Popular Post Zatman Posted January 25 Popular Post Share Posted January 25 5 hours ago, Jas10 said: As for Iroegbunam, we’ve barely seen him this season and having so much faith in a young player who has hardly been involved in first team games and to “step up” to the expected/required degree right now seems like a big ask and unrealistic expectation in the short term… and also quite sudden or impulsive… Losing Dendoncker (who we already needed to improve on) has opened the gap up even more… this squad lacks defensive options and prowess, it lacks physicality and aerial ability… we look great in other departments but why continue with those “weaknesses” no matter how small they may appear to be… We can’t keep playing the same players over and over again and shifting them into different roles/positions while expecting them to play consistently well and not get burnt out, exhausted, injured or suspended… some of them, especially McGinn, rely on energy to perform well too and are essential for us… I haven’t even discussed our attacking options, but midfield depth is where we are lacking most imo… I’m hopeful that we will have players returning and hitting form after injuries (hopefully this short break/rest will have done a heap of good) and improving after struggling for form (really looking forward to it)… but… we simply don’t have the numbers in midfield… Dendoncker has hardly played this season and if Tim cant step up to be a 6th choice centre midfielder for a game or 2 then he wont make it at this level 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
handsworthvilla Posted January 25 Share Posted January 25 11 hours ago, DJBOB said: But again that’s your presumption that the removal of Dendoncker is weakening the squad. Unai might not think so. A lot of others thought the same thing when Ings was sold last year. A weakening of the squad with just a 19 year old bought in as replacement. For me - it would be nice to have another DM specialist but at what wages and how frequently are they going to play. Are we going to pay 75k in wages to someone who will play less than 300 minutes in all comps? If Unai thinks we can get by without or with a mix of other players, then I don’t see a reason why not. The winter window, through far more bad examples than good, is notorious for being difficult so don’t be surprised if we don’t strengthen or replace. Good point. I for one raised an eyebrow at that decision, thought it would backfire. Kind of similar to the questions raised about letting Ashley Young go in the summer. Trust in Unai, he knows what he is doing. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post Follyfoot Posted January 25 VT Supporter Popular Post Share Posted January 25 3 minutes ago, handsworthvilla said: Good point. I for one raised an eyebrow at that decision, thought it would backfire. Kind of similar to the questions raised about letting Ashley Young go in the summer. Trust in Unai, he knows what he is doing. Apart from qualifying for Europe for 15 or 16 years odd on the trot, the trophies won domestically and in Europe, his general win rate everywhere and his tactical nous, what evidence do you have to support this statement? 6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
osmark86 Posted January 25 Share Posted January 25 8 minutes ago, Follyfoot said: Apart from qualifying for Europe for 15 or 16 years odd on the trot, the trophies won domestically and in Europe, his general win rate everywhere and his tactical nous, what evidence do you have to support this statement? 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fightoffyour Posted January 25 VT Supporter Share Posted January 25 9 minutes ago, Follyfoot said: Apart from qualifying for Europe for 15 or 16 years odd on the trot, the trophies won domestically and in Europe, his general win rate everywhere and his tactical nous, what evidence do you have to support this statement? I thought we were the Claret and Blue army of Unai Emery 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Leeroy Posted January 25 Share Posted January 25 Jumping the gun a bit but if we don’t make Champions League this season, or even if we do, we may have to sell an important player this summer. The following would go for big money, would I sell any of them?: 1. Luiz - hell no, too important, and needs a new contract 2. Kamara - no, too important and our only top quality DM 3. Martinez - no, probably irreplaceable 4. Watkins - no, too expensive to replace 5. Pau Torres/Konsa - not for me, very good partnership 6. Diaby/Bailey - possibly one but I’d rather keep, like both players 7. Ramsey - possibly. Wouldn’t want to lose him at all but as he’s young, English with a lot of potential I could see us getting a lot of money for him (c. £70m) allowing us to invest all of that money plus a bit more on top which would drastically improve us. Imagine selling Ramsey for £70m (and potentially Cash, Digne and Carlos for c. £40- 50m) and buying: 1. Nico Williams - £40m 2. Molina - £35m 3. Tierney - £20m 4. Todibo - £30m 5. Neto - £50m Not saying we could get all those players or if we would go for them but that’s a huge improvement on what we have. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lexicon Posted January 25 Share Posted January 25 48 minutes ago, Leeroy said: Jumping the gun a bit but if we don’t make Champions League this season, or even if we do, we may have to sell an important player this summer. The following would go for big money, would I sell any of them?: 1. Luiz - hell no, too important, and needs a new contract 2. Kamara - no, too important and our only top quality DM 3. Martinez - no, probably irreplaceable 4. Watkins - no, too expensive to replace 5. Pau Torres/Konsa - not for me, very good partnership 6. Diaby/Bailey - possibly one but I’d rather keep, like both players 7. Ramsey - possibly. Wouldn’t want to lose him at all but as he’s young, English with a lot of potential I could see us getting a lot of money for him (c. £70m) allowing us to invest all of that money plus a bit more on top which would drastically improve us. Imagine selling Ramsey for £70m (and potentially Cash, Digne and Carlos for c. £40- 50m) and buying: 1. Nico Williams - £40m 2. Molina - £35m 3. Tierney - £20m 4. Todibo - £30m 5. Neto - £50m Not saying we could get all those players or if we would go for them but that’s a huge improvement on what we have. Ramsey's value to us is also increased by the fact that he's homegrown and trained at the club at youth level, which we need for Europe. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bobzy Posted January 25 Share Posted January 25 There's no club coming in with an offer anywhere near £70m for Ramsey. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
