Time will tell, personally don't really rate Chambers or Holding, Maguire though looks like a old fashioned CB and has been top notch for a while, he's been getting rave reviews at Leicester.Quote:
Originally Posted by The Emirates Gallactico
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Time will tell, personally don't really rate Chambers or Holding, Maguire though looks like a old fashioned CB and has been top notch for a while, he's been getting rave reviews at Leicester.Quote:
Originally Posted by The Emirates Gallactico
I don't rate Chambers or Holding, they seem a bit lightweight.Quote:
Originally Posted by Özim
He's had his share of stinkers for Leicester this season as well in amongst the decent performances. And Keown was right about his lack of mobility though it's not going to be that much of an issue if you're playing three at the back compared to the typical Wenger setup where the CB's are left exposed.Quote:
Originally Posted by Özim
I agree, Chambers is a right back anyway, that's where he played his 22 games at Southampton, what made us think we could turn him into a CB? Holding was plucked out of a lower division from a side that got relegated, there's no real evidence he's any good. It reminds me of the Jenkinson signing, people were raving about him for a while until they realised he was not much good.Quote:
Originally Posted by Goonermerree
I think Maguire is pretty mobile to be honest so I disagree, Keown has been raving about him as well incidentally.Quote:
Originally Posted by The Emirates Gallactico
I'd prefer us to be play a 4 at the back and move away from 3 CB's, if we have good enough players a back 4 works perfectly.
I think we ruined chambers by playing him out of position when we had a lot of injuries and not enough cover. He scored a lot of OGs at that time, his confidence was shot.Quote:
Originally Posted by Özim
Hard to change the majority of the young players that had to play under Wenger. Ruined psychologically, physically (most are injury probe) and none have matured tactically. Every last one of them were tactically naive.
I agree, they've had to conform to certain methods, train a certain way, be played out of position, often players whose confidence is ruined never comeback to what they were before. I personally think we needed to start again in a number of departments, I'm not convinced many of these players can recover/adapt to the new methods, this wasn't some normal club where managers came and went, one guy was here for 22 years deciding everything.Quote:
Originally Posted by Power n Glory
Not a surprise the guy still doesn't have a job despite these reports that everyone was after him.
Juve are very close to signing Ronaldo. :popcorn:
33 year old 44 goal has been tbf.Quote:
Originally Posted by Marc Overmars
:unsure:Quote:
Originally Posted by Özim
I don't agree with Zim on everything but in total agreement on Maguire and Oblak. Pundits were raving about the former years ago and yet nobody had the balls to take the punt....till Leicester.
I would really question Keown's scouting skills on the strentgth of his report on Maguire because he looks plenty mobile to me.....and has easily been as good as any CB in the league at passing the ball out of the back line for at least 2 seasons now minimum.
If we don't get top 4.... then this stop gap strategy we have mostly employed would have been a failure.....and banking half your budget on a goalkeeper with conflicting reports when you only have 50 mill is a big gamble. Really hope he is th business else we will look silly and be no better off next summer.
Wilshere gone to West Ham
https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/44766806
Good luck to them keeping him fit
Even in that photo with his shirt off he looks like he's plugged into some kind of life support :lol:
Really hard to call what the target is for the coming season? My suspicion is that Emery's brief for his first year is to conduct a thorough audit of the existing playing staff and see what he can bring up to the required standard, before the board authorise any kind of serious spend-up (probably next summer, with maybe an early move in January). The players that we've recruited so far do all fill glaring gaps in the squad, to be fair, but while a couple of them have clearly been brought in to be long-term starters, others have the definite whiff of being there primarily to aid Emery in the task of whipping Wenger's players into shape. I expect there will also be a lot of public talk of top 4 finishes and CL football being the minimum target, blah, blah, blah, but I also think that, privately, the people running the club will be playing a longer game here, and that they'll be looking more for progress across the next 2-3 years.Quote:
Originally Posted by Blink 1nce Quince 2wice
I really do think the '50m budget' is all bollocks though. Or, to put it another way, I don't think it's quite what is being implied? Either way, I reckon there's a lot of money sat there if/when we need it.
Someone on here described him as a 33 year old has been, yet he scored 44 goals last season.Quote:
Originally Posted by Marc Overmars
First year: top 4Quote:
Originally Posted by I am invisible
Second year: top 2
Third year: it's ours :bow:
Think your right on the budget we have we're hardly going to let clubs know that we have loads of money available it would push transfers fee's up as soon as we showed interest.
Personally speaking, I think it has more to do with us expecting the new head coach to, you know... actually do some coaching before we give him the best part of a quarter of a billion pounds to go and spend on players (players we may not even need, if we put in a bit of work on the training ground). We may very well be able to afford it, but it's still not the kind of money you chuck around lightly...Quote:
Originally Posted by dazthegooner
The accepted wisdom was that Wenger wasn't a good coach, didn't get the best out of his players and didn't set us up tactically differently depending on the opposition.
That suggests that this squad is capable of better given the above things being addressed.
Ergo, I'd be reticent to write off our squad and claim it needs completely rebuilding right now.
I think the squad as is is capable of pushing for the top 4, with some additions it could be challenging.
We need to manage expectations though, not being revisionist but when Wenger came in the only really good manager he had to go toe to toe with was Ferguson.
Now there are a bunch of good managers at clubs with considerable resources, a good manager isn't a guarantee of success any more.
I think the budget we have is actually in part reflected in the targets. I don't think heads will roll if it is slightly surpassed....football clubs can't be that anally rigid but I do believe there is truth to it....otherwise there's absolutely no reason not to make a stellar signing like Oblak when he would improve the first team no end. I will lend you an ear if you want to tell me Leno can improve.... but I couldn't seriously currently imagine him being a top 3 world keeper which Oblak is. Similarly we need a top Centre half and yet sign Sokratis who would need replacing in a few years himself anyway and is unlikely to get significantly better. If the budget isn't limited, the strategy would seem at odds with that.
