One of the issues with the save data @LeedsOrn posted, is not only that it's out of date, but the sample size for us will be a fair bit lower than for other teams. I think I saw somewhere that we've only faced on average fewer than 2 shots on target per game! Something which was by quite some distance the fewest in the league. Therefore, Bachmann and Foster will have had far fewer saves to make anyway and thus their stats will fluctuate wildly. Bachmann's stats do seem marginally better overall than Foster's though (and his general performances this season have been at least as good), and most people on here were comfortable with Foster being good enough for the PL, so I'm not hugely concerned about the same being true for Bachmann.
I think we pretty much keep the squad together but we do need a fair few additions to give us any chance. Goalkeepers: Bachmann Foster Dahlberg / Elliot (Depends what we do with Dahlberg) I think we are probably fine. Or at least would be the last position I look to upgrade. Think Bachmann could be good and I really want us to give him a chance. But do echo the thoughts of sentimentality not being the one when you’re promoted. Center Backs: New CB Sierralta Troost-Ekong Kabasele Cathcart Wilmot (Loan out) Get someone to play alongside Sierralta. Don’t think we need 6 Center backs. Kaba and Troost are probably good enough back up. Cathcart as 5th choice is okay, don’t see the point of keeping Wilmot around if he’s not gonna get minutes. Full Backs: Femenia Ngakia Masina New LB Think we’re fine at right back, would want an upgrade on Masina, he’s fine as a back up or rotation. A lot of people saying Ashley Young, feel like every squad needs a real utility player and he could be that, would want a specialist left back at a good age on top of Young signing if it was to happen. Central Midfield: New DM Hughes Chalobah Gosling Cleverley New AM Quina Dele-Bashiru (Loan out) I think this is where we probably need the most work. If Chalobah and Hughes start as a double pivot on the opening day I’ll have no complaints but they will need strong competition. Grimes if Swansea don’t go up is an obvious one, but Anguissa from Fulham if they was to go down could potentially be an option. Think Cleverley is fine as a rotation and Gosling as back up, but need an upgrade in that area. Would bring back Quina, always looked good in the Prem and adds depth. Would like Dele-Bashiru to go out and get minutes following the injury. Wingers: Sarr Zinckernagel Sema New LW Much like right back, think we’re fine at right wing. Would say we need an upgrade on Sema, do like him but we’ve seen before that he’s probably at best a rotation option in the Prem, someone who can cut in would give good balance to the side with Sarr on the other flank. If we did sign Young he could play on both sides which adds depth, plus the likes of Pedro, perhaps Cucho can also fill in. Strikers: New ST Joao Pedro Cucho Deeney Let’s have it right, Deeney will be here next season, and I actually don’t think many people have a problem with that, it’s how involved he is. If he gets minutes sporadically, and is obviously good in the dressing room it’s fine. Obviously Joao will play a part, and perhaps Cucho will finally be seen at the Vic, albeit does anyone really know how good he is? But a striker who could get double figures is really needed. Out the door: Elliot (Depending on Dahlberg) Wilmot (Loan Out) Navarro Lazaar (Don’t renew) Sanchez (Don’t renew) Dele-Bashiru (Loan out) Hungbo (Loan out) Success Gray Perica None of them would make an impact at Premier League level anyway. Wilmot and Dele-Bashiru obviously have the potential but they really need to get a full season of consistently playing under their belts. Hungbo is still a bit of a unknown quantity, again minutes are key for him, not sure he’d get a Championship move, League One more likely, and I do think he could thrive at that level. This is the kind of post that happens when you’re at work by yourself at 7am.
I think WTE is going to be torn to shreads in the PL. He is shocking on the ball and is pretty poor in the air. I don't think he is that much better than Mariappa. Obviously seems great to have in the dressing room but a new CB is badly needed.
What I do like about Bachmann is his handling of the shots on target. Even when he's had little to do he's collected and held on to some very decent efforts on goal. He's vocal and good with the ball at his feet. Yes he needs work in other areas but personally I'd be ok if he starts at number 1 next season.
Agreed he worries me now tbf. He certainly needs to stop turning his body when going for a block. Premier strikers will murder him for that alone.
Anguissa, Lemina have been on our list before. Wonder what kind of valuation they have these days. Lemina on his day is class but it just never seemed to work for him at Southampton. Not seen much of Fulham so can't really give an opinion on the two now.
Centreback replacements for WTE &/or Cathcart. Martin Hinteregger another great season with Frankfurt. Seasoned veteran at 28 and leads by example. Austrian international. Jhon Lucumi at Genk. Colombian international of immense promise. Physical, decent on the ball and with bags of potential. Him and Sierralta would be a great combination. Mark McKenzie who is now a full USA international also at Genk. Has all the attributes needed to be a top class centreback and can play either side though preferably on the left. Odilon Kossonou a Ivory Coast international at twenty. Very strong, agile and patient defender again with an enormous ceiling. Lots of clubs are looking at the Brugge player. Would be a great coup. Arthur Theate also 20 plays for Oostende and on the verge of a call up to Belgium's national side. Again a player with great potential and would not cost as much as Kossonou. A relative song in comparison. Bologna are interested. Noah Mbama a sixteen year old who has just signed a pro contrast at Brugge and has very high hopes placed on him. Quick, strong reads the game well already and maybe we could nip him early.
