david-avfc

Yeah when he signed first he was actually pretty good for us. Problem is he plays so infrequently he’s permanently trying to work off the rust but I can’t see him getting regular minutes so it’s not really a situation that’s going to be resolved.

Seems to be playing a different role to last season, playing further forward which I know some people think is his strength but really his strength is being an all round box to box man - play him too high or too deep and his game is severely limited, he’s barely been involved in anything all season which is really unlike him

Unfortunately there’s no way Tielemans can get forward and beat the press any more, he is a very tidy passer of the ball but athleticism is not something he has at all. When he was 20 or 21 at Leicester first he was an all action midfielder, but something has happened to him in the years since as he plays like someone who is much, much older than he actually is. I do agree he needs to be in a midfield 3 alongside someone more defensive and someone more mobile / dynamic

To me he doesn’t look comfortable playing in a midfield two. In a three as the central pivot he is dynamite, popping up everywhere to kill the space and intercept the ball, but in a flat 2 he’s not the same player

For the PL he is an eligible u21 player so doesn’t need to be registered. I don’t think being homegrown / not homegrown makes any difference for u21 players for PL. In Europe the rules are different in that there’s an A squad list and a B squad list. A squad is for any senior player and includes the squad and homegrown restrictions which have been talked about to death, both at club and association (country) level. The B squad is for u21 players but is restricted to players who have been at the club (actually at the club and not loaned out) for 2 years - which he does not qualify for.

They have to be trained at the club for 2 years, Iroegbunam hasn’t because he was loaned out for a season

Tough for Tielemans that he’s competing with Luiz who’s been our most consistent player in the last 12 months. Luiz simply doesn’t deserve to be dropped and I’m not sure where else Tielemans fits in, he isn’t a defensive specialist like Kamara and isn’t energetic or dynamic enough to play more advanced and/or wider, it would take a change in formation to really fit him in which so far Emery hasn’t done.

The issue with a “senior alternative” is that we’ve already had one, Danny Ings, and he was detrimental to the side. Having 2 first choice strikers meant we were constantly tweaking formations trying to fit them both in but we could never land on a style which suited both, either together as a partnership or individually. Emery saw the problem straight away and shipped Ings out at the first opportunity, and by just focusing on a system which got the best out of Watkins the team immediately improved. If Watkins was injured then it would be a serious problem, but that would be the same for nearly all PL sides if they lost their main striker. As a rotation option Duran is decent and Diaby could also fill in.

1 goal and 0 assists in 20 appearances last season and something like 2 goals and 0 assists in his last 33 for us. The reality is apart from a few great games when he initially joined 18 months ago he has simply not been anywhere near good enough. £7m+ in wages is not “peanuts” when it’s being wasted unnecessarily.

A centre back who's role isn't to compete physically?? Even if that's the plan on paper, it's simply not going to work in practice when we're playing in the most intense league in the world with top quality opposition looking to exploit any minor weakness they can find. There is certainly no space for such obvious weaknesses. Torres needs to toughen up fast. I think he can grow into the role but it's a steep learning curve and he needs to be doing all he can to get to the level we need him to be at

He came on early due to injury, so he still got like 50 minutes on the pitch, more than if he'd come on in the 75th minute so don't get the issue. I don't think anyone can complain getting subbed during a 3-0 loss.

First significant criticisms of Emery today from me. Thought we were incredibly naive in the way we set up against Newcastle, thought maybe it's a one-off and of course mitigating circumstances due to injuries, but to repeat exactly the same mistakes again today is really disappointing. You can't go up to Liverpool and be so open, a manager of Unai's quality shouldn't allow it to happen. I just hope this isn't a blind spot for him, he obviously wants to stick to his principles but against top opposition sometimes you need to be more pragmatic

Looking at our European squad last round and with Lenglet and Zaniolo coming in there needs to be at least 1 departure, which I assume is Coutinho. Anyone else joining would require another departure again, unless we leave someone unregistered for Europe… just feels like we might be done now. If that is the case then I think it’s been a solid window, another forward would have been nice but we’ve obviously signed Zaniolo and Diaby who looks a real gem

He wasn’t that bad

I read up on Fati when we were linked the other day. His injury problems are horrendous and the surgery he had (after 4 attempts) resulted in a full removal of the “meniscus” cartilage in his knee. So although now he can play again after missing most of 2 seasons he now has a permanently altered knee structure, probably resulting in ongoing associated injuries for the rest of his career. Surprised he’s going to Brighton but that’s probably why a lot of clubs have shied away from doing a deal, a player of his reputation you’d have thought would have a host of top clubs after him

Kellyman is on the “A” squad list with the other senior players

If Emery wanted a right back we’d have signed one by now. He is obviously happy with the options of Cash and Konsa

The noise seems to be that Digne is being kept on, he’s hit form at the right time but wouldn’t be a surprise if he leaves in January if Moreno reclaims his place in the team when he returns

Not seen a huge amount of Longlet but if his strengths are with the ball then I’d like to believe Emery knows what to do with him. Spurs last year had Conte with his typical Italian defensive style and then the clueless Mason as managers so not really set up for possession football, so if that’s what Lenglet is about then no wonder he apparently looked crap. As a loan deal it seems low risk, and ultimately we probably do need back up in that position and he does fit the bill

I really like the Claret and Blue podcast, think it’s got better recently too (I can liked it before anyway), IMO it’s now hands down the best out there. It really comes across as a professional outfit, proper journos with links to club and they’re all proper fans too. The new lad John Townley also provides a lot of decent insight which was maybe missing a bit before.

Yes Emery said he wants 2 players for each position plus a 3rd choice young keeper, so 23 players in total which is what we currently have (24 including Philogene). I don’t think Emery wants players for the sake of making up the numbers hence we’ve let players go and even on match days he hasn’t bothered naming a full subs bench on occasions. I’d like to see some movement, a defensive reinforcement and maybe another attacker, but with the European squad restrictions we’re in a position where it needs to be 1 in 1 out, so if we want to make something happen there’s going to some spinning plates to manage which is going to be a difficult task with just a couple of days remaining.

I don’t think there is anything Bailey can do to get to Diaby’s level really, they are just completely different classes of player. Diaby already looks like he could turn out to be one of the top attackers in the league, he has it all; pace, skill, intelligence, finishing ability, it’s a surprise we’ve managed to get him so easily not exactly as if he was hidden away playing in Europe for Leverkusen

Probably hinges on players leaving to be honest, we’ve seen Coutinho and Digne being linked away and ultimately I can’t imagine we’d sell any first team players and not bring in any replacements Also the way we’ve been selling these youngsters, is that just to balance the books as they are now, or is it to create some headroom for another signing? Personally I’d like to believe the club are still working on something, maybe one more attacker at least.

Yeah would be an interesting one, surprised he hasn’t really be linked with anywhere he’s hardly played in the last year. He was overhyped a while back but still decent for most Prem sides I think

He’s just a very average player who happens to be world class at set pieces