from him. 

If we sign Pau Torres, that would be a huge coup, I'd assume he replaces Konsa in the XI and Mings/Carlos battle it out for the other position. Can we keep Konsa, Mings and Carlos happy battling it for one position?

Suppose it depends on Carlos' health, an ACL is a big injury to be the same player afterwards. 

It would be a fairly elite CB quartet, and if you look at all the top teams, they have at least 4 quality CBs.  Obviously our problem is that we don't (and likely won't) have European football to give them all plenty of games.  However the key it seems is to recruit a mix versatile enough to play in a number of other positions.  Look at City, Ake and Akanji regularly play full back and Stones is now in midfield.  White at Arsenal has played mostly at fullback.  Burn at LB for Newcastle etc etc.

I think Carlos and Torres would be a wonderful first choice pairing, and then perhaps you give Mings and Konsa game time both as backup to those two, as well as across the back line.  Konsa has shown he can play RB and Mings can obviously play LB.  

I'd be interested to see if we could play the reverse of the current set up.  So when Moreno tires, instead of bringing him off for Digne, shift Mings over and push Cash (or a new attacking right wingback) to play high up on the other side?

I always thought TV excentuated it, but no, I'm here in person and Lucas Digne is utterly shocking.

16 minutes ago, ender4 said:

What are Leicester’s new signings like?

I think they signed 3 new players didn’t they.

Decent.

Tete (RW) if he plays, looks like he could be dangerous up against Digne or Moreno.  Harry Souttar (CB) is a smart addition from Stoke as he'll give them a bit more height and muscle at the back.  Not sure about the full back from Copenhagen.

Sasa Curcic against Derby.

Seem to remember him missing a golden chance to score but he played a blinder. Was so excited after seeing him in that game, shame he turned out to be a complete nut job.

                      Martinez

Young     Konza     Mings   Digne

           Chambers   Kamara

       Buendia               Coutinho

               Ings        Watkins

Hopefully Ramsey is fit enough to come off the bench, along with Cash at some point.  Be good to have Bailey with fresh legs for later in the game, especially if we go ahead and they have to attack us.
 

Dele Alli started to decline the day he spent more time practising his celebration handshake routine than he did practising to be good at football.

West Gammon signing Paquetta is a sign of where this league is at right now. Just to be in the mix for top half you need to be signing players of that calibre on a regular basis.

We’ve got to do that and more to make up the deficit created by 3 seasons out of the top flight.

Gerrard has made a great start with his signings but now is not the time to take a breather or settle for second best.

I’d take Bentderek if he was coming in addition to an more elite centre back like Diallo. His aerial ability could be useful against some of the more industrial teams, but he can’t be a regular starter.

I’m still reserving judgement until the window shuts but if all this talk of aiming for top 6/8 are true then the club needs to have a really good final week of the window. A top quality CD and CM required at the very least, another elite attacking option would show we’re serious.

As much as I like Tyrone, I think it’s obvious Gerrard wants a replacement/challenger for him rather than Konsa/Chambers. Even against Bolton you could see that as soon as you put him under pressure he plays some absolutely suicidal passes/clearances. 
 

Other than Bednarek - who I think might be cover for games where we’re up against bigger more aerial teams, we’re constantly linked to left footed centre backs.

I would ideally sign both Diallo and Bednarek, but five fit centre backs is a bit bulky.

If we do get rid, then I pray we get the next appointment right, because every media outlet will gunning for us for daring to sack Liverpool’s golden boy.

You can imagine Carragher and Souness  will be raging on sky and talksport every chance they get!

My god it's like a teenage girls sleep over in this thread with some posters!

"Oh no, Bobby hasn't asked me to the prom yet and it's only two months away, what am I going to do?! He must not fancy me anymore, maybe he's in love with someone else? I'm going to be alone forever sob sob"

Get a grip! 

If we're sat here once the window's shut and we haven't signed anyone else, then fine, moan and panic as much as you want. But until then give the club a chance.

Personally I like an exciting end to the window, plus I see it as a sign that we're going after big targets who we're having to be patient for. So try and think positive or at least hold back on second guessing  the owners who deserve a bit more faith.

3 minutes ago, AshVilla said:

Where does that leave Bailey?

 

On the bench with 4 more players of decent enough quality to be able to come on and affect the game.

It’s a 16 man show now. We don’t need to start our best 11 footballers.

Get the feeling we're going to be seeing more of the 4-3-1-2 formation.

Urgh.

Edit: Apologies, it's Monday and that was a very miserable way to look at it.  Great for the kid, hope he gets his chance!

No to be fair @MrBlack has a point. Davis is a very different striker to the others. If a game plan isn’t working and you need someone more physical to come on and perhaps bully a few defenders you would bring him on rather than Archer. 

4 minutes ago, PaulMcGrath_5 said:

Missed a sitter though, didn’t he?!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

He sure did.

Mind you at least he connected with it properly, unlike Watkins' dummy for the goal 

11 minutes ago, theboyangel said:

Or McGinn or Luiz

Or we’re trying to build a squad.

I like both Luiz and Sanson but Luiz is in his last year of his contract so I’d sell him (unless he signs a new deal) 

I’ll be interested to see Sanson link up with Kamara again. 

I was just playing the Luiz vs Sanson game based on earlier comments.  In an ideal world I'd like us to keep both, but there's a myriad of factors involved.

Also if you believe the rumours, both Otavio and Laimer are right of centre players - which tells me we're looking at replacing Sanson.

If it's Sanson vs Doug for an exit then it has to be Sanson going.

SG is going to want a squad which allows him to switch between a 4-3-3 and a 4-2-3-1.  Dougie can play as a 6 in a double pivot and as an 8 on the left hand side of centre midfield, where as Sanson is more of an 8/10 on the right of the centre.

Ramsey (left CM) and McGinn (right CM) are both 8/10 kind of players, so it makes sense to keep Doug, offload Sanson and bring in another 6/8 like Sangere.

Nakamba would be an obvious departure in this scenario as well - but then maybe if he's on a low wage and we need someone who is happy to come on in the last 15 mins and help shut up shop, then he's worth keeping.

He should obviously be a great option to come on and hurt teams late in a game but I also see him being a tactical option to help overload on either side of the pitch depending on how the opposition is fairing against Coutinho and Buendia.

I think he allows us to switch effectively from a 4-3-3 to a 4-2-3-1, sacrificing one of the 8s and pushing one of PC/EB further inside. 

I wouldn't be so rigid and expect them to shift to a no.10, but rather let them double up on a flank which we see as a weakness to exploit.

Mings with a quality and experienced defensive partner AND a proper DM in front of him is a different animal.  Plus it would be very silly to sell him at this point - especially when Carlos hasn't even kicked a ball for us and Konsa is injured.

Personally I think SG will line up with a back line of:  Digne - Mings - Carlos - Cash, when the season starts.