Managing Director Football: Fabio Paratici

[JR1994]

Something needs to happen.

We have a considerably weaker squad than last season.

No Bale (goals), Vinicius (Cup goals), Toby (one of, if not our best defender during his time at the club)

We've got a backup keeper, a young raw player in Gil and Romero, who by all accounts is quality but ultimately unproven in the PL.

This. Been calm whole window but still ideally need 3 in minimum and it’s starting to seem bleak

 

[Albertbarich]

Something needs to happen.

We have a considerably weaker squad than last season.

No Bale (goals), Vinicius (Cup goals), Toby (one of, if not our best defender during his time at the club)

We've got a backup keeper, a young raw player in Gil and Romero, who by all accounts is quality but ultimately unproven in the PL.

I agree.

Unless he brings sissoko back in which I pray he doesnt were desperately short in midfielders. N'dombele needs sorting too in terms of creative midfielders.

Tanganga as a first choice right back is romantic but his injury prone and Doherty is awful.

Vincius maybe rubbish to some but he was handy when we could flat track bully teams and needed to rest kane and of course Bale when allowed made a huge difference.

I really worry about our depth.

 

[JayB]

Something needs to happen.

We have a considerably weaker squad than last season.

No Bale (goals), Vinicius (Cup goals), Toby (one of, if not our best defender during his time at the club)

We've got a backup keeper, a young raw player in Gil and Romero, who by all accounts is quality but ultimately unproven in the PL.

I know what you mean but we've also got the benefit of having rid ourselves of Jose. Let's not forget that on the day Jose was sacked we had dropped the most points from winning positions in the entire league. His tactics were the exact fucking opposite of what the squad's strengths and weaknesses were. Had we not been so risk averse immediately upon taking 1-0 leads -- had we allowed our world-class attackers to actually attack, and had we not put our error-prone defenders under massive pressure -- last season would have been very different indeed.

We've added a top talent in Romero and let's hope that Dragon is right about Tomiyasu. That'd be two CL-level defenders added to shore up our biggest weakness. The addition of Skipp also gives us some added steel and takes pressure off the back line.

We still have one of the most deadly strike forces in the world with Kane and Son up top. Add in Adama dragging the opponents completely out of their shape and a rejuvenated Dele making his patented late runs into the box, and we should have no shortage of firepower.

The biggest question for me is the midfield. Lo Celso and Ndombele were supposed to take the reigns from Eriksen and Dembele but haven't come anywhere close. We're linked with talented players in Auoar and McKennie, but will we get them in? Will we have the right balance? A lot hangs on whether we can fix the midfield, IMO.

 

[synththfc]

Something needs to happen.

We have a considerably weaker squad than last season.

No Bale (goals), Vinicius (Cup goals), Toby (one of, if not our best defender during his time at the club)

We've got a backup keeper, a young raw player in Gil and Romero, who by all accounts is quality but ultimately unproven in the PL.

we’re in massive trouble. i’m ok with a rebuild but weve addressed 1 position of need out of like 6. really dangerous.

 

[thekneaf]

Now kane is resolved, time to go to some of those spinning plates, take them down and eat off them. Anyway...

We know the budget now and what is needed, time to make those moves.

 

[Aphex]

Romano says that Paratici has sold the project to Kane, so that must surely mean we will sign some proven quality.

You hope so anyway. If we end the window with just Traore, Gil and Romero it's been underwhelming IMO and not enough to make us real top 4 challengers.

We need at least one creative CM and a RB.

 

[ardiles&villa]

I know what you mean but we've also got the benefit of having rid ourselves of Jose. Let's not forget that on the day Jose was sacked we had dropped the most points from winning positions in the entire league. His tactics were the exact fucking opposite of what the squad's strengths and weaknesses were. Had we not been so risk averse immediately upon taking 1-0 leads -- had we allowed our world-class attackers to actually attack, and had we not put our error-prone defenders under massive pressure -- last season would have been very different indeed.

We've added a top talent in Romero and let's hope that Dragon is right about Tomiyasu. That'd be two CL-level defenders added to shore up our biggest weakness. The addition of Skipp also gives us some added steel and takes pressure off the back line.

