one_ian_taylor Posted May 30, 2023 VT Supporter Share Posted May 30, 2023 1 hour ago, tomsky_11 said: This summer should be about pushing to significantly improve the first XI, not bulking out the squad. We will have money to spend, but I imagine it'll go pretty quick if we are to bring in players better than what we already have. It's about quality, not quantity. Plus realistically don't think there's much of the first XI we can significantly improve on at this point and wouldn't want a massive overhaul given how most of the current players have performed under Emery already. Plus next season should be an opportunity for a few of the better youth players to stick around, learn the system and get first team minutes. With 3/4 quality additions we'll easily have enough of a squad to cope. Gk - Martinez, Olsen, Sinisalo RB - Cash, New RB, Young LB - Moreno, Digne CB - Mings, Konsa, Carlos, Chambers MC - Kamara, Luiz, Dendoncker, New MC/AM, Iroegbunam AM - J Ramsey, McGinn, Buendia, New AM/WG/FW, A Ramsey FW - Watkins, New FW, Bailey, Duran, Archer That's 27 players there, without including Traore, Coutinho or a bunch of returning loanees who will likely go. Could easily blow up £100M on those 4 new players, even if we pick up one on a free as is being rumoured. This would be a great window. Only questions would be whether we would also look to offload Chambers and bring in another back up cb, and whether some of the youth players might go out on loan, meaning we'd need a couple of other squad players (would prefer it if they stayed and got game time and kicked on). The new striker/winger in particular would also need to be versatile enough to give us flexibility so we can play a few different systems Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gaz90 Posted May 31, 2023 Share Posted May 31, 2023 45 minutes ago, Adam2003 said: Surely this number is higher? 38 league, 7 FA Cup, 5 League Cup, is 50 already before Europe. I mean equally we could play 42 and just be fed up but the potential max must be way higher (I can’t give an exact number as I’m not sure how the Conference League works yet…) Edit: is it 6 FA Cup actually? Sixth round is the quarters? You're right - that was meant to say 64. It's a ton games (if we get that far in the cups) and our active squad isn't massive. Add to that the fact that Emery wants options so that he can chop and change based on tactics and opponents, it's clear that we need more bodies. We don't need to spend £50m on each player to get quality that fits the system (see Moreno), but I just don't think that Emery is too comfortable playing the likes of Olsen and even Traore, so he'll look to get in his own players that he can trust to play his style of football. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tomsky_11 Posted May 31, 2023 Share Posted May 31, 2023 4 hours ago, thabucks said: Duran, Archer, A Ramsey, Iroegbunam, and Sinisalo won’t count in the 25 man squad due to their ages as they’ll be 21 or under when the season starts… Aware of that, but it's not relevant to point I'm making. If we've got at least 27 players at out disposal next season I'm sure that's enough. We don't need to fill all 25 registration slots for the sake of it. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tomsky_11 Posted May 31, 2023 Share Posted May 31, 2023 3 hours ago, one_ian_taylor said: This would be a great window. Only questions would be whether we would also look to offload Chambers and bring in another back up cb, and whether some of the youth players might go out on loan, meaning we'd need a couple of other squad players (would prefer it if they stayed and got game time and kicked on). The new striker/winger in particular would also need to be versatile enough to give us flexibility so we can play a few different systems Sure, I think there are question marks over a number of the 27, especially Chambers, Olsen, Young, and perhaps even Dendoncker, Bailey, Buendia and Digne. On the plus side they'll have had about 10 months with Emery once the new season starts, they are a decent enough level for backup and I'd think the club would err on the side of caution and not massively overhaul the squad right now. On the other side, some are expensive as back up, some have contract issues, some maybe haven't adapted as well to Emery or shown they fit the system that well. It wouldn't surprise me if any of these players left, but I also don't think the club would put much energy into actively selling them, given that we need to do this with a number of even more fringe players. On the youth side of things, I think at least Iroegbunam, A Ramsey and Archer have shown they are ready to contribute and feels like the right time now to properly integrate them. This could be the case for Philogene as well though contract may be an issue there. Then you've got some other possibilities. Azaz, Bogarde, Chrisene, Barry and Marschall coming back from loan could all be looked at in the summer, though I think another loan or perhaps a sale more likely in most cases here. Revan, T O'Reilly, K Young, Patterson, Swinkels and I think a couple of other keepers have been in matchday squads under Emery, so could be in the conversation for minutes next season. Could add to that some of the other highly rated youths like Wilson, Feeney, Kellyman, etc. who I imagine may get some preseason involvement. On the versatility thing, I think that goes for all 4 of the suggested new signings. The RB I think is more likely to be of a converted CB mould and so could also cover at CB. The centre mid I think would be capable of playing at either 6 or 8, and maybe at 10 as well (as we've seen McGinn and Luiz do at times this season). Then for the two forward signings, at least one, if not both, would be capable of playing any of 3 or 4 roles in the side, either a deep 10, a more advanced forward role, or in the more advance midfield positions, either in the current more inside positions or perhaps as a more an out-and-out winger. I'm thinking you want one goal scorer and one more a support/playmaker/creator type. All this probably leaves us with 18 players who could arguably be competing for regular starts: Martinez, Cash, New RB, Moreno, Digne, Mings, Konsa, Carlos, Luiz, Kamara, New MC, McGinn, J Ramsey, Buendia, New AM, Watkins, New FW, Bailey We are arguably then only 4 players short of having 2 high quality options for every position. But then we've got Iroegbunam, A Ramsey, Archer and Duran who could be given the opportunity to become this like J Ramsey has, which covers the midfield and forward areas. And we won't sign better than Martinez so this is a case of sticking with what we have or replacing backup on the cheap if possible. That leaves CB, and I think the rumours about Bamba suggest a likely course of action here, and we'll more likely look at a good value prospect who could become first XI in the next few seasons. