Can/How do we get better?

[Dusic]

Simple question but no obvious answer. Is it even realistic to ask for more given relative resources vs PL rivals?

Clearly strikers make a huge difference and its no coincidence that our best form this season has been when Broja has been at his most productive performance and goals wise.

IMO if we look at positions I would judge as follows:

GK - can improve. Forster has been better than McCarthy but is still so stiff in movement and is clearly not the sweeper keeper Ralph wants. The decision to extend McCarthy's deal already looks a mistake.

Full back - strong area, keeping what we have will be an achievement

Centre Back - we have one really good CB, despite Salisu's recent wobbles. Bednarek is hit and miss and perhaps is coming to a natural end at Saints despite having overall been a good signing. IMO Lyanco is the issue...neither he nor Stephens really put any pressure on Bednarek. Considering we were following Guehi and then signed Lyanco it shows how big a gap there is from Salisu to Lynaco and Stephens...and it shows. One of them needs moving on in the summer to improve in this position with a starting player.

Centre Mid - lets be honest there wil be more interest in JWP this summer and surely if a top 6 club really move for him then he would (and should) go. His partnership eith Romeu is generally great and a strength kof our side. Diallo in 18mths hasn't shown that he is ready to be a PL starter and Smallbone isnt strong enough to play there. Investment needed.

No 10 - alongside CB our weakest area. Armstrong is good, but can't deal with 3 games a week and all the others are flaky. Moi has shown more this season but IMO still not enough to be a nailed starter each week. Djenepo is obviously on his way out and I'm sure an agreement could be reached with Walcott as no point having a glittering career and ending it like this. Big opportunity here and should be #1 focus if we are to improve. 

Striker - tough one as so much depends on Broja. Keep him in some form and our four (Broja, Adams, Armstrong, Tella) are fine. If, as expected, he isnt here next season then its a massive gap and even to stand still will need a shrewd signing that has a near immediate impact. Whilst Adams was poor in much of his first season he improved at the end of the season...can Armstromg do the same? If its clear Broja won't be here next year will we give AA a run for the last few games? So much depends on Broja and for both parties a second loan makes so much sense...but football is not based on sense! In the background...is Tella actually good enough? Doesn't have the required composure to be a good striker IMO. Handy option for now but not one we can rely on and I wouldn't stske much on him being a PL.player in four or five years time.

Summary - very hard to improve but keys areas are GK, CB and No10.

[Lighthouse]

We need better players in pretty much every position except fullback. So long as Forster, Bednarek, Moi and Long/Armstrong are regular starters we’re never going to improve.

[The Kraken]

Simple question but no obvious answer. Is it even realistic to ask for more given relative resources vs PL rivals?

The simple question is, how much money have we got? 

Everton, Villa, Brighton, Palace, Leeds, basically every team around us who will stay in the Premier League this season (except Brentford tbf) will have a (much) higher net spend than us this season. Saints staying up relies on two things: a decent manager, and three teams (often promoted teams) who are even worse off than us and who equally don’t have a pot to piss in.

We start each season financially fucked, we are millions and millions behind our peers who will finish the season around us. Sort that out, then we can talk about progress. Until then we are treading water at best.

 

Edited 9 April, 2022 by The Kraken

[TWar]

Today was an abnormal game as a number of players who are arguably already above our level (jwp, romeu, salisu) played like absolute shite. This is somewhat unavoidable as we will probably not be able to improve on these players.

I'm not bothered so much by one offs like this and am more interested in our more consistent issues. Statistically speaking our biggest gap is chance creation. Jwp is huge and ranks top 5 in the league but outside of him we are very average. Aside from that we still don't have a single forward who overperforms xG so our finishing is pretty crap too (again, aside from jwp). Finally our errors leading to goals is high, specifically our cbs so I think a good partner for salisu who is a cool calming presence could be good.

New AM, new striker, new CB. This season Forster has been slightly above average which is fine, if he reverts to form from the previous season though we definitely need a keeper too.

Edited 9 April, 2022 by TWar

[Dusic]

5 minutes ago, The Kraken said:

Simple question but no obvious answer. Is it even realistic to ask for more given relative resources vs PL rivals?

