TWar

I think this is a little harsh, he is quicker than Vestergaard, while still not rapid, is decently agile, and puts in a good tackle. I still think he is good enough to start for a relegation battling prem side, and £15m is about right for him. I just think we actually have some really excellent players. Salisu, kwp, Tino, JWP, Romeu, and Broja all start for a top 8 side imo, and Adams and Stu when on form are both top half level. We just have some very very weak spots in second cb and goalkeeper and not great options at attacking mid when Stu is off form. We sign a top cb and a goalkeeper and we are a dark horse for europe

Pre Ralph he had 5 starts behind Hoedt, Stephens and Vestergaard in a season and a half and then was a £4m signing from the Polish league (and fans at the time had no idea why we bought him). Now he is a starting prem cb and polish international. To think he has "regressed" you'd need to be an idiot.

People on this forum could suggest people, Caleta-Car, tosin, Worrall or whatever. But we don't know how much they would be, if they are keen on joining, wages, if the clubs are willing to sell etc. We want the scouting department that signed Tino, KWP, Salisu etc. to have the money at their disposal that we could get for Bednarek because we trust them to find a better defender.

Big shout. I don't know if Simeu is good enough to start next season and play on the level of Salisu, I think it will take a while for him to reach that level. Could be wrong though.

I don't care about getting a starter right now. If we sign someone who takes a season to bed in and just play Stephens and Lyanco in that season then that is fine, Bednarek is marginally better than both probably but not that much and if that means we have another Salisu in a years time that is a sacrifice I am perfectly willing to make. And that is if we sign someone with an injury like Salisu, we could sign someone smart, young, and quality for no money through scouting which is so good that even a chunk of our fans don't realise what great business we have done. We call this move "an insane signing" and we managed it pretty recently.

Bednarek when Ralph came in was benched, starting 5 games in the previous season and a half, unable to get past Hoedt, Stephens and Vestergaard who were at the time one of the worst defences in the league. The season before that he was in the Polish league, and wasn't considered great there either. If you say he has regressed since Ralph I'd ask when do you think he was better? Better scouting than the guys who buy Bednarek... We sold Vestergaard for £4m more than we bought Salisu for, so something like that.

I think Bednarek is bang average unfortunately. Since Ralph has arrived he has improved from a championship level player to a 15th-20th level prem player but in a back 4 of Tino, Salisu, and KWP, all three of which I think are good enough to compete for the top 8, he really stands out. Not as much as whatever player we have in goal, but still a definite weak link. If we could get £15m for him id sell and try to upgrade.

I would stick with the 352 but I guess the two reasons one might deviate from the formation with Brentford would be: 1) Lyanco was still pretty erratic and better forwards might make him pay for his poor touchs and overplaying 2) whilst we won 4-1 we actually didn't create a huge amount. We had an xG of 1.4 and were aided by some very fine touches and finishes. Wolves have a better defence so maybe having an extra creative mid might help break them down, even though we didn't need it at Brentford as they are worse defensively and we finished very well

McTomminay and Matic (or Fred for that matter) aren't half as good as JWP and Romeu.

11am

Never played football manager but given your comments regarding Pompey, JWP, and San Marino...

True he is an exciting player, I hope he keeps it up.

Yeah it's impressive, I'm not saying it isn't. But it is a small sample size. He needs to perform at that rate for a little while before we can call him a £40m player. Often players come in to the prem and put up silly numbers before falling away. Look at Pukki, Austin at QPR, or Michu. Gabbiadini scored 6 goals in his first 5 saints games iirc. He's good, I'm not arguing with that. He's in red hot form, but he probably isn't worth £40m as yet. And certainly isn't nailed on CL level or about to displace Lukaku as seems to have been suggested.

I'm not saying Broja isn't good, he has been very good and is in my preferred starting 11 over Armstrong every week. So I absolutely admit I was wrong about that one as I thought Armstrong would adapt a lot better and Broja worse. I just think, as exciting as he is now, half a season and 5 goals isn't quite enough to make him a £40m player and definitely a future champions league level player. It's worth not getting too carried away. Especially with a loan signing, if the price tag is £40m I'd prefer we look elsewhere.

I don't at all. Targett is not a prem level player imo, has been awful in most games I've seen him in this season.

I think given they have both only been here for half a season there are question marks over both, is Broja a flash in the pan, will Armstrong adapt better with more time?

I think a lot of this is very harsh on Armstrong and a little generous to Broja. Armstrong isn't "pacy ish", he broke the prem top speed record at the start of the season, he is two footed, intelligent and passes well, he also is a very good dribbler. Broja has been class but he definitely has weaknesses and has more than a few games he has gone completely anonymous. I also think it is too early to really conclusively judge either. Often the ability to adapt quicker isn't indicative of being better long term. We should wait and see, hopefully we pick up Broja long term and then we have both as options (although those suggesting £40m are a little overdoing it)

Broja had been good exclusively at U23 and in a weaker league and has hit the ground flying but it was not unrealistic when he'd had like two starts to back the more proven forward. Jwp has always been great since Ralphs arrival and you have never rated him. He is miles above 10-15 level, its a game of opinions but that opinion is borderline ridiculous (like others you have shared previously). 4222 does work, worked very well for us in 2020, for rb leipzig, for Salzburg, etc. if it were such a poor formation then managers wouldn't have tried it so much. And Ralph has been using 3 at the back and changing up the formation since the beginning of the season (and big chunks of last season) you just haven't noticed. Perraud I wasn't "wetting my pants" I said he was a good fullback and would be a good signing, if you thought we were getting Roberto Carlos for £11m from Stade Brest I don't know what to tell you, maybe use slightly better critical reasoning skills. I maintain he is a good signing, he doesn't start because KWP has been incredible this season from lb, I think he is 3rd for overall ball progression in the league for defenders, and Tino is superb. Regarding Tino, I thought it was an insane signing for the price and potential. I didn't predict he was going to come in and dominate everything, that surprised even me, but being the Chelsea academy player of the season at just 18 is incredible. To get a player like that for just £5m is great business and it proved to be the case quickly.

I think Neves has dipped in form a bit of late. Telemanns is top draw, agreed.

Yeah, maybe a bit generous on him.

Imo Phillips is a bit overrated. The likes of him, Neves, Allan, Hojbjerg, and Moutinho are the tier below the ones listed.

Formations are weird. I think it started as 352 with Tella at rwb and redmond/broja up top but at times it was definitely a 343 with JWP at rwb, especially after Tella came off.

I'd stick with the 352 with Adams and Broja up top and KWP in at RWB, but aside from that the same team that started at Brentford.

It's a good point. To be honest I think we have moved to a 3 at the back a few times and also tried out other formations like a 4141 and neither of those were forced by injury so it is definitely in Ralphs locker to change it up tactically. I'd give him the benefit of the doubt on it.

No idea why people are so bothered by the phone thing. The crowd seemed to be having fun with it.