KentVillan

You might be right, I don't have the stats. I feel like a top pro should be able to do it off either leg? It's not as hard as striking a ball with your weaker foot, is it?

Moving back on to Mings the footballer. My concern with him is that his injury problems are due to the way he tackles. There isn't that much footage of him defending, but I've found two examples of him using his left foot to hook the ball from a player running to his left side, when most players would use their outside (right) foot to hook around. Play-off Final This is one you'll all be familiar with, and not the best photo. It was a superb tackle, but you'd expect most players to swing their right foot around here for a more natural slide tackle which keeps your body in a better position. Non-league game This is from a clip he posted on his own Twitter of his rise up the divisions. Again, great tackle, but his body's in a weird position and he's exposing himself to injury. Could this be why he picks up lots of weird injuries? Is it something that can be fixed at this stage in your career or do you just have to go with your natural game?

I don't think any of this has a bearing on whether Mings does or does not sign. It is however very sad that people don't understand how irritating they're being.

I've gone for 9th, but that will depend on Grealish and Mings staying fit for most of the season. (And us signing Mings. And us signing loads of other good players ...)

I'm not sure Kodjia has really dropped that much since the injury. It's more that DS prefers a lone striker, Tammy was on fire and Kodj didn't adapt well to the wide role. As a centre forward I would still fancy him as injury cover or an option on the bench (e.g. use his hold-up play to defend a lead, or switch to a front 2 when chasing a game). His hold up play and finishing are very good IMO, which will be more important when we enjoy less possession and fewer chances. See this video as an example of a good post-injury performance:

Yeah, I'm not saying this is a good situation, but what we want and what ends up happening are two different things. Bournemouth have no obligation to sell up quickly.

If I were Eddie Howe, I would want another club to get involved and drive the price up. I'd know the Villa interest is concrete and what Villa's opening offer is, so I would already factor that into my transfer budget. I'd also want to send out a message that I can't be bullied into releasing players quickly. Especially by lads who I think have disrespected me and the club in the past. Everything points to this happening much later than expected -- perhaps even deadline day.

And here's an interesting video with plenty of footage of Butland:

It's notable that none of the ones below 6'2 play in the Premier League (besides Pickford, who is not one of the best in the world). The biggest weakness for small keepers is usually dealing with the high ball. That takes on greater significance in the Premier League, where teams tend to be strong on set pieces, and you have tall centre backs hitting the box.

Given was an excellent goalkeeper, but like a lot of short keepers (Casillas is another good example) he often made Hollywood fingertip saves that wouldn't have troubled a bigger keeper. And from what I remember, he wasn't dominant on crosses, corners, set pieces etc. (not saying he was shit, but he didn't command the box like Friedel did). But yeah, gigantic height might be an overrated attribute. Ederson is 6'2, Alisson is 6'3. Nowadays keepers get more protection from referees, spend less time dealing with long balls, and are more involved in open play — perhaps all these things make height a bit less important. Shorter keepers have always been more common in Spain and Latin America (Jorge Campos was 5'6, according to Google) and maybe the Premier League is better suited to that kind of player now. Having said all that, while Butland is a classic big shotstopper who doesn't do Cruyff turns, he should be an upgrade on all our current keepers. Steer has had one good half-season in the Championship, coinciding with Mings' arrival. Butland has had several decent seasons in the Premier League. I also think people are focusing too much on Butland's distribution and footballing skills. What works for Man City or Barcelona isn't always best for a newly promoted team, where the keeper will be tested more often. Realistically, we aren't going to find a young keeper who ticks all the boxes, so I'd rather sign a big shotstopper who does the basics well than a modern sweeper-keeper who concedes soft goals. Steer has been good for us, but as someone else said, better to see him fighting for a place than nailed-on as Number 1.

Good time for a tough fixture. Transfer window disruption, lack of match sharpness, etc. can act as a bit of a leveller, plus we'll be an unknown quantity to them. Eriksen is probably off to Madrid, which would be a big loss, as he's at the heart of most of their play. Kane seems to be heading for an early retirement if he keeps playing with injuries. There's definitely a few things going in our favour. Last season Spurs lost at home to Liverpool, Man City, Wolves, Man Utd, and West Ham. They're beatable, and they have bad days. BUT obviously Spurs are still strong favourites. We barely have enough players for a starting 11. A lot will depend on how much we strengthen, and how quickly. If a few deals go down to the wire, it could be a pretty weak team we end up fielding.

Yep, and I mostly tend towards the view that Mings will be a revelation in the PL with regular game time. Mings was in a no-lose situation when he arrived here in January, though, and we've dominated possession in virtually every game since then. I also think the quality of the poorest 10 sides in the Premier League is a big step up from the top of the Championship, with maybe a couple of exceptions. So there's no doubt next season is going to have a different feel to it, and that might suit some players more than others. I guess I was just leaving a note of caution that not everyone who starred last season will star next season. Mings might be one of them, although IMO he should be a top drawer defender. The only player I'm 100% confident has the ability is Grealish. But yeah, not disagreeing with your general assessment.

