TWar

Walcott has been good, not denying that, I'd even say better than Redmond with his quality in the final third and linking of play coupled with his desire to track back. This is likely why he is currently getting the nod over Redmond. It is, however, objectively wrong to say Walcott "runs directly at players" and Redmond doesn't when Redmond objectively has more take on attempts than Walcott per min, more successful take ons than Walcott per min, and was top 5 in the entire league last season for it. I'm sorry if facts offend what you reckon from watching, maybe you need to watch closer if you are so far away from the truth.

No idea where this myth came from. Redmond had the 5th most successful take on's in the league last season. It's like people are watching a different player. Even this season where he has had a poor start he is 20th in the league for successful take ons per 90, Walcott is 57th and Djenepo is 23rd.

Wonderkid who played for Birmingham. In the summer got a move to Dortmund and Birmingham were so enamoured with the 17 year old they retired his squad number, which they were widely mocked for.

It's weird how when players perform for Celtic people always say "well its a crap league, these performances are meaningless" but the last few players we signed from Scotland have all gone on to be superb additions to our team (Armstong, VvD, Wanyama, Forster, Davis). Seems like the Scottish league is underrated as a proving ground for quality.

Heard it suggested we could give Redmond a go up top. We could see: McCarthy Stephens Bednarek Vestergaard KWP JWP Romeu Armstrong Walcott/Djenepo Adams Redmond

He's on the pitch haha, redmond benched.

Adams is faster than Ings, and is also stronger and has comparable ball control. What he lacks is the composure and ability to finish, also Ings is a better passer although Adams isn't too bad in this area himself. Ings is a much better player, granted, but Ings is also a top 5 striker in the prem in my opinion arguably only worse than Aguero, Kane, Aubameyang, and maybe Vardy, Werner may also go ahead if he proves himself in this league. We shouldn't be saying "well he is not as good as Ings so Adams is an average player". Adams is still a fantastic premier league forward and I'd have him over anyone from any of last years bottom 10, maybe except Antonio. He is also 3 years off his prime. Che will be a superstar in my opinion, this season I tip him to score 10+ goals and the following season even more. With Ralph coaching him and Ings supporting him I am very excited.

Our defence has been ok, we have conceded 9 goals which is 11th best in the league and have 3rd most clean sheets in the league (Us and West ham on 2, Villa and Wolves on 3). We had a catastrophic game against spurs defensively and conceded 3 to a very good Chelsea side but aside from those we have conceded one goal in three games.

Pretty understandable when they are top of the league I suppose.

Skimmed through the surnames for Salisu and had a panic! Thought we hadn't registered him, fortunately he is there at the top of the under 21's list with his actual surname "Abdul Karim"

It's exactly 50% but your maths is sound. Incidentally how do you ignore someone?

Assist from Sims too.

Everyone's second choice players are a significant step down at fullback. Last season Liverpool won the league with youth players at back up fullback of Neko Williams and Lewis, or maybe an out of position James Milner. This whole "we'd be screwed if X went down" thing is born out of a massive overestimation of what acceptable squad depth is. If we had anywhere near the quality of back up full back as our primary fullback then we would be ahead of most teams in the league back up wise. Youth as back up in some positions (fullback, 4th cb, 4th CM, 4th striker) is pretty much the norm.

9th to 12th is basically luck where you finish, I think we will probably end up somewhere there.

We came into the window needing a DM, RB, and CB. We have signed all of these, KWP was amazing this weekend and in my opinion our best RB since Clyne, Salisu is hugely highly rated, young, and left footed so I am stoked about him, and Diallo looks decent, is young, and has already inspired Romeu to raise his game with the increased competition. We also wanted to shift deadwood and are looking to have permanently sold Carrillo, Hoedt, and Boufal and loaned out Elyounoussi and Lemina so on that front we have done well too. This has already been a great window. Anything else is a bonus! With regards to Walcott, don't really rate him personally but at 40-50k a week and no transfer fee is a low risk stop gap for a position which is already reasonably well covered and we have good youth options coming through in. Seems like smart business, there in case of an emergency but not essential and not too expensive. Also having a player with his experience could be a good influence on Smallbone/Tella.

If he keeps playing like he did today romeu will be our Hojbjerg replacement. Will be hard for Diallo to displace.

Worth noting for the Sangare vs Diallo comparisons that Toulouse were an absolutely laughing stock in the league and finished the season with 3 wins and 21 losses. From what I understand Sangare was basically their only good player and had to do everything. He has more prog passes per game as pretty much everything went through him. Diallo played in a comfortable mid table side and had players around him who could also pass and progress the ball so wasn't required to launch as many attacks whilst also defending. Stats which are done by success % have far more comparable results.

