It's Quiet 17 - Glory Thread

[Keeper!]

Think we are most likely done, for now.

A part of me can't help feeling that it might be related to Pep's extension a little bit. At times.

I agree with that, makes you wonder if we are saving the cash for next summer and a possible change.

 

[Alan Harper's Tash]

20 now I think

New ones.

They probably have closer to 50 on their books.

 

[M12Blue]

This waiting to Jan makes a little sense. Top players likely going to WC, are they wanting to come to us and spend time bedding into the system with time on the bench instead of a regular start?

 

[Coatigan]

I agree with that, makes you wonder if we are saving the cash for next summer and a possible change.

And space in the squad as well, bringing players in straigh without having to sell etc.

As I say, just a passing thought at times.

 

[FantasyIreland]

i agree it does now mate but no hints/rumours of anything happening even from Pol, Jack Gaughan, Martin Blackburn etc of anything happening this window means we go with what we have. Seems silly to wait until January but i guess its Pep who dictates if he is happy or not?

I would hope its the manager,for sure.

We just look like we are operating on bare bones presently,and,with a long season ahead,i cant see that improving much.

 

[decmancity]

Thing is, if we’ve picked up a couple of injuries by January with the World Cup and hectic winter schedule, CL games, etc then unless we’re already about ten points clear in the league I can’t see how it would make sense not to sign a couple of players to strengthen the squad at that stage.

To be honest, looking at how weak our bench was at the weekend it would make sense to sign some now, but there aren’t many available that would improve us. It does seems we’re relying on not getting injuries early in the season though.

Time will tell. It seems a shame that when we finally address one issue by getting a proper striker, we limit ourselves elsewhere by having a tiny pool of players compared to our rivals.

Your second paragraph says it all. There are very few players in the world who would make a difference in our squad. Pep isnt' one for having players just for the sake of it.

We have some key players already on the way back from injuries which immediately strengthens us. A small squad hasn't caused us problems in the past, in fact there are many in the game who think its a reason we are so good. The likes of Chelsea and the rags have massive squads and they can't get rid of players and look at what they are achieving.

 

[richards30]

I would hope its the manager,for sure.

We just look like we are operating on bare bones presently,and,with a long season ahead,i cant see that improving much.

especially as we dont know how long phillips is out for? i guess the deals and fees offered for the likes of Lavia were just too good to turn down?

 

[FantasyIreland]

especially as we dont know how long phillips is out for? i guess the deals and fees offered for the likes of Lavia were just too good to turn down?

14m for Lavia is already looking like an absolute bargain.Ok,i understand he could have gone to the Saints and flopped,but after watching him develop in the EDS,the chances of that were mighty slim.He is exactly the profile of player we could have done with this season,but i suspect he pushed for the move too.

We also need another fullback IMO,a proper one.....not a manufactured one.

 

[richards30]

14m for Lavia is already looking like an absolute bargain.Ok,i understand he could have gone to the Saints and flopped,but after watching him develop in the EDS,the chances of that were mighty slim.He is exactly the profile of player we could have done with this season,but i suspect he pushed for the move too.

We also need another fullback IMO,a proper one.....not a manufactured one.

yep! full back is the most important area that needs sorting now really, i`m just being greedy wanting a pacy wide player as well! lol

 

[Withnail]

14m for Lavia is already looking like an absolute bargain.Ok,i understand he could have gone to the Saints and flopped,but after watching him develop in the EDS,the chances of that were mighty slim.He is exactly the profile of player we could have done with this season,but i suspect he pushed for the move too.

We also need another fullback IMO,a proper one.....not a manufactured one.

I know you have been banging the Lavia drum for a while now and tbh I have not seen a lot of him. I watched the Rags game on Saturday and was very impressed and perhaps we made a mistake in selling him. As you say £14m was way too cheap.

 

[Boo or Boo-urns]

Think we are most likely done, for now.

A part of me can't help feeling that it might be related to Pep's extension a little bit.

A spending pot reserved for the new manager (Luis Enrique) coming in next season.

