Your realistic squad for next season

[spurs9]

Pjanic is another 'iffy' player;
We need solid experienced CMs; If not at PL level atleast at international level.

What we lack is a proper CM who can be a deep lying playmaker. We have too many MF grafters in the team like Sandro, Capoue, Livermore, Paulinho. All they do is sideways passing & when passing forward can't see whats 10 yards ahead.

We need someone like
a) Hernanes (Lazio & Brazil national team)
b) Valbuena (solid performer for Marseilles & France)
c) I will throw one other - Marcelo Diaz (plays for FC Basel & Chile national team). He was exceptional in MF position, against England at Wembley.

Hernanes has only just signed for Inter.
Valbuena is 30 in Sept and never played outside of France.
Haven't seen enough of Diaz to comment.

To add other names:
Kovacic
Baldelj (would be cheap if Hamburger SV get relegated)
Clasie

 

[Strikeb4ck]

^ Diaz isn't good enough...he doesn't even control games for Basel.

What do you all think of this (very attainable, in my opinion) squad?

Begovic, Friedel, Archer

Walker, Naughton/Fredericks
Rodriguez, Rose
Kaboul, Caulker, Chiriches, Richards, Dawson/Lescott

Sandro, Barry
Kovacic, Dembele
Eriksen, Holtby

Lamela, Townsend
Konoplyanka, Chadli
Soldado, Remy, Kane

 

[ItsBoris]

Pjanic is another 'iffy' player;
We need solid experienced CMs; If not at PL level atleast at international level.

What we lack is a proper CM who can be a deep lying playmaker. We have too many MF grafters in the team like Sandro, Capoue, Livermore, Paulinho. All they do is sideways passing & when passing forward can't see whats 10 yards ahead.

We need someone like
a) Hernanes (Lazio & Brazil national team)
b) Valbuena (solid performer for Marseilles & France)
c) I will throw one other - Marcelo Diaz (plays for FC Basel & Chile national team). He was exceptional in MF position, against England at Wembley.

I agree with the point generally, but Pjanic is a fantastic playmaking midfielder.

 

[arunspurs]

Hernanes has only just signed for Inter.
Valbuena is 30 in Sept and never played outside of France.
Haven't seen enough of Diaz to comment.

To add other names:
Kovacic
Baldelj (would be cheap if Hamburger SV get relegated)
Clasie

Age shouldnt be a criteria - I believe we need experience in midfield. Take every top team - they have atleast one senior experienced player - Gerrard, Yaya, Lampard, Arteta/Rosicky.
Bringing unknown unproven players is a huge risk ,considering how bad our transfer strategy has been. It's alright if we buy one experienced player.
Regarding Valbuena - don't know if he will move out of France, but its undeniable the guy is quality. Also would be in our range of buy. Cabaye would have been the ideal one, but he has gone to PSG.
Others you mention are top talents. But not sure if they will be a success. I agree, there is a high degree of risk in any transfer but I would rather take that risk on a experienced player.

 

[DaSpurs]

Hernanes has only just signed for Inter.
Valbuena is 30 in Sept and never played outside of France.
Haven't seen enough of Diaz to comment.

To add other names:
Kovacic
Baldelj (would be cheap if Hamburger SV get relegated)
Clasie

On the matter of individuals, you're dead on. But I am happy to see him sounding out a vital need in our squad atm.

 

[DaSpurs]

Age shouldnt be a criteria - I believe we need experience in midfield. Take every top team - they have atleast one senior experienced player - Gerrard, Yaya, Lampard, Arteta/Rosicky.
Bringing unknown unproven players is a huge risk ,considering how bad our transfer strategy has been. It's alright if we buy one experienced player.
Regarding Valbuena - don't know if he will move out of France, but its undeniable the guy is quality. Also would be in our range of buy. Cabaye would have been the ideal one, but he has gone to PSG.
Others you mention are top talents. But not sure if they will be a success. I agree, there is a high degree of risk in any transfer but I would rather take that risk on a experienced player.

Actually age does matter, as experience isn't necessarily what's needed at the position. What's needed in that spot is pace, quick feet, quick thoughts, and most of all aggression. Our central midfield is just remarkably passive for a club at this level, with no one of any real pace to instigate an attack onward. With how slow our buildup play is, with angles of passing rarely exceeding 30 degrees from the horizontal, it's no wonder our players look so disinterested.

Someone to link everything up would do nothing short of wonders in this squad. If anyone thinks Eriksen is good now (which he always was gonna be, by far the signing I was excited about the most), just wait and see how he'll react to having a dynamic presence in central midfield to link up play. So age and experience are irrelevant at this point at this specific position, as I think it is needed elsewhere. I just want someone who wants so very badly to win and grabs the game in order to do so.

 

[arunspurs]

Actually age does matter, as experience isn't necessarily what's needed at the position. What's needed in that spot is pace, quick feet, quick thoughts, and most of all aggression. Our central midfield is just remarkably passive for a club at this level, with no one of any real pace to instigate an attack onward. With how slow our buildup play is, with angles of passing rarely exceeding 30 degrees from the horizontal, it's no wonder our players look so disinterested.

Someone to link everything up would do nothing short of wonders in this squad. If anyone thinks Eriksen is good now (which he always was gonna be, by far the signing I was excited about the most), just wait and see how he'll react to having a dynamic presence in central midfield to link up play. So age and experience are irrelevant at this point at this specific position, as I think it is needed elsewhere. I just want someone who wants so very badly to win and grabs the game in order to do so.

I want experience mainly because we dont have anyone to control & lead the team; Every goal we concede, our players look at each other. The team has zero leaders. The ones who are the most experienced - Kaboul, Dawson, Vertonghen are the chief culprits most time. They dont lead by example, how can we fault likes of Naughton or Rose.

