The Mourneview Ace
Well-Known Member
- Jan 8, 2019
- 197
- 513
Worse than expected tbh. The whole things jiggered
Dele Alli - Player watch
- Thread starter Hoops
- Start date
- Status
dtxspurs
Welcome to the Good Life
- Dec 28, 2017
- 11,234
- 46,574
Every game is going to be an absolute battle. Need to go 3atb every single game and just lock down defensively. We play Watford, Newcastle, Leicester, Burnley, then Chelsea and Arsenal in February the first four are certainly winnable but the final two are tough.
I'd be shocked if we made it past Dortmund though, when before all of this I was pretty confident we would beat them.
jonahsutton
Active Member
- Jun 3, 2018
- 45
- 201
So Hugo; Toby, Sanchez, Jan; RB, Dier, Winks, LB; Eriksen, Lamela; Lucas? until March it is then
thebenjamin
Well-Known Member
- Jul 1, 2008
- 12,261
- 38,945
Basically need to keep a clean sheet in every game for the next 2 months for our season to not implode.
robertgoulet
SC Resident Crooner Extraordinaire
- Jul 23, 2013
- 3,610
- 12,552
I don't know if I can recall a rash of injuries like this in any of my sports fandom (through all teams I follow).
robertgoulet
SC Resident Crooner Extraordinaire
- Jul 23, 2013
- 3,610
- 12,552
-------------------------Lloris
Trippier Aurier Toby Davinson Jan Davies Rose
--------------------------Dier
------------------------Eriksen
-----------------------Llorente
Saoirse
Well-Known Member
- Aug 20, 2013
- 6,160
- 15,635
We did last winter - Lucas. If you look at our transfer policy over the last few years we've been operating effectively on zero net spend. We were at about 0, spent 20 on Lucas, and haven't sold anyone since until Dembele the other day which still leaves us negative. So there's a few different problems here:
1) We have far smaller income than the other big teams
2) To try and resolve this we're building a new stadium. This is costing hundreds of millions and severely restricting our investment on players - made worse by the collapse of the naming rights market which would have covered a very large proportion of the build.
3) When we have brought players, we've ended up with a lot of deadwood. Wanyama is an understandable one because he's only become crooked after signing. But we've spent a lot of money on (out of the current squad) Vorm, Trippier, Aurier, Davies, N'Koudou, Janssen and Llorente who most here would agree simply aren't good enough.
4) Because the Premier League is so much wealthier than others now, once you have unwanted players, it's very hard to get rid of them. Even big teams abroad like Ajax can't afford the wages of our backup players. So it's extremely difficult to sell them so the money can be re-invested.
5) Richer clubs have dealt with this by just leaving those players unregistered and not playing them at all, eventually releasing on a free at the end of their contracts or subsidising their wages for a move elsewhere. We seemingly don't see this as an option.
6) As a result, we're stuck playing them to try and keep their transfer values up, rather than promoting youth players like Oakley-Booth, Carter-Vickers, Onomah, Roles, Sterling and Walker-Peters, who could either have proved useful to us or commanded good money elsewhere as others did before them (Caulker, Townsend, Mason, Livermore etc), again reducing our transfer income.
7) Because we don't really trust these players, those we do trust are playing far too often, then getting injured. This not only reduces our quality on the pitch, but means other clubs know we're desperate and can increase their asking prices.
For the record I think that we've made a lot of mistakes here. We should have seen the change in the market more quickly and cut our losses on these sub-par players, giving their chances to youngsters instead. And we should have rotated more even if we weren't sure of the quality outside the first XI. But there isn't a quick fix to it. What we can do is stop making the problem worse by signing yet more players of questionable quality and being a lot more selective, which we seem to be doing. Largely I think we need to slowly slim the squad as we have with Dembele leaving, promote youth like Skipp in their places, sign the occasional player who comes onto the market at a good value because of the circumstances like Lucas, and do as best we can with that until the stadium is ready and the financial situation improves.
The Mourneview Ace
Well-Known Member
- Jan 8, 2019
- 197
- 513
I’m liking the flat back seven. Only issue is which one of Trippier or Aurier you put further away from our own goal
Worst crisis since the 60s when MacKay broke his leg twice within a few months; Maurice Norman forced into retirement due to injuries, and Johnny White struck down by lightning.
fortworthspur
Well-Known Member
- Nov 12, 2007
- 11,248
- 17,550
AFC final is 1 Feb, so we should have Son back by Leicester 10 Feb. Of the 4 games before that only Chelsea is against top opposition. Its not good but its not the end of the world.
thebenjamin
Well-Known Member
- Jul 1, 2008
- 12,261
- 38,945
Depends if you're concerned by a potential cup final and the champions league.
Doctor Dinkey
Legacy Fan
- Jul 6, 2013
- 3,624
- 8,744
Unfortunately highly likely that more will join that injury list with our luck.
fortworthspur
Well-Known Member
- Nov 12, 2007
- 11,248
- 17,550
I gave up on those when Kane went down, just want top 4 now. CL especially not a concern because we werent going to win it. We have a shot at getting past Chelsea, albeit a slim one, and one FA cup game against Palace before Kane and Dele are back.
bubble07
Well-Known Member
- Dec 27, 2004
- 23,125
- 30,252
Think Sissoko might be back
Colonel Dax
Well-Known Member
- Jul 24, 2008
- 2,954
- 12,293
Yep and it probably won't be luck. The players we have left will now be overworked to cover for the absentees possibly leading to guess what...more fitness and injury issues. Not good.
BringBack_leGin
Well-Known Member
- Jul 28, 2004
- 27,719
- 54,929
BringBack_leGin
Well-Known Member
- Jul 28, 2004
- 27,719
- 54,929
- Status
