Jump to content

Paulie

Full Member
  • Posts

    157
  • Joined

  • Last visited

Everything posted by Paulie

  1. How does it magically work once Buendia is on? Coutinho getting involved behind the halfway line isn’t really “getting involved”. He needs to be constantly moving sideline to sideline behind the opposing midfield, popping up in small pockets, asking for the ball and immediately turning, looking to slot balls in behind to our strikers… like Buendia does. you can’t consistently create from that far away.
  2. Interesting quite a few on here lean towards a Carlos / Chambers partnership… can’t have your captain on the bench.
  3. Put me in the camp that thinks it’s good leadership and encouraging that Stevie empowers his assistants to the point where the players respect their impact to the level Emi is describing. That’s a pro, not a con, to me.
  4. Now that Coutinho and Kamara are done deals, what business is left? CM - Phillips, Bissouma CB - Tarkowski, Lacroix ST - Suarez? Any other links?
  5. Love Deano. Players and talent win. Managers job is to be able to recruit as well. We would not be signing Coutinho, Kamara, Digne level players with Smith here… if Jack stayed maybe it would be a different story, but the writing was on the wall when Jack left and Dean was unable to get the Ward Prowse and ESR deals over the line. Say what you want about Stevie but he’s got us shopping in a different talent bracket now. Whether he’s able to get results is one thing, but now we will have players that a top manager will want to manage. Gerrard is moving us up in profile.
  6. Thought we played great football in that half lol don’t get what the moaning is about… Guy everyone wanted to start starts, plays well and gives away a pen I care more about how we play than how the results go at this point. Thought we dominated the half.
  7. Doesn’t have the engine or energy to be 10 behind two strikers
  8. Watkins is a player who’s game relies on his pace and pressing, not his technical ability or finishing. I’d rather sell too early than too late. Once his legs go the drop off will be quick… now, ollie seems to take great care of his body so I can’t see him having a gabby type drop off… but he’s put miles on his legs the last few seasons. selling for 40-50m opens you up to comfortably spend into that 60-80m bracket of striker… we have Ings and Archer for cover until we get the move made. it makes sense to me.
  9. Now he’s at Villa, he’s magic don’t you know
  10. Seems like it’s time to add something about villa to the Coutinho song
  11. Locking Coutinho down before the window officially opens is going to pay dividends with our recruitment elsewhere.
  12. I’d say all games. Felt like last week they experimented with McGinn as a holding mid and it went sideways until we found the balance… even then, Watkins was through on goal twice and put neither chance away, and this week Son buried his. this team was so strong with Nakamba at that defensive mid spot, and looks less strong but still has quality going forward with Luiz there.
  13. You can judge results or you can judge process… Felt like the tactics were spot on yesterday and we were undone by individual mistakes. A top half quality CB has to deal with the ball for the first goal… konsa fumbled it.
  14. Also, from a FFP perspective, sales free you up for further investment. A sale is realized in its entirety in the current year (less any unrealized accrued transfer fee), where as a purchased player’s transfer fee is spread over the life of a contract. sales of Davis (10m), Trezeguet/Traore (10m), and perhaps one of Watkins/McGinn/Cash (35-45m) gives us a ton of flexibility on incomings
  15. It’s about time he got his own song I think
  16. I’d like us to bring Buendia on for Ramsey, shift McGinn to the left side of the midfield three. think Buendia has more than enough defensive attribute for this to work.
  17. The counter to this of course would be that it’s a question whether players of the quality of Digne, Coutinho, and Suarez would even be considering “the project” here at all if Gerrard weren’t involved. This is an entirely different level of quality than shopping in the Buendia/Bailey/Ings level.
  18. There’s a 60-70m player in there. Hope as he gets more comfortable with the system and the players around him the penchant for misplaced midfield passes/caught in possession becomes a thing of the past. He’s incredibly unselfish with his play and also has a bit of a prick about him which I personally love. Always looking to create for others and always pressing defensively. Can see why Stevie likes him.
  19. I don’t think we should look over the fact we have both Jacob and Aaron, Carney and Caleb here…. If Jacob and Aaron are both first team regulars, you would think it would be an easier sell for them to stay.
  20. Agreed. Think the mix between the others is what will be tough to get right. I think the path forward is Ings as a false 9 (think firmino), Watkins as left forward and Bailey/Traore as right forward…. then play 3 Buendia / McGinn / Ramsey / Luiz depending on matchups, etc.
  21. I think our midfield problems yesterday were compounded by having Young and El Ghazi on the wings. Watford had nothing to worry about down the flanks, so they packed the middle of the park and also kept Sarr further up the pitch. I think our midfield pair will look much better once we are starting Bailey/Buendia/Traore/Watkins, and defenses have players putting pressure on them. El Ghazi having 10+ touches and zero dribbles or chance creations is unacceptable and sends a wave of pressure back down our “spine”.
×
×
  • Create New...
Â