pmcla26

Hermansen Ricardo Faes Coady Justin Winks Ndidi Fatawu De Cordova-Reid Mavididi Daka

The two issues correlate

Yes, we need another winger as competition, but why can't we sign an attacking centre midfielder or striker first?

Surely the obligation will be dependent on our survival, much like Abdul's being dependent on promotion.

That’s all well and good but he won’t be loved by many if he doesn’t see that Mavididi and Fatawu you just put wide left and right and tell them to cut in, or that Ricardo doesn’t need to be pushed to play as a marauding full-back if we want him fit for a full season.

Is he really worth that sort of money? Seems a lot.

Adebayo would be an ideal foil for the likes of him, Mavididi and Fatawu. Think I'd be happier with that as a front 4 then Fofana plus a number 10.

Maybe he could play as a support striker to Daka or Vardy. Fatawu and Mavididi wide of them. Bit like Iheanacho did under Puel.

I don't understand why Cooper seems to be forcing this when we have an ideal player in Ricardo to invert and the rest of the players around him are used to it too, now.

He's very good at taking people on and carrying the ball - not so prolific in front of goal. Imagine he would play out wide if we signed him, rather than as a 9. Problem is think a number 9 and number 10/number 8 is what we need, right now.

I don't think he's amazing by any means, but £17m is a good price for someone who could get you 10-15 goals in the league next season. I'd rather roll the dice on someone like Wahi, or sign someone like Adebayo with a completely different profile to what we already have, than sign Nketiah though.

Marseille bidding £17m for Nketiah. If Arsenal would take that then we could do a lot worse.

The opposite of the 5 years after Mahrez left and we actually needed a right-winger

Think he might be falling into the trap that Dean Smith was falling into. Soumare isn’t a bad football player, technically he’s very good. Problem isn’t with the ball, it’s without it. In training it’s probably not so much an issue as you’re not always playing at 100% intensity like in matches where it becomes exposed. Maybe he’ll have seen enough now. The other point is maybe he’s just using him as a place holder in pre-season games as we don’t have many options there currently, but wants the rest of the shape to be the same.

Next game I want to see us try Mads JJ Coady Faes Kristiansen Winks Ndidi Ricardo Fatawu Vardy Mavididi With our lack of centre-midfield options currently, think that’s our strongest 11.

He's probably on inflated wages for his ability, given our track record and how much we paid for him. I imagine he'd have had teams after him in the Championship in January if he wasn't.

Not that dissimilar to KDH at 22. If he's got the potential to be as good as KDH at 25 (which I think there's a good chance that he could be), then he's more than worth keeping a hold of. At the least he becomes another Choudhury and is useful squad player or sold at a profit. If he was to get a Championship loan next season, I could see him getting 10+ G/As if he starts most games in a side in the top half of the table.

The amount of passing involved in a De Zerbi system as well means a water carrier is usually pretty useful, too. That would probably suit Soumare, rather than in the Premier League for us where there is going to be a lot more transitions of play at high-speed.

Alves is the only one who may get a chance off the bench/in the cups. Some of that is to do with his position, as well as his ability. (Like you say, different for attackers in comparison to defenders).

Good player but why do Italian media know about it but the English media are not reporting it? Doubt it's creditable at the minute but right profile for what we need.

If Souttar goes and Nelson is loaned out then it makes sense. Okoli’s skill set is different to our other centre-backs. However, we haven’t been great at shifting players in recent years. If Faes doesn’t sign a new deal then he probably is sold in a years time, so maybe succession planning there.

It was a clause in Villas deal with Sheffield United that they had to buy him back if they went down. He’ll probably be on the move again, unless Jhon Duran goes.

I think the Southampton games were a pure indication of the way Enzo’s long term thinking was designed for the Premier League, rather than Millwall and Plymouth away or QPR at home. Teams would press us like Southampton did in the Prem compared to sitting back like those teams did. Don’t get me wrong, there were flaws (as with any tactics - that’s the whole point of managers outgunning each other), but I think Enzo was looking towards the Premier League with how rigid he was. Instilling a style of play into the players with a long-term view. Unfortunately I think certain short comings behind the scenes and obscene wages/opportunity from Chelsea have screwed that with him and KDH going - we were unable to stop that once they come calling. Might be worth it in a PSR sense, but not good on the pitch. Time will tell though, Cooper might negotiate it. I certainly don’t think we’d have been a Burnley under Enzo, though. I think his stubbornness was smarter than what people think - but we’ll never know now. I just hope whatever Cooper does allows us to unleash Fatawu and Mavididi - those two are the key to us staying up IMO.

I also worry about how it will hinder Winks' performance. If teams crowd him out then he's got a lot to do by himself when it comes to playing out from deep or against a press. When Ricardo inverts, you have two very technical players to negotiate a high press and build attacks from, rather than one.

I like him but I thought we might have had planned that it was Mavididi/BDR as the left hand side and Fatawu and another left footer for the right side, with Kasey being back up for the 4 on either. Good player but not sure we should have got BDR in now if we get Nelson. Unless we're planning on playing a number 10 and not signing an 8 to replace KDH, then I guess BDR could be used there or as a second striker.