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blunther Posted May 31, 2023 Share Posted May 31, 2023 First thing we need to look for now we have Europe is a competent second keeper. We should be able to offer some decent cup minutes so be able to get someone half decent. I dont know if he'd come to be second choice but I'd be making an offer for the Leeds keeper as a young understudy to play in the cups. 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
desensitized43 Posted May 31, 2023 Share Posted May 31, 2023 18 minutes ago, blunther said: First thing we need to look for now we have Europe is a competent second keeper. We should be able to offer some decent cup minutes so be able to get someone half decent. I dont know if he'd come to be second choice but I'd be making an offer for the Leeds keeper as a young understudy to play in the cups. Meslier??? You must be joking. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CVByrne Posted May 31, 2023 Share Posted May 31, 2023 18 minutes ago, blunther said: First thing we need to look for now we have Europe is a competent second keeper. We should be able to offer some decent cup minutes so be able to get someone half decent. I dont know if he'd come to be second choice but I'd be making an offer for the Leeds keeper as a young understudy to play in the cups. Yeah we need a 2nd Keeper and Olsen becomes 3rd. We need the right sided Winger come Forward - ala Asensio We need another Defender to replace Chambers. I think it'll be one who can allow us to play 3 CBs with one operating as a full back. I'm not sure if it will be LF or RF player We need another midfielder who can play RM or CM and offer competition in both positions. A kind of right footed McGinn who is all energy for the press and can play in more than one position. I think we'll sign a Striker if we can.We're too reliant on Watkins and if he got injured we are in big trouble. We'll have another 15/20 games this season if we do well in ECL and better in cups. 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheMightyVillans Posted May 31, 2023 Share Posted May 31, 2023 40 minutes ago, blunther said: First thing we need to look for now we have Europe is a competent second keeper. We should be able to offer some decent cup minutes so be able to get someone half decent. I dont know if he'd come to be second choice but I'd be making an offer for the Leeds keeper as a young understudy to play in the cups. I think I would rather bring back nyland than sign meslier. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lexicon Posted May 31, 2023 Share Posted May 31, 2023 27 minutes ago, desensitized43 said: Meslier??? You must be joking. Yeah he's a poor keeper. Also has the worst hair cut I've seen in football for some time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dante_Lockhart Posted May 31, 2023 Share Posted May 31, 2023 Jed Steer's available on a free. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PerryBarrPet Posted May 31, 2023 Share Posted May 31, 2023 9 minutes ago, Dante_Lockhart said: Jed Steer's available on a free. Too injury prone. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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Zhan_Zhuang Posted May 31, 2023 Share Posted May 31, 2023 17 minutes ago, Genie said: In the hole? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CarryOnVilla Posted May 31, 2023 Share Posted May 31, 2023 18 minutes ago, Genie said: Would Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
His Name Is Death Posted May 31, 2023 Share Posted May 31, 2023 Isn't there a Beautician Ruchee who plays for the Zimbabwe national team? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alreadyexists Posted May 31, 2023 VT Supporter Share Posted May 31, 2023 13 minutes ago, His Name Is Death said: Isn't there a Beautician Ruchee who plays for the Zimbabwe national team? We used to play Ruchee ‘keeper when we were kids 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tubby Posted May 31, 2023 Share Posted May 31, 2023 51 minutes ago, Genie said: Something for those lonely nights at Bodymoor Heath Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Villarocker Posted May 31, 2023 Share Posted May 31, 2023 If we could somehow manage a summer window like this would folks be happy? GK: Steffen - £5m? RB: Walker-Peters - £20m? CB: Torres - £40m? MF: Guendouzi - £20m? AM: Asensio - Free AM: Barnes - £40m? FW: Dembele - Free 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blunther Posted May 31, 2023 Share Posted May 31, 2023 2 hours ago, desensitized43 said: Meslier??? You must be joking. He's only a babby for a keeper, reckon he's got potential to learn from the best. Some good experience for his age. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tubby Posted May 31, 2023 Share Posted May 31, 2023 (edited) Five viable signings imo. We could push for a sixth (Guendouzi - CM) and seventh (? - GK), but I went with priority areas first and trying to be realistic by not turning the entire squad. The bench would be tasty; Olsen, Cash, Digne, Konsa, Carlos, Kamara, Buendia, Bailey, Watkins. Plenty of room to include youth players such as Iroegbunam, A Ramsey, Archer Edited May 31, 2023 by Tubby Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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