We still have one of the most deadly strike forces in the world with Kane and Son up top. Add in Adama dragging the opponents completely out of their shape and a rejuvenated Dele making his patented late runs into the box, and we should have no shortage of firepower.

The biggest question for me is the midfield. Lo Celso and Ndombele were supposed to take the reigns from Eriksen and Dembele but haven't come anywhere close. We're linked with talented players in Auoar and McKennie, but will we get them in? Will we have the right balance? A lot hangs on whether we can fix the midfield, IMO.

How are you certain that tomiyasu is champs league quality? He played for Bologna and relatively untested at the top level.
Is skipp up to the Challenge or does he need more time ? That remains to be seen.
Is Dele going to start off well and then go off the boil ala last season? Possibly, possibly not.
What about if Kane gets injured. Are we really going into another season without a deputy striker?
Can we rely on our RB options for the whole season? I’m a fan of tanganga but he has injury history.
The point is we don’t have cover or a contingency for the weaknesses for the squad and we are hoping that what has dropped is enough.
Imo we are quite far off top 4 as is and with only a few days left I can’t see the squad getting fixed.

 

[DiVaio]

Something needs to happen.

We have a considerably weaker squad than last season.

No Bale (goals), Vinicius (Cup goals), Toby (one of, if not our best defender during his time at the club)

We've got a backup keeper, a young raw player in Gil and Romero, who by all accounts is quality but ultimately unproven in the PL.

Gil and Romero even as unproven are better players than current Toby and Vinicius. Skipp and Sess returned from loans.

 

[BigPlimpton]

Gil and Romero even as unproven are better players than current Toby and Vinicius. Skipp and Sess returned from loans.

I understand what you're going for in that Gil has more upside and potential as a wonderkid than Vinicius ever had. Replacing Lamela with Gil was a good strategic move, regardless of whether Gil pans out. It was Coco's time to go and we got probably the best deal we could get. Getting Romero in and structuring it as a loan to buy was another coup. But the problem of a terribly unbalanced squad is the remaining problem that Paritici hasn't solved at all and has arguably allowed to get worse. My problem with Paritici's summer is that the holes we had last summer are worse now than they were before, even as he's succeeded beyond expectation in sniping some outstanding talent from abroad on a limited budget.

We have three left backs but two are struggling. Three right backs but two are struggling. And three 'creative central midfielders' with two struggling for a proper fit and form. We don't have a backup nine. We don't really have a true 10. We have six #8s drawing paychecks (Hojbjerg, Sissoko, Winks, N'Dombele, GLC, Alli) but don't have a true holding 6 to compete with Skipp. The whole thing is just grossly unbalanced.

 

[JayB]

How are you certain that tomiyasu is champs league quality? He played for Bologna and relatively untested at the top level.
Is skipp up to the Challenge or does he need more time ? That remains to be seen.
Is Dele going to start off well and then go off the boil ala last season? Possibly, possibly not.
What about if Kane gets injured. Are we really going into another season without a deputy striker?
Can we rely on our RB options for the whole season? I’m a fan of tanganga but he has injury history.
The point is we don’t have cover or a contingency for the weaknesses for the squad and we are hoping that what has dropped is enough.
Imo we are quite far off top 4 as is and with only a few days left I can’t see the squad getting fixed.

Fair questions.

For Tomiyasu, I'm confident in him mostly because Atalanta were in so strongly for him. They're a CL club and they're renowned as having one of the most effective scouting operations in Europe. If they want him, and Paratici wants him, and as Dragon has said we rate him extremely highly, I'm confident he's got the quality.

For Dele, there's always a question of whether he will be consistent, but what has impressed me is that he's truly knuckled down and is showing desire. He spent the summer getting himself in the best physical condition of his career -- compare that to Ndombele who showed up overweight. He's working his nuts off on the pitch. My take on him is that in recent seasons he's been more interested in being a celebrity than being a footballer, but now that he's hit his mid-20s he has matured and seems to have rededicated himself to the game. I'm bullish on him this season, especially with his runs arriving late in the box picking up the scraps that Adama will create.

