Assessing our squad

[bman2]

I still think we have some big gaps.

Big question marks over the keeper spot, which is scandalous given how much we’re shelling out. I can see the sense in going after Trippier, and we should be able to get him for 15-20m.

Then, we’re missing a top drawer CDM and in a years time we’ll need a top striker. Assuming Varane comes in, we’re still looking at needing to spend 200m on top of that over the next 12 months.

I do think we have some quality youth though. Hannibal, Elanga, Pellestri, Shoretire, Diallo. They all have a shot.

Yeah I agree with all that. Neither of our keepers fully convinces me, but they could come good. a holding midfielder seems most important since we don’t really have one, except Matic, but Ole insists on playing two people in that position most of the time.

We’ll also need another CB soon, because Ole only seems to rate Maguire, Varane, and Lindelof. An injury to Maguire or Varane and we’re on thin ice again.

I feel like Ole might be shortchanging Tuanzebe and Dalot, but he’s the manager, so that’s how it is.

The club has gotten Ole a whole new team now. This keeps happening because the club keeps appointing managers with totally different styles to the previous manager, so they want to change all the players. Hopefully this rebuild is something that lasts finally. I think the squad looks better than it has for a decade, except midfield.

[sheesh]

There are a few players we could happily sell, but won't do so.

On the flip side, there are players we could bring in, but won't do so because we're quibbling over a few million here and there.

The people running the club have a very weird mindset when it comes to money. Why are we keeping players like Mata, Matic and Lingard? Dan James? Phil Jones - why did he get a contract extension 2 years ago? I also think the owners and Woodward been incredibly naive with the Pogba contract situation. This should have been resolved one way or the other a year ago, not now. Ridiculous.

Well, in the club’s defence, we did need to change the (accurate) perception that we are suckers in the market who pay far too much for the players we buy and sell our own players for peanuts. So now we haggle when we buy and sell. The downside is that you lose out on a few deals, but I suppose it’s worth it if other clubs finally get the message that the early Woodward years are over.

We still give out stupid wages though it seems, which makes it even harder to sell players.

Further to your post (which I think actually raises some fair points), here's an interesting article on outgoings: https://www.espn.com/soccer/soccer-tran ... rane-deals

As you say, the wages these players are on could be an issue.

I hope we can get some good money for Pogba, but don't know who else would be in for him apart from PSG. Would they pay £50m to get him this summer?

[Fuck the Glazers]

Ole has improved the quality a lot since the team he inherited from the hoofer.

Sancho, Varane, Bruno, Cavani Vs Lindelhof, Fred, Sanchez, 100m on Lukaku. Then you had Jones, Smalling, Young, Valencia, and fucking Fellaini that were playing far too often. But Ole has ditched em. He's also getting world class performances out of Shaw, and glimpses from Greenwood. They're like new signings.

We've come a long way, now he has to deliver, cos there's a major trophy in this team that he has built, it just might not be him that wins it.

[bman2]

Ole has improved the quality a lot since the team he inherited from the hoofer.

Sancho, Varane, Bruno, Cavani Vs Lindelhof, Fred, Sanchez, 100m on Lukaku. Then you had Jones, Smalling, Young, Valencia, and fucking Fellaini that were playing far too often. But Ole has ditched em. He's also getting world class performances out of Shaw, and glimpses from Greenwood. They're like new signings.

We've come a long way, now he has to deliver, cos there's a major trophy in this team that he has built, it just might not be him that wins it.

Ole has gotten three summer windows to buy players, so the team looks more coherent. Mourinho only got two, and Gall only one and half. Must be getting close to 400M spent now. The English players he’s bought are clearly overpriced, but otherwise it looks like good business. Time to deliver.

[Fuck the Glazers]

Wan-Bissaka, Varane, Maguire, Shaw

That's a brilliant defence

Wan-Bissaka is limited going forward but at times unbeatable in defence. Varane world class. Maguire world class but for his lack of pace that's been compensated for. And Shaw is the best left back in Europe since Ole turned his career around.

[Fuck the Glazers]

Ole has improved the quality a lot since the team he inherited from the hoofer.

