RichiBoi11

If his pressing was superior in the 2nd half of the season then it failed the eye test for me, because Ings never looked anywhere near causing any problems for defenders from what I saw. But I'm just a fan so I could be completely wrong on this! That said I like both players anyway, I've always thought the issue was the completely unbalanced midfield behind them. Fix that and they should both benefit.

Very harsh if he went with that considering Bailey was quite literally the best player that day. By a country mile as well. Unless he plays and is toilet against Stade Rennais then it'd be criminal to not start him at Bournemouth.

Infact he was renowned for turning water in to the stuff...

If you're playing a sole striker I think it has to be Watkins. He might not be as clinical as Ings but his pressing and workrate is much better. If we were a team that completely dictated play like a Man City then Ings would be fine up there, but we're not, and when you need a presence up top to chase players down, stretch play and hold the ball up, Watkins is ahead of Ings in every regard.

Whilst these stats on his low passing are true, in isolation I don't think they reflect the whole picture. Yes he could be braver on the ball and attempt more passes, as could the other midfielders around him (Ramsey is the other player with criminally low numbers) but part of the issue is that for large portions of the season the midfield was completely bypassed as we would simply play the ball along our own back line, maybe in to Luiz in CDM, back to a centre back and then go long. In those scenarios the likes of McGinn won't be able to complete as many passes as they won't have as many opportunities to even get the ball. The style has to fundamentally change and involve the midfield in more build up. Hopefully Kamara will help with this moving forwards. I do think McGinn can do more, but the team around him can also do more to facilitate this. Also we won't know until we try, but what if having the armband has the same effect for him as Grealish? That transformed him from a talented player in our first 11 to a player that lead by example and was frankly head and shoulders above everyone else. I'm not expecting McGinn to suddenly become world class, but this could take his game up a few levels.

The only issue I see with that is that Ings doesn't look like a striker who thrives playing alone up top. Most of his career his best performances have come when he's part of a front 2 and can drop in a bit to link up and supplement play. Watkins is fine as a lone striker, it's his game, but I would think to get the best out of Ings he needs a partner when playing. However, if Archer steps up that could resolve the issue as it could then allow the flexibility to play 2 up top in some games, 1 in others and always still have an option on the bench to change potentially tactics if needed instead of just personnel.

“Naturally, I have had to have a discussion with Tyrone Mings and have explained my reasons for making this decision. More importantly, I believe that not having the responsibility of the captaincy will allow Tyrone to focus more on his own game which can only benefit him and the team.” Doesn't sound like he's desperate to move him on...

Ashley Young will probably be the back up if KKH goes on loan

I think considering he will play 2 up top in some games and 1 in others it's quite likely you'll see all three stay.

A loan next season and a full year in the championship would be the making of him to be honest, but I think he believes he can skip that step, and obviously a loan won't happen without a new contract, so he's kind of shot himself in the foot unless he gets move this summer, and even then there's no guarantee he will play.

To be fair to Luiz though the concensus seems to be that he is far more suited to play as an 8 rather than a 6, but due to the injury to Nakamba he spent the majority of his time under Gerrard playing as a 6. It's a smaller sample size, but look at his performances in the games where he has been able to play as an 8, especially against City and Liverpool and those were far superior performances than the 20 plus games where he was in defensive midfield. Who's to say that those performances along with training haven't convinced Gerrard that he's good enough to warrant playing in that role and have us pushing for Europe. I genuinely feel like Luiz playing in an 8 would effectively be like a new signing for us, and now we have Kamara and Nakamba for the holding role you could just let Luiz play his natural game.

Yep. Which makes the supposed demands from Carney's agent even more ludicrous.

Which is exactly what Ramsey did. He signed a new deal, cemented himself in the first team and was given an improved contract a year later.

Yeah I think the same. It's odd in that I feel the opposite way about him and Carney based on the passing time this summer. The more time that passes then the less likely I feel it is that Carney signs a new deal, but the more time that passes for Luiz the more likely I feel it is he does sign.

Pretty sure it was his brother playing last night not him.

Frankly I think Gerrard had done the right thing here. Carney has had plenty of time to agree terms but still hasn't and the message it clearly sends the manager is that he's not committed. And if he isn't committed to the cause and team why should he be involved with the squad? If we are going to lose him anyway there's no point continuing his development when that spot and energy could be spent on the likes of Aaron etc.

The most concrete thing that's happened today in terms of links is that Ashley Preece said we aren't looking at any more midfielders as it stands, and mere hours later Stevie G was interviewed saying Kamara strengthens us in the 6 and 8 positions and it's still an area we will look to strengthen further.

No but Young could offer what we want. He obviously wouldn't be as dynamic as Cash, but he could definitely provide the width that we want, and the crossing. Plus if he were back up right back then he wouldn't need to keep cutting inside to cross like he does from the left, he could actually just hold the width and provide the deliveries on his stronger foot. Get a back up left back in and Young would realistically allow us to sell Guilbert and loan KKH without needing to worry about the likes of Chambers or Konsa having to play full back.

Can you stop speaking sense and being reasonable please? There's no place for that on this forum.

There are 5 subs next season as well which should allow for more rotation and opportunities. That said I'd still loan three of them out as a full season in the championship would do wonders for them. Chuk is the obnly one I really see playing enough for it to benefit his growth and our first team.

Ironically the best profile of back up for our full backs considering everything you've just said would be an older solid pro, who won't tear up trees but also won't be a liability and will accept being back up on either or both flanks. Someone like that signed a new deal this morning but it's not exciting news so not good enough for some people.

Young could just as easily be back up on the right as well if Guilbert leaves and KKH goes out on another loan, so well worth signing up for another year when he will only be playing in case of injuries/suspensions anyway.

James Ward Prose and Yves Bissouma bids would indicate exactly that to be fair.