How "Deep" Do You Expect Our Squad To Be?

[punkisback]

Possibly we'll see.

Don't forget we still kept Nkoudou, I make that 4 players who can play the wide role.

Also depends on how close they will be to Kane. Parrott has the physicality to play there if they are hide and close to kane. If they're there and expected to track up and down the wings, he may not be suitable.

 

[THOWIG]

Kane, Son, Lucas, Parrott - we're fine in the forward positions.

Don't agree sorry.

 

[Shadydan]

Don't agree sorry.

Why not?

 

[THOWIG]

Why not?

Any injuries to Kane or Son and we have problems.

 

[Shadydan]

Any injuries to Kane or Son and we have problems.

You can make the same argument about any team in football, if both their main goalscorers go down then they'll have problems, that doesn't mean that there should be a backup just in case because that's overkill. It's unlikely we'll have injuries to both anyway, last season was an anomaly - the squad was stretched and even then Son and Kane were never out at the same time through injuries.

If that was to occur we'll just change formation to suit our other players, we don't strictly have to rely on playing the diamond, it's just seemingly Poch's preferred formation.

 

[THOWIG]

You can make the same argument about any team in football, if both their main goalscorers go down then they'll have problems, that doesn't mean that there should be a backup just in case because that's overkill. It's unlikely we'll have injuries to both anyway, last season was an anomaly - the squad was stretched and even then Son and Kane were never out at the same time through injuries.

If that was to occur we'll just change formation to suit our other players, we don't strictly have to rely on playing the diamond, it's just seemingly Poch's preferred formation.

We have one out and out striker. Granted Son can play there and Moura can at a push, but still think another "Forward" would have helped us. Hence the links to Dybala.

 

[yido_number1]

We have one out and out striker. Granted Son can play there and Moura can at a push, but still think another "Forward" would have helped us. Hence the links to Dybala.

Dybala plays off a big man like Higuain. He's not going to play up front on his own in the Premier League. Moura, Son and Kane have all played up front on their own for us and Alli has played up front in a 352 with Kane.

 

[Shadydan]

We have one out and out striker. Granted Son can play there and Moura can at a push, but still think another "Forward" would have helped us. Hence the links to Dybala.

I reckon if the club were so intent of pushing for another forward Poch would have outlined it earlier and we would have been pushing for a forward much earlier in the window. With Dybala it seems that he became a target when he became available and a player like that it makes sense to go for him.

I'd say Poch is satisfied with the options he has.

 

[double0]

Any injuries to Kane or Son and we have problems.

We have Moura and Lamela Parrot looks decent although unproven . The Power of 'IF' United had injuries to Rashford Marital , IF City had injuries to Aguero Streling , IF Liverpool had injuries to Salah Mane, IF Chelsea had injuries to Giroud Batshuayi, IF Arsenal had injuries to Lacazette Aubameyang. IFIFIFIFIFIFIFIFIFIFIFIFIFIFIFFIFIFIFIFIFIFIFIFIFIFIFIFIFIFIFIFIFIFIFIFIFIFIFIFIFIFIFIFIFIFIFIFIFIFIFIFIFIFIFIFIFIFIFIFIFIFIFIFIFIFIFIFIFIFIFIF

 

[THOWIG]

Dybala plays off a big man like Higuain. He's not going to play up front on his own in the Premier League. Moura, Son and Kane have all played up front on their own for us and Alli has played up front in a 352 with Kane.

Dybala plays in several positions.

 

[Shadydan]

Basically whoever we were going to being in whether it would have been Dybala, Fernandes or Coutinho would have been Eriksen's replacement, they aren't strictly forwards but they are all creative/magical players so I'm not convinced the club were after another forward, we just wanted that someone special to replace Eriksen's creativity.

 

[THOWIG]

Basically whoever we were going to being in whether it would have been Dybala, Fernandes or Coutinho would have been Eriksen's replacement, they aren't strictly forwards but they are all creative/magical players so I'm not convinced the club were after another forward, we just wanted that someone special to replace Eriksen's creativity.

Think it's more about having a player or another option to break teams down. We were so static at times in the final third last season and think it desperately needed freshening up.

 

[Johnny J]

Think it's more about having a player or another option to break teams down. We were so static at times in the final third last season and think it desperately needed freshening up.

I really hope our movement is better this season. I can't remember how many times last season I saw players standing still waiting for something to happen.

Not everyone, of course. Alli's movement in particular is great, and Son too.

But a huge part of Liverpool and City's play is their excellent movement.

 

[Gassin's finest]

As far as the midfield goes, we're deeper than Bill Clinton in Monika Lewinsky...

