Defensive midfielder

Angelo Stiller, Rovella, Baleba, Nico Gonzalez, Larsson - so many midfielders would be available for the right price out there. Luiz is not good enough to fix the issue we have, out of possession we are terrible.
Why such a down on luiz
 
Not sure how we have let the midfield market completely bypass us.

Any of those 3 players in PSGs midfield would be an upgrade over our trio (Kova, Bernie, Gundog).
Where's Foden? I wouldn't swap our midfield with Rodri for any team in Europe.
 
The one downside about your DM being the best player in the world is that no pure DM that's good enough is going to want to join and be a benchwarmer. So you have to look for an 8 that can also play 6, to sell them on the idea that if they are really good, they can play alongside Rodri, but also play as a lone 6 when Rodri needs a rest a few times a season. The issue is when Rodri is out for the season and those half 8 half 6 types have to play the 6 for the entire season, they can't. That's what we have at the moment - this is why we brought nunes, kova, gundo.

I actually don't know how we solve this one long term
Actually what we can do is buy a top DM and when Rodri is back play him or Rodri as a stones or Akanji type CB who from a CB position can play as a DM. Surely pep can transform that player or Rodri into that type of player. Actually Rodri can also play as a No 8. So new DM signing should not be afraid of losing that DM position.
I am baffled why we are not pursuing Zubimendi. Actually he would have been a perfect fit.
Arsenal are front runners but still they have Rice. Why not us??? Surely even in this worst season we are better than them.
 
I'm sorry but it's nonsense to suggest Owen was ever the same again.
Owen was never the same player again.

But even if Rodri came back with a mental issue about getting injured then the result would be the same - he wouldn't play the same.

Again, I'm hoping he comes back 100% but even so, it will be a long time before he's back to his best and the whole point was that we need a other DCM to support the team.
It wasn’t ACL’s that did for Shearer and Owen. Owen completely snapped his hamstring and was never the same again. Shearer was still just as good, he did his ACL at 22/23 whilst at Blackburn and was still amazing after. It was a different injury whilst 26/27 after just a season at Newcastle that meant he could no longer run in behind or down the channels.

Not disagreeing some players don’t come back the same from it though and we need to sign another midfielder sharpish!
 
Imagine seeing him in our midfield compared to the cart horses playing there at the minute. Baleba the new pressing machine while Rodri runs the game. We’d be fucking back next season.
Excluding Haaland. I think he’d be our best signing in years.

The guy can do everything.
 
I think the biggest issue right now isn't legs in the 6 role. But it becomes an issue because of our lack of ability to control a game, keep the ball and win it back early. We need somebody who's top level at retaining and progressing the ball to enable us to dominate games. Then we need much better pressers in front to pin opposition teams back and to stop there being two passes out and they're in behind us.

Luiz would be a okay short term option to bulk the squad out slightly, but he doesn't exactly tick many of the boxes above. Fear if we just bring him in we'll still see a lot of the same issues rearing their head. He is better than nothing though I guess.
 

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