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The Squad 21/22

Neves is the key as it's the money from his sale we'll be using to rebuild the squad imo. I think we'll look to raise a fair bit by selling MGW and Sanderson as well. I can see us spending circa £70m but all self funded
 
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Amidst all the gloom the squad actually looks decent for next season even if all the out of contract players leave.

Sanderson, Giles and Gibbs-White have all had very good seasons at Championship level and Cundle will be adequate back up too. Hoever is probably done here but a few forum members seem to rate Bolla and he can't be much worse in any case. Also fully fit Jonny and Neto. Silva has improved this season (low bar I know) and Hwang can do a job.

No idea if Jordao is any good and Shabani obviously an unknown quantity.

This summer we can get away with recruiting 1 CM but they need to be of a level that will come in and improve the first team. This will be key to keeping Neves too.
Add Toti onto that list as well as Corbeanu who has been good in his loan spells.

I think the squad is in relatively good health for a new style of play.
 
Amidst all the gloom the squad actually looks decent for next season even if all the out of contract players leave.

Sanderson, Giles and Gibbs-White have all had very good seasons at Championship level and Cundle will be adequate back up too. Hoever is probably done here but a few forum members seem to rate Bolla and he can't be much worse in any case. Also fully fit Jonny and Neto. Silva has improved this season (low bar I know) and Hwang can do a job.

No idea if Jordao is any good and Shabani obviously an unknown quantity.

This summer we can get away with recruiting 1 CM but they need to be of a level that will come in and improve the first team. This will be key to keeping Neves too.
The issue is still where are the goals going to come from. It’s ok saying about the style of play, but if you take the attacking players in isolation

Podence - wasn’t clinical before he came here
Trincao - unknown quantity (looks pretty poor)
Neto - has end product
Hwang - pre wolves stats again aren’t clinical apart from in farmers league
Chiquinho - unknown quantity
Raul - previous incarnation end product but before wolves none.
 
I'd like to try 4231. All about Neves though.

Sa
Semedo Kilman Mozquera RAN
Neves NEW
Neto Gibbs-White Podence
Jimenez
 
I wonder if we really overestimate the consistency and quality of some of our players, particularly if we've got ambitions to be 6th. If Yerson, Podence, MGW and Raul are first choice in a 4231 then we're going to be asking for the exceedingly unlikely I think. As options, or first reserve for their respective positions they're great - but I think they'd all need upgrading really. Unless they find top level consistency for the first time in the careers (obviously excluding Raul in that, but I think he's finished as a top striker) then 7th to 9th is their limit.

Yerson is obviously a punt that could be anything, he looked good for 6 minutes. That he's theoretically our best partner for Kilman in a 4 is very risky as a strategy. Pod is far too unreliable to be trusted.
 
Sanderson, Giles and Morgan should be coming back to replace Hoever, Marcal and Trincao.

I'd be letting Ruddy and Saiss go too. Neves will move on and we'll probably be looking at a loan spell for Toti or Mosquera.

Circa £75m in for Ruben and Adama and plenty off the wage bill too. A centre back and central midfielders who can beat a press are essential.

Sa, Sarkic

Semedo, Jonny, Ait Nouri, Giles

Kilman, Coady, New, Sanderson, Mosquera/Toti

New, Moutinho, New, Cundle, Dendoncker

Neto, Podence, Gibbs-White, Hwang, Chiquinho

Raul, Fabio

Still doesn't scream goals, but for me the problem is far more ingrained in the system.
 
Sanderson, Giles and Morgan should be coming back to replace Hoever, Marcal and Trincao.

I'd be letting Ruddy and Saiss go too. Neves will move on and we'll probably be looking at a loan spell for Toti or Mosquera.

Circa £75m in for Ruben and Adama and plenty off the wage bill too. A centre back and central midfielders who can beat a press are essential.

