Much like other positions I don’t think the constant chopping and changing help our cause. I can’t see Kaboul or Britos being here next season but I feel we need a real leader to come in, possibly as captain
Britos will certainly be gone. He's out of contract and is one of the few that has not been offered a new one. Kaboul should go, but I think they'll keep him. I don't think he's that good, but if we got him fit (unlikely I know), he would be an option from the bench. He's probably the only player that is anywhere near being a leader in defence. This is why we should pull out all the stops to get Dawson from West Brom. He was superb at United today, and even though they won, it wont be enough to keep them up. He'd no doubt be happy to return to the Premier league, although there maybe other lower Premier league sides that would consider signing him.
Someone with the prem experience that Dawson has would be perfect. He’s still only 27, for some reason I thought he was older than that.
Because it's a myth? It's built on volume of signings rather than quality. If you hoover up young talent from relatively untapped markets for peanuts, you only need one out of every fifty players to come good to make money. The whole model is built on doing things as cheap as possible, from head coaches to players. I'm not knocking the Pozzos, it's amazing to be able to compete with far wealthier owners. But it's also why our squad is full of players who haven't quite made it at bigger clubs, cheap deals from the continent and why we get blown out of the water regularly by the likes of Bournemouth (Iturbe, Ake), West Brom (Gibbs), Southampton (Lemina, Boufal), Palace (Townsend) when it comes to players we are competing for.
Well Gray cost quite a bit though! But fair point - we've hardly spent any money on the defence with the current ones being offered new contracts rather than being looked to be moved on.
Good spot. I expect Gino's just saving it for a big end of season reveal on the pitch at Old Trafford in front of the away end.
That if a bit much - I agree that not all of our players are great, but we need 25 at least...you can't just get rid of 13 players. Six of those are usually in our starting 11, and aside from our perennial crocks hoban and kaboul the rest are usually on the bench. Mariappa, Prodl and Capoue are definitely more than good enough for a squad. Possibly Deeney, but not as a lone striker which I don't think will change anytime soon.
I agree we can't have that sort of turnover of players. However we have to stop the annual situation where half the team gradually wind down after around 20 games and basically become pushovers for the opposition in the last 10. I think there are around 6 that need to be replaced, with the priority being Deeney. Regrettably his ability, demeanour, leadership and attitude has deteriorated over the last 12 months. He should at the very least be replaced as the captain. Britos is a liability as is Zeegelaar. Gray, Wague and Sinclair are just not anywhere near Premiership standard. Carillo doesn't want to be here. I would keep the rest, including the likes of Holebas and Okaka who have ability if they are managed and led properly. Hopefully we now have a proper medical team that can rehabilitate injured players quicker. In the last couple of years it is incredible how many new signings get long term injuries within a few games of joining us e.g. Kaboul, Hughes, Chalabah, Cleverley, Pereyra etc.
I agree he would be ideal but I suspect he will have many suitors. I doubt Gino will enter a bidding war,unless we still have Ellington in a cupboard somewhere we could return in part exchange?
Goalkeeper: Gomes - Stay - Self explanatory. Karnezis - Stay - While I think he's too cautious in some situations and can be rooted to his line, he is by no means a bad goalkeeper and has proven capable at this level, which we have struggled with in the past. *Bachmann - Stay - Solid 3rd choice, reasonably rated by those in the game. 3/3 Retained Left Back: Holebas - Stay. Keep one of these two as a backup to whatever 1st choice left back we being in. Zeegelaar - Loan/Sell - Somehow has less defensive nous than Holebas, but just as effective going forward. 1/2 Retained Centre Back: Britos - Loan/Sell - Barring a last minute extension his contract expires this Summer. Thank you for service and good bye. Kaboul - Loan/Sell - Good defender, but far too injury prone. Shame but we need players who can last a whole season. Wague - Return - While he's acquitted himself well during our injury crisis, we have too many CB's in this squad. Kabasele - Stay - Quickest of our CB's and performed reasonably well. Certainly a good option as our 2nd or 3rd choice CB. *Cathcart - Stay - Probably our best CB behind Kaboul. Looks to have kept his ability since his injury. No brainer. Prodl - Stay - While he's had an underwhelming season he's not the reason why we've struggled this season. Our best option against large lone strikers. *Mariappa - Stay - While his faults in recent weeks have been exposed, at times he's been a game winning player as well. Keep as 4th choice. *Hoban - Loan - Injuries might well mean he'll never live up to his potential, but it's worth loaning him out to see if he can still perform. If he's able to he's a good option next season. 