Transfer rumours and speculation to take us through to summer.

Fortuneseeker

Jorderz_Moyes_will_be_Moyes said:

Which clubs do you think we’re falling further behind?

The usual suspects “Top 6” plus Everton, Leicester & Wolves. We haven’t addressed the additional CDM position yet which we didn’t do last summer, maybe Diego Llorente is a possibly solution. Happy to be proved wrong, let’s review again after the window closes.

Yeoldhammer

We have an attack that (if all fit) can compete against those above Fortune, but our defence i think is largely more inconsistent. If Pellegrini can push on this year a little bit more and then not lose half our attacking players next window he has the opportunity to really round out the squad.
As i see it now this season is a Pellegrini squad and this season he has to show his managerial skills to get past the deficiencies of the squad and really push us on through his management skills.

baracks_a_hammer

Will wait for the window to close, however as we stand now

We are weaker overall when it comes to keepers (on early impressions)

We are arguably no better in defence - ogbonna is regressing (possibly Cresswell too), cannot rely on Reid or Ryan to be fit. And Zab is getting slower and slower

And in DM we are weaker - if you view it as Pedro out, Sanchez in

And all of this is when last season showed our defensive unit to be our main weakness

And the big worry for me is that with a few days left we seemingly have very limited funds to be able to do anything about it.

grey_til_I_dye

Far too early to judge Roberto, or Martin for that matter, imo.

Cressers is clearly off his feed, but Johnson coming through improves us, imo. Zab obviously didn't get the memo he is getting slower, since he shows no sign of it.

We're down a cover MF with Obiang gone. I'd have said Nobes and Wilshere were ahead of him anyway.

We have significantly improved our front line.

Not so much to worry about, mo

baracks_a_hammer

Plenty of signs of Zab’s speed IMO - most notably in the final game of last season and the way deulofeu ate up the yards on him in one particular move in the second half. Reminded me of Ozil v Gareth Barry in the 2010 World Cup.

grey_til_I_dye

I think it's fairer to judge him over the whole season, rather than one game or a couple of incidents. He regularly got up in support of the attack, including late in the game, and got back to do his defensive work.

Most defenders are going to get done for pure speed from the faster players.

As cover for Fredericks/Johnson, I don't think we are worse off.

yoyo

The defence worries me and I feel we might be too easy to cut open on the counter attack. My hope is that Pelle can inspire and coach the best defensive turnaround since O.J Simpsons lawyer.

OldCastleSwift

Ex has said we have between £5m - £8m to spend, and that the priority has changed from another striker to another centre back (based on pre-season performances).

Maripan is apparently too expensive, and Aaron Long (MLS) is affordable but will struggle to get a work permit. Strill no mention of a defensive midfielder, so I think we're looking at a seaosn of Sanchez providing cover/support to Rice.

He also said any transfer business is likely to happen on deadline day ( :wahoo: ), presumbaly to try to force through a few cheaper last-minute deals.

If I were a betting man, I'd say Cahill and Welbeck are looking more likely than anything else.

baracks_a_hammer

OldCastleSwift said:

If I were a betting man, I'd say Cahill and Welbeck are looking more likely than anything else.

Well thanks for cheering me up on Friday, OCS

alderz

I agree with the notion that we need another CM, but disagree with the anxiety about the season. I think we look good, I think we showed last year we can grind out results if we need to, but also showed a lack of cutting edge quite often. I’d like a powerful box to box CM, but if we get nobody I don’t really mind, as I think we’ll be a lot of fun to watch this year.

WHU_Champo_league_in_7_years

- - - - - - - - Fab - - - - - - - -
Frederick's - - Diop - - Balbuena - - Masuaku
- - - - - - - - Rice - - - - - - - -
Anderson - - Wilshere - - Fornals - - Lanzini
- - - - - - - - Haller - - - - - - - -

That's looking like the way we will set up when everyone is fit going by the preseason game

I think signing Haller & Fornals is huge. They are the exact type of ambitious signings that help us get to the next level

However, for me, I will still like a better CM partner to help Declan out or cover for him if the worst happens

OldCastleSwift

baracks_a_hammer said:

OldCastleSwift said:

If I were a betting man, I'd say Cahill and Welbeck are looking more likely than anything else.

