I'm not sure I quite agree on RB not being sorted - unless Pellegrini has lost faith in Fredericks (possible given him picking Zabaleta for the past two games, I guess). Fredericks seems very comfortable and competent as a Premier League right back, and has had some excellent performances for us recently.
I always like the idea of plucking good young(er) Championship players up, too - Eze is a good example. Phillips is top of my wishlist but I don't think will happen. What about Matt Grimes of Swansea? I know stats tell half the story and I've only seen him play a couple of times this season, but he's a DM with 2.4 tackles and 1.6 interceptions a game, plus 2.1 key passes played. Only 24 and could be a good signing for us given the type of player we seem to be lacking - the eye test has told me he's a fairly high energy player too.
hammerman11 wrote: ↑Wed Nov 06, 2019 9:30 am
we are a mess with so many old players on the books
You're naming five over 30 there two of whom are out of contract next summer anyway, one of whom is on the cusp of a return from an awful injury, the club captain who before the recent games was being suggested on here as a potential call up for England by some because of his form, and a player who you yourself spent all summer telling us he was too old, too slow, should never have got his contract extended, couldn't wait for his contract to end etc etc but now suddenly is the only one good enough to play for us based on two good performances.
Also - Sanchez is 33. Zabaleta is 34.
Turn it in.
We have more players under 30 than over 30 in our first team squad, and have focused largely on signing young players in transfer windows over the past 18 months. The average age of the team we are putting out under Pellegrini trends largely downwards from last season to this, not to mention against the Bilic/Moyes season.