Summer Transfer Window 2019

[Dusic]

Bednerak and Vestergaard were generally fine, Vestergaard got better as the season went on and I think Bednerak had an excellent season overall.

 

Main issue for me more was when one wasn't available, Yoshida is a good pro but hes not a great defender and the less said about Stephens the better.

 

So we need a better one regardless IMO, to challenge Vestergaard and Bednerak, to make sure we have 3 decent centre-backs if we play 3 at the back etc.

Also don't think Bednarek and Vestergaard together in a two works well as both have a major lack of pace.

[SuperSAINT]

Also don't think Bednarek and Vestergaard together in a two works well as both have a major lack of pace.

 

Indeed. We play 3 at the back to largely to cover deficiencies of individual defenders.

 

A new defender pretty much needs to combine height & speed for Ralph to use 4-2-2-2.

 

They won’t be cheap.

[DT]

We obviously need a new midfielder who can control the centre ground and transition. Fail here and we're in trouble again.

 

not mutually exclusive to CB position, but marginally less crucial since we have Hoj, Lemina, Romeu. But yes, an enforcer here would be good too.

[DT]

We obviously need a new centre forward who can score. Fail here and we're in trouble again.

 

also true but less important (marginally) than CB

[SuperSAINT]

also true but less important (marginally) than CB

 

Would agree with this, largely because others can chip in with goals.

 

Nobody can really cover a class centre-back.

[SonicBoom]

Indeed. We play 3 at the back to largely to cover deficiencies of individual defenders.

 

A new defender pretty much needs to combine height & speed for Ralph to use 4-2-2-2.

 

They won’t be cheap.

 

That's true if we buy an established CB. There must be decent CB's around. Previously we've found Killer, Dean Richards even VVD was only 12 million.

[SKD]

Win percentage when Verstergaars starts 34.8%

Wins percentage when he doesn’t 6.7%

 

Win percentage when Stephens starts 10.5%

Win percentage when he doesn’t 36.8%

 

Coincidence?

 

Must be. Stephens is better than Maguire, as one pointed out a season or 2 ago.

 

FWIW, I think we need to replace Romeu as well. Massively overrated, bang average other than 1 decent season under Puel, where pretty much anyone could have done his role

[mrfahaji]

Also don't think Bednarek and Vestergaard together in a two works well as both have a major lack of pace.

 

Yep, which is why Yoshida, for all his deficiencies (although he put in a number of storming performances last season), is still an important defender for us, as he is the only one who can cover the ground quickly.

[harriesss]

Must be. Stephens is better than Maguire, as one pointed out a season or 2 ago.

 

FWIW, I think we need to replace Romeu as well. Massively overrated, bang average other than 1 decent season under Puel, where pretty much anyone could have done his role

 

100% this on Romeu, lovely guy but one of the reasons we conceded so many was the defence having no protection as he was run passed so easily. A number of his yellow cards must have been from being run passed so easily. Need a Wanyama type to play alongside Hojbjerg.

 

 

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[Cabbage_Face]

Why in this day and age are people still clinging on to the hope that Stephens will be any good.

[Chez]

Win percentage when Verstergaars starts 34.8%

Wins percentage when he doesn’t 6.7%

 

Win percentage when Stephens starts 10.5%

Win percentage when he doesn’t 36.8%

 

Coincidence?

 

interesting. Any percentage stats focusing on those two players but also adding in the extra element of us playing two or three centre backs?

[Chez]

That's true if we buy an established CB. There must be decent CB's around. Previously we've found Killer, Dean Richards even VVD was only 12 million.

 

CB seems to be the achilles heal of most teams, probably because it is very hard to find a player that is good in the air, strong, fast, great positionally and comfortable on the ball.

[Chez]

 

I do like Yoshida but unless he plays every week he's prone to a mistake. I'd be happy with him as 4th choice.

we have a squad full of 4th choice centre backs IMO.

[iansums]

If we are serious, we need 2 new centre backs and to get shot of Stephens and Yoshida.

 

I do like Yoshida but unless he plays every week he's prone to a mistake. I'd be happy with him as 4th choice.

 

Plenty of mistakes then.