5/8 Retained Right back: Janmaat - Stay - While he's had a mixed season there's a good player there, particularly when going forward. Seems to be over his injury problem. Femenia - Stay - Whether as a fullback or winger he's acquitted himself well. Good find, especially on a free. 2/2 Retained Central Midfield: Doucoure - Sell - His head is turned and it's becoming obvious he's downed tools now. More harmful to keep a player who doesn't want to stay. Excellent player, very well rounded. Should get upwards of £40m easily if not £50m. Capoue - Stay - At this point we know what we'll get with him, but he certainly isn't a bad option to have off the bench and wasn't making a fuss when he wasn't playing much under Silva. Great option to have as rotation and off the bench. *Chalobah - Stay - Superb player. *Cleverley - Stay - He loves the club, we love him and the amount of ground he covers. *Hughes - Stay - Great player, just who you need to unpick a packed defence. If he played the whole season could've been in with a shout for the World Cup. Pereyra - Stay - Versatile and a high quality player. Ndong - Return - Good emergency cover in case we had an more injuries in midfield but now served his purpose. 5/7 Retained Wingers: **Richarlison - Stay - Needs to develop some consistency before he can think about moving on, though there are mitigating circumstance in his defence. Excellent player when on it and works his socks off every game. Carrillo - Return - A Silva signing, and telling he hasn't featured since he left. Good player in there but too inconsistent and heart isn't at the club. Deulofeu - Stay - Sign him up if at all possible. Gem. And yes, I Googled his name. Can't spell it for the life of me. **Lukebakio - Stay - Still not entirely sure why we signed him, but he's young and has promise. 3/4 Retained Strikers: *Deeney - Stay - Clubs who want him aren't going to pay what he wants, and if we play a 2 striker setup you'll find a much better player than what we're seeing. Can cut out his stupid media **** though. Strip him of captaincy as he is neither leading by example on or off the pitch nor helping build a positive image for the club right now. Okaka - Loan/Sell - Crying shame as he's suited to a 1 striker system but he simply doesn't have the endurance for the league. Will do well in a slower paced league. *Gray - Stay - There's a good player in him, and he tries. If we play 2 up front he will get you goals. *Sinclair - Loan/Sell - Don't see why the club brought him in. Not up to standard. 2/4 Retained Summary: 21/30 Retained Breakdown of those kept: 11 Non-homegrown 9 * Homegrown 2 ** Under 21
What we need someone who knows the league, has a winning mentality, can command respect from his players and has a tactical gameplan based on wingers. Unfortunately the only name that keeps popping up in my head is Brendan Rodgers who everyone hates.
A very good analysis. I would just point out with Dahlberg coming in, and him being an international already, I don’t see all three keepers staying on. Quite what the mix will be I don’t know. Bachmann on loan maybe and Gomes 3rd choice? We’ve backed ourselves into a corner with the LB situation and Holebas new contract. Zeegelaar is never going to be good enough, I agree. Mariappa playing at LB over him was the nail in the coffin. We desperately need a new starting LB - but we know Holebas has attitude issues and doesn’t react well to not playing - do we honestly think he will accept being backup without disrupting squad harmony or relations. I think we need two new LB’s. And I really, really don’t think anyone is going to pay us £40m for Doucoure. I can see teams trying to get him for £20m-£25m and some real hardball being played for most of the summer.
The price Chelsea paid for Bakayoko says otherwise, who's a downgrade on Doucoure in every sense in the same position.
Bakayoko had played in the CL, won his domestic league and had been capped by France. Admittedly Doucoure will only do those things if he moves on but I seriously doubt he’s done enough in the minds of the big clubs to warrant spending that type of money on him.
Bakayoko has a good prestige and accolades. I'm not saying he isn't a good player but I am saying he's worse than Doucoure and to most clubs that will be evident when they do their due diligence when scouting. He'll have 2 years left on his contract which is strong enough for a good few but you can't let it go down to 1 year as it's increasingly clear he won't sign a new contract and it's beginning to affect performances.
Sky just added £20mil on top of Doucoure’s £40mil valuation. Thanks Sky. http://www.skysports.com/football/news/11661/11336590/football
I’d get rid of all the defence apart from Kabasele and Kiko/Janmaat. Could retain Mapps and Cathcart as back ups. Get in some good young top prospects and 1 or 2 decent relegated experienced players in the Dawson mould. Doesn’t have to cost a mega fortune, maybe 25 to 30m should sort it out pretty well. I’d probably get rid of all the 3 strikers for about 25m and get in the best we can attract and s9me young starlets. Problem is budget but maybe someone like Gabbiadini can come good again for 15 m. Carrillo can go but the rest of the midfield can stay as a foundation. If as likely Doucoure and or Richarlison go not the end of the world and the money will help with defence/attack rebuilding. Do all we can to get Deulofeu. I still think we can be awesome and that it’s not all doom and gloom.