duke313 Posted January 25 Share Posted January 25 Not sure why people are surprised we haven't signed anyone for this window, Premier League teams have spent a grand total of £37m. Pretty much every team is in the same boat, teams are scared to get on the wrong side of FFP. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jacketspuds Posted January 25 Share Posted January 25 With Dendoncker going I wonder if we're still willing to let Chambers move on as well. I also can't see any loan deal for Traore happening in this window as he'll get injured getting off the plane back from the AFCON. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Follyfoot Posted January 25 VT Supporter Share Posted January 25 (edited) 3 minutes ago, duke313 said: Not sure why people are surprised we haven't signed anyone for this window, Premier League teams have spent a grand total of £37m. Pretty much every team is in the same boat, teams are scared to get on the wrong side of FFP. But with all the spare money the sky six have they should be nowhere near ffp limits, so would you expected more from them to reinforce their positions Edited January 25 by Follyfoot Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jas10 Posted January 25 Share Posted January 25 (edited) 2 hours ago, Zatman said: Dendoncker has hardly played this season and if Tim cant step up to be a 6th choice centre midfielder for a game or 2 then he wont make it at this level Had we had a better option available to us than Dendoncker, I’m sure that player would’ve played more and given us more options rather than having to move players around when Kamara (and Luiz) were unavailable or needed resting… Again, we lost something by playing players out of their preferred/best positions and, again, continually playing the same players over and over again will lead to exhaustion and injuries… and more suspensions. And we’ll see more of a negative impact on our performances such as when Kamara was suspended and Pau and Tielemans were injured… We could have mixed things up by playing different combinations too and allowing someone like Luiz to attack and create more than usual… a defensive player alongside Kamara could have been an option for us in certain games and enabled things like that… We have been limited by the options in the squad…and the setbacks like injuries… Dendoncker’s time wasn’t just limited because “he wasn’t needed” etc. - he didn’t impress or gain Unai’s favour when he was given opportunities… (same for Tielemans at CM until he was moved forwards into attack. They didn’t look good together either). Chambers hasn’t got a look-in since he performed poorly in ECL too… If Unai has more and better tools to work with, he will utilise them and that will be of great benefit to us. My thinking is, let’s not be complacent about the players and limited options we have, most of all in central midfield. Edited January 25 by Jas10 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Leeroy Posted January 25 Share Posted January 25 Just now, bobzy said: There's no club coming in with an offer anywhere near £70m for Ramsey. Dunno, Gibbs White went for £42m if you include add ons. Gordon for around £45m all in. Neither were at Ramsey's level. The only thing that might be an issue is this season hasn't been a good one with injuries and poor form etc, but there is no doubt he could become one of the best players in Europe with the right level of coaching, hence why I'd be reluctant to sell, but I don't think that valuation is too far off the mark. £60m might be more realistic. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jas10 Posted January 25 Share Posted January 25 (edited) 16 minutes ago, jacketspuds said: With Dendoncker going I wonder if we're still willing to let Chambers move on as well. I also can't see any loan deal for Traore happening in this window as he'll get injured getting off the plane back from the AFCON. The lad hasn’t had another opportunity since he performed poorly against Legia in ECL, I’m sure he’s still available but the problem is that we need some genuine interest and for a club to make an offer… he’s another who is too limited for an Unai team… Maybe an offer for Dendoncker wasn’t quite expected or highly anticipated yet (possibly why he wasn’t named alongside Chambers and Traore as players available for sale, but they were also just 2 examples. Hause can go if someone makes some sort of offer too) but I still think Callum will go if someone bids for him… I’m sure it allows us to get player(s) in that Unai prefers and that make the squad better, that will get more game time and involvement too… and that don’t have the limitations of such a player… Again, Unai has inherited and improved the vast majority of these players (with both their attributes and deficiencies) and will always have had an eye on improving in key areas (Moreno, Pau and Diaby demonstrate that) when the opportunities arose and when finances permitted it… we will continue to add in future windows and see more departures…as he builds. Especially if we manage to qualify for CL… Edited January 25 by Jas10 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MaVilla Posted January 25 Share Posted January 25 (edited) 13 minutes ago, jacketspuds said: With Dendoncker going I wonder if we're still willing to let Chambers move on as well. I also can't see any loan deal for Traore happening in this window as he'll get injured getting off the plane back from the AFCON. 100% we would let Chambers go. Same for Traore. Whether we can actually jettison them, remains to be seen i guess. Edited January 25 by MaVilla 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sulberto21 Posted January 25 Share Posted January 25 6 hours ago, mikeyp102 said: That can’t be correct Klopp has never spent a penny Plucky little club always punching above their weight. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Posted January 25 Share Posted January 25 2 hours ago, Follyfoot said: But with all the spare money the sky six have they should be nowhere near ffp limits, so would you expected more from them to reinforce their positions They can soon change that and probably will. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ender4 Posted January 25 Share Posted January 25 2 hours ago, duke313 said: Premier League teams have spent a grand total of £37m. We've spent almost a quarter of the total PL spend! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
troon_villan Posted January 25 Share Posted January 25 2 hours ago, MaVilla said: 100% we would let Chambers go. Same for Traore. Whether we can actually jettison them, remains to be seen i guess. Are you suggesting we should rocket them into space? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MaVilla Posted January 25 Share Posted January 25 3 minutes ago, troon_villan said: Are you suggesting we should rocket them into space? if it would save their wages.....sure? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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