kingfox

The match against Lens can also be dubbed as the Nampalys Mendy derby.

Shame we’ll only be facing them in a Friendly, because for their league games, they have one of the best atmospheres in Ligue 1.

At least one, maybe two ball winning midfielders are an absolute must mate. As I posted on the Cooper tactics thread yesterday, both at Swansea and Forest, he’s had midfielders who put in the work defensively, Grimes and Fulton during his time at Swansea ranked quite high for tackles and interceptions per game. Sticking with the German theme, he’s recently extended his contract so could be a difficult deal to do, but I like the look of Rocco Reitz at Gladbach, 6 goals, 3 assists last season. https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/5143361/2023/12/18/eurowatch-rocco-reitz-monchengladbach/ (This may or may not work)

More pitch invaders than goals in that game.

I’d take either one of them tbf. But knowing us, #WelcomeLongstaff

Akaydin has gone from looking like prime Beckenbauer in the last game, to the new Frank Sinclair in this.

Just go for Mathias Delorge of Sint-Truiden instead and be done with.

Looking forward to KDH going to Brentford for £40 million, with Romeo Beckham coming to us for £20 million.

Cooper could adopt him as an 8 in a 4-3-3, but he seemingly likes to play with a number 10. A midfield pairing of Winks & KDH surely wouldn’t offer enough defensive protection, we are crying out for a ball winner to go alongside Winks. KDH was one of the best creative midfielders in the Championship last season, I wouldn’t be against using him as a 10 if he stays that is.

Shame he isn’t Scandinavian.

That’s partly why I’m not keen on 3-4-1-2, because where on earth do you put Fatawu? He is good on the defensive end, but I just can’t picture him as a wing back. If Cooper goes 3-4-1-2, then you could see Mavididi, Fatawu or both being used as impact subs. Whatever the formation though, if we can somehow keep hold of KDH, I do agree that he’ll probably be pushed up into a ‘10’ role.

Just adding onto this. Even though I think 3-4-1-2 wouldn’t really suit us, I wouldn’t be surprised if Cooper experiments by putting Mavididi in a front two, he did play up front on numerous occasions during his spell at Montpellier. The most intriguing thing for me though is how he’ll operate our midfield. The midfield is likely to go through much change, with Winks & Choudhury probably the only two who are certain to remain. At Swansea he had Matt Grimes & Jay Fulton, both of which were ball winning midfielders. In both of Cooper’s seasons at Swansea, they averaged over 2 tackles and 1 interception per game. He had similar in his Championship season with Forest, often alternating Yates, Colback & Garner as his holding two. All three had decent defensive statistics from that season. Think it’s going to be extremely important to get two ball winning midfielders through the door, even more so if Ndidi doesn’t sign a new contract.

Ioannidis was rumoured to be potentially available for £15 million a few months back, but that’s clearly not the case now as Panathinaikos want £25 million plus. Would love for us to be that rumoured other Premier League team, but as you say, for that price I can’t see it. If the idea is to go with a big physical striker like a lot of teams do nowadays, then there’s a handful that fit that mould who unfortunately will probably cost too much. I can see us either going for Abraham or Hlozek for either a cut price or loan to buy option. As for Mella, we definitely need some competition on the wings, but I think you can guess who that rumoured Premier League team is (Unless you’ve already googled him )

Wyscout 👍🏻

Advocated for Ioannidis for a while, but could we be priced out 😕

This is what he played at Swansea & Forest... As you can see, he’s mainly favoured either 3-4-1-2 or 4-2-3-1 at both clubs he’s been at. I can’t get a graphic for the 20/21 season at Swansea, but for the majority of that season he favoured a 3-5-2/3-4-1-2. The main question is, does a 3-4-1-2 suit us? You have to say no, because they’d be no room for Mavididi & Fatawu. He seems to like playing with a ‘Number 10’, so I’d thoroughly expect a 4-2-3-1 system if he wants to play to our strengths.

Ayoze Perez MOTM imo

I missed Robson Green’s Weekend Escapes for that shit

Might take my England flag down and swap it for a Romania one.

Kristiansen with the best assist of all time

Any nice Italian team willing to sign Kristiansen 🤔😂

Excellent win from Draper on the back of his Stuttgart title last week. Definitely the best British prospect since Murray.

Young British talent should be the theme of this transfer window. Starting with Jordan James. Let’s connect the Welsh together

It’s underwhelming, but there’s no point throwing toys out the pram just yet. I just really hope he sticks to his strengths, and helps develop the young talent at this football club. Back him in the right manner by getting some young talent through the door, then I’ll feel slightly more optimistic.