The search for a new DM
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It was needed though Rubans, we couldn't carry on with the ageing squad we had....there maybe 5 new players brought in but realistically we may only see 2 or 3 max new starters....at least from the off.
People can't complain when we go years without doing much and then complain when we get our act together and start doing more.
Look at the season Klopp took over. We signed 4 new starters in Mane, Gini, Karius and Matip whilst also bombing out Benteke Ibe Allen Skrtel & Balotelli.
We haven’t yet sold anyone who was true starting quality (any more) for a side wanting to challenge for the title. We have brought in two players who are. The net benefit there is huge.
Course we can moan because transformation was required but not in one season. Should have been over min 3 windows.
Only reason we are doing it is possibly because we have been forced into it with Saudi money and season is less than one month way. Do you really think this us getting act together or just more random Melo like planning? I’m more concerned that too make up squad numbers, we will be forced into more loans end of this window.
I think there it’s important to understand well planned staged transformation and random chaotic wholesale changes. I don’t think moving Diaz and Natt will be anything to do with age. I think you should set your expectation next season for us to be focussed on transitional season with top 8 finish, can’t wait to see more Salah should have been sold threads in a month’s time…
As usual, I'd love to have some kind of insight into what conversations are taking place behind closed doors.
The various press reports give the impression that we've gone from believing that Bellingham is literally the only player in world football that would be an acceptable recruit to scrounging around Europe for any player that fits the criteria and can be gotten for a reasonable fee.
Perhaps it's all bullshit and we have and always have had one or two names that we want and we will end up getting one of them but from the outside looking in, it doesn't seem like that.
I'd like to place more faith in the club but the way we've conducted ourselves in the last couple years has really done a lot to turn believers back to doubters.
The various press reports give the impression that we've gone from believing that Bellingham is literally the only player in world football that would be an acceptable recruit to scrounging around Europe for any player that fits the criteria and can be gotten for a reasonable fee.
Perhaps it's all bullshit and we have and always have had one or two names that we want and we will end up getting one of them but from the outside looking in, it doesn't seem like that.
I'd like to place more faith in the club but the way we've conducted ourselves in the last couple years has really done a lot to turn believers back to doubters.
We have brought in one player who definitely is and another who might be.
We haven't replaced the most glaring deficiency in midfield, which we are about to change from a deficiency to an absence, and the list of candidates so far function as replacements for fabinho last year but aren't anywhere near what his level was, or what the required level was, when we were dominant.
We also don't really have the players to play a very competitive game in my opinion. We can play the system we did tail end of last season against dross and we will get points, although not as many I don't think. When we have to play a decent side though, I don't think that is happening. We don't have a midfield for an alternate system.
So we will get someone in. For two systems. And they won't have a pre season. And our cb?
We haven't replaced the most glaring deficiency in midfield, which we are about to change from a deficiency to an absence, and the list of candidates so far function as replacements for fabinho last year but aren't anywhere near what his level was, or what the required level was, when we were dominant.
We also don't really have the players to play a very competitive game in my opinion. We can play the system we did tail end of last season against dross and we will get points, although not as many I don't think. When we have to play a decent side though, I don't think that is happening. We don't have a midfield for an alternate system.
So we will get someone in. For two systems. And they won't have a pre season. And our cb?
Yet in a week’s time, we may have with Fabinho and Hendo, surely they are starters? This is tje problem, we don’t know how long these sales could take and may drag on with impacting our pre-season…
Plus we don’t know whom else is in the pipeline while the bench outside of strikers is weak now.
My worry is whatever we do, we won’t sign the required replacements in time for the Chelsea game.
We don’t have to sell every saleable asset we have this summer, the Saudi League is not going anywhere and we can wait to sell more over winter but it seems like most of the squad is up for sale.
It was needed in 1 season because the last 2 weren't sufficient enough, so we're having to make up for that this summer unless you're suggesting we spend the next 2-3 seasons (the final Klopp years) rebuilding, no. That would be a waste.
None of the players who have left so far comes as a surprise (The likes of Nat/Kelleher/Fab would be no different), in fact we all knew it 8-9 months ago.....what gives you the impression AlexiMac and Szobo are "random Melo like planning"?
Look at the season Klopp took over. We signed 4 new starters in Mane, Gini, Karius and Matip whilst also bombing out Benteke Ibe Allen Skrtel & Balotelli = Wholesale changes does it not? How did it do for us back then?
Let's wait to see where we are squad wise going into the Chelsea game, still plenty of time between then and now.