Sa, Sarkic

Semedo, Jonny, Ait Nouri, Giles

Kilman, Coady, New, Sanderson, Mosquera/Toti

New, Moutinho, New, Cundle, Dendoncker

Neto, Podence, Gibbs-White, Hwang, Chiquinho

Raul, Fabio

Still doesn't scream goals, but for me the problem is far more ingrained in the system.
I look at that squad and imagine what a Klopp style of play would look like and think we'd be pretty good at it.
 
I wonder if we really overestimate the consistency and quality of some of our players, particularly if we've got ambitions to be 6th. If Yerson, Podence, MGW and Raul are first choice in a 4231 then we're going to be asking for the exceedingly unlikely I think. As options, or first reserve for their respective positions they're great - but I think they'd all need upgrading really. Unless they find top level consistency for the first time in the careers (obviously excluding Raul in that, but I think he's finished as a top striker) then 7th to 9th is their limit.

Yerson is obviously a punt that could be anything, he looked good for 6 minutes. That he's theoretically our best partner for Kilman in a 4 is very risky as a strategy. Pod is far too unreliable to be trusted.

As a club we have largely stood still IMO, and are challenging for the top 6/8 on the above teams inconsistencies and failings rather than us being a genuine top 6/7 team. Whereas, lots of other teams have invested. To progress you really need to invest and we haven’t done that.

Personally, There are 4 or 5 teams who if they put a run of 5 wins out of 7 like we did could be where we are. Our squad is a decent mid table club, with a decent run meaning we can flirt with Europe, likewise a poor run could see some people panic about relegation.

With that 4231 people have mentioned, I wouldn’t say that looks like a top 6/8 team personally.
 
Sanderson, Giles and Morgan should be coming back to replace Hoever, Marcal and Trincao.

I'd be letting Ruddy and Saiss go too. Neves will move on and we'll probably be looking at a loan spell for Toti or Mosquera.

Circa £75m in for Semedo, Jonny, Ait Nouri, Giles
Watching the Blackburn game yesterday the commentator says that Wolves and presumably Bruno see Giles as a wide forward rather than a wing back
 
I look at that squad and imagine what a Klopp style of play would look like and think we'd be pretty good at it.

I think we'd need a much more athletic midfield for that kind of press. Our forward players could do it off the ball. I also don't rate our ability to actually keep the ball whilst actually giving the opponent something to think about, it's always safe pass to safe pass side to side which is why we are forced wide so much.
 
Sanderson, Giles and Morgan should be coming back to replace Hoever, Marcal and Trincao.

I'd be letting Ruddy and Saiss go too. Neves will move on and we'll probably be looking at a loan spell for Toti or Mosquera.

Circa £75m in for Ruben and Adama and plenty off the wage bill too. A centre back and central midfielders who can beat a press are essential.

Sa, Sarkic

Semedo, Jonny, Ait Nouri, Giles

Kilman, Coady, New, Sanderson, Mosquera/Toti

New, Moutinho, New, Cundle, Dendoncker

Neto, Podence, Gibbs-White, Hwang, Chiquinho

Raul, Fabio

Still doesn't scream goals, but for me the problem is far more ingrained in the system.
Agreed. You can’t tell me we have the third worst attacking players in the league.

And before someone pipes up with “if we go more attacking we will concede more goals”, it doesn’t have to be that binary.

We haven’t laid a glove on West Ham and Palace and our keeper was definitely the most busy. We’ve beat Leicester with our only two shots and again our keeper/defence were busier. So it’s not exactly working and we’ve been overperforming points wise all season (not revisionism from me, been saying it throughout).

We can make a back 3 work,even if I feel a 4 suits our players better, but the tactics and attacking plan needs to be better regardless.
 