Yep, absolutely no question that Jack is PL quality, since he's been there and done it. The unknown with him is whether he can consistently hit the level expected of a Champions League player. As for all the other players, I agree with the poster who said that we can't be sure about any of them. Being under the cosh most weeks is a different mentality from dominating every game. Some players relish the battle, some prefer to be able to express themselves. Mings could well fall into the latter category. I also worry with Mings that he contorts himself into some weird positions when he makes last-ditch tackles. Great commitment, but it's probably how he picks up niggles. He often makes tackles and blocks with his left foot that he should be making with his right foot (good example being the tackle that finished him off in the play-off final). He'll be doing a lot more of that next season than he was in the Championship.

Just wanted to mention the absolute state of Phil Neville wearing his Gareth Southgate outfit. Also agree that the goalkeeping spoils an otherwise decent spectacle. Plenty of outfield players who have really decent touch and skills, but the keepers are uniformly embarrassing.

He won a Champions League with those players, so they were clearly already at the right level to play for Chelsea. Barcelona picked up Deco from the same squad. My point is that Brentford are a mid-table Championship side, and some fans seem to be getting excited about what DS can extract from their players in the Premier League, purely because of their deep understanding of Deanball. It's nonsense. I'm all for DS signing squad players who he knows have good characters, if the price is right. But Brentford are no mugs in the transfer market, and for that reason, I'm not convinced they offer us loads of value. Anyway, I wasn't for a moment saying that Purslow and Suso are naive enough to go down this route. Just that it's a recurring theme in this discussion that we will somehow get amazing performances out of all DS's old Brentford favourites.

Nobody said all of his recruits were former Brentford players. But we've been linked with a lot of Brentford players. Not hard to understand why people are discussing it, is it?

Yes I hope so. The Jota signing does support the idea that he is keen to bring in his own men, but we seem to have got good value there, so it’s okay. What I don’t want is us overvaluing Brentford players as marquee signings for next season. There are loads of successful managers who have a distinctive style of play who have achieved that at a new club without fishing in their old pond — Klopp doesn’t have any Dortmund players at Liverpool, for example. DS has already shown that he can get good improvements out of all sorts of different players and personalities, so I’m only keen on picking off Brentford players if they offer good value.

I hope we don’t get too fixated on this idea of “Dean’s players”. Successful managers look forwards, not backwards.

Look, I mentioned John Stones because I don’t rate him. However, he is very good on the ball for a CB. Maybe not as good as he sometimes gets portrayed, but there’s a reason Pep hasn’t sold him. The JT thing is a slightly separate point - I don’t think JT ever got appropriate credit for just how good a passer he was off both feet. But you can be a “superb footballer” and still not be anywhere near one of the greatest CBs of his generation.

I really like Gary Cahill as a player, but here's why I'm worried about us signing him: He made 8 appearances in all competitions last season. He's been making more mistakes since around the time Conte first came in - getting caught in possession, picking up red cards, etc. - all signs of ageing legs and lack of focus. He's a one-season signing at best for us, so we're going to be disrupting our back line next summer, even if he does a job (look how long it took to get some defensive stability in after JT retired). Yes he's decent on the ball, but he's never played for a high-pressing possession side in his career. Can you teach an old dog new tricks? Yes he's a top player, Premier League and Champions League winner, loads of England caps, etc. but he's a level below the really great England CBs of recent years (JT, Rio, Campbell, Adams... even Ledley King). All of those elite CBs struggled towards their mid 30s, with JT having to drop down to the Championship and Ferdinand failing miserably at QPR. Are we really expecting Cahill to do better than that at 33/34? Still, if the idea is to have a good personality in the dressing room, and some competition for places to keep the young lads on their toes, then so long as the wages are okay, I suppose it makes sense. He can probably still do a solid job against a slower, more physical team. I just wouldn't get too excited about it.

John Stones. Don't get me wrong, superb footballer, but he still makes stupid mistakes that give away goals on a regular basis, and has been doing it several times a season since forever. Can't see him ever growing out of it.

Is he really a DCM though? A lot of people assume that ball playing CBs can play DCM, but then when you try them there it doesn't click. Seen it so many times. The two positions are a lot more different than people realise.

The more I look at this, the more I think this signing was lined up well before the play-off final. Makes much more sense in the context of another Championship season, or also with a view to the possibility of getting relegated. I don't see much evidence that this is a player who is going to be a regular starter in a top 10 PL club, but fingers crossed.

Yeah, I find that with a lot of these podcasts, though. The players who come across as the warmest and most interesting people struggle to show that obsessive focus. He might have had more luck playing in another country, where his physique would be less of an issue, but imagine he'd struggle with the culture shock!

Sorry, I didn't see this and posted it as a new thread. I thought this was absolutely superb. One of the best interviews I've ever seen with a player. Got a lot of time for him, and honestly think he has the ability to play top flight football. A bit sad as well, though, as he gives some clues as to why a whole generation of decent young prospects didn't fulfil their potential.