Mantis Posted May 24, 2014 Share Posted May 24, 2014 Davies I can see your point maybe but Collins? No way is he better than Vlaar. Okore looked better too and I think he's about on par with Clark. Likewise, I don't see Sidwell as an improvement on KEA, Westwood or Delph. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jarpie Posted May 24, 2014 Share Posted May 24, 2014 Routledge has been decent for Swansea, would take him for cheap if we wouldn't be taken over. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KHV Posted May 24, 2014 Share Posted May 24, 2014 Without any spending, we have: ---------------Guzan--------------- ------------------------------------ -Lowton---Vlaar-Okore---Bennett ------------------------------------ ---------Westwood--Delph--------- ------------------------------------ --Bacuna---Weimann---Gabby---- ------------------------------------ -------------Benteke--------------- Plus: Bent, NZogbia, Clark, Baker, Donacien, Hutton, Luna, Bowery, KEA, Kozak, Tonev, Helenius, J Grealish, C Robinson, D Johnson, Add in a couple of signings - e.g Bertrand, Lescott, Hoolahan etc. Is it really that bad? That squad is atrocious Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Amo69 Posted May 24, 2014 Share Posted May 24, 2014 Davies I can see your point maybe but Collins? No way is he better than Vlaar. Okore looked better too and I think he's about on par with Clark. Likewise, I don't see Sidwell as an improvement on KEA, Westwood or Delph. I think Collins is an ok defender. A massive improvement on Clark and and Baker. Jury still out on Okore so not sure about that one but I agree he probably not better than Vlaar. Easy to say in hindsight but I think Collins would have played a lot this season. He was generally quite solid for West Ham. Sidwell I think would be the bit of experience in the middle of the park we are crying out for. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sharkyvilla Posted May 24, 2014 Share Posted May 24, 2014 Weirdly, as our expectations are so low, I think we will be alright. If we can get anything close to useful out of Bent, N'Zogbia and/or Hutton, get more use out of Okore, Kozak and Benteke and have a slightly better coaching staff, plus bring a couple of players in, I think we would be fairly comfortable. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AVTuco Posted May 24, 2014 VT Supporter Share Posted May 24, 2014 As if we didn't have enough problems, Benteke will be out first half of the season. A lot will be asked from Andi I think. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tomaszk Posted May 24, 2014 Share Posted May 24, 2014 The manager makes them worse than they could be. No instruction or direction has left these young players in the lurch. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StanBalaban Posted May 24, 2014 Share Posted May 24, 2014 With players returning from injuries, or reintroduced into the first team again, what team could we be looking at starting the season with? Would CNZ be back? Would Bent be in line for a starting berth? Will Kozak miss the start of the season? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
samjp26 Posted May 24, 2014 Share Posted May 24, 2014 (edited) With players returning from injuries, or reintroduced into the first team again, what team could we be looking at starting the season with? Would CNZ be back? Would Bent be in line for a starting berth? Will Kozak miss the start of the season? ------------------ Guzan --------------- Lowton --- Okore --- Vlaar --- Luna --------------- Westwood -------------- ----------- KEA --------- Delph --------- ---------------- N'Zogbia ----------------- ------------ Bent ------ Kozak ----------- Should Kozak return for the first game that is. Edited May 24, 2014 by samjp26 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StanBalaban Posted May 24, 2014 Share Posted May 24, 2014 Interesting... Is Kozak in line to return before the start of the season? Assuming Helenius is off, we'll have: Bent Kozak Gabby Weimann J Bowz and the Beast, upon his return, that can play as a striker. With CNZ, Robinson and Grealish able to naturally offer width, could we see a different style of play? I think a lot will depend on PL's new second in command. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
