The Squad planning thread

robbieh said:
We've lost one bench warmer, Stones and one starter Bernardo.

We are happy with the defence, and we are happy with the attack.

Unless we are going to bench Rodri, Doku, Nunes and Semenyo then we are not buying starters apart from Bernie's replacement.

The question is what to do with players who've been getting little game time. Lewis, Savinho, Ake, Marmoush, Trafford, Reinders and Gonzalez
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Those four stay and play more.
 
As
robbieh said:
We've lost one bench warmer, Stones and one starter Bernardo.

We are happy with the defence, and we are happy with the attack.

Unless we are going to bench Rodri, Doku, Nunes and Semenyo then we are not buying starters apart from Bernie's replacement.

The question is what to do with players who've been getting little game time. Lewis, Savinho, Ake, Marmoush, Trafford, Reinders and Gonzalez
Click to expand...
well if Nunes is injured we can’t play well and only have Khusonov who brings nothing in attack because he’s a cb

The starters beyond Anderson are unattainable in my eyes. I think we’ve been to focused on squad players and we need to go back to signing guys that improve our XI
 
robbieh said:
I agree. Presumably by highlighting Trafford you are suggesting Donnarumma will be sold.
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I doubt he’ll be sold, but if it is Maresca, then the goalkeeping position may not be as cut and dried as some think.

Might be thinking too deeply about it, but Guardiola’s rueful comment on Hart was both singular and unexpected; why him and then when he could have identified so many individuals? Perhaps he was gently advising Maresca to give Donnarumma time to prove himself capable of playing out more from the back and not to make a rash decision.
As I’ve mentioned elsewhere, if the defence and midfield are no longer as porous as they were in 24-25 and parts of 25-26, then the need for an outstanding shot stopper is less than the need for a keeper more in the Ederson mould. In short, I reckon Donnarumma and Trafford will compete this season, yet whether either is the long-standing solution, I’m really not sure.
 
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BluestBlue said:
As

well if Nunes is injured we can’t play well and only have Khusonov who brings nothing in attack because he’s a cb

The starters beyond Anderson are unattainable in my eyes. I think we’ve been to focused on squad players and we need to go back to signing guys that improve our XI
Click to expand...
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?
 
richards30 said:
We’ve had the best of him anyway imo, take £50-60m now
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We probably have. My only concern is if he leaves we really only have Dias from the leadership group left and he's unlikely to be on the pitch much. OK Haaland as well and maybe time that Gvardiol, Guehi, Foden stepped up.

From a playing point of view we have the following midfielders at present.

Rodri, not the Rodri of old but better with him.
González looks serviceable and good backup.
Reinjders looks too lightweight but maybe best a 10, albeit a different 10, to Cherki.
Foden can play deeper but if he does he has to win a few more 50/50s.

Whichever way you slice it and dice it, this is not a midfield that's going to win the CL. And probably not the league either.

I didn't mention Nico O. Mainly because he's fairly untested in the role. Obviously an intelligent footballer so could do a job in the midfield.

If Rodri leaves my first choice

Anderson
O'Reilly
Cherki

Very young and inexperienced

Nico G
Foden
Reinjders

OK as backup

But think we need a real quality signing in the 25 to 28 bracket.
 
m32blue said:
Rochdale got promoted didnt they,probably about his level
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Realistically, I think he’d be a solid Championship-level full-back. He’s not physically or technically strong enough to consistently play in midfield at the top level. Every so often, Pep places too much trust in a youngster like Eric Garcia and last season Lewis, but I think the reduced game time in the second half of the season suggests he’s realised Lewis isn’t at the level required.

We should have bit Forest’s hand off when they offered £30m last year. That said, they may have refused to deal with us after spunking £60 million on him and Mcatee, so perhaps it was for the best with Anderson in mind.
 
Imagine he’s pretty pissed off with the subject. Remember he got misquoted recently and then came out and firing about that.

At the end of the day he is there to talk about Spain, he’s one of the key players for one of the favourites.

Also Riquelme won’t win.
WallyA said:
Interesting way he answered that.

Doesnt really fill me with confidence though, I imagine he is off.
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We will want to get Anderson done before anything but id be shocked if he goes.

Madrid aren't giving us 50m for him, so thats not even a consideration. City letting our only ballon d'or winner just walk out of the door without any proper goodbye like the other legends of the club have had also seems very unlikely.

IF he wins the World Cup and comes back and says yeah I actually want to go, the fair enough but I don't see it. He will want to go out with another prem title as a minimum
 
robbieh said:
We've lost one bench warmer, Stones and one starter Bernardo.

We are happy with the defence, and we are happy with the attack.

Unless we are going to bench Rodri, Doku, Nunes and Semenyo then we are not buying starters apart from Bernie's replacement.

The question is what to do with players who've been getting little game time. Lewis, Savinho, Ake, Marmoush, Trafford, Reinders and Gonzalez
Click to expand...
The way to get better is to get starters to challenge your starters.

Anderson qnd Diomande should be our 2 main targets and then back up at Keeper and fullback
 
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