17 Feb 2023 12:42:48
Looking at the messages coming out of Villa Park and the fact that Emery is going to persist with playing out from the back then I think rather than my initial view that we needed 4 quality signings I now think we probably need 6 or 7 which includes a complexly new back four! Whilst at face value this sound fine it does present some problems in my view, so if we want quality we will be paying £30 to £35 million per player and I don't think it reasonable to expect NSWE to fund that level of spending, which means that we will probably need to fund some of the purchases via sales and in all probability means sacrificing some players that ideally you wouldn't want to lose but securing those funds would enable the club to strengthen the squad overall eg the person that springs to mind is Martinez. The other thing is if we are looking to sign that number we need to get our business done early as trying to integrate that number of new players into the team presents other problems, you only have to look at Forest, and in the recent past Fulham to see the issues that can present a team. All in all it's a big summer for us I think
17 Feb 2023 13:42:30
LOTM, I see you have finally got to my figures, which hasn't changed since Gerrard and to many is now obvious. I really don't think money will be an issue, just look what the likes of Chelsea, West Ham, Spurs have spent. Ffp seems easily navigated, despite the so called experts telling us otherwise.
I have just read the really positive news that Mings has signed a new contract, Sunday showed how badly we needed him. It doesn't mean we won't buy a couple of quality defenders, just means we will have depth in this position.
Arsenal will be a difficult challenge tomorrow, they will be out to recover from recent dropped points. Our attacking threat looks quite blunt so we are going to have to be tight at the back, if we concede two goals we will almost certainly lose. I just wonder if he might start with most of the players that finished the game on Sunday. If Emery continues to play Bailey as a starter, i will personally start to question his judgment,because most fans, I accept not all, realise he is a liability in possession and because these are usually in advanced areas, leaves us so often vulnerable to the counter.Apart from that he just isn't good enough at this level.
17 Feb 2023 16:15:30
Scotty I haven’t come round to your way of thinking as I didn’t think and still don’t that we need a massive overhaul, but it seems Emery does and he’s the guy in charge and therefore the one that counts. I hope your right re the financial aspects of signing 6 to 7 quality players because if I remember rightly Gerrard was promised significant sums to re shape the squad but only had a net spend of circa £52 million which is nothing compared to what the likes of Utd,City,Arsenal, Liverpool et al are spending what I don’t know is whether that spend was based on that was all Gerrard wanted (unlikely) or because the funds weren’t available if it’s the latter then that potentially becomes a problem unless as I say we generate those funds through sales.
Just to clarify I thought you weren’t Mings biggest fan if I recall you always thought he had a rick in him. Have you had a ‘road to Damascus’ conversion?.
17 Feb 2023 17:13:09
If you read my comments, i think he will be good back up if we get quality centre backs, after last Sundays performance he will be welcomed back, yes he is prone but if you read my previous posts i have said he does far more positives things that outweighs any of his shortcomings.
17 Feb 2023 20:32:24
Who could we get that's better than Mings?
17 Feb 2023 22:06:25
If we are looking for someone who is left footed and comfortable on the ball then I think Pau Torres is the player, personally I quite like Fikayo Tomori he has developed very nicely since leaving Chelsea. One who definitely isn’t the answer is Harry Maguire.
17 Feb 2023 22:52:01
theres loads of cbs better than mings
pau torres,stefan drfij from inter,tomori,mark guehi from palace,andersen from fulham,muikelle from monaco,jonathan tah leverkaisen could go on