Well thanks for cheering me up on Friday, OCS

Welcome :ok:

And if you want a cherry on top, Ex did mention that Carroll is still without a club...

Pearces_Left_Foot

I think Fornals has a reputation for being hard working and doing his defensive duties abit like Anderson who works hard when we don't have the ball

grey_til_I_dye

Pearces

I really liked what I saw of Fornals in the U21 championships.

He was tireless going forward or back, and more importantly for me, in one game where the ball was scarcely going left, he continued to make runs, and track back.

Really think he will be a star for us.

With him and Haller, I think we have two players a lot of other fans are going to be asking 'why weren't we in for them?'

eskimoking

I’m happy with where we are for the season, by there is always room for improvement. I would personally be looking to do the following if I was in control:

Sell Ogbonna and Sanchez
I’ve been unimpressed with both but think they would both garner interest.

I would consider signing a right back but not sure who, depends how long they think Fredericks would be out for. Maybe a cheeky bid for Pizczek, little bit older but class.

Get a couple of frees in Balotelli/Sturridge and Cahill.

One more large bid, for Doucoure. Watford aren’t spending much, I reckon they would sell for £35m.

WHU_Champo_league_in_7_years

We aren't spending £35mil on another player this window

OldCastleSwift

Pearces_Left_Foot said:

I think Fornals has a reputation for being hard working and doing his defensive duties abit like Anderson who works hard when we don't have the ball

Anderson was certainly playing a lot deeper against Hertha, so maybe his responsibilities have been slightly tweaked for the new season.

grey_til_I_dye said:

Pearces

I really liked what I saw of Fornals in the U21 championships.

With him and Haller, I think we have two players a lot of other fans are going to be asking 'why weren't we in for them?'

Both are in my work's Fantasy League team, so hopefully they'll do the business

grey_til_I_dye

For me, 'the next level' is simply a by-product of us playing better football, and being more competitive in more games. As long as we do that, I don't really mind what our final league position is.

Lukerz

I think what people don't consider is maybe Pellegrini doesn't want us playing with another DM? Maybe he wants the onus on us.

It is clear his game-plan is to pack the midfield with ball players, & focus on scoring goals, creating chances & dominating the game. I suppose the view is, have the ball for 70% of the match, you are likely to control & not need to defend.

I wouldn't worry too much about our defending against Hertha. Pre-season always sees regular lapses & players are always 10% short of their normal work ethic. But I agree defending is the main area for concern. We also need to consider we had plenty of games last season where our goals scored in a game was 0, particularly away. So we also need more goals to improve too. We did have games, Cardiff & Burnley away the obvious ones, where we were toothless.

I would hope Pelle is going to work on the defensive unit of the side. We had a few games last season where we looked like the most watertight unit in the league (Spurs away, Man Utd home, Chelsea home, Arsenal home), but then games where we were doing more of the pushing where we looked ropey. I think most people are happy with Balbuena & Diop in the middle & Arthur at LB. They need to keep being coached for their responsibilities & the midfield need to know where they need to be when we lose the ball.

It's the transition where we are weak. Once we lose the ball, we are cut apart very quickly. When we are all in shape, we are still quite decent. Rice will get better at mopping everything up as he gains more experience. He can still be caught in the wrong position on regular occasions leaving too big a gap between him & the LB/RB.

I am positive about the season. Man City may well beat us 0-4 a week tomorrow, but after that I hope we can show we are one of the better sides outside the established 'elite'.