[Saint Garrett]

CB seems to be the achilles heal of most teams, probably because it is very hard to find a player that is good in the air, strong, fast, great positionally and comfortable on the ball.

 

Must be a few dotted about the Championship.

 

Agree it's a pain position though, but you're right, not one of our CB's are good enough to be first choice in any premier league side. Not helped by only having Romeu who can play in front of them, and he's a liability when it comes to being booked. Neither of Hojbjerg or Lemina can play that role.

[VectisSaint]

Must be a few dotted about the Championship.

 

Agree it's a pain position though, but you're right, not one of our CB's are good enough to be first choice in any premier league side. Not helped by only having Romeu who can play in front of them, and he's a liability when it comes to being booked. Neither of Hojbjerg or Lemina can play that role.

Romeu hasn't missed a game through suspension for 2 seasons. Its a myth that his bookings make him a liability. We really need to find better CBs, after all none are as good as Stones or Maguire.

[Chez]

Romeu hasn't missed a game through suspension for 2 seasons. Its a myth that his bookings make him a liability. We really need to find better CBs, after all none are as good as Stones or Maguire.

 

once booked a defensive midfielder walks a tightrope and thus perhaps doesn't do the job as effectively. That said, I think the bigger issue is the side as a whole giving the ball away too cheaply and midfielders having to then spend too much energy getting it back. Tiredness in the latter part of games tends to leave us very open and exposes our CBs and we then concede, because they are very average one on one.

[Chez]

We stayed up with Stephens and Hoedt playing a lot of games and Mark Hughes as manager. So yes, Bednarek and Vesterguard are more than good enough to stay up.

 

we barely stayed up, and although there was an improvement under the new manager, we still only just survived. If they are that good, why weren't they trusted to play as a pair in a four man defence? Never seen a player as slow as Vesterguard. Bednarek isn't quick either. Massive upgrade needed if we are to make top half next season.

[Crab Lungs]

we barely stayed up, and although there was an improvement under the new manager, we still only just survived. If they are that good, why weren't they trusted to play as a pair in a four man defence? Never seen a player as slow as Vesterguard. Bednarek isn't quick either. Massive upgrade needed if we are to make top half next season.

 

I wouldn't bother trying to reason with him, he's head-mental when it comes to assessing players abilities.

[Cartman]

we barely stayed up, and although there was an improvement under the new manager, we still only just survived. If they are that good, why weren't they trusted to play as a pair in a four man defence? Never seen a player as slow as Vesterguard. Bednarek isn't quick either. Massive upgrade needed if we are to make top half next season.

 

Because we don't have the midfield to play a four man defense, there is no one that can provide adequate protection to the defense the way Wanyama did. Out of Bednarek, Vestergaard and Romeu, the latter is for me quite clearly the weakest link.

[verlaine1979]

Because we don't have the midfield to play a four man defense, there is no one that can provide adequate protection to the defense the way Wanyama did. Out of Bednarek, Vestergaard and Romeu, the latter is for me quite clearly the weakest link.

 

Blimey, getting in early doors with a shout for least-accurate-take of the season? Romeu is slow and Bednarek has a decent knack for goal-line clearances, but Vestergaard is both glacially slow and rubbish in the air. Impressively, he was pretty much the exact opposite in every respect of the player we actually needed when we signed him.

[woodsaint]

Have thought for a while that Romeus legs look done. Hes a good squad player but we need a more energetic DM to protect the back 4.

[SuperSAINT]

I like Romeu. I think we could improve on him.

 

But not sure the budget stretches anywhere close to signing a class defensive midfielder.

 

Striker & Centre-back are more pressing this summer.

[Saint Billy]

Romeu is not bad but not much more than that, we need better.

[SaintBitterne]

Have thought for a while that Romeus legs look done. Hes a good squad player but we need a more energetic DM to protect the back 4.

 

If only we had a potentially world class Gabonese midfielder

[Cabbage_Face]

...

Edited 11 June, 2019 by Cabbage_Face

[qwertyell]

Weren't there some rumours around that we were interested in Phillips at Leeds? A potential younger, less heavy-legged Romeu alternative?

 

Send them Forster in the other direction and it'd be a sweet deal...

 

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[Give it to Ron]

Weren't there some rumours around that we were interested in Phillips at Leeds? A potential younger, less heavy-legged Romeu alternative?

