Sly

I had concerns about Maresca tactics in this league with the crop of players we had. I have more concerns with Coopers tactics and using the likes of Ward and Soumare.

Having watched the highlights, do we actually have any tactics?

Great bit of analysis to be honest. I always appreciate your insight.

I read Scandinavian and assumed this was now an Ikea flatpack job and we had to assemble it ourselves.

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Cheers @Mark! Glad I’m down off the African coast and not paying to watch it then.

How’s it going? Do we look less average today?

I’m sat in the middle of a restaurant, I daren't open it!

I think it largely depends on the profile of player the Head Coach / Manager wants to utilise. We you consider that we want to play a possession based game, whereby if we have the ball, we can’t concede, then you have a certain type of player for that. I’m not sure Souttar or Maresca to a degree, got a tune out of Vestergaard, KDH, Faes and to a degree Ricardo and Justin. It’s difficult to say how much that was just them playing at a different level to what they should have been. This season will be a test in principle, as Southampton aside, we really struggled against WBA, Hull, Ipswich, Middlesbrough and Leeds. Those all potentially play a style of play we are going to see in the Premier League. I guess the other thing is, if you’re Hermansen, Fatawu, Mavididi etc and you’re offered a route into English football, getting paid decent wages at Leicester, great training facilities, chance to win a title etc in the Championship, ex EPL champions, is that maybe more appealing than playing for Luton Town or a team that is clearly struggling like we did in 22/23? With the way we do our business, we could have tried to sign some potentially world class players and just not got the deals over the line. I guess we’ll never know.

Bullet dodged on this one, like Charles de Whatshisname 2 years ago.

His finishing, movement and work rate aren’t bad in all honesty. He’s got some good attributes which I’d like to think he’s coach able to push onto the next level.

I’m disappointed in how it’s gone for him, however he isn’t at the level required, then hasn’t stepped up. Playing and scoring for Australia against international teams that would struggle in the Championship has highlighted his profile. He’s not mobile, turns like a concrete truck and struggles with a low block. We can’t shift him permanently I’d imagine due to the FFP impact, as it’ll most likely go down as a loss on the books.

Seems crazy to think we offered them £20+ Millon for Malcolm a few years ago. Football at the top level is so fragile.

I get he’s decent. £15m for him when I think we still need better cover elsewhere feels heavy.

2 years ago this made sense. He was phenomenal in Germany, ala Sancho. He’s not really done anything since. Where does he fit in, if we have Fatawu, Mavididi, Alves, McAteer, Marcal etc?

Anything in this?

No player gets guarantees of first team football when they sign. They need to earn it. Every player knows that with each new coach, comes a new opportunity. Vestergaard is testament to this.

I actually think pound for pound, I’m potentially better than Ward as a goalkeeper. I’ve most likely got 3 stone on him though.

Just watching this highlight real and you can see why

I wouldn’t disagree in fairness. Clearly what he does have over those two is the ability to actually use his feet. I’ve seen Sunday League Centre Half’s with more composure than Iversen. This season is a massive test for Mads, however if you’re Chelsea, Manchester City, Arsenal etc, you’re not spending £30m+ on him, as he’s not that much of an upgrade on what they have.

I’ll go against the grain here and say I think Mads will get exposed more this year. He’s no better than most over Premier League first team keepers, therefore we aren’t fetching north of £25m for him. IMO His actually shot stopping is worse than Solarkzyk and potentially Iversen. We’ll see how good he is this season as playing those suicide balls down the throats of the better pressing teams could be suicidal.

https://gianlucadimarzio.com/it/arthur-como-juventus-calciomercato-serie-a-news Arthur Melo is an idea from Como. The newly promoted club in Serie A is carrying out a big market and has targeted the Brazilian midfielder, who returned to Juventus after the loan to Fiorentina last season. Como did a poll for midfielder Arthur. The Brazilian is not part of Juventus' plans and has not been called up for the tour in Germany. The operation, however, is not easy. Given the high salary of the former Barcelona, Como could only proceed if Juventus contributed. The 1996 class is also followed abroad and especially appeals to Everton and Leicester City. Mattia De Sciglio was also not summoned by Thiago Motta. He also works on the foreign track. The former Milan is linked to Juventus with a contract until June 30, 2025.

He’s on £21.5m per year in Saudi. He’ll earn far more as well with them due to the tax laws. Surely West Ham aren’t paying that!

Where is Stolarczyk?