Sancho, Varane, Bruno, Cavani Vs Lindelhof, Fred, Sanchez, 100m on Lukaku. Then you had Jones, Smalling, Young, Valencia, and fucking Fellaini that were playing far too often. But Ole has ditched em. He's also getting world class performances out of Shaw, and glimpses from Greenwood. They're like new signings.

We've come a long way, now he has to deliver, cos there's a major trophy in this team that he has built, it just might not be him that wins it.

Ole has gotten three summer windows to buy players, so the team looks more coherent. Mourinho only got two, and Gall only one and half. Must be getting close to 400M spent now. The English players he’s bought are clearly overpriced, but otherwise it looks like good business. Time to deliver.

Jose only ever has 2 seasons to build a top side though, before he explodes in the third season. But yeah thing that stands out is the quality of player we've signed under Ole compared to all other managers post-Fergie. Even Ole's most expensive & controversial signing, Maguire, is looking better than 100m on Lukaku, after we saw slabhead take England to the euro final conceding 2 goals on the way. 10m for Cavani and 56m for Bruno are absolute steals too.

In total he's signed 11 players, the same number Jose signed. But 5 of those are starters (Varane, Sancho, Maguire, Bruno, Wan-Bissaka), and some of the best players in the world in their positions. I'm fucking buzzing tbh. This is the best squad we've had post Fergie.

[fat maradona]

Like you Sid, I'm proper buzzing for this season. Haven't been this excited in years tbh. We've signed two top players this season, Bruno before that. I'm still saying jury is out on AWB and Maguire but I think Varane should be able to let Maguire play the role he's best at (the enforcer/agressor) and so we should see the best of him now.

Throw in some of the yoot we have in that fantastic U23 side and the future looks pretty decent.

Ole still isn't the right man IMO but he has progressed us in certain regards.

[sheesh]

I'll wait until the end of the transfer window, but whilst I'm really happy with the signings we've made so far (and surprised we concluded them with little fuss), I am feeling a bit anxious about our midfield.

Will we get rid of enough of the deadwood to have the funds for a midfielder?

Apologies if I'm being a negative nelly, but there we go...

[Fuck the Glazers]

Like you Sid, I'm proper buzzing for this season. Haven't been this excited in years tbh. We've signed two top players this season, Bruno before that. I'm still saying jury is out on AWB and Maguire but I think Varane should be able to let Maguire play the role he's best at (the enforcer/agressor) and so we should see the best of him now.

Throw in some of the yoot we have in that fantastic U23 side and the future looks pretty decent.

Ole still isn't the right man IMO but he has progressed us in certain regards.

Aye, Ole is not the man to give us a philosophy like what Liverpool and City have. But do we need it? If we have enough quality on the pitch, we might not need one. That's been the objective post-Fergie, to bring in enough quality and experience that the players can do it themselves. We're nearly there now. Perhaps a top CDM is the final piece of the puzzle.

One interesting development on this is the hiring of Eric Ramsey from Chelsea. We've been shit at set pieces, so they hired a set piece specialist. It's similar to Fergie hiring Meulensteen, cos he felt the technical ability of our squad was poor in relation to other CL clubs. Fergie knew he couldn't improve it, so he got someone in that could.

[fat maradona]

I'll wait until the end of the transfer window, but whilst I'm really happy with the signings we've made so far (and surprised we concluded them with little fuss), I am feeling a bit anxious about our midfield.

Will we get rid of enough of the deadwood to have the funds for a midfielder?

Apologies if I'm being a negative nelly, but there we go...

For the first time in a decade, it seems like the club knows what the team needs and are actually getting those players in. Listening to a Dharmesh Seth podcast the other night, he was talking about how he 100% expects the club to now focus attention on a midfielder. He mentioned the usual suspects like Rice, Neves, Niguez, Camavinga etc. Hopefully we'll go for Ndidi or Goretzka rather than overpay for Rice or Niguez. Pogba is looking very likely to be leaving and that'll free up the funds for the DM we need. James Garner was really good at Forest last season, he deserves a few games in the first team this season unless he goes out on loan again.