I think we'd need a much more athletic midfield for that kind of press. Our forward players could do it off the ball. I also don't rate our ability to actually keep the ball whilst actually giving the opponent something to think about, it's always safe pass to safe pass side to side which is why we are forced wide so much.
I think MGW and Cundle/ Moutinho would be excellent in the 8/ 10 role that Henderson/ Jones/ Kieta occupy

If we compare our 3 to Leicester's 3. Donk, Moutinho, MGW/ Cundle to Ndidi, Teilemans, Dewsbury-Hall I think they're very much the same in style/ ability.
 
I think MGW and Cundle/ Moutinho would be excellent in the 8/ 10 role that Henderson/ Jones/ Kieta occupy

If we compare our 3 to Leicester's 3. Donk, Moutinho, MGW/ Cundle to Ndidi, Teilemans, Dewsbury-Hall I think they're very much the same in style/ ability.

I think Tielemans is a much more natural playmaker than any of our players bar possibly MGW but could the latter consistently do it for us, I'm not sure yet. I am a big fan of Morgan though.

Qualitywise I'd go as far to say our 3 would probably be better overall but it's the blend that might not be there. Ndidi, Tielemans and Dewsbury-hall all complement each other well. Ndidi offers athletic ability to disrupt play and dominate physically while Dewsbury-hall hall is a ball carrier and Tielemans is a bit of everything.
 
I think MGW and Cundle/ Moutinho would be excellent in the 8/ 10 role that Henderson/ Jones/ Kieta occupy

If we compare our 3 to Leicester's 3. Donk, Moutinho, MGW/ Cundle to Ndidi, Teilemans, Dewsbury-Hall I think they're very much the same in style/ ability.
The Leicester three are far more mobile.
 
The Leicester three are far more mobile.
I don't think so. Dewsbury-Hall always looks slow on the ball to me, nowhere near the mobility of Moutinho or Cundle. Stronger yes but not mobile. Ndidi is a beast but Donk does that job very well for the Belgian national team.

Tielemans is a better player than MGW but athletically MGW is quite a way out in front.
 
I think Tielemans is a much more natural playmaker than any of our players bar possibly MGW but could the latter consistently do it for us, I'm not sure yet. I am a big fan of Morgan though.

Qualitywise I'd go as far to say our 3 would probably be better overall but it's the blend that might not be there. Ndidi, Tielemans and Dewsbury-hall all complement each other well. Ndidi offers athletic ability to disrupt play and dominate physically while Dewsbury-hall hall is a ball carrier and Tielemans is a bit of everything.
I think Donk, Moutinho and MGW would be that same balance. Cundle more defensive but I was really impressed with his ability on the ball against Spurs.
 
I don't think so. Dewsbury-Hall always looks slow on the ball to me, nowhere near the mobility of Moutinho or Cundle. Stronger yes but not mobile. Ndidi is a beast but Donk does that job very well for the Belgian national team.

Tielemans is a better player than MGW but athletically MGW is quite a way out in front.
Moutinho is brilliant at knowing when to press and when to drop in our current system but I don’t think he’d cope very well in a system line Liverpool’s where the default is to press. In his prime no problem but not now.
 
Moutinho is brilliant at knowing when to press and when to drop in our current system but I don’t think he’d cope very well in a system line Liverpool’s where the default is to press. In his prime no problem but not now.
We need to be careful with Moutinho thinking he is going to be able to play as regularly next year. Yes he’s managed it this season (so far been a drop off last couple games and with his injury) buy at his age he could very well fall off a cliff capability wise. If neves does go in the summer we will need to replace him and irrelevant of neves going some plan needs to be in place for when mout invitably drops off
 
Unless he signs a new contract that we don't seem to be offering I would imagine he might not be here anyway
 
I think Donk, Moutinho and MGW would be that same balance. Cundle more defensive but I was really impressed with his ability on the ball against Spurs.

In theory but it's Donk I'm not particularly sold on, I've seen him play that role for Belgium and tbh it's probably his best position but he barely ever has to progress the ball as De Bruyne drops deep to get on it. He'd need to show something I haven't seen him do regularly and pass through the lines. The other two I think would be fine.
 
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