verlaine1979

There are people on the forum who believe that Semmens is so powerful he pevented Gao from selling the club and recouping 200m until a buyer was found who would guarantee to keep Semmens as CEO. It's cobblers, as is the story about us losing Gakpo or Ramos - neither player was ever coming here. You use Saints as a stepping stone when you're trying to move from Willem II or Braga, not when you're already playing for PSV or Benfica.

We didn't play any better against City (and particularly not against Everton) than we did against Chelsea before Lavia got injured. Jones has added nothing to the passing style of the team. Nothing at all. Our ball retention is generally terrible and our possession stats have nosedived. I'll listen to claims that we're nastier, or more compact, or more aggressive or whatever (even though I think those are mostly junk or irrelevant). But there is literally no argument to be made that we're a better footballing side. We have no idea of how to move the ball, no distinct patterns of play, no discernible combination play on the wings, no movement through the middle. We're garbage to watch.

The answer is Lavia. It's nothing to do with Jones. When Lavia is in the side, our midfield looks okay. When he isn't. it looks dire. JWP playing further forward worked for a grand total of one game.

Lavia isn't playing more than 60 minutes per game at the moment, and we're almost certain to lose him in the summer whether we stay up or go down. Diallo is as a nuisance, but a massive MASSIVE step down in quality from Lavia, particularly in terms of keeping what tiny percentage of possession we have in game these days. Hjulmand, a winger and a striker on loan is the absolute best we can expect at this point, which means it's almost certain that none of those will happen. But eh, at least we managed to add a right back with the worst passing stats in the championship to the squad.

Maybe if DCC hadn't been absolutely skinned for their winner he'd have a case for retaliating. As it is, I'd rather the team focus on trying to hit more than two consecutive passes before they start getting in touch with their feelings, aggressive or otherwise. All of this gash about aggression and getting in people's faces is just a distraction. If you can move the ball and score goals, the dark arts are the icing on the cake, maybe giving you an edge in exceedingly close games. If you're utter shite like we are at the moment, all they do is get you waved off the pitch by the team that's just beat you.

Err, considering Edozie, Mara and Armstrong have a grand total of one league goal between them this season, I'm not sure where your confidence in their ability to overcome lesser sides stems from. Hoping that JWP will score enough free kicks to keep us up is a pretty startling display of optimism.

Plane on the runway even though he was playing for PSV (and scoring a hattrick) the night the window closed?

Prophets always face persecution

US commentators saying no pattern to our play, which just about sums it up. Every player seems to have to spend a couple of seconds looking the next pass when they get the ball. Couple that with the lack of confidence in their ability to actually execute a pass (Diallo the main culprit there along with Mara) and it's no surprise we barely string more than two passes together.

Almiron played about 3 one-twos building that move up the right before Willock blazed over. Could we try, y'know, passing and moving it like that once or twice, maybe?

Evan Ferguson has just got 3 in 5 for Brighton at 18, so still seems to be a case of if you're good enough you're old enough, even with the money that's flooded into the league since the era of Owen and Milner.

Whoa there, horsey. I didn't make any statement about Brighton's league prospects, just their recruitment. We managed one successful squad turnover in 2014/15 and signed VVD a year later. But for the most part, every major departure since then has seen a deterioration in quality until the most recent window (also, I'll give you Ings, though that was more of a punt on reviving a well-understood but injury ravaged career than smart scouting). We were cash constrained, so maybe we just could afford an heir and a spare like Brighton apparently can, but I've seen saying for years that our transfer strategy is flawed if we want to pursue a buy to sell model. Going one in, one out just carries to much risk of a single bad signing disrupting our finances. Football is a results business, and we had some good years under Poch and Koeman. But it's an entertainment too, and to be honest, I'd much rather we finished every season 15th playing attractive football than finish 8th playing the tedious dross we've endured the past three years.