I don't agree with this view we have fallen behind the likes of Leicester & Wolves. Wolves have signed nobody to add to what they had last season, whilst taking on an earlier start & a lot more games. Everton have lost two vital defensive components. Leicester look decent to me, but are likely to lose their main defensive rock. We are just as likely to be top of that group than bottom.

ianbishoplegend

Reading between the lines, many fans just want Sullivan to spend - to make up for being cheap in the past. Personally, as long as we improve a bit each season, I don’t really care how much is invested, or not.

simonc

ASLEFshrugged said:

simonc said:

Cahill is being mentioned again https://www.footballinsider247.com/exclusive-west-ham-plot-late-raid-to-sign-61-cap-england-intl-after-pre-season-development/
If he comes i can see Diop going for the cash to fill in the DM and striker positions
Next week will be exciting, I love the Pellegrini (West Ham Way) attacking style but the back is way too porous

The article states because of Reid's injury record over the last few seasons Pellegrini...

wants an additional proven option to senior men Issa Diop, Angelo Ogbonna and Fabian Balbuena.

So Cahill as a fourth CB along with Diop NOT Cahill as a replacement for Diop.

Clicking on links and then reading all the words really helps...

Aslef
IMO Cahill, and all the other rumors make no sense if we are out of funds, but if Diop goes and we get a big cash infusion, Cahill then makes sense and the other rumors have some validity as we would have some spending power.

WHU_Champo_league_in_7_years

So United agree a deal for £80mil for Maguire

While I think Maguire is solid, that's ridiculous

WHU_Champo_league_in_7_years

ianbishoplegend said:

Reading between the lines, many fans just want Sullivan to spend - to make up for being cheap in the past. Personally, as long as we improve a bit each season, I don’t really care how much is invested, or not.

I think we are spending within our means, which we kinda have to without champions league football or oil barons for owners

Last year was a huge year for us as Pellegrini overhauled the squad, and we are suffering for the expenditure now

But we've still made some big transfers, and quality ones at that

Think only having a net spend of about £30mil and reducing the wage bill by a decent amount will allow us to have a greater push next year

ianbishoplegend

Our starting team in pre season (midfield and attack) was full of players that are self motivated to get moves to clubs in Europe. Hopefully we don’t have the same lack luster preparation against the lower teams as the last few seasons. I trust the players more in this, than the management. They have experienced internationals waiting behind them for places. Looking forward a lot to this season.

OldCastleSwift

Reece Oxford has joined Augsberg on a permanent deal. Undisclosed fee, obvs.

Surely, surely we must be bringing players in before Thursday.

WHU_Champo_league_in_7_years

ianbishoplegend said:

Our starting team in pre season (midfield and attack) was full of players that are self motivated to get moves to clubs in Europe. Hopefully we don’t have the same lack luster preparation against the lower teams as the last few seasons. I trust the players more in this, than the management. They have experienced internationals waiting behind them for places. Looking forward a lot to this season.

Also unlike Payet and Arnie, the majority of our attacking line are mid 20s so are less likely to look for that last big contract/chance and down tools

IronHerb

OldCastleSwift said:

Reece Oxford has joined Augsberg on a permanent deal. Undisclosed fee, obvs.

Surely, surely we must be bringing players in before Thursday.

But he never featured so can't be missed. :hmm:

jay_in_cpt

He can't be missed u right, but we do still need a player or 2....IMO

WHU_Champo_league_in_7_years

I do hope we are putting some clauses in these deals

Like Browne and Oxford needed a move, but they definately have the potential to be much much better....I'd be disappointed if the club didnt include some clauses if they do get sold for big fees later on

OldCastleSwift

IronHerb said:

OldCastleSwift said:

Reece Oxford has joined Augsberg on a permanent deal. Undisclosed fee, obvs.

Surely, surely we must be bringing players in before Thursday.

But he never featured so can't be missed. :hmm:

I get what you're saying, but, as with Obiang, he was an option. He could play CB and DM, so now we're another option light on both positions.