Seems close enough to get his own thread. Lequipe (https://www.lequipe.fr/Football/Actualites/Transferts-ibrahima-diallo-se-rapproche-de-southampton/1178673) saying we are close to a deal and he is keen to join and a local paper saying a fee is agreed (https://www.letelegramme.fr/football/accord-entre-le-stade-brestois-et-southampton-pour-diallo-02-10-2020-12629716.php). Seems like could be a great signing from what I have heard.

Awful deal for me. Has played barely any first team football, only in the championship, and even there has worse goals+assists per game stats the Che Adams, McBurnie, Maupay ect. And he goes for £23.5m with a massive sell on clause and a buy back option?! Liverpool have robbed them blind, it's Ibe/Solanke style deals all over again, who ever is in chance of selling needs a raise fast.

If Danny Ings doesn't sign a contract then next summer he will have one year left. This means either we sell him then at a dramatically reduced price or we allow him to go on a free the following summer. This is pretty basic stuff. It is not "garbage". The only thing that would prevent this situation is him signing a contract, which he has yet to do hence the "at the moment". Didn't realise people would need this explicitly spelled out for them. Also where did Ings say he was definitely staying? If that is the case why hasn't he signed a contract yet?

Absolutely. That would be better than 3 new signings for me. Ings is our most important player by a mile and at the moment he is leaving next summer on the cheap. No one we will sign will likely be more important than him in the long run. A single loan would be a pain but we could make do and survive on that comfortably, then massive rebuild next season with new owners and one of the leagues best strikers behind us.

In the championship, Brewster racked up 10 goals and 0 assists in 1672 championship minutes, that is a g+a per 90 of 0.53. Che in his championship season managed 22 goals and 5 assists in 3740 minutes or 0.65 g+a per 90. Che achieved these stats with a struggling Birmingham team who finished 17th whereas Brewster achieved his numbers with a Swansea side that achieved 6th, therefore Che was able to do it despite playing in a worse side. Incidentally Che got 4 goals and 3 assists in 1105 premier league minutes last season or 0.57 g+a per 90. So not only did Che Adams comfortably outperform Brewsters output in their comparable championship seasons, despite being in a markedly weaker team, but he actually outperformed Brewsters output while playing in the prem too. Che cost us £15m with no caveats of resale whereas Brewster would likely have a buyback clause and cost £20m+, this is why Brewster is a pretty poor option.

This was in the context of running with the ball. Not off the ball pressing, which he is apparently good at

Some quotes from eredivisie fans on reddit regarding Veerman: "Would be a fantastic step up for him. However, he won't be cheap - we really don't have anyone who can fill his role at the moment. Then again, there's nobody out there we can afford that's comparable to him in quality. He's incredibly composed on the ball, and his through balls are of a different class. He's simply our best player at the moment, and probably our best player of the last five years. For the time he's been here, his presence is practically impossible to replace; his vision and quality in controlling the pace of the match is amazing. If he'd go to Southampton, a Veerman-Ings combination could be deadly. It's of course still a gamble, with him coming from the Eredivisie, but I think he would be a great fit for a counterattacking team." "Call me crazy, but I genuinely believe he is too good for Southampton already. That's no knock to Southampton btw, in fact, that's a very good thing for Southampton if they manage to get him." "His quality doesn't lie in running, but much rather in his passing. His passing and vision is truly exceptional. I don't think De Jong is a good comp at all to be honest, he's not as physical and doesn't win as many balls back. De Jong usually starts the attack and gives hockey assists while Veerman directly creates the chance either for a teammate or himself. He's more like a Dutch KDB-light (I know it sounds ridiculous, but he's really that good). He's more dangerous in front of goal than De Jong too. Opponents have started to put a man on him at all times and they literally leave him alone once or twice and it's immediately two goalscoring opportunities for a teammate. Personally I think the Bundesliga or Serie A is a better fit for him than the Premier League but we will see." --- Sounds like the deep lying playmaker we are calling out for. In regards to Sangare, reads to me like we were keeping him on the line as a back up, perhaps while trying to get Luis, and he got tired of waiting around. Seems unlikely we wouldn't give the < £10m required to get him and then would happily spend £12m+ on Veerman for instance, also if Sangare was that good he wouldn't be going for that little money and not be picked up by a bigger team. Personally I think we should be far more concerned with acquiring a deep lying playmaker who can split the lines with passes and control the tempo than we should be picking up a destroyer who is great in a tackle. JWP is already an exceptional tackler but too often we pass sidewards and backwards in the build up and great runs from Adams, Ings, Armstrong et al. go wanting for a great through-ball, which sounds like what Veerman is all about.