 

Send them Forster in the other direction and it'd be a sweet deal...

 

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There was a rumour Stephens was going to Leeds, it was also mentioned to me from my Leeds supporting mate from their end too.

 

 

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[Foxstone]

I like Romeu. I think we could improve on him.

 

But not sure the budget stretches anywhere close to signing a class defensive midfielder.

 

Striker & Centre-back are more pressing this summer.

 

 

Agree regarding striker and CB priorities, but I would really love to think we do have some kitty left over after some sales to try to prise Kalvin Phillips away from Leeds. I watched quite a bit of championship football last season, and this lad was as good a player as I saw... Strong, agile, energetic and bloody good distribution.

 

I honestly think he is an international type of player - Just as good as Rice in my opinion.

[Cabbage_Face]

Hojberg and Lemina never worked under Hughes, Lemina isn't a Romeu type player, he is a Hojberg type player.

[Saint Garrett]

Romeu is a bit limited but hard not to like. I'd rather we got the best out of Lemina and played him with Hojbjerg, or JWP in a 3.

 

Wouldn't want to spend too much on CMs with Slattery around and hopefully improving.

 

Lemina isn't good enough defensively to protect the defence, hence why we struggled when Romeu didnt play

[Cabbage_Face]

Hojberg & Lemina = Box to Box/Linking Midfielders

Romeu = Defensive Mid/Horrible ****

[Chez]

We did stay up. And it wasn't that close, which is amazing given where we were in December.

 

There's no chance this manager would only have one win by December, whether we sign anyone or not.

 

Not saying we shouldn't sign someone. Vesterguard and Bednarek are a hundred times better than Stephens and Hoedt, but we can still do a lot better. Hopefully Stephens will get a championship move, Hoedt will sign for a 5th division Dutch non league side (and still look poor) and we'll sign someone who can lead the defence.

not sure I agree that Vesterguard and Bednarek are a hundred times better than Stephens and Hoedt. We have hid players in a five man defence for a season and a half now, so difficult to really judge individuals as we have yet to really see them as a pair. I alluded to this in another post, but giving away possession cheaply does have a major effect on our ability to prevent goal late in games. If you chase the ball all day eventually things open up and defences get exposed. Defensively Stephens and Hoedt have never impressed me, but on the ball they are better than Vesterguard and Bednarek. You win in some areas, but you lose in others I guess. CB has become such a challenging position to play. You need so many attributes, which is why even teams like ManU have struggled to find personnel. I worry we lack pace or ability on the ball, but better that than a complete failure to win headers I suppose...

Edited 12 June, 2019 by Chez

[tajjuk]

Vestergaard is pretty good on the ball IMO, there was some skills/freestyle challenge on the youtube challenge the other day between him, Redmond and Targett, and he won it.

 

The issue with Vestergaard is one he turns like a bus, and two he seems too eager try to go win the ball and that has caught him out of positions a few times. The Man Utd draw at home springs to mind, think he charged out to try to intercept the ball and its was laid off before he could get there, and he'd left a massive space in behind that they scored from.

 

He IIRC used to be a centre-mid, and at times it shows, he's still learning to be a CB and when he should hold position, plus he had to learn the pace of the league which I think caught him out a lot last year. But I thought by the end he was performing solidly.

 

The lack of pace is an issue for all of them, though they are not super slow. But I mean finding a centre-back that is quick, strong, good in the air, good on the ball and is able to mark and read the game is very very hard.

 

I think Bednerak and Vestergaard are solid enough, they are decent on the ball, they win headers, tackles, blocks etc.

 

I also echo what others above have said that Romeu is ok in front but IMO a more mobile DM in front of them would give them better protection.

[larryhagman]

Considering they were pretty much they were the same price and one was a consistent regular for us who has played over 100 games for the club and gained international honours whilst at the club, and the other has been in and out of the team with injuries and never been that consistent, I'd say that is more than a stretch.

 

Thats one way of looking at it. Another would be that Austin was a goal scoring game-changer (up until about March 2018, I'm sure if you look at his goals to gametime he was our best performer by far) whilst Cedric was mediocre and often struggled to get in the team ahead of Cuco Martina, and later a young unproven Valery. Fair enough if you prefer Cedric to Austin but I don't think it's exactly a stretch as you say.