If Kane gets injured Son will play up top. Assuming our business gets done, our formation will be a 4-3-3 with Tomiyasu and Adama on the right. Tomiyasu tucks inside creating a de facto 3-5-2 in possession. You could shift Dele up in to the front line and have a strike partnership of Dele and Son in that formation, with someone slotting in for Dele in CM. Scarlett will play in the Conference League and cup matches. We've got options there.

As for RB, it'll be Tomiyasu and Tanganga. I rate Tomiyasu and Tanganga has been excellent as a fullback, so I'm content there.

There's plenty to be excited about this season if our business comes off. We've got a brilliant strike partnership, we've added a top-class defender in Romero, and we've gotten rid of Jose's toxic influence on the club. We're probably well behind all of Chelsea, City, Liverpool, and United, but there's no reason we can't finish fifth and compete to lift a cup. Who knows, if one of those clubs ahead of us runs into a crisis, perhaps there will be other targets to aim for.

 

[Lancaster Spur]

Something needs to happen.

We have a considerably weaker squad than last season.

No Bale (goals), Vinicius (Cup goals), Toby (one of, if not our best defender during his time at the club)

We've got a backup keeper, a young raw player in Gil and Romero, who by all accounts is quality but ultimately unproven in the PL.

I'm not so sure, it took Bale about half a season to find any form so it's not inconceivable that Gill can replace some of those goals/assists by then. Vinicius had very little real impact. Hopefully Scarlett, Devine and the other potentials in the development squad can take the opportunity to replace him.

Toby out Romero in is a step up in my opinion just because Toby's legs had gone and he was relying purely on experience at the end. Romero has huge potential whilst already being very good as he is.

 

[DiVaio]

But the problem of a terribly unbalanced squad is the remaining problem that Paritici hasn't solved at all and has arguably allowed to get worse. My problem with Paritici's summer is that the holes we had last summer are worse now than they were before, even as he's succeeded beyond expectation in sniping some outstanding talent from abroad on a limited budget.

We have three left backs but two are struggling. Three right backs but two are struggling. And three 'creative central midfielders' with two struggling for a proper fit and form. We don't have a backup nine. We don't really have a true 10. We have six #8s drawing paychecks (Hojbjerg, Sissoko, Winks, N'Dombele, GLC, Alli) but don't have a true holding 6 to compete with Skipp. The whole thing is just grossly unbalanced.

Well another issue this is what fans are thinking how badly unbalanced is our squad and I'm not sure this is the case for the club. Ask our fanbase and half will say we desperately need attacking midfielder and half that we desperately need another defensive midfielder.

We don't need a "true 10" when we currently use 4-3-3, we weren't even linked with one player of this style. Hojbjerg was 6 for us last season, can easily play this position again. Alli, Lo Celso, Ndombele, Winks and Sissoko are good and balanced options for #8.
Who is struggling from Sessegnon or Davies? It's great depth for our left back with Sess being able to play as a winger or Davies as center-back. Looks like Aurier will be sold, that's will be two options for right back or we will sign Tomiyasu.

Still looks the same - we will sign another winger or pure 9. 6 players on 3 positions(or seven with Jack Clarke), most of them can play on multiple positions too. Don't really think this is unbalanced squad at all.

 

[Reece_Spurs]

we’re in massive trouble. i’m ok with a rebuild but weve addressed 1 position of need out of like 6. really dangerous.

What a massive over reaction, we are in no way in "massive trouble" come on now.

The window hasn't closed yet.

Keeping Kane (regardless of your feelings towards him) is huge. Thats a good 40-50 goal contributions we no longer have to worry about replacing just in one player.

I'd trust our ITKs they've said since the start of the summer then can't see Kane going anywhere, a huge amount of people continuously belittled them or just completely ignored them, look what happened? They literally called how it would play out from day 1.

Still getting linked fairly closely to multiple centre mids, Traore and more. Think Traore is very likely then the rest will fall into place after.

Relax. Go into complete over the top meltdown if we are in this current situation next week.

Also, look down the road, it could always be worse

 

[13VanDerBale13]

All building up to deadline day, since the season has started we’ve gone dead silent …

 

[BigPlimpton]

Well another issue this is what fans are thinking how badly unbalanced is our squad and I'm not sure this is the case for the club. Ask our fanbase and half will say we desperately need attacking midfielder and half that we desperately need another defensive midfielder.

