Originally Posted by
Insidious
It's genuinely rarely as bad as it seems. Lads being low on confidence or in bad form makes it all seem worse. Throw an injury crisis in, it compounds things. No need for 7/8/9 transfers or anything though.
Look at the midfield. Milner and Keita are 4th/5th choice, Ox honestly about 8th pick. Let them leave at the end of contracts. When Ox leaves, give his spot to Morton.
Henderson still can contribute, but give him that Milner-esque role. Get one lad in who can go into the starting XI (let's say, Bellingham) and one who is able to rotate for a starting position, ie 4th/5th pick (let's say, Laimer) for the starting front three. Ensure the lads coming in are 26-or-younger.
With those 2 incoming transfers alone (those names given are only examples, doesn't have to be them*) you drastically improve the picture. Hypothetically -
Thiago
Fabinho
Bellingham (much younger than Henderson)
Laimer
Henderson (good bit younger than Milner)
Elliott
Jones
Morton (much younger than Ox)
Much of our quality in the centre isn't always available - not will it ever be - but we can definitely improve on the tally of accumulated minutes missed and improve on the average age of the midfield.
Fresh energy and enthusiasm will have an impact on other players that is infectious, so effort levels likely go up as well.
With the more attacking lads I think most would be reasonably happy with Núñez or Jota being flanked by Diaz and Salah. We'll say it's Núñez starting with Jota as cover. Then it's Firmino and Carvalho. If average squad age is a concern (and let's face it, Firmino rarely scores now) then Carvalho can get more minutes via Firmino's departure and Gordon could get promoted to that 6th spot, leaving us (hypothetically) with -
Núñez
Diaz
Salah
Jota
Carvalho
Gordon
- meaning only Salah was in the over-30 bracket. We could of course use the transfer market at some stage too if we feel there aren't enough goals there, but in this example I prioritised the midfield.
The above example featured -
- letting 4 lads go at end of contract (Ox, Milner, Keita, Firmino)
- buying 2 midfielders
- promoting Gordon and Morton
You'd be left with a younger squad that could collectively miss less games through injury and it would be a good platform upon which to build further in future windows.
Just an example - don't think we need to rip everything we have built up. Perhaps a season (maybe even two) of no title and/or no Champion's League win as we transition a bit, but certainly not (in my opinion) one that bombs out of the Champion's League spots.
I think we'd all be ok with this. Just think most are surprised it hasn't happened this season.
I will still be amazed if another midfielder isn't brought in before the end of the window.
Something, Something, Something, Dark Side
Bookmarks