saintant

Thanks

No but I thought we'd go with a strong mix in each half tonight.

Makes sense, Spurs away coming up in 10 days so field the B team.

Who do we have on the bench?

I might be wrong but wasn't Ralph quoted as saying this about Romeu playing up with the forwards and knowing how to score goals after one of the friendlies?

With just two pre season friendlies to go we need to see the intensity ramping up. No point strolling around in these two matches and then expect to hit the ground running against Spurs. We should be seeing signs that the starting line up is taking shape and beginning to gel. I'm hoping for a more dynamic approach, would like to see us getting the ball forward much quicker, pressing high up the pitch, creating some presentable chances and scoring some goals.

Yes but, as someone else mentioned, we've been left exposed down the flanks and Ralph will not want that in league games.

I fear Ralph is going to go with 5 at the back. My other fear with this formation is that he will instruct the two wing backs to be ultra cautious about venturing forward so, in effect, we'll be playing with a back 5 which will cut down the little supply we provide for the strikers even more.

Think Djenepo will start against Spurs at left wing back.

Agree, looks super talented but maybe a little outside our budget.

If we want a dynamic, creative midfielder who can carry the ball at speed and beat player then maybe Luka Ivanusec is the answer. Leeds are reported to be interested and he looks a brilliant player just the type who would get our static midfield moving. Worth checking his skills video - the one that's 7m35 seconds long titled 'He was born to dribble' is the best and the title sums him up. Looks as though he'd be a good fit for the Prem and our philosophy of selling on for profit. Wouldn't cost a fortune. Would love to see him playing for us because we have nobody who can carry the ball and dribble like him and that is often what creates chances. Go get him Joe.

Yeah, forgot about work permits. Not sure of the rules or how long they take to sort out but wouldn't have thought it's anything like two years?

Young 20 year old Dion Drena Beljo looks a prospect. He's Croatian, 6'5" tall but has a very deft touch. Looks good in his skills videos and would probably cost under £5 million. Seems the sort of talent we should be looking at. Yes, Delap maybe a better player but I think he's a big gamble at the money City are talking - might be better to look at other young strikers with potential.

I guess most of those were direct shots form JWP?

Merci beaucoup!

Can't believe we aren't breaking the bank to sign Hungarian wizard Domonik Szoboszlai. One of the most gifted midfield players around. He has the lot including Ward Prowsesque free kicks. I know he'd never come here but his skills video is well worth a look - he's an absolute magician.

A small price to pay 🙂

One day, when he's banging in goals for fun at a top European side we'll wistfully look back and say, 'why didn't we sign Kelvin Yaboah when we had the chance?'

He's far better than we've got 🙂

Kelvin Yaboah

How about a cheeky bid for Kelvin Yaboah from Genoa? He joined them in January and they were relegated - didn't score for them in around 17 games . However, looks big, strong, quick and powerful in his skills videos, plenty of tricks, strong finisher and good in the air. Think he's Tony Yeboah's nephew. Would be well under 10 million so not a huge gamble.

Agree. What possibly many of us are baffled by is the fact that when we press and turn over the ball high up the pitch and flood forward to take advantage of the turn over we look a great attacking side that creates chances. I get that can leave us exposed at the back and Ralph has scar tissue from the two nine nils but I'd prefer to see us going more gung-ho. Traditionally we've always been a side that scores plenty of goals and lets in a lot. I'd prefer that to the turgid stuff we now serve up which still seems to end up in defeat more often than not. If we are going to hang around the bottom six lets at least show some balls and give our opponents something to worry about. I fear that Ralph is so tied up with stopping the goals going in our net we'll just be a boring side that loses most games by the odd goal and never seems to get back into a game after conceding first. Let's be bolder than that because, let's face it, we're never going to be a side that keeps it tight at the back for more than the odd game.

Unless the new coaches are some kind of miracle workers and can over ride some of Ralph's stubborn decisions I fear we are in for a struggle to rise above the bottom six. Whether that translates into relegation I'm not sure but maybe we are running out of lives. It's getting harder to compete with those who spend a lot more than we do so maybe our expectations should be low. We've shelled out a bit this summer but it will be hard to rely on so many untried youngsters especially if we make our usual very slow start to the season. Still time to bolster the squad with some proven class but not sure the owners are going to go down that route so it's all a gamble on unproven youngsters - be lovely if it works, if it doesn't prepare for a car crash.

You make some valid points but, if you feel that the midfield is sorted now and we just need forwards, why are we not creating chances? How will new forwards solve the fact that we don't create chances? The lack of chances is surely the problem that needs to be sorted first. You can't judge how good or bad your forwards are if you aren't providing them with chances.