January Priority

[St Chalet]

Having been to the game tonight I think we are a few 1st team choices light of challenging for top two / playoff win. If you had one chip where would you place it?

[die Mannyschaft]

Definitely a forward on the basis that creative players always get subbed off and the few chances we have 2nd half get wasted. Armstrong is on fire but need another out and out natural goal scorer. 

Otherwise any position that's one of tge usual subs, we are very light on possession and creative play when subs made. 

[chiknsmack]

GK: we have two mediocre (at best) options, but won’t be buying one when we have Ramsdale on the books. Sell him in January and I still don’t think we’d bring in an upgrade. Had Pope kept him on the bench maybe we could’ve gotten him back in January, which would’ve been nice.

RB: Roerslev hasn’t impressed, Jelert hasn’t had a chance, Edwards CDAJFU. Bree is back from loan in January and would help, especially if Jelert’s loan is cancelled as is rumoured.

CB: THB and Wood look broadly competent. The others don’t. In preseason I was calling for a veteran leader who has played at a higher level; Spors decided Jack Stephens fit the bill (I was looking for someone who was actually good enough for the Championship). Unlikely with the numbers we have but would make sense, especially if we want three on the pitch at once.

LB: Manning can’t defend but is decent in attack and has free kicks in his locker (but so does Scienza). Welington is probably better. Jelert can cover here.

DM/CM: Bar Romeu we don’t really have any DMs; we have CMs who can tackle. Charles and Jander are too good for the Championship, Downes is good for this level. Four for two spots is plenty, especially when you have Aribo/Edwards and Bragg/Sesay as depth.

Number 10/AM: Azaz with Scienza as cover. Without those two it gets a bit messy (Matsuki and Fraser?) but if you can only buy one player it’s not going to be and upgrade on either of them, nor a third-choice Number 10 when we don’t play with one.

Left Winger/Forward: Scienza, Robinson, Edozie, Fraser. Plenty.

Right Winger/Forward: For wingers, it’s Fellows then nothing. In the current 3-4-3 it’s Fellows and Manning as wingers/wingbacks, so Azaz/Bree/Jelert are all right “winger” options. Without Fellows the better option would be changing to a 4-3-3 and playing an extra defender and midfielder instead of wingbacks. Four at the back, then Downes+Charles+Jander behind Azaz+Armstrong+Scienza.

Centre Forward: Stewart great but injured. Armstrong too good for this level. Archer in theory is up to this level but isn’t showing it. Downs is probably a busted flush, at least as far as this season goes. Robinson’s an option, Oyekunle has handled the step up to U21s and been around the squad, Dipepa has 30-odd games of senior football under his belt.

The attack and midfield are good and have decent depth. The defence and keepers are questionable. I suppose that’s borne out in the recent results when we’ve scored plenty but haven’t kept a clean sheet.

The fullbacks are okay. The keepers probably aren’t for changing whether we want them to or not. We have the numbers at CB to put together a decent enough trio. I’d be fine with bringing in no new players in January, but gun to my head I’d want a Fonte-like figure at CB. I’ve actually thought ahead that if we go up we could look at bringing back VVD (and it’s not just pining for a former player who moved on to bigger things); in the last year of his contract, being trashed as not good enough for an elite side anymore, but done enough to garner respect from his teammates when he tells them what to do and clearly good enough to anchor the defence of a mid-table PL side. So it’s the main hole I see in the side.

Tomiyasu is a free agent and could maybe fill it, but is an injury risk and apparently close to joining Ajax. I’m not watching enough PL this season to know of anyone who’s been benched but is still in that “too good for the Championship” range.