simon23
Well-Known Member
Kovacic a good start
Losing Gundo was always a strong possibility...rumours of it have been circulating for months....we move on
We clearly had a list of targets but Bellingham and Rice have both chosen.other teams......Im certainly not bothered at all about Rice (though he makes Arsenal a stronger team) - Im not sure he would have added that much to us and maybe thats what he thought as well so fair play to him.....
I think Bellingham could have been a slightly toxic character......just a hunch and nothing to back that up.
If we get Gvardiol then he is a decent signing....i see him as a refresh at present....I dont think he is an improvement NOW on what we have...but obviously the potential is there and he replaces Laporte and could (in a year or two) be an improvement.
You have to assume that we will add another player at least regardless of outgoings...If Marhez for instance goes then we surely add an attacking player.....Txiki et al will have a plan....They will know that we wont be able to rely on KDB all season for instance as well.....
The other unknown is how Pep and Txiki see the likes of McAtee and Palmer and possibly Oscar Bobb.....Personally on Palmer I think he is on the cusp.....clear clear talent but does he have that extra 5% to make the step up to TOP prem level (as that is where we are) - if we were mid to bottom of the prem table then yes he is going to play......BUT does he have that extra bit.....With the little bits of McAtee when I originally saw him i thought he had Foden levels of talent.....but Ive not watched him on loan so I dont know....Oscar Bobb is clearly highly rated but we have seen the pattern with what Pep does...he introduces them very slowly so Im guessing no matter where Bobb is at he will get limited experience this year (though Rico Lewis has shown that Pep can deviate from that...he threw him into some quite big games)
The biggest signing for me is Bernardo staying (if he does)....I said the same thing last year alongside getting Haaland..... You just cant replace what he brings
For me:
Sell:
Laporte - Bring in Gvardiol
Gundo - Im not sure if Kovacic is a direct replacement.....but he is a very good player none the less and may bring something a bit different...pep also may convert him to something different.
Mahrez - bring in a wide player (no idea who)
Cancello - I guess him leaving (hopefully) is offset by Gvardiol and the huge upturn we saw in Ake last season.
The two must replace players that we dont have answers for at present are Walker and Bernardo - they both have to be replaced IF they go.....we will need direct straight into the first team level replacements......and that is a huge task as Walkers pace you just dont find very often and its been KEY for Pep having the confidence to go to basically one to one defending in certain games (or part of it at least) - Bernie.....everyone knows there is no direct replacement as far as skill set goes....but again Txiki/Pep et al have vastly superior knowledge in this so we have to trust them.....McAtee is similar BUT obviously not anywhere near the level - is this there thinking????
The one player that everyone (including myself) seems to not add into the equation is Alvarez - the lad would START for virtually any other prem team - we saw last year glimpses of Alvarez playing a variety of positions.....AGAIN this is where we have very little insight into Peps ideas...maybe he sees Alvarez getting a lot more starting time in the first 11 either wide, false 10 position etc....all of that with Haaland upfront....????
Losing Gundo was always a strong possibility...rumours of it have been circulating for months....we move on
We clearly had a list of targets but Bellingham and Rice have both chosen.other teams......Im certainly not bothered at all about Rice (though he makes Arsenal a stronger team) - Im not sure he would have added that much to us and maybe thats what he thought as well so fair play to him.....
I think Bellingham could have been a slightly toxic character......just a hunch and nothing to back that up.
If we get Gvardiol then he is a decent signing....i see him as a refresh at present....I dont think he is an improvement NOW on what we have...but obviously the potential is there and he replaces Laporte and could (in a year or two) be an improvement.
You have to assume that we will add another player at least regardless of outgoings...If Marhez for instance goes then we surely add an attacking player.....Txiki et al will have a plan....They will know that we wont be able to rely on KDB all season for instance as well.....
The other unknown is how Pep and Txiki see the likes of McAtee and Palmer and possibly Oscar Bobb.....Personally on Palmer I think he is on the cusp.....clear clear talent but does he have that extra 5% to make the step up to TOP prem level (as that is where we are) - if we were mid to bottom of the prem table then yes he is going to play......BUT does he have that extra bit.....With the little bits of McAtee when I originally saw him i thought he had Foden levels of talent.....but Ive not watched him on loan so I dont know....Oscar Bobb is clearly highly rated but we have seen the pattern with what Pep does...he introduces them very slowly so Im guessing no matter where Bobb is at he will get limited experience this year (though Rico Lewis has shown that Pep can deviate from that...he threw him into some quite big games)
The biggest signing for me is Bernardo staying (if he does)....I said the same thing last year alongside getting Haaland..... You just cant replace what he brings
For me:
Sell:
Laporte - Bring in Gvardiol
Gundo - Im not sure if Kovacic is a direct replacement.....but he is a very good player none the less and may bring something a bit different...pep also may convert him to something different.
Mahrez - bring in a wide player (no idea who)
Cancello - I guess him leaving (hopefully) is offset by Gvardiol and the huge upturn we saw in Ake last season.
The two must replace players that we dont have answers for at present are Walker and Bernardo - they both have to be replaced IF they go.....we will need direct straight into the first team level replacements......and that is a huge task as Walkers pace you just dont find very often and its been KEY for Pep having the confidence to go to basically one to one defending in certain games (or part of it at least) - Bernie.....everyone knows there is no direct replacement as far as skill set goes....but again Txiki/Pep et al have vastly superior knowledge in this so we have to trust them.....McAtee is similar BUT obviously not anywhere near the level - is this there thinking????
The one player that everyone (including myself) seems to not add into the equation is Alvarez - the lad would START for virtually any other prem team - we saw last year glimpses of Alvarez playing a variety of positions.....AGAIN this is where we have very little insight into Peps ideas...maybe he sees Alvarez getting a lot more starting time in the first 11 either wide, false 10 position etc....all of that with Haaland upfront....????