Dig Dig

Just Saints.

We've done well with a core of about 14-15 in the last couple of years. Strong starting 11 is more important IMO.

Not really...thought Martina, Juami and Caulker all looked quality today.

About what?

Cedric went up to 76 this week with some good training drills.

Do do do do GRAZIANO

Just seen on the Guardian preview that Caulker is doubt for the squad because of "illness". If true, didn't he have a sinus infection only a few weeks ago?

What about being able to control the ball?

Yes, I did mean Soares not being considered to be first choice. Don't agree that there was no time or that a stop gap was needed. We had all of the transfer window.

It still shows that we were interested in Cedric even with Clyne so he wouldn't have been first choice this season.

I think his best spell under Pochettino was when he was playing on the right of the attacking three.

Ultimately we've raised over £120M over the last two season with a positive net spend in terms of reinvestment in the squad despite the official line being that we don't need to sell to this extent for financial reasons. If off the back of that we're accepting lower mid table after two seasons of being the "best of rest" then it's disappointing and I'm amazed how quickly people are prepared to adjust their expectations without even asking any questions. We should expect better quality in certain positions if the club are serious about the rhetoric around consistent Europa League placement, cup runs and the like. It looks like we had a the opportunity to keep ourselves ahead of the chasing pack but I'm not sure if we have taken full advantage tbh.

Koeman said pre game that he didn't pick him because he's not as strong defensively. Not something you want to hear regarding your first choice RB. This is also not an isolated incident. Cedric has either lost his place completely or been subbed in the majority of games so far. The difference between Clyne and Chambers is that Chambers was a competent RB who didn't impact the shape and style of our play in comparison to Yoshida or Martina.

Koeman said before the game that he played Yoshiday because Cedric isn't good defensively! There is also no reason to be concerned about Man Utd's height! As highlighted above, this isn't an isolated occurance so far!

The thing is though....when will Cedric be deemed good enough defensively? As you say, it's importsnt to how we play and the longer we mess about with the likes of the Yoshida and Martina, the more momentum and ground we lose.

The big deal is that Cedric wasn't trusted with physical battles like in Europe and now against fast wingers. Plus Obertan is terrible. If Koeman is making what looks like weird decisions because he doesn't have the right players then it is a big deal.

I've thought about it and you're right actually, Cedric was the one and only option in world football.

It is a difficult question as I don't have the wealth of knowledge snd resources that our scouting team have. But if signing RB who can't defend is the best they can do then I'd give it a shot with some time. Not sure why you're getting hung up on names though. Do you think it's good that Yoshida is playing games at RB with the money we have made and spent?

I'm not laying into him. It's the principle of having a replacement RB for one of the best in the league who loses their place to Yoshida. It's an example of how we are compensating for others and losing too much shape and identity as a team.

Doesn't really matter who I would have signed. With hindsight, would you have been happy to know that the replacement RB for a player as good as Clyne is constantly dropped for important games (for Yoshida or Martina) due to Koeman not trusting him defensively?

The stand out concerns are that we replaced Cylne with a RB who is defensively frail so we're playing people out of position to compensate. That seldom works out well. In addition, we have replaced Schneiderlin with Romeu who, whilst decent, looks like he'll be in and out of the side so we've lost a main stay in the centre of the park with is important IMO. We really should expect to have signed proven quality for these positions, especially with the money we've made recently.

The league looks much more difficult this year.

Yea, there we go then. A post from from one of the forum lunatics settles the score alright. I heard that we actually offered to slash his wages in half and told him he'll be playing in the U21's. Shocking treatment.

Pointless press conference

Not really sure what that has got to do with anything? Isn't it a negative that he went to a direct rival for only a couple of million thus strengthening them? Regarding your other points (which I've already responded to on this thread) - We signed Wanyama because we needed more than just two players capable of playing that role in our system - Its not correct that two managers preferred Wanyama over Cork. Cork played more games under Poch than Wanyama did. Choice was not always determined by injury, although Wanyama did make that position his own last season but Cork would have got a lot of games. - For any position in the prem (especially CM) you need quality and depth. Regardless of whether he was a guaranteed first team player, he always has and would have played plenty of games for us. We get plenty of injuries and suspensions.