Tell me something, have we replaced the players going out? And do you have any faith that we will ?
You can’t compare Klopp’s first window to now. Expectations and setup is different. We ibuilt thus far to be 3rd biggest club in world.
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I'm prepared to wait and see where we're at before kicking off.....I'm not sure how else you wanted us to go about our window so far.
For me AlexiMac and Szobo replace Ox, Naby and Milner.....none of these were really #6s...if/when Fab leaves I'm certain we'll get a replacement yes....I think we also have plans to use Gomez as a back up RB while we bring in a new CB too.
For Bobby, we bought in his replacement in Jan did we not?
On one hand you're saying we're doing too much (or looking to) in one window and the next you're asking if we've replaced the players that've left......hello!?!?!?!
What are you on about?
Nothing wrong with highlighting concerns around where we are and downsides to our assumed approach, no one is kicking off. Calm yourself Biomnial..
Alexi Mac Szobo replacing Ox, Naby, Milner? Hello??? We were already short in midfield season before. You have selectively picked points but seem to have missed the main points of our approach.
You are on about RB like you know for sure we will sign someone. So you know this do you?
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So who do you think AlexMac and Szobo are here to replace then?
We were short because of injuries......we had 9 midfielders on our books, there's only so many you can register.
You can go into a season with 6-8 midfielders so long as they're reliable options. This is what we'll end up with......I'm failing to see the big
fuss here. Selectively picked points? I've measured our incomings so far to our outgoings....what's selective about that?
If you can't see what or why the club have done the business they have so far, I'm unable to explain it in any other way so you'll just have to be shown once the season kicks off.
Oh stop with this crap about 9 midfielders.
We never had 9 fit midfielders at any point last season. We were always short.
Can you list the 9 you keeping going on about?
Remind me what was our starting midfield against RM away last season? Our biggest game of the season. 9 mids? Absolute nonsense.
I know we never had 9 fit midfielders which is why I said we were short due to them always being injured
......we couldn't bring in 3 new midfielders last summer because Ox Naby and Thiago are crocks....which is why we had to wait until they fucked off so we could......If you look at the squad we submitted start of last season you will see for yourself....I'm not making this up because I want to.
https://www.thisisanfield.com/2022/...emier-league-squad-7-homegrown-players-named/
I know we never had 9 fit midfielders which is why I said we were short due to them always being injured
If you look at the squad we submitted start of last season you will see for yourself....I'm not making this up because I want to.
https://www.thisisanfield.com/2022/...emier-league-squad-7-homegrown-players-named/
Come on, that’s 7 registered and 5 of them have known injury issues in their history which was always a concern at the start of each season. Just look at their number of games they were available last season.
My point is we were always short and was proven the case last season related to quality and fitness.
Anyway? Let’s wait till start of aug and see where we are with the players in because currently we are well short of what’s required for top 4.
Which I get...I've brought up the injury issue a few times now, you don't need to keep mentioning it 😀, my question again to you is what could the club have done despite having those 7 registered + Harvey and Jones, imbalance the squad further?
We can't have a 30 man squad to account for those 5 players we know are stuck on our books and we know are gonna play very little due to injury.
My advice to you would just be to relax and wait, we're already in a healthier position we were at this time last year and I'm certain we'll add 2 more faces.
Signing Slobberchops & Mac A was a great start.
Sniffing around a DM and LCB, taking our time, was fine because we could have been choosie and slowly integrated them.
Selling Fabs, Hendo & possibly Thiago in the same window is a problem because we do need at least another 2, of which one needs to be a first team starter AND hit the ground running with another 2 newbies.
We could start the season with Curtis Jones & Harvey Elliot as our most experienced midfielders - Mac A has played more EPL games, but never played in Europe, etc
Thing is - we could have just said “fuck off” - only Thiago is out of contract atvtge end of the season - Saudi league is still gonna but in a season’s time - what would we lose on Hendo - £5-10m - fuck all. Would Fabs value drop that significantly? I don’t buy this “one time deal” crap.
We’ve left ourselves exposed - we could do a Chelsea.
If Fabs, Hendo etc are on declines - Robbo & Virgil must be too after last season. Half the site thinks we should loan Harvey out and Curtis is as injury prone as Thiago & Naby. Half the site wants Mo sold, if Jota sneezes he’ll be out for 6 weeks, Trent can’t defend, Nunez is either our saviour or a very naughty boy and Gakpo was described as pointless at one point. (Pun intended, I think).