Brighton's recruitment seems a bit more far-sighted than ours did in our glory days. Over the past two seasons they've sold big players in White, Burn, Cucurella, Bissouma and Trossard, along with losing Mwepu to early retirement from a heart condition (while also getting good money for the likes of Maupay, Knockaert etc.). But in addition to buying a few 20m+ replacements, they've also been speculating with cheap buys from non-European leagues and then sending them on loan for a season. Caicedo is already being linked with 50m+ valuation, and it won't be long before Mitoma is similarly rated - both arrived for relative peanuts, spent a year on loan, and then returned to the first team. In contrast, even during the height of our sales we generally only replaced 1 for 1, which meant when the likes of Lemina, Boufal and Elyounoussi failed to step up, we had no other options. In that respect, Brighton are making a much better attempt at copying the Dortmund model than we ever did. It's a numbers game - not all signings work out, so you need to spread the net wide. If you can afford to.

I find it amazing that anyone watched that game and thought we went toe to toe with Villa. The gulf in class during the first half in particular was vast - they cut through our midfield like they were Man City, and had long spells maintaining pressure on the edge of our box while we struggled to connect three consecutive passes. We had a two minute spell of pressure in the second half that produced Armstrong's shot and the disallowed goal while they failed to turn their superior possession into clear chances. But they were wasteful while we were feeding on absolute scraps - let's not kid ourselves that those are the same. As an attacking side we're just so rigid. Players hold their positions and wait for the ball rather than looking to find space. It reminds me of that saying from the Poch era, that the players play from a position rather than in a position. Be disciplined by all means and keep one eye on what your movement will mean if we lose the ball and you have to defend. But at least try and find space that isn't within a boot-length of your opponent. For three seasons and counting our only attacking idea has been playing the ball to a fullback in a postage-stamp of space on the touchline. It's getting pretty old.

He's utter gash. The KWP offside goal demonstrated all of his worst qualities: terrible awareness, no anticipation, no technique. Trundles around at 5mph, always on his heels. Che is where our attacking intent goes to die.

Terrible first half. Che utter shite. Villa so much better on and off the ball. VAR decision was bad, but aside from that two minute flurry around their box before the disallowed goal we created no sustained pressure at all. Must, must, must drop Armstrong, Che and Diallo. It Orsic and Alcaraz aren't good enough to come in and make a difference we might as well give up.

Commentators on the highlights said he's now top scorer for Burnley. Since they're running away with the Champ and are top scorers in the league, there's clearly goals all over the side, which also possibly explains why Tella's numbers don't look impressive compared to Che and AA. Some of his finishes this season look to have been very tidy. Armstrong had some decent finishes in his YT clips before we signed him, but it should've been obvious to anyone scouting Che that he doesn't know how to kick a football.

Che's build up is okay, but it only stands out in contrast to the utter paucity of his finishing and anticipation in the box. He's moderately good at some things and terrible at others. Broja was (before his injury) very good at being incredibly fast and strong and was a better than average finisher. All three of those qualities IN ISOLATION are more valuable than anything Che is good at.

Didn't West Ham bid over 30m for Broja in the summer? The going rate for pace, height, power and finishing is... above our price range.

They also both did better than Michael Olise in the Championship. Not sure Palace would be up for a swap though.

Considering the US team barely mustered a shot on target with him leading the line at the WC (despite being pretty solid elsewhere on the pitch), this is hopefully one of those fabled "smokescreen" rumours.

Blimey, sounds like we're shaking a lot of trees compared to our usual January activity. 4m would put Toko-Ekambi squarely in Orsic territory - experience that doesn't break the bank. Roughly a goal every 2.5 games during his top flight career across France and Spain (2016-present), so could be a bit of a steal if true.

Eh, he connected well with a header against Everton, but it wasn't really a flick on since it was uncontested. I've yet to see much evidence that he actually wins much usable ball in the air when he's jumping against the CB. Played to feet and chest he shields it well enough, but I just don't see any evidence that Adams is getting much done in the air aside from skimming the odd ball into touch or back to their keeper.

I do have a sneaking suspicion we'll pay for promise and try to loan in experience in deadline day. Big gamble, but if it pays off it would give us the best chance of balancing on-field and financial performance.

Thing is, I don't think you get Ings for a snip of that price - I bet Villa are asking 20m for the reasons everyone has mentioned. Even at 30 year old, he's scoring goals. You just won't get any of that money back. Whether we can afford to spend 20m on someone with no probable resale value is a tough question, but it doesn't sound like it.