The Tosun and Walcott window is a bit of a weird thing that people got hung up about, in the sense that it didn't really have anything to do with it being January, it was totally in keeping with what we did in summer windows. They also both did quite well at first too. I suppose the key thing is whether you're able to get who you actually want in January, or whether there's a bigger possibility that you're just bringing what's available. It's not that bringing in quality in January is impossible, but there is a clear preference across most teams for doing business in the summer, so there's obviously more to it than we might think from the outside.
Hindsight is a wonderful thing and people will say now that we were never going down that season. From what I remember though the team by the end of Koeman’s tenure looked one of the worst in the league and had no pace or physicality anywhere and absolutely nothing about it upfront. Rooney was flanked by Siggurdson and Sandro in the slowest front line in the league and in midfield Schneiderlin Klaasen Gueye looked terrible. The injuries at the back left us with Kenny Williams Jagielka Martina, an awful back 4.
We absolutely needed a boost in January and the club probably overpaid to ensure we got players of the right quality. It worked as they provided an instant impact and we pulled away from the relegation zone quite comfortably. The injuries to Tosun were unfortunate because he could finish but they robbed him of what little edge he had.
In January if you’d said the club could spend 50 mill and remove the chance of relegation, I would have taken that deal there and then. It’s only in hindsight that it looks like wasted money. If we’d have not made any signings that season though I’d have worried for us going forward even with the managerial change as we just had nothing up top.
Credit to Allardyce for actually balancing the team in a better way with Calvert Lewin/Tosun down the middle, Walcott on the right, Rooney and Davies in midfield with Gueye holding. We actually had some balance, a bit of creativity in midfield and some pace upfront and it was enough to see us through.
