Jas10

Yes please!

Thoughts on Watkins? Would you like to see us sign him & do you think we’d play him CF or on the wings?

We certainly need pace but creativity also. We rely way too heavily on Jack. I just based the new players there on recent speculation/links. Personally would have liked us to go for Sarr & Deulofeu. Watkins would not have been a personal choice. Buendia’s stats, e.g.chances created, make him an interesting proposition and I’m sure we were interested in signing him last year. I hope we’re looking at top talent from abroad (from the best leagues) as well.

Compare: Samatta Grealish Trezeguet Hourihane McGinn Luiz To: New CF/Watkins Benrahma Watkins/Buendia? Grealish McGinn Luiz I certainly wouldn’t complain! That’s a considerable improvement! Personally, I’d just like us to get the best possible players we can manage to entice to the club. No real/major objection to Watkins (though, if I’m being completely honest, I personally would have liked/expected us to set our sights higher) but I would hope we are also, at least, either getting a really good RW or CF in addition to him, if indeed that is happening. If we could only sign one Brentford player, Benrahma would absolutely be my first choice. I think we could also do with a taller & stronger DM/CM who we could rotate but still be good enough as first choice.... We ideally need some decent cover in certain positions (obviously there is a limit to what we can do & spend) in case of injuries because the downgrade from some of our first team players to our substitutes is massive... We lack a bit of physicality and aggression and need to be wary of being overpowered and being too lightweight in certain games. Would be a good option to have someone like this. Nakamba does not fit the bill for me. Need someone who can pass well and maybe capable of getting the occasional shot on target too. We really need to push some players out of the first team & push them from being the only/first choices from the bench. Increase quality and increase competition (motivate the squad players to work even harder and try to prove they are worth being considered rather than being the only choices we have).

Although, he was the only player who showed up against Fulham tbf. Wasn't great against Derby admittedly. That was the El Ghazi show (where has that player gone?) assisted by McGinn.

Oh man, how could I forget?! Celta stars!

Wow! Now that’s a blast from the past! Don’t forget Valeri Karpin Imagine if we had actually signed Christian Vieri...

Apologies for any misunderstanding, I wasn’t indicating that that is the kind of player you personally wanted us to target. I was thinking in general, that that often turns out to be the case. I can’t think of many useful players in the league who accept a minimal wage. They would be happier to stay where they are on their high wage. Just my opinion (backed up by some visible examples). We have paid the price for the wrong moves many, many times in the past & wastes a hell of a lot of money. I don’t expect the club to do that now anyway tbh, these guys seems to have some sense and nous...

Problem is, the wages won’t be minuscule. There are too many players in the league that are overpaid and overrated or coasting on past reputation. Even riskier are the players with poor injury records... Again, we really need to learn the lesson from the Drinkwater move. These guys are either on huge wages or will be asking for them along with high signing fees. Hardly ever worth it. From their perspective, it’s often a massive opportunity to make a killing financially. Not saying there won’t be exceptions but that this is usually the case and there is often a lot of regret afterwards How did we get on with Lescott & Richards? They had plenty of PL experience but a fat lot of good that did us! I agree regarding the young players and some of them could turn out to be real stars. Even better if they are good enough to come off the bench and help the first team out. Personally, I’d like to also see us get a couple more Douglas Luiz type signings (young & high potential with the ability to impact the first team). One of the reasons why I keep banging on about Gabriel Barbosa and similar. These guys can supplement (hopefully) the high impact, high quality players we are signing that will be going straight into the first team.

Gabriel Barbosa would be such an exciting signing... Only 23 and scored 25 goals in 29 games for Flamengo last season... Wes & Doug would help him settle.

Just been looking on transfermarkt (what a useful website) to see who Douglas Luiz has previously played with (would be great if we could add to our South American contingent). https://www.transfermarkt.co.uk/yago-pikachu/profil/spieler/265660 Noticed this guy, just imagine our increased fanbase and revenue streams if we sign him up:

Luka Jović?

Bit of a random one but I was thinking about our keepers. Romero from Man U? To compete with and cover for Heaton. Never gonna be first choice there, even with De Gea’s clangers, and they may retain Henderson this time. Or maybe Foster from Watford? Obviously, and again, we need to strengthen in attack as a priority and there will be a limit to how much we can spend (although I still expect us to spend quite heavily) so picking up someone experienced & reliable for a modest fee would probably be the best approach... Unfortunately, it’s a position we need to look at (yet again!) as our best 2 keepers are injury prone: 1. Heaton - will he be fit for the start of the season? And can he stay fit? Seemed to pick up plenty of injuries at Burnley too... 2. Steer - would like him to get games but if he can’t overcome his injuries we will have to consider letting him go, deserves a chance after his heroics in helping get us promoted though. Feel for him tbh, never seems to get a break or his luck runs out fast. Crap - Nyland is a nervous wreck and a walking calamity, I’ve personally lost patience in him and think it’s just a waste of time retaining him and devoting further coaching resources/time to him. Sheff Utd was bad enough but what the hell was he playing at against Wolves? Simply not good enough at this level and can’t “hack it”. 1 or 2 good performances or smart saves doesn’t excuse his overall lack of reliability. Kalinic is out of favour or just crap so we need to offload him too. I think we may regret letting Sarkic go and not giving him any opportunities. Didn’t treat him too well and disrupted his progress by recalling him from loan (Livingston?) for no real reason... Overall, its a position that is in a bit of disarray imo. Its so important to have a nailed on, reliable, confident and even inspirational first choice keeper. Heaton is great and possesses those qualities but if he keeps getting injured then we’re in trouble.

Cheps?

Not seen any of Edouard, is he really that good? Can never really tell with SPL players, some of them do well there but it doesn’t often seem to translate when they move to superior leagues. Van Dijk being the huge exception of course! Larsson was quality back in the day too.