verlaine1979

Can someone who has actually gone through the accounts released in the past few years shed any light on whether the owner has actually taken any money out of the club?

Absolutely this. The entire back-end of last season we struggled for goals, except on the odd occasion when the opposition were so abject that we could help ourselves. In the first half of the season the defence were incredibly good (and we got incredibly lucky with some penalty decisions etc) but we weren't especially high scoring, and I remember at the time thinking that some of the results were pretty fortunate with us scoring an unusually high % of our chances (Swansea, Stoke, Hull). This season looks like more of the same, with the majority of balls either going long or wide, and generally taking an age to get there in the latter case. The team is crying out for someone who can pick up the ball on half-way and drive to the edge of the box, as without one it seems we'll continue to pass in front of rather than through teams.

Yes, that's exactly what everyone is saying. With two years still left next summer there's no chance of his value being reduced just as a function of contract duration, and there's every chance that with another good year his value will increase further compared to today.

Pione Sisto, the young player mentioned in the article above, has a pretty good highlights reel.

I think mostly it's out of blind hope that he'll create more there than the current incumbents in that position. From his cameo last weekend, I'd be surprised if Romeu lost his place alongside VW any time soon - he seems to have a combination of physical presence, concentration and reasonable mid-range passing that make him a bit of a cut-price Schneiderlin. Clasie on the other hand has a reputation for hard work, defensive tenacity & excellent passing that at least, on paper, make him sound like an upgrade on our current first choice 3rd CM, who has the hard work but not the passing quality. It doesn't happen often, but occasionally players do get signed with a different position in mind (e.g. when Man Utd signed Anderson he was being hailed as the new Ronaldinho, but they converted him into a defensive midfielder).

Why couldn't Clasie provide defensive quality while being a much better passer of the ball than Davis? If anything, the Dutch contingent questioned Clasie's attacking qualities, not his work rate or defensive capacity - I'd still play him ahead of Davis once he's fit though for the simple reason that Davis already doesn't score or assist, so if we're not losing out on the work rate by playing Clasie, we might as well *try* and find out if he's got a goal or a killer pass in him...

Defence was poor, but we know that's going to be reinforced. Missed quite a few decent chances, but they all came from set pieces. The real problem for me is the absolute lack of connection between midfield and attack. When we pick up the ball in midfield, 9 times out of 10 the same thing will happen - whoever has it will look around for a few seconds, then inevitably dump it wide. Compared with the way Everton played today, there's absolutely no variety in our attack. Everton used their fullbacks when appropriate, but the likes of Barkley and Kone weren't afraid to turn and drive at our defence, committing players and creating overloads elsewhere. We've had this problem for more than two seasons, and haven't looked to address it at all this summer unless Juanmi converts from the on-the-shoulder striker he appears to be.

Reminds me of that West Brom game from a couple of seasons ago. We just seem to have no answer to their running power in attack - Lukaku & Barkley seem untouchable. We've also been typically indecisive in attack, with the usual suspects moving the ball far too slowly & always looking to push it wide with no variation (compare how many times Everton have already attacked centrally).

I think we've been caught on the counter from our own corners more in the first two games of this season than we were all of last. Clyne used to stay back for those, right?

I doubt Schneiderlin's highlight reel would be all that exciting, barring a couple of good goals in the last two seasons. Romeu looks strong, determined and can pass well with both feet over short and medium distances. Long range passing looked a bit hit and miss - some excellent MS-esque diagonals, some overhit - though on a game by game basis I don't think Morgan hit every single long ball attempt to feet. If Romeu is genuinely fit and unaffected by his prior injury, I think he'll fit in to the team very well. However, since he doesn't have much of a scoring record compared to Morgan, it means Davis or whoever gets that third CM slot will have to contribute a lot more to the attacking stats than they did last season. It's a moot point while he's injured, but I wonder if they are going to try and convert Clasie to the role Davis has been playing - as a former DM he'd certainly know how to press and tackle and provide the energy Davis is known for, but by reputation he is a far more incisive passer, so might create more than Davis has managed the last few seasons.

Why would they oblige though? Generally speaking, the less players cost in transfer fees as they approach the end of their contracts, the more they can ask for in signing bonuses. If you were confident of a move to a big club in the next year and you knew your remaining contract life had approximately halved your transfer value (as it did with Clyne), signing a new 1 year contract would be the equivalent of handing over several million pounds in return for a salary increase that might amount to 1-2m maximum.

Looks strong and a reasonable passer with both feet. Wonder if we could move Clasie further forward in place of Davis or JWP, where his ability with through-balls etc might be better utilised?

Doubt it - Mascherano is pretty much the only DM I can think of who has successfully converted to a regular CB.