Lemina has been similar at Flam to how he is/was at Southampton IMO. Okay but not outstanding. Not sure he'd improve us much, if at all.
Well we do like going shopping in Belguim. But I never watch any football from there so dont know any of them.
Before recruiting, the club should be putting great efforts into getting new contracts for Chalobah, Hughes and Sierralta, I think they all have just one year left.
Mods - this is surely in the wrong place? Should be posted in the transfer suggestions thread! Hinteregger -Frankfurt look set for Champion's League, or at least Europa League next season; seems very unlikely he'll leave now. Lucumi, maybe, can't find too much info about him or clips of him. Still a bit raw? McKenzie, unlikely - they only signed him 6 months ago. Doesn't seem as good as Lucumi. Kossounou - seems on the radar of much bigger clubs, for a fee we're unlikely to spend on a CB. Theate - seems pretty slow, plays in a back 3 in Belgium, and unlikely to be ready for the PL yet given age and lack of experience. Mbama - no chance he's ready to play CB in the PL at his age. Signings from the Belgian league to the PL seem to be more flops than hits in recent years, not just for us, also see signings by Villa for example; it's such crap league that they're a huge risk.
I think you’re right to raise some sample size concerns - but those concerns raise questions not just about the goals prevented stat that suggests Bachmann isn’t great but also about his save percentage which has been very good. The eye test suggests that Bachmann’s shot stopping is perfectly fine and that his distribution is good. That said, we’ve seen him struggle (and then improve slightly) under the high ball and if that weakness remains, that’ll be targeted next season and be a big problem. A few weeks ago many on here (not myself incidentally) were calling on Bachmann to be dropped for this very reason. As for your point about people being fine with Foster as our Premier League GK. I was fine/happy with him as our starting GK 2 seasons ago and since then his performances have steadily declined, which is natural for a keeper of his age. I don’t think I’d be happy with him as our starting GK in the Premier League now and I don’t think I’d be alone in that analysis. In sum, I don’t think GK should be our number one recruitment priority, but the club should be keeping an eye on different options (especially as good keepers can be available for cheap under certain circumstances) and neither Bachmann nor Foster should be considered nailed on starters in the PL next season in the way that Sarr or Hughes or Sierralta should be.
I've got absolutely no idea who we will target, but please...no more Welbeck-types. Premier League has-beens are not required. The work permit situation opens up the South American options and having seen Richarlison, João Pedro and Sierralta develop well, I think it's an avenue we need to explore. Man City recently agreed to sign 17-year-old Kayky from Fluminense so we don't want that to become a trend.
The main player I’d want out of Fulham would be Lookman, he’s got that bit of magic you need like Delefeou. No idea what RBL have planned for him though.
Anyone seen Cuchos stats this season? Anything to suggest he will bang in 12-15 goals in premiership?
Definitely not. But there’s a lot to like about his game. Very good off the ball, a good dribbler, creates chances etc. https://fbref.com/en/players/71b47ab9/Cucho Cucho isn’t an orthodox striker. His skill set is somewhere between a striker, a winger and a number 10.
Pereyra wouldn't improve us. Utterly soft, bellied Carlos Kickaball who epitomised the gutlessness that saw us relegated.
Our ideal scenario: Gk New signing Bachman Dhalberg RB Ngakia New signing LB Masina New signing CB Sierralta New signing New signing Wte Wilmot Midfield Chalobah Hughes New signing New signing New signing RW New signing New signing Lw New signing New signing Striker Jp New signing New signing Sell everyone else.
I'm cautious about our transfer window and what we need/want. We have multiple areas that we could strengthen. But do we buy 10 players for 60m or 3 players for 60m? Or 8 for 25m and 2 for 35m? Theres no point replacing Masina with dross from Serie B. Theres no point buying Ivan Toney for 30m and not having any cash left to get quality in. This is the time to be replacing Holebas, Capoue, Doucoure, Deulofeu and Pererya with similar quality. The #9 goalscorer issue is spending 18m gets you Gray so possibly better off on a punt on someone from the Pozzo network that nobody has heard of. Steering clear of the likes of zeegelaar, Oulare and suchlike is what we need in order to stay up.
Surely we need a bit of a clear out of this seasons fringe players like Success, Penaranda, Sinclair, Wilmot, Quina, Perica, Hungbo, etc. Surely moving some of them must be part of the process of refreshing competition in the squad. I am not that convinced by Ngakia, but I think he will be nailed on part of the squad.
Q is, if we had this same squad playing against the current premier league squads, where do you think they’d of finished. ? I can’t see many clubs spending massive amounts this summer. If we can find a good goal scorer I think we’re competing with lower mid table teams. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Perayra will not return for sure but had he played in the position he is playing for Udinese and also when we played him there against Wolves, he creates so much, it was a crime by so many coaches.
Can't even guess what the club will be thinking in respect of incoming players, we clearly won't have much to spend until 2022. We expect a few big improvements but if you think about it, last year's squad was poor and yet on its day we beat Liverpool without conceding. We've now got Sieralta going great and more to come from others, and our wide players are decent. Our main focus needs to be A Douc replacement and an out and out striker...
There must be a bunch of players on the Pozzo radar that were heading for Udinese if we didnt go up. There'll be a shift of our squad back to Italy and a freshnup of our squad with "better players". Definately need to score more goals next season because you can be sure that we'll concede more.
