Transfer rumours and speculation to take us through to summer.
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Comments
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.
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.
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
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.
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.
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
And if you want a cherry on top, Ex did mention that Carroll is still without a club...
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?'
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.
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.
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.
While I think Maguire is solid, that's ridiculous
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
Surely, surely we must be bringing players in before Thursday.
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