The crazies have got their dream… it’s all on… whatever we were, is being ripped apart and rebuilt.
What it points to is a struggle to get into the top 4 and a season of transition at a point we don’t need to be in transition.
That’s not what my hopes were even 2 weeks ago - but there ya go.
Sniffing around a DM and LCB, taking our time, was fine because we could have been choosie and slowly integrated them.
Selling Fabs, Hendo & possibly Thiago in the same window is a problem because we do need at least another 2, of which one needs to be a first team starter AND hit the ground running with another 2 newbies.
We could start the season with Curtis Jones & Harvey Elliot as our most experienced midfielders - Mac A has played more EPL games, but never played in Europe, etc
Thing is - we could have just said “fuck off” - only Thiago is out of contract atvtge end of the season - Saudi league is still gonna but in a season’s time - what would we lose on Hendo - £5-10m - fuck all. Would Fabs value drop that significantly? I don’t buy this “one time deal” crap.
We’ve left ourselves exposed - we could do a Chelsea.
If Fabs, Hendo etc are on declines - Robbo & Virgil must be too after last season. Half the site thinks we should loan Harvey out and Curtis is as injury prone as Thiago & Naby. Half the site wants Mo sold, if Jota sneezes he’ll be out for 6 weeks, Trent can’t defend, Nunez is either our saviour or a very naughty boy and Gakpo was described as pointless at one point. (Pun intended, I think).
The crazies have got their dream… it’s all on… whatever we were, is being ripped apart and rebuilt.
What it points to is a struggle to get into the top 4 and a season of transition at a point we don’t need to be in transition.
That’s not what my hopes were even 2 weeks ago - but there ya go.
We could and should have signed a midfielder every season in the previous 3, nothing dramatic and nothing we haven’t said before.
Like I said, let’s see where we are in 3 weeks and see if we are scrambling around for the next Melo end of aug.
Actually I find it all rather fascinating. I simply don't have the same levels of trepidation many seem to be feeling.
Use last season as the base and ask yourselves that even if we have to integrate 3-4 new starting players - would that be worse than last season when half the team were mentally absent, 4-5 of our of midfielders were constantly injured, Hendo & Fabs had their worse seasons in maybe a decade and we had to rely on youngsters to put out any sort of midfield at all, in addition to TAA's positioning and defensive contributions being a weekly matter of national debate?
I can't imagine that AliMac and Szobo (plus whoever else we bring in, Lavia for example) won't be a massive improvement and help the forward line perform better.
I would have preferred Fabs to stay but it looks like Thiago will and I'm OK with that too.
The last dozen games also seemed to demonstrate a very positive shift in both tactics and TAA's attitude. So all in all I'm looking forward to the new season, not expecting a PL challenge but an EL win and a Top 4 (unnecessary if we win the EL but still confidence instilling) would do very very nicely as we progress on this changing of the guard.
Use last season as the base and ask yourselves that even if we have to integrate 3-4 new starting players - would that be worse than last season when half the team were mentally absent, 4-5 of our of midfielders were constantly injured, Hendo & Fabs had their worse seasons in maybe a decade and we had to rely on youngsters to put out any sort of midfield at all, in addition to TAA's positioning and defensive contributions being a weekly matter of national debate?
I can't imagine that AliMac and Szobo (plus whoever else we bring in, Lavia for example) won't be a massive improvement and help the forward line perform better.
I would have preferred Fabs to stay but it looks like Thiago will and I'm OK with that too.
The last dozen games also seemed to demonstrate a very positive shift in both tactics and TAA's attitude. So all in all I'm looking forward to the new season, not expecting a PL challenge but an EL win and a Top 4 (unnecessary if we win the EL but still confidence instilling) would do very very nicely as we progress on this changing of the guard.
I think people are reading to much into what is reported in the press and then using that as some sort of evidence of how the club is run and how we conduct our day to day business. If we had been given some insight behind the scenes I'd bet you'd see several informal advances being made to players that you never hear about given that it doesn't materialize into anything.
For example its not like the list Jumbo Pearce is reporting is the only targets that we have in regards to replacing Fabinho.
I wish the club would have planned better for the future though. A club of our stature, infrastructure, money and talented staff shouldn't find ourselves in a rebuild summer. Hopefully we have learned something from the past few years.
I see, I see what you did there.
Wouldn't rule out other names we either have or still are looking at including;
Gravenburch
Amrabat
Alvaraz
& most recently Sangare.
Hahahahahahahahahaha as if.
What do you think they’re smoking down there in south London?
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