Houssem Aouar

[Neville Kneville]

I personally think we are okay in defensive midfield for now.

Aouar is the type of player we need right now, definitely. We could make do with having Rodri, Fernandinho and Gundogan to choose from in the number 6 role and having Foden, Bernardo and Aouar to pick from alongside De Bruyne. Having more quality in this role (advanced midfield) will also take the burden off De Bruyne.

Gundogan's game is suited well in a number 6 role as his main attribute is his passing ability. He is at his best when he can see the big picture in front of him and isn't relied upon to take up more advanced positions in the middle. Fernandinho isn't getting any younger so if he leaves the season after, i would like to bring in Bennacer as his replacement next season.

If we can nail down Aouar now, then nail down Bennacer the season after, we will have such a perfect blend in the midfield. Pace, power, skill, creativity, dynamism... has the lot. Always helps that Bennacer and Aouar are both Algerian (along with Mahrez), will bring more cohesion to the team.

I think if we found a real gem at def/deep mid, who is a genuine athlete, it would transform the team.

If it doesn't, we are stacked with plodders anyhow, so nothing to lose.

 

[CenturyClub]

I think if we found a real gem at def/deep mid, who is a genuine athlete, it would transform the team.

If it doesn't, we are stacked with plodders anyhow, so nothing to lose.

I really think Rodri will be fantastic for us once you add more dynamism around him. He has maturity beyond his years, very similar kind of player to Busquets (not saying he is anywhere near as good as prime Busquets).

We shouldn't give up on him.

I think the problem is more to do with Gundogan in a number 8 position. The balance in the team is all over the place.

 

[LongsightM13]

I personally think we are okay in defensive midfield for now.

Aouar is the type of player we need right now, definitely. We could make do with having Rodri, Fernandinho and Gundogan to choose from in the number 6 role and having Foden, Bernardo and Aouar to pick from alongside De Bruyne. Having more quality in this role (advanced midfield) will also take the burden off De Bruyne.

Gundogan's game is suited well in a number 6 role as his main attribute is his passing ability. He is at his best when he can see the big picture in front of him and isn't relied upon to take up more advanced positions in the middle. Fernandinho isn't getting any younger so if he leaves the season after, i would like to bring in Bennacer as his replacement next season.

If we can nail down Aouar now, then nail down Bennacer the season after, we will have such a perfect blend in the midfield. Pace, power, skill, creativity, dynamism... has the lot. Always helps that Bennacer and Aouar are both Algerian (along with Mahrez), will bring more cohesion to the team.

We would be pretty fucked when AFCON comes around then, especially if we sign Koulibaly as well

 

[CenturyClub]

We would be pretty fucked when AFCON comes around then, especially if we sign Koulibaly as well

Well Aouar will be representing France so we would have no issues with him. Bennacer and Koulibaly yes, but lets not forget that Liverpool will also be missing Keita, Salah and Mane.

We should have the squad to cope without Bennacer and Koulibaly anyway seeing as we would have Ake and Rodri/Gundogan to slot in for them.

 

[LongsightM13]

Well Aouar will be representing France so we would have no issues with him. Bennacer and Koulibaly yes, but lets not forget that Liverpool will also be missing Keita, Salah and Mane.

We should have the squad to cope without Bennacer and Koulibaly anyway seeing as we would have Ake and Rodri/Gundogan to slot in for them.

And Mahrez

 

[Neville Kneville]

I really think Rodri will be fantastic for us once you add more dynamism around him. He has maturity beyond his years, very similar kind of player to Busquets (not saying he is anywhere near as good as prime Busquets).

We shouldn't give up on him.

I think the problem is more to do with Gundogan in a number 8 position. The balance in the team is all over the place.

I have no problem with Rodri as a player, but I'm not a fan of the Busquets style role, full stop & I think it's kind of outdated.

I actually think Rodri has much more potential defensive power than that tbf, which often helps in this league.

But for me, a side full of quality ball players doesn't need a slow, ball manipulator, in there all the time & we have several who can do that, so we have no need to avoid signing something different, to see if we can evolve further.

Since the takeover, we have been lacking that player imo, always one short for every system played.

If I had an identikit player, it would be Colin Bell & if one existed & we had him, we would probably have won the CL even before Pep came imo.

As it stands, I don't think we would bid for that player if he was available & that attitude needs to change, round about now, imo.

 

[salfordbluetrue]

Sané didn't play enough, but Torres is only 20. Imo this is a transitional phase where Foden (in theory) takes Silva's slot, 'someone' replaces Gundogan, 'someone' replaces, Fernandinho, then 'someone' likely replaces Aguero & Mahrez.

We only have the replacements for Silva & Sané so far

Edit: no objections to Camavinga btw.

One of my bear bugs is no pace, in the central corridor as i put it ( from Aguero to Ederson) Auoar is quick but not fast but certainly faster than Gundogan, over the last couple of years this has shown in KDB doing more and more of the donkey work being the fastest, indeed Foden takes up some of the slack, Auour is not as fast as these two but this would not matter if Rodri had the pace to do the job that Fernandinho did, Camavinga has, which is why he would make more impact on this team, even Gundogan would improve if he was allowed to do what he is good at.

 

[CenturyClub]

And Mahrez

We have Ferran Torres and Sterling. We also have Bernardo Silva and Foden who can also slot play out wide.

The amount of money we have spent, we can complain the least. Liverpool will miss Mane and Salah a lot more than we will miss the players i mentioned because they don't have 40-50m players in reserve

 

[WallyA]

Rodri, then Gundogan is perfectly great for us as our 6s, they don't need to be replaced.

For people talking about replacing Gundogan in the future, well that's where I believe Douglas Luiz comes in.

Next season having Rodri and Luiz as our 6s is great depth imo.

Aouar is for the free 8 role.

Onto the matter of minutes, I understand the issue people on here have with it. How can we sign another player if Bernardo and Foden were already not getting a huge amount of minutes.

This is a dilemma for me, and I am torn:

1) On one scenario I am okay with Foden, Bernardo and Kevin (3 players) in 2 spots. Because if an injury happens (leaving with 2 in 2), then I could easily see Mahrez or Torres or a Youth player (Palmer) doing the business there every now and then.

2) Aouar probably starts over Foden/Bernardo next to KdB, perhaps rightly so, and adds added depth making the team stronger.
But this perhaps dampens Foden and Bernardo's potential. They would get less minutes, and while I know they can play on the wings, I am of the mind Foden and Bernardo best and future position are as attacking high energy midfielders, I'd prefer them to master the role there.

I am probably leaning towards 1), simply because I like Foden/Bernardo alot, and the idea of a Youth player having the chance to break through is even higher (which I am always a fan of). That being said, if we buy Aouar I'd be ecstatic, but if we don't... I'm okay with it.

 

[kaz7]

Well Aouar will be representing France so we would have no issues with him. Bennacer and Koulibaly yes, but lets not forget that Liverpool will also be missing Keita, Salah and Mane.

We should have the squad to cope without Bennacer and Koulibaly anyway seeing as we would have Ake and Rodri/Gundogan to slot in for them.

As if the dippers are going to go lol