I agree that ability is foremost but I think we need some balance as well.

 

[SlunkSoma]

You are looking at it.

 

[DaSpurs]

I want experience mainly because we dont have anyone to control & lead the team; Every goal we concede, our players look at each other. The team has zero leaders. The ones who are the most experienced - Kaboul, Dawson, Vertonghen are the chief culprits most time. They dont lead by example, how can we fault likes of Naughton or Rose.

I agree that ability is foremost but I think we need some balance as well.

I also agree that we need a leader of experience. But I can see no one in the league that can adequately play such a position per our specific needs with Premier League experience, and as such it's difficult to think of someone who can play as the kind of leader you speak of in that position. I'd like an oral leader that leads by command on the back of experience, but I'd prefer for this player to lead by his play on the field, for his determination and aggression to spur our guys on. Kills two birds with one stone if you ask me (positional need and leader dynamic), and we subsequently get a younger player that would likely cost less especially in terms of wages.

 

[chavkev]

I wouldn't be surprised if both Barry and Milner are on the shopping list for this summer. Wages will probably be the primary concern for us though as I can see us wanting the wage ceiling slightly lower with work potentially starting on the new stadium this year.

 

[Gassin's finest]

If our fullbacks aren't vastly improved upon this summer then I give up.

 

[not_tenth-again]

I'm thinking we may have to lower our expectations on the incoming side of things, especially if Man U slip infront of us and get the last European spot.

I'm also starting to think the Levy hard balling on sales might be dangerous this window, we seriously need to offload dead wood to lessen the wage bill and balance the potential sponsorship losses, it'd also create options for the youth players.

Anyway.... I don't know what Lennon, Sigurdssen, Gomes etc are on but I'd imagine it could be better spent. I'm now expecting to see something like Ince, Michu, Davies and Vlaar. It covers the bases but doesn't really instill much confidence.

I'd love to see us spend 10m on a left back and 15m each on a left winger and central defender but we'll be a hard sell to incoming players.

 

[only1waddle]

Lloris
Walker ----- Vertonghen -------
Eriksen Sandro ------
Lamela Ade Chadli

-------
Fredericks Chiriches Fryers -------
Holtby Livermore Dembele
Townsend Soldado Falque
​

Squad: Kane, Bentaleb, Kaboul

I would sell: Lennon, Dawson, Sigurdsson, Rose, Paulinho ( might have to release some funds for a more accomplished, passing CM) Capoue, (seemed to perform well, i just prefer a more mobile CM)

Release: Gomes, set him free.......

​

 

[Huddlebone]

With Van gaal:

------Huntelaar
-Konoplyanka--Lamela
-----Eriksen-Strootman
---------Sandro
Bae---Jan--Lovren-Walker

Bench: Soldado. Holtby. Lennon. Carrol. Capoue. Kaboul. Fryers

 

[spurs9]

Age shouldnt be a criteria - I believe we need experience in midfield. Take every top team - they have atleast one senior experienced player - Gerrard, Yaya, Lampard, Arteta/Rosicky.
Bringing unknown unproven players is a huge risk ,considering how bad our transfer strategy has been. It's alright if we buy one experienced player.
Regarding Valbuena - don't know if he will move out of France, but its undeniable the guy is quality. Also would be in our range of buy. Cabaye would have been the ideal one, but he has gone to PSG.
Others you mention are top talents. But not sure if they will be a success. I agree, there is a high degree of risk in any transfer but I would rather take that risk on a experienced player.

Isn't Valbuena an attacking play maker as oppose to a deep lying play maker anyway?

 

[Snarfalicious]

DLP: Youri Tielemans.

We were linked in the past. He's young, very agile, has a decent passing range and has shown great positional awareness every time I've watched him.

 

[yojambo]

Manager: Sherwood

Team:

Friedel
Walker
Ferdinand
Lescott
A.Cole
Lennon
Barry
Bentaleb
Milner
Ince
Remy

Realistic, no? (I threw up writing this)

 

[ItsBoris]

I think this might be a somewhat "realistic" squad:

I would like us to sign better players but I think the above is fairly realistic given our usual budget. The additions would be Blind, Schar, Clasie, and Remy. Hopefully with Louis Van Gaal as manager, but I think that would be a squad that he could work with.

 

[RuskyM]

Here's the shopping list, in order of necessity:

1. Left Winger
2. Left Back
3. Centre Back
4. Striker
5. 2nd Choice Goalkeeper

This is assuming Vertonghen & Lloris are staying, if they go then we need replacements.

Lloris
(GK)
Walker - Chiriches - Vertonghen - Blind
(Naughton - Kaboul/CB - Dawson/CB - Rose)
Sandro
Paulinho - Eriksen
(Holtby - Capoue - Carroll)
Lamela - Soldado - Konoplanyka
(Chadli - ST - Townsend)​

 

[allatsea]

Here's the shopping list, in order of necessity:

1. Left Winger
2. Left Back
3. Centre Back
4. Striker
5. 2nd Choice Goalkeeper

This is assuming Vertonghen & Lloris are staying, if they go then we need replacements.

Lloris
(GK)
Walker - Chiriches - Vertonghen - Blind
(Naughton - Kaboul/CB - Dawson/CB - Rose)
Sandro
Paulinho - Eriksen
(Holtby - Capoue - Carroll)
Lamela - Soldado - Konoplanyka
(Chadli - ST - Townsend)​

So you are recommending as many or more incomers than last summer plus a new manager who isn't likely to start until he has had his holidays after the World Cup. At best next season would be a settling in season and at worse we could be struggling in the bottom half with so many changes.