Chez

look at the difference there with that Saints free kick. Incredibly high line by United, but every deepest player when the ball was crossed was a United player and it was easy to head away. How is it that we are the total opposite? Something is very wrong with how we defend set pieces.

almost 30 seconds there with 4 vs 3. How do they have the extra man all the time

also got to have a threat on the break. two strikers ad two wingers but no real threat so far. Risky not having the extra central midfielder.

only extra bodies saving us so far. One we get tired and the extra defender is not there we will be in trouble. Got to get a goal to hang on to. Getting the ball would be a start...

team full of smallish players and players that don't head the ball.

just as well we added lots of power and strength in the air during the summer. Look at Stephens marking Pogba from that free kick. Fucking terrible.

actually, I do, but that's not to say I think either are any good. They are both very poor at this level.

the high line and not marking from free kicks pays off again...somehow.

has there ever been a more agent-placed story than this? Ryan Christie is looking a major move. PLG place this story to attract interest, oh and while we are at it, PLG get their (also) client Stuart Armstrong a massive new contract.

youtube shows the best of a player. You can get some insight, but you need to view them very critically, however, if the `best of' video doesn't impress you have problems. His videos show a very skillful player. He is going to help us keep the ball, which is very important. He takes chances, so may get mugged a few times. They just don't show much dominant powerful defending. Doesn't mean he doesn't have that in his locker, its just not clear. Anyone know how many scouts do we have? I wonder how many Torino games we have attended over the last 12 months?

good question. Getting outnumbered in the middle kills you. So three in midfield might be needed, with wingers making five. Che would have to be the lone striker. Not sure Ralph is going to do that, so unless the new CB solves all our problems, which he wont, we need to improve collectively or points are going to be hard to come by.

no it wasn't. It was 3 league goals in his first month (aug 17 to Sep 17). one against West Ham (30th August) and 2 against Newcastle (13th Sept). If you meant just August, it was 1 league goal. Either way you are mistaken. sydenhamsocks said he scored half a dozen goals, not half a dozen league goals. So why wouldn't he want to include the cup goal? You narrowed it down to the league. The long and short of it is that he scored 5 prem goals in his first 6 games, plus a cup goal during that period, so a pretty damn good start. Lets get back to this CB. Do you think he will he go straight into the side and make an immediate impact or will he be more of a Bednarek, where he is initially cover? With Salisu and Bednarek both limited on the ball, is a ball playing CB exactly what we need? Do we still have the arial ability we need to defend set pieces? Is CB the real issue, or do we ship goals for other reasons?

I don't recall Celtic fans saying stuff like this when we signed VVD.

I've watched his youtube videos. Not a lot there to suggest he is a dominant defender. Hard to make a good judgement as there are so many clips of him dribbling with the ball, juggling over forwards heads etc. He doesn't look outstanding in the air. Not sure about the other stuff. We will have to wait and see. I'd say he looks very tidy with the ball indeed - just as you would expect of a Brazilian. He can work his way out of tight spaces just as Vestegaard could. Passing looks OK too. He can play and that should not be underestimated. Whether he is the complete package, a strong defender that can play...

another 24 year old center back. Watford heavily linked this week - supposedly in negotiations. His 5 minute youtube video is pretty much all with the ball at his feet. Right footed, very comfortable. Dribbles out and pings long balls all day long. No idea if he can defend though.

I was going to suggest we take another look at Michael Cuisance. Another player discussed on this forum last summer with a great left peg, as I recall. I thought he was by far and away the best of the midfielders, talent wise, we chatted about. He was the guy going to sign for Leeds last summer from Bayern, but failed a medical, so went on loan to Marseille. I Googled him to see how that loan went and looks like not very well (understatement) and now he's back at Bayern - they are now desperate to get rid amidst talk of poor attitude/lack of application. The article I read pointed to him acting a twat to get the move to Bayern and now surprise surprise they have a twat they don't want. Not saying we should sign, but highlighting how easy it is to sign a Lemina. Sorry, you didnt really need to know any of this. I am just trying to get Michael Cuisance out of my system, as I really wanted us to sign him. Nothing to see here...

he's the guy we discussed on here a fair bit last summer in relation to CM before we signed Diallo. Very nice left peg, big solid guy, extremely comfortable on the ball, reminds me of Tom Huddleston in terms of style. Classy. I think the feedback from our Dutch fans was that he was good, but perhaps not quite Prem ready. Has he had another good season? I may have got the wrong fella of course.

as Turkish said, once an agency knows the club's wage ceiling for its most important player, that's what you can demand for JWP (who with Ings leaving became our most important player). As you say though, it keeps him happy. Lets hope he can justify it over the next few years. He has been very consistent in the last two.

Does anyone believe that Smith Rowe wanted to leave Arsenal for Villa? He was already first choice at Arsenal, who are bigger than Villa. His agent used Villa to get Rowe a new monster contract. It's football agency 101. Show there is interest from another club, who are willing to pay x in wages, then demand the same to stay at existing club.

plays left centre back in all the videos. Looks pretty two footed to me. He's not a rolls royce of a CB like VVD, but there are some similar traits. He's kind of like a Salisu but better on the ball. Looks powerful in the air, and dominates on the floor, which we desperately need. He gets stuck in, my only concern is a lot of the time he gets a little too tight or the wrong side fractionally. He recovers that situation well by strong arming (fouling, using his body etc.) the opponent, which is both good and bad. We want that physical presence, but we don't want to give all those free kicks away. Better opponents will need a little more respect perhaps.

I missed that game (playing cricket at the time). got any insight on his ability? Did he smother Kane?

Fair point. West Ham heavily linked. Not many clubs in Europe with money to spend. Maybe it could happen. Like the physical attributes. Looks stronger than Worrall, and from the small bit of footage I have seen he looks like he pings a decent ball too. Not sure Worrall he has that in his locker.

if I was signing for Liverpool in January, but for the actions of my club, I am not sure I'd be considering Saints six months later. Feels beyond us, sadly.

fine by me. Much prefer we sign players that are too good for us and dint stay, than not good enough and cant get rid. I've not seen him play, but he looked powerful in the youtube video I just watched. Did he really turn down Liverpool? Feels a massive step down to us, but who knows...

24 year old, two footed, barrel chested, tall centre back, with 280 games and international experience. How much do Marseille want for him. I've read £14m, which seems in our ball park. Not sure why he'd want to join us mind.