The target will be top 4 but if we miss out on it in relatively credible fashion Emery will be persisted with....if only to save face. They also have limited the sort of hard line they can take when signings are a decision that he is only part of and not solely responsible for and the fact the budget to my mind is clearly limited.
Nobody seems to be mentioning the elephant in the room that is AMN. He seems to have been disregarded by the current regime. Torreira isn't much older than him and Gunzuelo (whatever his name is) is a similar age and there is still talk of Nzonzi. He won't fill in at full back now we have brought the Swiss captain here unless that was a pointless signing. Very concerned we won't see him progress.
Seri moving to... Fulham :blink:
AMN will be the understudy to Torreira.Quote:
Originally Posted by Blink 1nce Quince 2wice
AMN just signed a new deal so I’m sure he will get a fair chance this season. Emery will want to have a close look at everyone before deciding what his preferred options are. Don’t be surprised if we see a lot of tinkering going on with the first 11 this season.
Wenger passed up on signing great players so he wouldn't 'kill' players like Wilshere, Ramsey, Theo and Ox. Look where that got us.Quote:
Originally Posted by Blink 1nce Quince 2wice
If AMN is talented enough he will surpass Torreira and/or the French kid and make the most of his opportunities when he gets them. If he can't do that then why do we even want him in the team?
I think we have the budget to spend £70m on a goalkeeper. We’ve had a couple of seasons where we’ve spent £90m-£100m and the money didn’t come from player sales. But how many times can we afford to do it each season before the wage bill starts to swell to a ridiculous amount?Quote:
Originally Posted by Blink 1nce Quince 2wice
Our aim is to be like an Atletico or Dortmund in terms of transfer policy and strategy. If a rival club signs a player for peanuts but is able to sell them on for money that can amount to teams transfer budget for the whole year, we just have to chalk it up to a loss and move on. So early in Emery’s career, it makes no sense to allow him to spend that much on a player.
Klopp wasn’t given that sort of money until he had proven what he can do. I’d totally agree with spending a massive amount on a player if it’s clear we 100% need that player because we’re missing out on major trophies because of one or two key areas, but that’s not our position.
Some forum members are deeply wedded to some players so much that you tend to think maybe they are relatives of said player. If you are good enough you will rise to the top. Reminds me of the old Cripps who thought the sun itself shone out of Walcott's arse.
What is key for players like AMN is for him and the manager to identify his best position and play him there. Given a fair opportunity he will show his worth. AMN is no elephant in any room.
Let's face it, City / Pep look like they're going to be pretty dominant in this league for a few years to come, so we probably have a bit of time to figure this out before expectations get serious - might as well use it.Quote:
Originally Posted by Letters
Ronaldo joins Juve officially for E100m:o
Worlds gone mad.
Serie A is finished. Juve will probs be champions by Xmas or at worst Feb.
Desperate to finally move out of Messi's shadow.
Matteo Guendouzi official.
https://twitter.com/Touchofozil/stat...15938325041152
Sven & Huss :bow:
Juve are doing it to win the CL, to be the best you have to buy the best and the guy is clearly that, goals galore at every level and in every league he plays in. Expect he'll score a shedload more for Real and further prove rather than staying in the comfort zone.
Credit to him, could have stayed at Real where he's already a legend, but instead he chooses to move on and try to prove himself elsewhere, that's what stands him apart from the others.
I’m not sure how much credit he deserves for getting a massive signing on fee and, possibly, a pay rise.
100m+ for a 33 year old :wacko:
He doesn't need the money and was on a shedload at Real, he could have stayed in the comfort zone as Messi has, it would have been the easy route. At Juve he has to prove himself again by scoring goals, it's clearly the harder path.Quote:
Originally Posted by Letters
There's a lot of pressure on him at Juve now, they want to win the CL and expect him to help them deliver them. Say what you like but this guy doesn't rest on his laurels, he's constantly tryng to push himself.
it is naive in the extreme to think simply because you are good enough you will surpass all those around you. If that were the case players will never leave clubs they love.
Yes AMN has to compete but we have gone from no CDM's to having 3 within a 3/4 year age range. Then they have to mix in with Xhaka, possibly Ramsey and others. He's almost better off on loan at this rate. But hey....if Emery doesn't think too much of him despite his contract maybe there's hope he doesn't actually think much of Xhaka!
I think we have the money for a 100 million budget. I simply think we have self set it at 50-70 million. If we signed Oblak and he is a top keeper for 10 years then it's money well spent. It's also not a gamble quality wise as his quality is as obvious as any and we've faffed around with keepers far too many years.Quote:
Originally Posted by Power n Glory
How come they haven’t officially announced him as well?Quote:
Originally Posted by The Emirates Gallactico
That's been my argument for Ronaldo. He's proven himself at Utd, Madrid and helped win a Euro with Portugal.Quote:
Originally Posted by Özim
I would have liked to have seen Messi move outside of his comfort zone and do something similar. We' ve seen it happen before with players like Shevchenko and Kaka. Great success at one club but fail to replicate that form with another club.
I don’t think Messi will ever leave Barca really and if he does it will only be to earn a mega pay packet in somewhere like America when he’s washed up
Messi doesn't have anything to prove either tbf.
£70m on a keeper is too much and especially for a club in our position. That's a world record fee on a keeper and more than double on the current record.Quote:
Originally Posted by Blink 1nce Quince 2wice
Not trying to devalue the role of a keeper but for me, this isn't the area where I'd want us to spend the bulk of our transfer money. Not for a new manager joining a club and trying to forge a new identity on our style of play. Nobody starts off by building around the keeper.