Reply With QuotePlaying every possible game last season didn't help, come the last games of the season it's the small margins make the difference. Throw in the African nations and the season was even longer for some.Originally Posted by shminkyred
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I see what you mean but that is very hard to do in reality as if you had 5-6 of same quality then 2-3 will miss out which will cause issues as you see at Chelsea not so much at City but Sterling kind of said this last week.
You shouldn’t have to have a really deep squad of top quality but this is what oil clubs have started so the likes of our fans, Arsenal, Utd etc expect it as well.
I must admit i’m not happy we haven’t signed a midfielder though just to freshen things up, there is so many leagues/players around there has to be somebody who can do a solid job for us.
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Playing every possible game last season didn't help, come the last games of the season it's the small margins make the difference. Throw in the African nations and the season was even longer for some.
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12 years ago today we signed Christian Poulsen. Those were the days.
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thats what i'm saying...... why do we keep going into the season knowing we are light in a certain area...... We played every possible game.....so everybody gets game time .....and maybe addressing those problems was the couple of points we needed....is it true that someone else wanted diaz in January which accelerated our acquisition? the season might have been very different without him....IMO
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Very fine margins - we have failed to sell Ox for example (which we would have hoped to do) when giving out game time to 8 midfield options - we definitely wouldn't have been able to give him more minutes last season say if he was NINTH choice had we gotten another midfielder - then you're also potentially giving less minutes to lads like Keita - who needs game time so we can decide to keep or sell - and definitely needs game time to attract a buyer if we want to sell.
Also a ninth midfielder creates the same problem for a "make-or-break" lad like Curtis Jones - we won't learn if he is up to the task if he doesn't get the minutes because we have that ninth mid.
Harvey Elliott gets less minutes to either develop into the star the club believe he can be or the homegrown player we can command a high fee for due to his age in due course.
The timing of the World Cup combined with the 5-subs rule will throw permutations up this season - for all we know (and we won't to be fair) we have business lined up for January and feel we have enough for the period of time until then.
Worth noting that we saw Origi, Minamino and Mane depart to facilitate the arrivals of Núñez, Carvalho and Diaz within a 5-6 month spell. That is about 50% of our numerical attacking options being turned over in a period of time consisting of just two transfer windows - that gives me quiet confidence that we can address the midfield situation fairly quickly over a couple of windows if the right targets (or the recruitment team's back-ups) are available. The nature of a 25-man squad does mean we will need an "out" or two to facilitate, plus we can supplement transfers with young lads that are already here - one of Morton or Bajcetic may "make it" as a squad option just yet.
Ox will almost certainly depart, Milner likely will too and Keita could go either way. If a lad like Sučić or Bellingham came in and we either buy another or give more minutes to, say, Morton - then the picture (in terms of average age and player availability) can look better quickly.
Some may say we should have "shown Ox the door" for example but the fact that we generally don't freeze players out is probably one of the factors that makes lads want to come to us in the first place, same with giving younger lads a chance. Add in what we're up against in Man City and it's definitely a fine balancing act to compete - which to be fair we are managing to do.
It's as easy to point to a dodgy refereeing decision in a match between Man City and Everton (or indeed Villa's inability to defend a 2-0 lead) or Courtois having a blinder in a Final as it to stress on the presence (or lack of) a particular midfielder - with no guarantee that they integrate into the side as well as we might hope.
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we need a midfield thats it.. we'll need at least 3 next season.. Milner ,Keita(who i doubt will re-sign) and Ox.
Cleaning up the Scots since the 13th century
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Do agree wholeheartedly, just think we'll get one in January or next Summer rather than now - though who knows.
Ox is bound to be going - I'd question the club's sanity if he didn't.
Keita I can foresee staying even if not everyone is on board with it - he was actually available for quite a lot of last season and is a good age.
Milner you'd think would depart, with Henderson gradually growing into his role.
Think we'll acquire Bellingham or Sučić for one spot, promoting Morton or Bajcetic for another. As for the third - could be another signing, could be another promotion from within or could be "created" by upping the minutes of a couple of lads already here if we feel we have worked out how best to utilise the 5-sub rule by then - one would hope that bringing lads off earlier means less injuries but time will tell.
Koala tea
It's disappointing, a good year to add players and push the odds in our favour.
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I don't disagree with any of that ....but it's fine margins I am talking about. Who would you say has better options to bring off the bench or as an injury replacement? ..If it's City and they keep beating us by a point that's a disadvantage that needs to be addressed.......not next season....but now....
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We could've had 10 more players but other players could then lose form from not playing. Our points tally is unreal especially for not winning the bloody league. No point crying over it, we dust ourselves down and go again.
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