Not that I'm saying there's a clear solution to this; I agree with your point and am fully aware of the situation, but this is kind of an issue that we are facing as it stands - we are bringing a (very successful) Championship squad into the Premier League, and trying to outperform 17 squads that are already Premier League, and not only that but good enough to remain so this season. We, meanwhile, have, as you say, probably three or four positions where we wouldn't range from saying something like 'hmmm, could ideally do better, at least as a starter' to 'very worrying tendencies - if he starts he will be a major weakness because of them'. COVID may affect everybody's finances, but those other 17 don't need to bring in Prem level players - they already have them, and so theoretically we are not on a level playing ground even after we have started spending some money and they haven't. Meanwhile, everybody loves Xisco and he's a brilliant character who achieved something brilliant, but again, he's utterly, utterly unproven at anything even approaching this level, and his methodology this season was basically driven by his motivational acumen and fostering of team spirit - I think there are very few of us who think that will prove to be enough, as it stands, in the Prem on its own. Fully 75% of respondents on @LouOrns twitter poll the other day still chose to express at least some degree of scepticism about his prospects at this point, and that was out of a sample size of 900 respondents. He's not going to take our current squad and make them significantly better than the sum of their parts tactically - it's not the kind of coach he is, and frankly plenty of more experienced coaches who try and do that fail anyway - Farke being a key example. Bielsa is an extreme, extreme outlier who we knew would be one before he came, and was recruited for that exact reason. Therefore, one way or another, we need a USP to be able to compete/elevate us, and to be perfectly honest, more than one. If we're compensating for not having an elite/tactically innovative coach, then we need players who can stand out and often more than hold their own at (or at least against) the very top level. What that means is that one way or another, we're going to need to find some of those, and it seems to me like goalie is one of the positions it's easiest to do that in, by basically following the same pattern we did throughout our last Prem stay - experienced keepers slightly past their best at elite clubs but still with a lot to offer, and a base of talent that continues to tell, for a couple of years at least. As it stands, Bachmann has a significant weakness evident in his game, and that is at Championship level. What does that suggest at Prem level? If we could fix that entire issue, which obviously includes all dead-ball situations we face, it would instantly go from another prospective weakness and a troubling 'I'm not sure how this is going to go' to a very solid 'that area of the game is sorted' in one fell swoop. And then we would have at least one of those vital USPs.
Agreed with his shot stopping ability it's excellent. Where as yesterdays United match saw a supposed future England international not collecting anything of note cleanly. Yes he's susceptible to crosses but I believe I saw an improvement on this as his confidence grew. I have no doubt that he can get coached into coming and collecting more to take the pressure off. If he was a complete keeper at 26 frankly he wouldn't be playing at Watford. Imo he's come in and made that position his own, is there better? Of course but it's not an area I believe we need looking at unless Foster decides to go.
Ok I will give another scenario. Having had very little to do in some games he has on more than one occasion pulled of some unbelievable saves late on and infact made them look easy by holding onto the ball. This is a player switched on imo.
How many did we bring in last time we went up? Id be more than happy with that many changes again and a new manager. For what is worth I think the following are all just about good enough for the Premier league, some moreso than others: Sierralta Kabasele Kiko Masina Chalobah Hughes Sarr Pedro So my outlook is not that bleak so long as the additions are excellent. But adding sema, cleverley, Bachmann to that lot instantly screams relegation.
Fair play to Troost-Ekong for putting in the work at the training ground and letting us all see it on his Instagram. Unfortunately even from the small clips it's horrendously apparent how uncomfortable he is on the ball even in simple passing drills. Again, nothing against the bloke but I'd still be looking for another partner for Sierralta. I think we'll stick with what we've got though.
You forgot to add Gray to your list of 8 given his goals per minute record as a proven premier league striker.
The problem is we don’t have the funds to address all positions. Given the shortcomings up front I don’t think it is likely that we will upgrade keeper this window.
Foster for me doesn't have great concentration and has only gotten worse as time has gone on. He's always been a keeper who needs to be worked to stay on his game and as time went on last Season that was getting increasingly exposed where he would make rash or lax decisons. Gomes meanwhile had the pedigree of being at clubs who don't need their keepers to do too much but would remain switched on which is very valuable to have. Bachmann has the same trait as Gomes on that front; he regularly released the ball smartly and created something of benefit from them whilst also being able to get to shots of varying heights and placement without any major waekness in it.
Troost-Ekong will also have his own YouTube channel soon according to Ben. It'll be interesting to see how he defends with a GoPro in his hand...
Strangely, I thought he looked better with the ball at his feet on Saturday than he did at any time last season. I didn't see one dodgy pass.
He hit a couple of wayward crossfield balls. One in the first half straight to a Villa player and second half straight out of play. But overall much better, didn't look panicked at any time like last season. We know he's not perfect but we wondered how he would do in the PL and based on Saturday he won't look out of place.
He seems to play better on pitches with a more predictable bounce ie: Not a Wycmobe type pitch. If he can't reliably read the bounce or turf under the ball he seems to get caught out by it.
Likeable bloke, half decent out and out defender but, sorry, quite possible the most pathetic and biggest liability of a centre back I've ever seen when on the ball. Many of us called it - we wouldn't get away with his horrendous mistakes in this league - and it's taken two games for that to ring true. The bloke absolutely cannot be a first choice centre back at this level, and it's so, so much worse when we have Sierralta who is comfortably our best centre back sat there on the bench.
Is he the current 'Mr Watford'? His place in the team looks to be secure now, he's a good leader who had a big positive influence on us last season, and he has a connection with the club
Steve Sims wasn’t a great passer, but knew how to defend. If he can’t pass they really just need to accept that and get him to launch the ball into space upfront for Sarr etc to chase. Much prefer a proper defender at the back than a Wilmott who can pass but not prevent goals.
