January Transfers

[justme]

We are signing Mr Nobody!

[justme]

Well, we'll announce that Salah and Virgil have signed extended contracts on deadline day.. and maybe we'll let Doak go for 20 million.. Dunno how true the rumours are with Darwin and that its 70 million.But be NOT ENOUGH. we'd rather keep him and hope for more. end up with less in the meantime the money we could have got for Nunez..will not be spent because we haven't got it. even though we were offered 70 million..
sound familiar?

[LFC-DPG]

Yep, if either of Mo or VVD has agreed a new contract you can guarantee that it will be announced on deadline day.

Doak, I can see leaving if £20m is offered, as for Darwin they would be mad not to accept £70m.

[jr81]

We've only conceded 20 in the League - same as Forest and only two more than Arsenal.

I'm definitely curious as to how we might fare if Tsimikas and Bradley were used as the full-backs more often. At the moment Robbo looks "off it" and even an upgrade there in individual matches could make a difference.

If we don't acquire a left-back this January then I'd probably happily see how we do with Tsimikas there - and indeed from a rotation/options perspective would happily trial Bradley, Quansah or Endo there for at least two games to see if we can tighten up a bit.

More than transfer activity, I want to see a touch more rotation. Lads like Endo, Quansah, Morton, Elliott, Chiesa and Bradley have all played a pretty small number of minutes and the utilisation of them all, even if it's for 15-minute sub appearances more than starts, could absolutely ease a bit of pressure on certain players when it comes to the run-in.

Don't want to arrive in March or April within touching distance of the League leaders (or still maintaining our lead) and having a drop-off because lads like Gravenberch, Mac Allister or whoever else are cooked.

Yes 20 goals in our first league games.
In our first 10 games we conceded 6 goals with 5 clean sheets. We conceded more than 1 goal in only 1 game.
In our last 10 games we have conceded 14 with 3 clean sheets. We conceded more than 1 goal in 5 games.
That change in the 2nd set of games is very concerning. If that trend continues then forget about the league title.

I have believed we needed to improve our defence for 2 years and still believe it should be priority. It was mainly at cb as I felt Gomez and Konate couldn't be relied upon due to injuries. Last year we got lucky with the emergence of Quansah but unfortunately he has regressed this season. I hadnt even thought that Robertson could drop off so much as he has. I don't rate Tsimikas personally. So for me, defence would be my priority. If we sign no one in January (most likely) I feel we need a summer of defensive recruitments that happened with the midfield 2 summers ago. Depending on the Trent situation we are potentially looking at 3 defensive recruitments in the summer.

I agree about the rotation of the players. But maybe the manager feels the drop of in quality is too much. Elliott, Bradley and Tsimikas should see more time in league games. Them and the others should be used more in the cups especially. Hopefully Chiesa can get his fitness right and be useful for the 2nd half of the season.

[Steveo]

Bradley can always come in for Trent and Elliott can probably get some game time too - though Slot doesn't fancy him... Chiesa would assumably replace Salah.. Ok..


But begs the question - who thinks we can win the title with players like Endo, Quansah & Morton stepping in to rotate on a regular basis..?

[Insidious]

But begs the question - who thinks we can win the title with players like Endo, Quansah & Morton stepping in to rotate on a regular basis..?

Absolutely 100% me - but it's about how you use them.

I don't think anyone is suggesting Morton regularly starts in our midfield, or that Quansah is first-choice centre-back for a 10-game stretch, or that Endo sit at the base of our midfield for the remainder of the season, etc

But Elliott getting halves of football here and there to keep Szoboszlai fresher? Chiesa taking over for the last 15 minutes of matches where Salah isn't on it? Endo being a "utility" player akin to Milner, who can facilitate a midfielder or centre-back getting a breather for the last 10 minutes of a match?

Absolutely! You're slightly reducing injury risk to the set of 15-16 players that are our core "first-choicers" by not always making them play 90 minutes and by utilising some of the fringe in Cup games or in matches where we look in control you keep the fringe lads less rusty, further increasing their usefulness - as opposed to bringing them in "cold" and us all saying "so and so isn't good enough".

Naturally we want to add to the group as well, but I can't recall a time where we have had more cover in the number of positions that we do, even if we're aware that certain areas could use a refresh (like at left-back) or future-proofing (like at centre-back) or an increase in quality.

You seem doubtful of our quality - that's not a dig, you're a self-confessed pessimist.

So I would reverse your question of "who thinks we can win the title with players like Endo, Quansah & Morton stepping in to rotate on a regular basis?" and ask if you think our chances of winning the title are slim(?), given that your question implies we don't have enough quality in depth.

[Steveo]

I am extremely doubtful of our quality behind Slot's first choice players. He is clearly too. But what does he know right?

I would put our chances at somewhere between slim and none existent IF those players are to be relied upon for regular first team action - which is what rotation actually entails.

Rotation is not - a 15 minute cameo here and there mate. Milner wasn't a bit part player mate - he featured in 22 games the season we took number 19 - Oxlade bloomin Chamberlain racked up 30 games... thats rotation.

Honestly - and this isn't a "dig" either until you actually get to a game and can see the players off the ball - there will always be an element of kidding yourself on these matters.

[teesred]

We could do with Jones picking up a bit of form. Looked great a few weeks back but has been left out and hasn't done much when he has been used. Not getting a midfielder in the summer was always a concern.

We also have to get out of these sluggish first halves. Second half absolutely no argument with that level of performance, it was excellent but the first half we've conceded from the only chance they had in the game.
The injury to Konate and then Gomez has definitely had an effect on the backline. Add that to Robbos aging legs and it's even more instability.
The league is there to be won this season, we need some reinforcement.

[Steveo]

We are signing Mr Nobody!

Is the correct answer, BUT on the flip side no other owner is making close to the personal wealth gains that Big John Henry is.

We can unfurl a mahusive flag on the Kop with 10 games to go - with the words.. 'Even IF we don't actually win the title this season - our owner is considerably richer than you...

[Steveo]

We could do with Jones picking up a bit of form. Looked great a few weeks back but has been left out and hasn't done much when he has been used. Not getting a midfielder in the summer was always a concern.

We also have to get out of these sluggish first halves. Second half absolutely no argument with that level of performance, it was excellent but the first half we've conceded from the only chance they had in the game.
The injury to Konate and then Gomez has definitely had an effect on the backline. Add that to Robbos aging legs and it's even more instability.
The league is there to be won this season, we need some reinforcement.

We were excellent second half yesterday - sadly Forrest are no mugs and dug in well. The worry is the lack of goals from open play of late. when seen in mid March it can be put down to fatigue but in early Jan? We can win this league and frankly from the position we were in - we should.. but reinforcements are unlikely to materialise, the owners have bigger fish to fry. It's obvious they are chasing empire building above all else.