We don't need a "true 10" when we currently use 4-3-3, we weren't even linked with one player of this style. Hojbjerg was 6 for us last season, can easily play this position again. Alli, Lo Celso, Ndombele, Winks and Sissoko are good and balanced options for #8.
Who is struggling from Sessegnon or Davies? It's great depth for our left back with Sess being able to play as a winger or Davies as center-back. Looks like Aurier will be sold, that's will be two options for right back or we will sign Tomiyasu.

Still looks the same - we will sign another winger or pure 9. 6 players on 3 positions(or seven with Jack Clarke), most of them can play on multiple positions too. Don't really think this is unbalanced squad at all.

Without getting too far into this, Hojbjerg for me is not elite playing as a 6 and I’ve got a lot of concerns with the notion floating around in these parts that 4-3-3 means you can just play whoever in whichever midfield spot because there are three of them. If that was true (it isn’t) and there wasn’t a need for a ball recovering, possession recycling six (there is) at the base of the formation then N’Dombele might have been more successful here.

And by the way, I love the kid but at some point this season Skippy is going to go two feet into a horrendous challenge and see red. In an ideal world he would be the option for the UEL and cup matches this year while he keeps growing into his game/size. Right now his footwork is a tad loose. And I emphasize that the kid is great. Again, just for me an issue of not having an alternative to compete and push him and a concern that Paritici is off big game hunting rather than patching a leaking roof, arguably what did in the final transfer window under Poch.

 

[nitinnamb]

Ideally this window ends with us getting 3 more signings. An attacker (Traore), a creative midfielder (Aouar) and a right back (Tomiyasu) this would be the ideal situation for me. I'm literally trying to speak it into existence! ?

 

[Frozen_Waffles]

Not keen on this at all. Don't think we need another runner in midfield - we have that with PEH, Skipp and Dele. We need a more technical midfielder who can can see a pass, take the ball in tight areas, and control the tempo. Currently only Ndombele and Lo Celso have that skillset but Tanguy obviously wants out.

I still keep waiting on pjanic, I think he is the perfect addition for us. Someone who can sit and pass the ball.

I know he wants juventus (or an Italian club) and they want him. But it's been dragging on for weeks now, I hope we can nab him at the end.

 

[spids]

Funny to see so many glasses half full. I’m an optimist. And I think our defence is stronger already this season. A combination of Romero being a top drawer CB, Tanganga’s continued progression, Nuno’s coaching and the shield provided by CM. And if Lloris does get injured we’ve got a quality back up GK who can dive to his left.

CM - undoubtedly we’re stronger. No Winks or Sissoko near the starting XI. Really have very high hopes for Skipp who has not disappointed so far. We could do with a passer, but in a 4-3-3 - with reliance on an aggressive front 3, and Kane able to drop as a 10, I’m not sure it’s really needed.

Up front - a front three of Son, Kane and Traore - that’s as good as anything in the league, with Gil, Bergwijn and Moura to each offer something different on the flanks. Imagine a teams RB saying to his RCB - ‘when Traore is on my side you need to double up with me’, but the LCB is saying to the RCB ‘if Kane drops you need go with him’, but their manager is saying to their CBs ‘don’t leave any space between you as Son will make a diagonal run behind’. And none of them are saying ‘Dele will ghost to the back post, who is picking him up?’.

I really think that in a month people will be talking about us as dark horses for the top 4.

 

[Tucker]

Copied this over from the Traore thread…



I’m honestly surprised that clubs don’t have this kind of thing in place already, when your players are multi million pound assets driving the success of multi billion pound businesses it makes sense to make sure they are in tip top shape in every way. That’s before you even consider the benefits this could have with youth players, support staff etc etc. Looks like a good move by the club.

 

[Roberts84]

I'm assuming that we have three or four deals ready to go but can't press the button until we offload from the wage bill, whilst also factoring in that we have only one more space for a non-homegrown player. If we can shift our deadwood, I think we will see three come in next week. However, we can't have players taking £80k a week and not be registered or in Tanguy's case £200k a week.