samjp26 Posted May 24, 2014 Share Posted May 24, 2014 Lambert says he is a doubt for the very start, but personally I can't see how that can be possible as a break should be healed by then. I guess it depends on how much time he gets to get up to match fitness in pre-season. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StanBalaban Posted May 24, 2014 Share Posted May 24, 2014 I hope that Kozak, Okore, CNZ, and even Bent and Hutton get a good preseason under their belts. Could make a big difference to our team if they're on form. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shaw_nuff Posted May 24, 2014 Share Posted May 24, 2014 For anyone stating that our poor excuse for a PL starting 11 'just needs a couple of quality signings'. Do they actually think all the other clubs are just going to sit there and add nobody? Guzan, Vlar and Benteke can stay. The rest need to either do one or put some serious practice in. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mantis Posted May 24, 2014 Share Posted May 24, 2014 For anyone stating that our poor excuse for a PL starting 11 'just needs a couple of quality signings'. Do they actually think all the other clubs are just going to sit there and add nobody? Guzan, Vlar and Benteke can stay. The rest need to either do one or put some serious practice in. Thing is, our best starting 11 isn't actually that bad at all - we just seriously lack depth. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shaw_nuff Posted May 24, 2014 Share Posted May 24, 2014 For anyone stating that our poor excuse for a PL starting 11 'just needs a couple of quality signings'. Do they actually think all the other clubs are just going to sit there and add nobody? Guzan, Vlar and Benteke can stay. The rest need to either do one or put some serious practice in. Thing is, our best starting 11 isn't actually that bad at all - we just seriously lack depth. I can't agree. I think it's woeful. I'm still on the fence with Delph, Westwood and Weiman, but this year all three need to up their consistency. Okore, Kozak: no one knows yet. If I'm wrong then Lambert has done an even worse job than i thought. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brumstopdogs Posted May 24, 2014 Share Posted May 24, 2014 I can't agree. I think it's woeful. I'm still on the fence with Delph, Westwood and Weiman, but this year all three need to up their consistency. Okore, Kozak: no one knows yet. If I'm wrong then Lambert has done an even worse job than i thought. Agree with most of that and from what I saw from Kozak he looked quite average too. Okore started 2 league games, I believe, and we lost them both. Let's hope all of the above players improve next season. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post Raymond Posted May 24, 2014 Popular Post Share Posted May 24, 2014 In response to the OP, yes it really is and you haven't exactly done yourself any favours including tripe like Weimann as a No. 10 in your team. Weimann was played centrally 8 times last season. He scored 4 goals and had 1 assist in those starts. He had 1 goal and 2 assists in his other 21 starts. Perhaps we should consider how a player is being misutilized before we write them off, especially if they are 22-year-old internationals. 6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The_Rev Posted May 24, 2014 Share Posted May 24, 2014 I'll confess I've not read any of the posts in the thread, but in reply to the question in the title: Yes. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Isa Posted May 24, 2014 Share Posted May 24, 2014 In response to the OP, yes it really is and you haven't exactly done yourself any favours including tripe like Weimann as a No. 10 in your team. Weimann was played centrally 8 times last season. He scored 4 goals and had 1 assist in those starts. He had 1 goal and 2 assists in his other 21 starts. Perhaps we should consider how a player is being misutilized before we write them off, especially if they are 22-year-old internationals. "Centrally" ≠ No. 10. He isn't and never will be good enough to play in that role. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Raymond Posted May 24, 2014 Share Posted May 24, 2014 In response to the OP, yes it really is and you haven't exactly done yourself any favours including tripe like Weimann as a No. 10 in your team. Weimann was played centrally 8 times last season. He scored 4 goals and had 1 assist in those starts. He had 1 goal and 2 assists in his other 21 starts. Perhaps we should consider how a player is being misutilized before we write them off, especially if they are 22-year-old internationals. "Centrally" ≠ No. 10. He isn't and never will be good enough to play in that role. First of all, you called him "tripe." Did not say he was worthless in that role, just that we was worthless. Second, he played as an AM twice last season and scored in one of those matches. I seem to remember him being particularly good in that role in the West Brom match. Those two matches are not a great sample size, and I would rather him playing as a central forward. Still not deserving of the word "tripe." 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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