Summer 2017 Transfer Speculation (continued)
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Comments
I remember when Parker was injured he played this role. I remember in derbies when he's pumped up, he has played this role. And he can spray passes about from there. And he doesn't need to worry about bursting forward, which he seems not such a natural at.
In fact, I would say the same about Kouyate - surely he can control himself if asked and reminded to do so. He can tackle, he has shown he's no mug at CB, so should be able to play DM and protect the back four.
So I think we probably have three senior pros (these two plus Obiang) plus Rice who can play DM and protect the back four. But they just need to be properly coached/asked to play this role when required.
Kouyate can also play the freer CM role - he just needs to score more and pass better. I'm still in two minds about Fernandes' best position. He can cover Kouyate in the box-to-box role, but I agree he's a little lightweight there. But his crossing doesn't seem good enough to make him a RWB... I do like his energy and his forward bursts, though, and sometimes he delivers a nice cut-back or something. A good back-up central midfielder, but not as the chief defensive CM.
Conclusion? I'd prioritise a creative CM who can compete with Lanzini in a 4-2-3-1 but also compete with Kouyate (and Fernandes) as the more attacking CM in 4-4-1-1 or similar. So not a no. 10, more of a no. 8.
My main worry would be when we play 4-3-3 that we don't have the strong box-to-box players to play either side of Obiang in that middle three. In the last friendly in the first half we seemed to play Fernandes and Ayew there, and Fernandes looks like the role suits him but he's not yet 1st XI quality, while Ayew needs to play further forward. If we end up playing 4-3-3 quite a bit (which I guess might only be the case if Lanzini is missing or Bilic thinks we need a stronger middle line, but who knows), I'd think 4 CMs would not be too many to keep happy.
I understand the points he makes about Fonte and Snodgrass but January signings are more volatile in regards to hitting the ground running and with all due respect Arnie, Hernandez, Hart and Zabaleta are just plain and simple higher calibre players to Fonte and Snodgrass
In regards to DM I think when you look at Obiang and Kouyate you think either could be a real DM but 2/3 years after they arrived they are still primarily box-to-box midfielders
Thy are big, imposing and athletic players but I think they lack positional discipline, particularly Kouyate who bombs forward leaving huge gaps
Think Obiang can be that guy as he makes good interceptions and is actually a pretty smart tackler (with the attacker in front of him less so when chasing back) and is the superior passers so hopefully won't be caught out when instigating attacks
But Kouyate needs to be more disciplined and help out as there is too much work (and actual pitch areas) for only Obiang to manage
Noble for me can't do it, he lacks the necessary physical attributes and think he's just too rash a tackler
If Slaven can hone Obiang and Kouyate to being strictly defensive midfielders who 'occasionally' run forward it will solve our problem
This is all theoretical obviously and I feel given the lack of defensive nous the coaching staff seem to have then Kouyate and Obiang will perform the same way and will leave us exposed
If they don't adapt or we don't bring in a DM I honestly think the only way forward is 3 at the back which will limit us offensively but will at least help us stop conceeding so many which was last year's main problem
#justsayin
again on Sky.....Brentford to West Ham
Do you honestly believe Lanzini is even remotely close to Coutinho? Those stories are nonsense.
I don't disagree with any of that on the face of it. Isn't it weird that two teams predicted one place apart can have players of such varying quality? Shows that the personnel aren't the be all and end all.
Arguably you could improve a lot more but we'll have the same problem as last summer with too many additions the team can't gel
We are at 4 atm so 6/7 we should be aiming for given we lost a good few players
He's supposedly not going for that much compared to the rest of the market.
If we can get rid of Feghouli/ Snodgrass (or both), he'll have the creativity that would be very, very useful for us.