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My delight yesterday was tempered by the nagging worry about what happens when we get a couple of injuries in CM.
TheSecondComing
Player Valuation: £35m
I would be happy with 2-3.
I think we need a winger one the manager actually likes.
Convinced James will come more central over the next few months.
Obviously to do that we need to shift one of:
Bernard
Iwobi
Walcott
We need cover at CB too.
A RB would be nice but I ain’t too fussed at the moment
A loan makes sense. Would also allow Branthwaite out on loan to develop more. I think he’d benefit from playing week in week out in the Championship.
...yesterday illustrated we need pace and power in the back four and that will not be addressed with Holgate. We sat deep and they still managed to get in behind (Doherty) because none of them have powers of recovery. Only a last ditch intervention by Doucoure stopped Spurs being clean through on goal in a central area.
Its a fault that needs to be fixed and the players we’re being linked with (Gabriel and Tomori - certainly not Stones) suggests Ancelotti and Brands think the same.
If we could bring a speedy wide player in now like Lozano I think we would have a serious team.
Looking at us yesterday I thought it was possibly the one thing we lacked.
If we continue to play like this teams will be afraid of us and will start to defend deep I think we may struggle against a packed defence without having some real pace.
Of course Theo Walcott is still an option for that role.
It was a pleasant experience for once that we were the dominant team. That we were the team passing the ball around and looked like the top six team we hope to be... if not better.
Looking at us yesterday I thought it was possibly the one thing we lacked.
If we continue to play like this teams will be afraid of us and will start to defend deep I think we may struggle against a packed defence without having some real pace.
Of course Theo Walcott is still an option for that role.
It was a pleasant experience for once that we were the dominant team. That we were the team passing the ball around and looked like the top six team we hope to be... if not better.
Cant see them loaning us anyone after the performance yesterday mate.
We could have had Branthwaite or Gibson.
Kenny played centrehalf for a while against Preston and CA must have felt that he or Coleman could slot in there.
A CB with pace and someone of similar quality to Richarlison who could play on the other side and we’d be a serious threat to the top 6.
The beauty of signing James is that he will be well used to breaking down teams that park the bus when playing for Madrid and Bayern. He has the tools to unlock defences.
Arteta10
Player Valuation: £10m
Agree with the majority of your post.
But surely pace gets negated against a team defending deep? There's no space in behind for the quick players to take advantage of.
Pace is much more effective when you're playing against a team with a high line and the pacy players can exploit the space in behind on the break.
Against teams sitting deep we need the creative players like James to unlock the defense with a clever pass or bit of skill as opposed to raw pace.
Deco
Player Valuation: £40m
Keeping James fit as much as possible this season means we can't risk him playing 90 every match.
We badly need to shift players and get one more quality wide option to rotate between Richarlison and James. I can still see that being Zaha personally - he wants to leave and they can't keep him forever.
If they want a reasonable fee (I wouldn't go near the £52m we offered last summer) or would consider taking some of our players in a swap I think we could do a lot worse.
Walcott, Iwobi, Bernard, Bolasie are all "alright" - I don't even think Bolasie is any worse that the others to be honest. Bernard is head and shoulders better talent wise but it rarely transfers into performances.
If anything Bernard or Iwobi could be really useful in the same role that Gomes played yesterday but not in a wide position.
Financially and to capitalise on what could be a great season for us, we need Marcel to make some magic happen.
We badly need to shift players and get one more quality wide option to rotate between Richarlison and James. I can still see that being Zaha personally - he wants to leave and they can't keep him forever.
If they want a reasonable fee (I wouldn't go near the £52m we offered last summer) or would consider taking some of our players in a swap I think we could do a lot worse.
Walcott, Iwobi, Bernard, Bolasie are all "alright" - I don't even think Bolasie is any worse that the others to be honest. Bernard is head and shoulders better talent wise but it rarely transfers into performances.
If anything Bernard or Iwobi could be really useful in the same role that Gomes played yesterday but not in a wide position.
Financially and to capitalise on what could be a great season for us, we need Marcel to make some magic happen.
brieverton
Player Valuation: £40m
Let Zaha stay at Palace and we can sign Boga ourselves.
I just don’t see us paying the money for Zaha atm. I would love some more firepower out wide but suspect we’ll move for someone else.
Deco
Player Valuation: £40m
There's a big question mark over what the Zaha money would even be at the moment. There's no links as it stands but anyone with that direct pace and ability would be ideal for us.
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