 

[spurs9]

As things stand we are completely fine. Should any of the obvious 3 leave that changes.

CB: depths wise probably better than city and Liverpool with Dier and Davies giving 6 strong options and could possibly add Tanganga and a host of youth options coming.
LB: 3 solid options now
RB: The one obvious area of concern as no outstanding option but all 3 obvious can do a decent job and still other options in Dier or Sissoko
CM: very well covered to the point Skipp means we can ditch wanyama. Also a very strong area in our youth ranks and I expect Harvey white to progress.

Attacking options: Established a benchmark from city Liverpool basically number of players that can play as striker or in a 3 behind the striker. I think this is a good indicator as forward positions are now so flexible. For us I’m including Sissoko and Ndombele as they can definitely do a job if needed as Keita wjnaldum Gundagon can. So basically we now have 10 plus Parrott same as City and Liverpool.

All round we are very well stocked with 2 or 3 good youth options. However I’d seriously consider ditching wanyama and giving llorente a year. He’s just a very useful plan C.

On Paper Back up for Kane looks the most obvious weakness, would be happy to sign Llorente for another year. We have a very versatile squad now and look very good on paper for several different formations.

Options If we play the Diamond Formation:

Son Kane
Alli
Eriksen Ndombele
Winks
Rose Verts Toby Aurier
Lloris


Lucas Parrott
Lamela
Lo Celso Sissoko
Dier
Davies/RS Sanchez Foyth KWP
Gazza
​

For 4-2-3-1

Kane
Son------Eriksen -----Alli
Winks Ndombele
Rose Verts Toby Aurier
Lloris


Parrott
Lucas------Lo Celso -----Lamela
Dier Sissoko
Davies/RS Sanchez Foyth KWP
Gazza


​

Options for 433

Kane
Son---------------------------Alli
Eriksen Winks Ndombele
Rose Verts Toby Aurier
Lloris


Parrott
Lucas------------------------Lamela
Lo Celso Dier Sissoko
Davies/RS Sanchez Foyth KWP
Gazza

​

Options for 532

Son ------Kane
Winks Eriksen Ndombele
Rose-------------------------------------------Aurier
Verts Sanchez Toby
Lloris


Lucas------Alli
Ndombele Lo Celso Skipp
RS-------------------------------------------KWP
Davies Dier Foyth
Gazza​

 

[Shadydan]

Think it's more about having a player or another option to break teams down. We were so static at times in the final third last season and think it desperately needed freshening up.

I don't necessarily think we need another option in that respect, we had our best Prem season ever in 2016/17 scoring 86 goals mainly because we created space with overloads on the wings and the pressing game was on point.

We just need to get back to that intensity and hunger back.

 

[cliff jones]

Kane, Son, Moura and Dele, with a bit of Parrott, should be enough.

It's behind them where the big question arises- GLC looks the bollox, but will Eriksen leave or stay but allow his form to suffer? If he does we do lack the depth in what's a crucial position just like we have in recent years, when Eriksen was simply run into the ground.

I'm by no means gutted we didn't get Dybala, I think this would have really threatened Dele's opportunities. I think he deserves another year or two to see if he can cut out the silly stuff and stand out once again.

 

[mil1lion]

Depth was never an issue last season. We just lacked quality in certain areas. A lot was made of centre midfield after Dembele was sold but we still had depth. It was only because Dier missed a lot of games and Wanyama was out for most of the season that we struggled.

For me the main issue was we didn't play nice football when Winks was out and we lacked creativity if Eriksen was out or off form. The combination of Wanyama and Sissoko was just horrible because we didn't have a passer. So getting 2 midfielders who are good on the ball will make all the difference.

 

[buckley]

Well if you have injured or suspended or players not yet fit enough that total eight of your squad then you have to say the squad is stretched and very thin . If all of these eight players were A1 and ready to go then our squad is in a healthy position .Unfortunately the case is as stated in the first sentence I am really hoping we can in the near future have a fully fit and available squad sooner rather than later and if that case arises soon we can challenge the top two Liverpool and City.

 

[mil1lion]

I disagree. If we are playing a 433 we lack decent backup wingers. However a more narrow 4231 or the stupid diamond we seem flush with players who can play in the AM and CM. If you look at it we only have two genuine wide pace options up top with quality.

433 and 4231 are essentially the same system though. They both have 2 central midfielders with one central attacking midfielder and two wide attackers with one centre forward. The 433 started to get called 4231 a few years ago. Probably because the wide attackers don't just stay forward so much anymore like they used too.