 

[richards30]

A spending pot for the new manager (Luis Enrique) coming in next season.

but we would have had that anyway mate? Plus, we wont make wholesale changes will we on what we have?

 

[FromPollockToSilva]

I know you have been banging the Lavia drum for a while now and tbh I have not seen a lot of him. I watched the Rags game on Saturday and was very impressed and perhaps we made a mistake in selling him. As you say £14m was way too cheap.

Selling him was the right call. He needs to be playing every week instead of grabbing a handful of minutes off the bench if he's lucky

 

[blueparrot]

Everyone coming up with pet theories. I think quite simply we are happy with what we have either up to the world cup starting in November, when injuries could happen and who knows which positions, if not then for the season, and will have a plan for next summer depending on Bernardo and Gundogan.

 

[Roachy]

Without doubt we are done this summer but our bench on Saturday showed our weakness when we have a few injuries.

With the pre world cup schedule it's going to be tough for many of our players.

The injuries could be a real concern, fingers crossed mate.

 

[better dead than red]

Everyone coming up with pet theories. I think quite simply we are happy with what we have either up to the world cup starting in November, when injuries could happen and who knows which positions, if not then for the season, and will have a plan for next summer depending on Bernardo and Gundogan.

This would be your "pet theory " then, yeah? :)

 

[Gaz (FMwkdsoul)]

€50m release still in place then..

 

[Brewster's millions]

The break for the World Cup will inevitably have influenced our thinking, in my view, given the two month pause and the chance to work on deals or get players fit if we do get hit by injuries.

I also think that top players will be much more open than usual to moving in January. This will either be wanting to capitalise on the back of a good World Cup, or wanting a new challenge where currently they may have opted to stay put, not wanting to jeopardise potentially sitting on the bench at City ahead of a World Cup.

Obviously a bit of a risky strategy and the bench looked very thin on Saturday. But keeping our powder dry and having the pick of players in January could provide a huge boost to us at the business-end of the season.

 

[JewelZee]

Without doubt we are done this summer but our bench on Saturday showed our weakness when we have a few injuries.

With the pre world cup schedule it's going to be tough for many of our players.

But in reality we were better AFTER going to the bench. Gundo and Alvarez were excellent and Gomez and Palmer did not look a bit out of place. Add Grealish, Laporte, Phillips and Ake plus Ortega and that becomes an excellent bench on any given day. Would I have a problem with adding 2 players? Not at all, but a roster with 17 full internationals can't be considered light.
Our major vulnerability lies in potential injuries, but many of our guys are irreplaceable so a bad run of injuries would be difficult to overcome as it would for any team, us in 2019-20, Liverpool in 2020-21. Let's hope this doesn't happen and we can reassess after the WC in the January window. It would be quite a stretch to believe this squad won't keep or set the pace in the Prem until then or get out of the group in the CL.

 

[Dribble]

The break for the World Cup will inevitably have influenced our thinking, in my view, given the two month pause and the chance to work on deals or get players fit if we do get hit by injuries.

I also think that top players will be much more open than usual to moving in January. This will either be wanting to capitalise on the back of a good World Cup, or wanting a new challenge where currently they may have opted to stay put, not wanting to jeopardise potentially sitting on the bench at City ahead of a World Cup.

Obviously a bit of a risky strategy and the bench looked very thin on Saturday. But keeping our powder dry and having the pick of players in January could provide a huge boost to us at the business-end of the season.

Or we could have shot ourselves in the foot titles-wise long before then. It's no coincidence that fans are shitting themselves because of our small squad.

We've Aké, Laporté Jack & Kalvin out & already we're looking stretched. Once we get to three games per week, then what?

I honestly believe that another senior LB & a top class winger is all we need to complete this season's squad & to give us adequate competition/cover for the season ahead.

We were a Kyle Walker injury away from a second successive CL final appearance imo. It's at crucial times like those, when bypassing moments like now, when we can change things, that makes our small squad policy seems crazy to many of us.