Szobo has been the legs of our midfield this past season so I think his presence is essential short of us purchasing a Fabinho type DM. I do think need another midfielder for the rotation though. Salah did note the double teaming and it definitely affected his effectiveness. With Frimpong and Kerkez arriving I'd imagine rhey will provide the width so Salah could come inside. .So, this could imply a 442 with a box midfield? But who are the forwards? Perhaps Salah could be the second striker. The talk of Ramos of PSG could start to make sense as he seems a better version of Jota.
I’m with you on Szobo, would be in no rush to take him out the XI. I’d love another deep midfield option - another season of only having Grav/Mac Allister/Jones who he trusts could be costly. Would be nice if a Bajcetic/Nyoni manage to wow Slot in pre season. In an ideal world we add a CF and backups at CM & CB. But there’s going to need to be compromise somewhere as surely there won’t be six signings. Also got to consider that Mamardashvili’s signing is out of this summer’s funds too.
Enzo Barrenechea on Aston Villa (been on loan at Villareal) seems like a cost effective addition to the midfield. Villa have PSR issues and will probably be open to a sale. That said Morgan Rogers would also be a great addition!
Appreciate it! Yeah I can’t say I was really familiar with the one versus one site but the level of depth & number of metrics is incredible - plenty of great options relating to each zone of the pitch on there.
A great read. Thanks. I wonder if, as you suggest, Wirtz will be either a 9 or part of a double 10, how do you forsee us lining up in a few months and what player profile do we currently lack?
Thank you. I would be surprised if a striker arrives given the fee for this one - so a front four of Gakpo, Wirtz, Szoboszlai and Salah - with Wirtz and Szoboszlai being flexible through the middle. I said after Salah signed the new deal that we will have to tweak things slightly over the next two years, and he said himself recently in an interview how teams adapted in last few weeks of season to deal with our right hand side. Ideally he needs to continue to do less backwards running & defensive work, to preserve him at his best, and needs dynamic players to run beyond (wirtz & szobo capable). To answer your question about the profile I think we need, what Jota used to be. Dynamic centre-forward who stretches back lines and runs in behind, but also a genuine presence and clinical threat in box. Those strikers aren’t cheap, so I think we experiment until landing a top CF (maybe next summer?)
Szobo has been the legs of our midfield this past season so I think his presence is essential short of us purchasing a Fabinho type DM. I do think need another midfielder for the rotation though. Salah did note the double teaming and it definitely affected his effectiveness. With Frimpong and Kerkez arriving I'd imagine rhey will provide the width so Salah could come inside. .So, this could imply a 442 with a box midfield? But who are the forwards? Perhaps Salah could be the second striker. The talk of Ramos of PSG could start to make sense as he seems a better version of Jota.
I’m with you on Szobo, would be in no rush to take him out the XI. I’d love another deep midfield option - another season of only having Grav/Mac Allister/Jones who he trusts could be costly. Would be nice if a Bajcetic/Nyoni manage to wow Slot in pre season. In an ideal world we add a CF and backups at CM & CB. But there’s going to need to be compromise somewhere as surely there won’t be six signings. Also got to consider that Mamardashvili’s signing is out of this summer’s funds too.
Enzo Barrenechea on Aston Villa (been on loan at Villareal) seems like a cost effective addition to the midfield. Villa have PSR issues and will probably be open to a sale. That said Morgan Rogers would also be a great addition!
Great read Leo. I found the sense of space metric to be really interesting !
Appreciate it! Yeah I can’t say I was really familiar with the one versus one site but the level of depth & number of metrics is incredible - plenty of great options relating to each zone of the pitch on there.
A great read. Thanks. I wonder if, as you suggest, Wirtz will be either a 9 or part of a double 10, how do you forsee us lining up in a few months and what player profile do we currently lack?
Thank you. I would be surprised if a striker arrives given the fee for this one - so a front four of Gakpo, Wirtz, Szoboszlai and Salah - with Wirtz and Szoboszlai being flexible through the middle. I said after Salah signed the new deal that we will have to tweak things slightly over the next two years, and he said himself recently in an interview how teams adapted in last few weeks of season to deal with our right hand side. Ideally he needs to continue to do less backwards running & defensive work, to preserve him at his best, and needs dynamic players to run beyond (wirtz & szobo capable). To answer your question about the profile I think we need, what Jota used to be. Dynamic centre-forward who stretches back lines and runs in behind, but also a genuine presence and clinical threat in box. Those strikers aren’t cheap, so I think we experiment until landing a top CF (maybe next summer?)