04 Jan 2018 12:57:54
I know another poster mentioned ins and outs this window and I replied with my thoughts.
When I reflect now there is probably nobody I would say I hate and want shot of. Niasse and Lennon are both players who give 100% but would not be in my first 11. Similar could be said about Martina.
I never thought I would say Mirallas either for his ability as he as always been a favourite of mine, his attitude has let him down.
Maybe Stekelenburg is surplus as Robles is a good no2.
The rest of the squad are either young or need time to settle. The hardest thing for Sam is the unbalanced squad and some big decisions need to be made some players will need to be moved on, purely because we are overloaded in that position and impossible to keep them happy.
Personally I would look at 4-3-3 with the players we have.
RB - Coleman and Kenny
LB - Baines and decide
if Galloway or Garbutt are good enough if not get rid and bring in replacement like Luke Shaw.
CB - Keane, Holgate, Mori and either jags or Williams and sell the other once Mori is fit.
CMD - Gueye, Banigime, Decide which other two from Schneiderlin, McCarthy, Besic, Davies or N’zonzi.
AMC - Sigurdson and Rooney (I would have preferred to keep Barkley but not happening) & Will Klassen get a chance before these two? So either loan him for a season then bring him back to replace Rooney. We also have Dowell to think of.
RW or LW - Bolasie, Lookman, Vlasic decide on Mirallas future and Lennon if not sign another.
ST - Tosun and DCL sell Niasse and Either Loan out Ramirez or sell and buy another ie Batshuayi or Dembele. As this is the only position we need more than 1 person to cover as it’s always good to have the option of two up front.
In reality we could see all these players available for sale.
Stekelenburg
Jagielka
Galloway
Garbutt
Besic
Davies
Schneiderlin
Barkley
Klassen
Lennon
Mirallas
Niasse
Ramirez
Martina.
04 Jan 2018 13:16:55
Why would we even think about selling Davies? He is 19 and full of promise and will only get better.
04 Jan 2018 13:52:59
Good post Robbie. I would be a bit wary of only ending up with Baines and Shaw as LBs as they could quite easily be both injured given their recent record.
I would keep Niasse as a 3rd or 4th choice, get us out the mire striker if needed.
Batshuayi can't play as a lone wolf so not sure how we would fit him in.
Davies has to stay, don't need to give a reason except he will be one of the finest english midfielders in a few years time given the correct management.
I would keep or loan Klassen and Sandro and give them another season to acclimatise if they want to say that is.
Schneiderlin and Mirallas have to go, in fact i'll drive them myself if they need a lift. Besic has to move on for hi own sake i think.
I would keep Mccarthy till the summer to see if he can stay fit, because we always seem a better team when he's in it, albeit he's not in it too often.
Other than that i totally agree with you.
04 Jan 2018 14:44:29
why on earth would we ship tom davies out, the lads got class not just him having a rough season its the whole team, he is dynamic and not long ago we were saying he was the future club captain.
04 Jan 2018 14:53:36
Good shout Smit mate.
04 Jan 2018 17:07:57
I do like Davies but he has struggled this season maybe it’s not his fault and just needs managing his game time similar to Kenny and DCL as both have looked jaded last few games.
Davies is CM though and not AMC.
04 Jan 2018 18:30:48
He takes the ball forwards, looks up for a pass or a one two and what does he see? No one apart from DCL 20 yards up the field, so it is no wonder he is struggling to retain his form. He will come good.
04 Jan 2018 18:57:55
At 19 I don't see many around in the EPL as good as him.
The problem is game time as you say. There is no consistency in his playing time. He gets in then dropped again in then dropped. We seem to be getting more stable at the back yet up front where we struggle, we chop and change every game. No surprise we don't score.
I agree with the rest that can go.