kingfox

Fatawu and Mavididi on the wings together with Monga as back-up

I’d give Marti’s coaches voice video a watch if you haven’t already. I’ve watched it a couple of times in recent days, you can already see his methods translating into this team. In the video he mentions his striker “dropping” or playing like a “false nine” on a few occasions. I think that’s why Ayew has started today, he can produce those attributes a bit better than Daka imo.

Soumare sitting with Skipp as box-to-box is an interesting move, thought they’d be the other way around.

This. Really don’t understand the anger, has realisation just hit for some fans that our squad in certain areas is crap Vestergaard instead of Nelson is the only real disappointment for me. Central midfield and striker are clearly the problem areas, but of course that’s been the case all summer. Rectify those positions with quality, then things will look more rosy.

The problem is, Daka is better at pressing, but Ayew is better at hold up play and linking. Our new striker imo has to have the requirements to do both.

I can actually see Marti’s thinking with this line-up. Vestergaard as the passing CB, Okoli as the athletic CB. Skipp and Soumare even though I’m not keen, balance wise is about the best we can hope for atm, but CM needs addressing badly. Fatawu and Mavididi with their 1 vs 1 ability on the wings New striker of course needed, but Ayew’s hold up and link up play has been better than Daka in pre season, so I’m content with his selection. Good line-up in some areas, meh in others.

Despite it being elsewhere, at least Skipp has shown he can operate the pivot role rather than a box-to-box role. Very much a mystery why we haven’t seen that version of Skipp at Leicester yet. Nunez is a solid shout if we can afford him, all depends how much Norwich will want for him, even though he’s in the last year of his contract. Could be better value elsewhere in Europe. Marti signed Jonathan Varane for QPR who is very much an energetic ball winner, will be interesting to see if Marti wants to add that type of profile, because apart from Ndidi who could be off, we have nobody else like that, especially if Marti sees Hamza as a RB.

He played that role at Norwich and was getting rave reviews 🤷‍♂️ No way is Skipp a box-to-box type player https://breakingthelines.com/player-analysis/player-analysis-oliver-skipp/ But very much agree with the second paragraph, said it myself numerous times that some energy and defensive nous is needed. Winks or Skipp can operate as the 6, we need two players who can operate like a box-to-box 8.

Doesn’t Oliver Skipp exist?

You just know Coady is scoring the winner against us at their place, while Danny Ward also keeps a clean-sheet.

Cheerio Conor, enjoy your Stok Cold Brew Coffee.

The only CB signing I’d like to see us potentially make is a Premier League loan, many good talents who could be available for loan this season. But knowing Leicester, it wouldn’t be a surprise if Ben Mee or Craig Dawson walk through the door instead.

Get in! 1 down, just Faes, Ndidi, BDCR, Kristiansen, Daka, Vestergaard and Soumare to go 🙏🏻

I was 0-2 before Cifuentes was appointed. I was 6-8 when appointed. But after watching the pre season friendlies, I’m back down to 0-2. No fault of Cifuentes, I’m just fvcking sick of seeing the same faces(Faes, Vestergaard, Coady, Soumare, Daka) in particular.

You can play Brownhill in a number of ways, and he’d certainly give us that box-to-box type option that I feel we’re missing. The issue though is age and contract, if that link is true, giving him a 3-4 year deal when he is close to 30, is partly why we’ve gone backwards in recent years, while if the best case scenario happens with being promoted, his history at Premier League level is pretty meh. I went on the QPR forum last night and found an interesting comment regarding their midfield. Last season they had Jonathan Varane, with Sam Field being used more as the box-to-box midfielder, they both give you legs in midfield and defensive nous, especially Varane who ranked as one of the best midfielders in the Championship for possessions won and interceptions. The only midfielder we have who posts similar numbers is Ndidi, but as we know, we can’t be playing Ndidi in a deeper midfield dictating role because his passing isn’t good enough. A Marti midfield seemingly requires legs and energy, someone like Brownhill would give us that, but partnering him up with Winks or Skipp, they just don’t have the defensive nous of a Jonathan Varane for example.

I’m beginning to think he’d be the ideal fit to go alongside Winks or Skipp. https://www.flashscore.com/news/soccer-superliga-black-star-watch-caleb-yirenkyi-s-rapid-rise-sets-him-up-for-stardom/bsoMlJAm/#:~:text=Yirenkyi's playing style blends physicality,effectively both defensively and offensively. As the 19-year-old continues to grow, it remains to be seen which specific midfield role he will settle into. However, with his exceptional game-reading skills, physical strength, intensity, and poise on the ball, a box-to-box midfielder role could be a perfect fit. Gerrimin!

I see numerous comments regarding using BEK as more of an 8, but it comes back to combinations. BEK alongside Winks or Skipp, a little bit lightweight and not enough defensive nous imo. BEK alongside Ndidi, you’d have to use BEK as the deep-lying playmaker because Ndidi can’t perform that role, then push Ndidi up higher like Maresca did, but I was never a fan of that. The way Cifuentes has set up so far, a combination of Winks or Skipp alongside Soumare is just about the most ideal. Soumare out of all our CM’s, is probably the most suited to playing as the more forward central midfielder, but yet again defensively, I’d have concerns because as we know, Soumare can be lazy. In an ideal world, it’s Soumare and Ndidi out the door this summer, getting replaced by two box-to-box energetic midfielders with some defensive nous.

The annoying thing is, of the squad we have now, in terms of starting 11, only the striker position really needs strengthening. Other positions will all depend on departures, especially in the midfield area if Ndidi, Soumare and BEK end up leaving. As long as they are still here, incomings in those positions is unlikely. But as I said on here after the Koln game, and as Ric has mentioned above, the midfield area is crying out for athleticism. Winks and Skipp are fine as the midfield dictating “6” options, but we are in desperate need for an athletic box-to-box midfielder with some defensive nous to go alongside one of them, otherwise I seriously worry about us getting hit on transition when the season starts.

Sick of Adidas shirts in general tbf. About time we ditched them.

Hat-trick for Dju this evening in the Danish Superliga. Geubbels scored the winner for St Gallen in their season opener at the weekend.

Decent shout, Meerveld caught my attention when RVN was appointed. If Bilal goes, if we can afford to, I’d be looking at Pavel Sulc at Viktoria Plzen. If money is indeed tight, then as a few other posters have already mentioned, Jamie Donley on loan from Spurs would be a sensible move.

Congrats to Chloe Kelly or Hannah Hampton on winning Sports Personality of the Year.

Thanks mate, I do my research Ruiz is probably out the equation, but I think the rest would be attainable for around the £5 million bracket. He supposedly rejected Ipswich so can’t see us getting him. Ideally I’d say we need a 6 and an 8, but the key ingredient is energy, we need two players who will give us legs in midfield and some defensive nous, those I picked out tick those boxes.

GERRIMIN!

Keep forgetting about the Southampton/Goztepe connection. Supposedly Ruiz rejected Ipswich as he doesn’t want to play in the Championship, shame, he’s been on my wanted list for a while. Good spot regarding Ambina, of midfielders in the Eliteserien, he currently ranks 2nd for interceptions and possessions won.