Bit too much collective pant-wetting going on at the moment. This is the same squad that looked pretty damn good at the start of the season before injuries/Slither kicked in. There's no doubt the squad needs work, but the people wanting to basically ship out 95% of the first team squad are knee-jerking and need to get a grip.
Agree with all of that pretty much , but I would definitely sell Deeney and probably Gray. Keep Okaka as back up to the new striker (s)
That injury update that came out today provided a stat that gives us an incredible window into just how much Kaboul cannot be counted as a player for us: he has been out since the game before Chalobah. I don't really care how good he is or isn't, or where he ranks amongst our legion of centre backs, he cannot be retained come summer; he has played 1,800 league minutes of a possible 6,500 since he joined us. He is doing nothing but taking up a squad place and a wage, and providing some lingered misguided whisper of being defensively well-stocked in the minds of our recruitment team. It's not even like he has youth on his side. I'd still hope for a fairytale ending for Deeney here, but his performances and behaviour over the past couple of seasons has pretty much definitively shown that that isn't going to happen. I know some people have suggested making someone else the captain, but I cannot see him reacting in any other way than terribly if that happens whilst he is still at the club, unfortunately. We're more likely to need a Doucoure replacement than a Richy at this point, and one way or another we're going to need wingers almost as desperately as we did this time last year. Striker is absolutely vital, though, it's unarguable.
Our season next year will be defined by who joins rather than who leaves. We can only let go anyone on that list if we have a better replacement in the bag. We know that we won't be a players first choice prem club so we need Gino et al to work their magic again and find a few steals in the Chalo and Hughes category plus a couple of leftfield signings like Richarlison. In the meantime we will be getting over excited about links to big name signings that will end up signing for WHU, Everton, Leicester etc. At least next season it's unlikely that Soton will be beating us to any signings !
I agree with your comments on Kaboul. His salary will be high, as fitting an experienced senior professional. His injury record is appalling and he's at the age where all the games he's played in his career have taken it's toll. He can't recover quickly anymore. As you say, he's been out longer than Chalobah with a minor injury in comparison. He needs to be released which will save the club a big salary. We won't get anything for him, and on a free, I'm sure another club will take a chance on him. It will free up a space to bring in another central defender. We have 8 on the books currently, but Wague will go back to Udinese, Britos will be released, and maybe Hoban too. If Kaboul goes too, then we'll only have 4 central defenders, leaving space for a couple of new signings.
Kaboul has time on his contract. In that regard, I really cannot see him being released. And with his injury recordand likely high wage, I doubt anyone will take him for us either. I suspect we are stuck with him for another year where he may or may not be fit.
No pant wetting here. I’d get rid of 10 players. 5 buys from this season, including: · 3 late-ish transfer window panic-buys (Zeeglegar, Wague, Ndong); · 1 who lost all interest when Slither left (Carillo); · 1 who is not the type of striker we wanted and whose value will start dropping off dramatically if we don’t sell at the earliest opportunity (Grey). All of whom haven’t claimed a place in the starting 11 despite a huge injury crisis. Of the players who have been here for a while, I immediately chose Holebas, as he is an absolute liability and his attitude sums up everything that is wrong with the club at the moment (lack of intelligence, rash, petulant, no concentration, poor discipline). Okaka cannot last more than 70 minutes and his impact is too sporadic for my liking. Two managers seem to have a problem with the way he trains. Only one of him or Troy should go, but I still think Troy could an impact off the bench with an appropriate quick striking partner. Hoban and Sinclair are Championship quality at best. And finally Prodl. I wouldn’t mind him staying, but we have too many right footed defenders. If Gino does his job this summer, we will bring in someone better and Seb might not even make the bench. I can see him going to Fulham for 5ish million in the summer if they get promoted. Following anticipated transfers this summer, I doubt the loss of any of these players would even impact the quality on our bench, let alone our starting 11.
I’ll have what you’re smoking. He started well, but was never near £50m worth. Since that bright start he’s been injured, done little and not been trusted by a team languishing at the bottom. Not saying he’s not able to recapture what he had but let’s calm down on the wild price tags.
I’m not sure my smoking habits are strictly relevant. Southampton got him for about 17m and he got off to a flyer and looked sublime for a period. I’m sure there would have been top 6 clubs interested at the time so it’s not totally unreasonable to speculate he was worth considerably more. I agree he has done little since and hasn’t played much but I’m not saying he’s worth 50m now. Regardless of a little hyperbole on my part, my point is we’re not going to be able to afford a top atriker so we either need to gamble on young talent or on someone who may have the potential to come good again. Gabbiadini was just an example.
