The Squad planning thread

[Middedon]

Yes the same Kovacic who collected four cl medals without ever starting a single final. Not once. That's literally his career in a nutshell, a squad filler who rides the coattails of better players. And now he can't even do that, because he's been injured and invisible for two years. So yes, he needs to go.

He may not have started the finals, but he’s played a lot of CL minutes (see below). Sure they may have been early rounds, but you still need players to win those. You don’t get to the final without winning them. We need experienced players on our bench too - if he’s happy to do that, is there harm?

 

[BluestBlue]

So given that this is our current best xi in my view, who would you move to the bench.

Donnarumma
Nunes Khusanov Gvardiol O'Reilly
Rodri González
Semenyo. Cherki. Doku
Haaland

Anderson for Nico G. But who else?

Donnarumma. Would be gobsmacked if marseca sticks with a gk who can’t pass it’s his whole system to have one that does.
Nico G I’d be shocked if he stays after the mins he got.
Semenyo depending on the game if it’s a low block and spaces are small ge shouldn’t play

 

[akrh215]

View attachment 194298

Stats are just stats. KDB and Gundi had great numbers too, right up until they were finished. The eye test doesn't lie, and Kova just isn't at the level we need anymore.

 

[pee dubya]

Kalvin Philips has won the CL so that metric means absolutely fuck all

Only if you're incapable of understanding the difference between the two players and their relative contributions.

 

[xMatMcC]

Looking into our competition, some good quality being recruited.

Based on all the news and oddsmakers it seems Arsenal are clear favorites for Morgan Rogers (65% likelihood). It seems Wharton is about as likely to be on Liverpool as Palace come September (~45%). United look to be favorites for Matheus Fernandes (~45% likelihood). Tonali is still up in the air with Newcastle most likely to retain (45%) and Arsenal slightly more likely than City if he leaves. Kroupi is 45% to remain at Bournemouth, with PSG the club leading the race if he moves, followed by Arsenal. Liverpool about 45% likely to get Diomande. Enzo projected to stay at Chelsea with Madrid being the main option if he leaves.

For us it seems Rodri is about 40% likely off to Madrid this summer. And odds say we're about 80% likelihood of signing Elliott Anderson. Still lots up in the air as of now. Not as many clear fits/leaks as normal.

 

[oldius]

As always, there are some extreme opinions here. It seems that some fans cannot contain their emotions to take an objective look at our squad.

Goalkeepers - Donnarumma and Trafford - as good as it gets.
Central Defence - Dias, Gvardiol, Guehi, Khusanov, Ake, Reis
Full back - O'Reilly, Ait-Nouri, Nunes, Lewis
Central midfield - Rodri, Kovacic, Gonzalez
Attacking midfield - Cherki, Foden, Reijnders
Wings - Semenyo, Doku, Savinho
CF - Haaland, Marmoush

Taking the emotion and extreme opinions away, it is pretty clear that goalkeeper and central defence are sorted. Full back has a spot because it is likely that Lewis will play further forward, with us or not.
Central midfield has lost quality in Bernardo and lacks physicality (getting around the pitch).
Attacking midfield (No10) arguably a world-class pairing.
Wings - one or two spots depending on Savinho's move.
CF - Haaland.


I have only mentioned 23 names, so even on just numbers we need a couple of additions.
To be clear, there is nobody in this squad that is shit.
Some players mentioned in that way have been here a short time.
Others will feel they may have more of an opportunity with a new manager.
There is no restructure, just a couple of tweaks and we are sorted.
It is possible that we may see some additions from the academy too.

 

[Quinny851]

Only if you're incapable of understanding the difference between the two players and their relative contributions.

Like I said measuring the number of medals to support an argument around a players ability means fuck all.

And in terms of contributions, Kovacic has only played 10 mins of a Champions League final in his career despite winning it 4 times.

 

[Ken92]

People said that David Silva wouldn't be able to cope with the physicality of England and look how that turned out. Neves is absolutely world class

yeah ,that physicality thing is over rated. Look at the midfield PSG dominated the cl and Arsenal...Great engine ,technique and football iq is more important than physicality.

 

[Gabriel]

People said that David Silva wouldn't be able to cope with the physicality of England and look how that turned out. Neves is absolutely world class

The physicality in the game has changed even from Silva's day. I'm not saying that Neves isn't world class, he is. I wanted him from Benfica, despite his inexperience, but playing 3,500 League minutes in the middle of our midfield is a different demand to 1,850 minutes in Ligue 1. We cannot afford to operate with only a small squad of 18 world class players, especially when our academy products typically struggle with the step up in physicality, again unlike in Ligue1.