Worth remembering that we robbed them in that game with more or less our only two strikes on goal. Newcastle have spent heavily this summer as they have a new manager and needed to catch up with squads like ours and Swansea's, as have several other lower-mid table teams.

I see you comprehend facetiousness about as well as you understand football. I'm slightly curious as to why you haven't noticed that you expend an identical amount of energy responding to every one of my criticisms, but I fear your answer would get weirdly emotional and I'd prefer to spare you the upset.

It's cute that you think I must have some kind of personal vendetta against him, but I don't. I just think he's hugely overrated on this site, and somebody needs to point that out whenever all the mystifying 'he's so important' rubbish commences. Davis is a decent pro who has had a decent career without ever being exceptional, and certainly without ever coming close to being the most underrated player in the league. Over the last year he's made an increasing number of defensive mistakes, giving the ball away and not covering his man on crosses, so the defensive/hard work arguments that used to prevail when his lack of attacking productivity was raised no longer hold water. In his Premier League career, Davis has produced a goal or assist once every 10.2 games; Gylfi Sigurdsson's average is 2.6. Maybe I'm being unfair in asking that we maybe reach parity with Swansea in our attacking central midfield options, but hey, you've got to dream big, eh? Perhaps your footballing ideal is incredibly hard working British players of limited talent, but if so, you might be supporting the wrong club. After all, our greatest icon was known more for his skill than his graft...

Funnily enough he was on the field last season for West Brom at home, Man City at home, Burnley at home, Swansea at home, Liverpool at home, West Brom away, Everton away, Stoke, Sunderland & Leicester away and pretty much every other game where as an attacking force we were missing 'something'.

Yup, we're desperately missing the driving running from deep that he almost never does.

Last season he gave away possession lots in the middle of the field by holding on to it too long looking for the easy pass. He also hasn't scored a league goal in almost a season and a half, and only contributed 2 direct assists last season. I've always said he's decent player and one I'm happy to see on the bench, but his shortcomings as a starting attacker are definitely one of the reasons we've often looked toothless under both Pochettino and Koeman (as many have pointed out, he's been a regular starter for both managers, and both managers' teams have exhibited the same lack of creativity in midfield). I'm sure lots of people love him for his energy and utility, both of which are great attributes - but for me those are the attributes of a useful sub, not a nailed on starter in a team that aspires to top six status and a European presence.

Wanyama and Mane were a cut above. Clasie seemed to be rushing his passing and gave the ball away several times - presumably just nerves though, as he can clearly pass. Juanmi didn't get involved much, but that little chip for the goal was sublime, so he's definitely got good technique. Stekelenburg did everything asked of him. As for the rest, Targett and Cedric both got involved plenty, with the latter maybe a bit more of a threat, but also a bit less accurate off-loading it. Davis was his usual mediocre self, as was Pelle, though he garnished his usual showing of flicks-that-don't-quite-come-off with a brilliant finish. Tadic looked full of energy, so hopefully he's over whatever injury issue it was that hobbled him for the latter half of last season.

That's probably because he primarily plays as an attacking midfielder, but hasn't scored in about a season and a half and only got 2 assists last year. Not remotely good enough.

He didn't look that influential in the World Cup either, mostly wafting about on the periphery of games, though he did pop up with a goal and an assist or two. Perhaps he's one of those deceptively effective players?

No idea if he can defend, but our formation would certainly benefit from a CB who is prepared to take the ball forward when space allows. He appears to be a good passer, and obviously strikes a brilliant free kick. Could definitely see him linking well with someone like Clasie to increase our tempo building from the back (which could be incredibly slow at times last season).

Historically, British clubs have been the exception rather than the rule, I suppose because for a (relatively) long time, there was a degree of scepticism about whether foreign players could hack it in our league. Clubs like Porto, A Madrid, Lyon, Hoffenheim and a bunch of others have been bringing in low-profile South Americans (like Firmino) for years in the expectation that if they're any good they'll be sold on for a massive profit. It's only an unsustainable model if a) you're particularly wedded to recruiting new players from your home country, b) your scouting isn't up to scratch, and c) you aren't prepared to accept that there will be a couple of duds for every gem uncovered.

You'd be right if the third central midfielder in our system was an out-and-out attacker, but Davis and JWP both play as 'water-carriers' in the Deschamps mould, rather than as number 10s, contributing a lot more to pressing/harrying in the middle and defensive thirds than they do to creating/scoring up front (yes, JWP's 6 assists are promising, but no, they don't disprove my point). Surely you can also accept that our 6th place goalscoring record was rather burnished by two very large home wins against defensively frail opposition, which have contrived to disguise our less-than-stellar back-end to the season, when, for example, we managed a solitary goal in five league games during February?