[SuperSAINT]

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/football/2019/06/12/aston-villa-target-leeds-united-midfielderkalvin-phillips-14m/?WT.mc_id=tmg_share_tw

 

Nothing mentioned about Targett.

[Dazza82]

We are Listening to offers for Ryan Bertrand [emoji17]

 

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[hypochondriac]

We are Listening to offers for Ryan Bertrand [emoji17]

 

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Why?

[Dazza82]

He only has 2 years left on his contract so presume that may be a reason, there is quite a few clubs interested

 

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[tajjuk]

Why?

 

Its on the Targett thread, Daily Echo article saying we are looking at selling him or Targett because they want Vokins to be the main back up.

[sydney_saint]

He only has 2 years left on his contract so presume that may be a reason, there is quite a few clubs interested

 

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Would be surprised by this. Can't see a top 6 club interested even though is probably good enough, most of them seen to be interested in youth at the moment. Everton have Digne, Leicester are fine for left back. Doesn't leave many candidates. Maybe west ham.

 

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[Dazza82]

Would be surprised by this. Can't see a top 6 club interested even though is probably good enough, most of them seen to be interested in youth at the moment. Everton have Digne, Leicester are fine for left back. Doesn't leave many candidates. Maybe west ham.

 

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Can't See Chilwell staying at Leicester, think City are looking at him, also I'm sure Rodgers worked with Bertrand at Chelsea

 

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[sadoldgit]

We are Listening to offers for Ryan Bertrand [emoji17]

 

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The article in the Echo says that there are whispers behind the scenes that there is interest in him rather than we are actively trying to sell.

[Danbert]

Targett's stats for last season are better than Bertrand's, both offensively and defensively. Given the number of minutes he's been on the pitch, he's actually a bit of an assist king - there's a reason other clubs are being linked to him. Also, Bertrands getting on a bit, and I wouldn't be too concerned if we moved him on.

[SuperSAINT]

Targett's stats for last season are better than Bertrand's, both offensively and defensively. Given the number of minutes he's been on the pitch, he's actually a bit of an assist king - there's a reason other clubs are being linked to him. Also, Bertrands getting on a bit, and I wouldn't be too concerned if we moved him on.

 

I'm just happy Ralph is in-charge and will decide what's best - Especially since he's had good chance to look at both of them (& Vokins in training) last season.

 

I'm not remotely surprised we may have to sell a player we wouldn't ideally need to sell in order to raise finance.

 

The Echo article mentioned we may wait until the end of the window, but we would need to spend that money prior to that.

[Faz]

I'm just happy Ralph is in-charge and will decide what's best - Especially since he's had good chance to look at both of them (& Vokins in training) last season.

 

I'm not remotely surprised we may have to sell a player we wouldn't ideally need to sell in order to raise finance.

 

The Echo article mentioned we may wait until the end of the window, but we would need to spend that money prior to that.

 

What is your point? Or are you just thinking out loud??

[Useful Idiot]

I think Targett is pretty much as good as Bertrand if we play with 3 central defenders. Targett has a better cross than Bertrand (I don't think there's much between his delivery and JWPs to be honest) but Bertrand overlaps more effectively.

 

Bertrand is still miles better in a back 4, though. He's far less likely to be done for pace than Targett is, and he's far better at winning the ball back.

 

Sort of depends on the system Ralph actually wants us to play next season, I suppose.

[vectraman]

We are Listening to offers for Ryan Bertrand [emoji17]

 

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I hope not. He is a far better player than Targett. It would make out first team weaker, defensively, not what we need....

[Heisenberg]

Is Ryan Bertrand deadwood?

[SuperSAINT]

Looks like the Saliba link won't be happening...

 

GUNNERS IN SALIBA TALKS

 

Talks between Arsenal and Saint-Etienne over defender William Saliba are said to be at an advanced stage, according to Le 10 Sport.

 

The 18-year-old centre-back could complete a £27m deal with the Gunners, who intend to send him back on loan to Saint-Etienne next season.

 

France U19 international Saliba, who has also been linked with Manchester United, made 16 appearances in Ligue 1 last season.