The simple question is, how much money have we got? 

Everton, Villa, Brighton, Palace, Leeds, basically every team around us who will stay in the Premier League this season (except Brentford tbf) will have a (much) higher net spend than us this season. Saints staying up relies on two things: a decent manager, and three teams (often promoted teams) who are even worse off than us and who equally don’t have a pot to piss in.

We start each season financially fucked, we are millions and millions behind our peers who will finish the season around us. Sort that out, then we can talk about progress. Until then we are treading water at best.

 

Clearly Everton, Newcastle and Villa are in a different league financially.

Our direct competitors are the likes of Brighton, Palace, possibly Wolves and Leeds.

That in itself shows how hard it is to improve on where we are...for a club like ours the first priority will always be to stay in the league.

However, it doesnt always take ludicrous cash to improve a position. For example not crazy to suggest we could have signed Jose Sa, Guehi or Raphinha who would all hugely have improved our side.  Indeed we did sign KWP and Salisu who arguably fit that kind of level - KWP certsinly does.

We need 2/3 good signings to give ourselves a chance to improve.

[TWar]

9 minutes ago, Dusic said:

Clearly Everton, Newcastle and Villa are in a different league financially.

Our direct competitors are the likes of Brighton, Palace, possibly Wolves and Leeds.

That in itself shows how hard it is to improve on where we are...for a club like ours the first priority will always be to stay in the league.

However, it doesnt always take ludicrous cash to improve a position. For example not crazy to suggest we could have signed Jose Sa, Guehi or Raphinha who would all hugely have improved our side.  Indeed we did sign KWP and Salisu who arguably fit that kind of level - KWP certsinly does.

We need 2/3 good signings to give ourselves a chance to improve.

I think Everton will be very poor for a couple of windows atleast with ffp. Villa will likely have these issues soon too if they can't convert spending into more success.

[Chez]

£90m debt, Broja returning to Chelsea and only a coupe of players out of contract in the summer (Long and Forster...plus the reserve keepers and some nippers) means it will be very tough for us to improve next season. Unless someone spends ludicrous money on Livramento, which they won't, especially if they have watched him in the second half of the season, then where is the money to buy players?

[Nordic Saint]

It's been the same story since Fonte and van Dijk left: we still need 2 reliable central defenders. Joe Worrall, Gleison Bremer and Dael Fry are out there, although it would have been easier and cheaper to buy them in January as the interest in Bremer from other PL clubs is increasing while in Worrall's case, Forest look like they might be promoted.

 

[ally_uk]

Need somebody to play alongside Salisu. We can't cut corners here this player needs leadership, experience and the ability to hit the ground running. 

Left back situation could we sign Brandon Williams and then have him rotate with Perraud. 

Then we will have Livra and KWP as right backs.

Next up midfield I personally would sell  Djenepo, Redmond, Walcott, 

We need two decent wingers that again can add a bit of bite and creativity.  

Striker situation is tricky my own views.

Armstrong I don't rate at this level at all if we receive a bid I'd sell. 

Adams I would keep 

Broja jury is still on him to be honest. If we are prepared to go in with silly money then I at least hope we have a few backups in mind with the same kind of financial outlay at disposal. 

Again we can't afford to cut corners goals ultimately are what get you points on the board. 

Not nesscarily this window but I'd try and identify another Romeu type player perhaps a understudy? But with similar attributes. 

[Lee On Solent Saint]

11 hours ago, Dusic said:

Clearly Everton, Newcastle and Villa are in a different league financially.

Our direct competitors are the likes of Brighton, Palace, possibly Wolves and Leeds.

That in itself shows how hard it is to improve on where we are...for a club like ours the first priority will always be to stay in the league.

However, it doesnt always take ludicrous cash to improve a position. For example not crazy to suggest we could have signed Jose Sa, Guehi or Raphinha who would all hugely have improved our side.  Indeed we did sign KWP and Salisu who arguably fit that kind of level - KWP certsinly does.

We need 2/3 good signings to give ourselves a chance to improve.

Wolves are light years ahead of us. We aren't anywhere near that level. Would expect Leeds to improve next season too.