Burnley Hammer wrote:
Wilshere and Lanzini are certainly weak in the press.... I'll wait until I see Fornals play for us before judging. According to reports and stats, he certainly has the pace, stamina, and workrate. How effective he is at pressing remains to be seen.
Personally I think every player should be capable of pressing well. It can be learnt. Anyone who doesn't press needs to try harder.
You’ll be impressed Burnley, it’s something Spanish players often excel at I feel but Fornals is superb at it when you consider he’s not a defensive midfielder. I know it’s not something quantifiable with stats but his interception/tackling stats compare very favourably with the likes of Eriksen and other technical centre mids.
HammerAl wrote:Don’t think we need to bring in a third striker if we’re only going to be playing one up top. Hernandez as a sub and Antonio as third choice is perfectly fine. If we do sign another striker then I’m hoping it’s because Hernandez is off.
Agreed.
I also refuse to believe Sanchez is on 70k a week. No way at all could that be true.
No-one is going to buy Sanchez, I imagine. Even worse I think Pell likes him and will give him game time. Obiang is a much better bet as the second choice DM.
If we keep Hernandez (and , as with Sanchez I can't see anyone matching his current wages), I don't see the need for another forward.
GaryP wrote:UTJ, surely thats got to be the next KUMB T-shirt.... Logically unbalanced accross the tits with a set of hammers and a KUMB logo on the sleeve
Colours never run wrote:Seri wants to leave England, according to reports.
That’s a shame. The reason I’d be okay for a loan deal with Seri is that I feel if he was a success we would be able to buy him. Too many of our loan deals have had strings attached which suggested the player wanted to go back to their parent club. He really looks like a player that could do very well for us.
HammerAl wrote:Don’t think we need to bring in a third striker if we’re only going to be playing one up top. Hernandez as a sub and Antonio as third choice is perfectly fine. If we do sign another striker then I’m hoping it’s because Hernandez is off.
Think you are right it all depends upon what's happening with Hernandez but if he stays a third would be a luxury when other areas (as the games so far continue to confirm), are far more vital to fill with arguably a new first choice over a third choice up front. Something needs to be done to improve defensive performance.
Seri would have been absolutely perfect for us, actually gutted to hear he wants out. Anybody aware of any South American Seri/Kantes? Saw a mention of a young guy ..Tomas Alarcon..Chilean I think?, Maybe UDC could shed some light...
Of course I'd agree he's a better upgrade on Sanchez, but whenever I watched him in brief spells for Fulham, he didn't impress me much. I would certainly want to see what he was like on loan first of all if it did materialise. It looks like he's doing one abroad if reports are true.
Contrary to most I think we're covered in central defence and don't need to bring anyone else in; we have Diop and Balbuena as our first choice pairing with Ogbonna and Reid as cover (both decent pedigree for backups). We also have Rice who can play there if we're really stuck.
Defensive midfield is the priority and then the wing-backs/backup striker.
Last edited by Irrons on Thu Jul 18, 2019 11:02 am, edited 1 time in total.
fjthegrey wrote:...and by all accounts Haller defends superbly from the front as well (a big upgrade in this area I'd say).
I've not heard much said about this side of his game but was hoping he was the kind of player who puts in a shift and defends from the front. We really lacked that last season. All it takes is a few people putting in a shift like that and it inspires others to start doing the same. It was one of the reasons I was happy we were linked to Rondon
I mentioned this recently... can't remember whether it was on this thread or not, but I read a report yesterday that highlighted just how little ground Arnie covered based on the first 12 games of last season (so before the China thing). It was at https://www.theguardian.com/football/20 ... statistics
"a ranking of the 25 players who have covered, per 90 minutes played, least ground includes no fewer than 20 centre-halves (one of those, Cardiff’s Bruno Ecuele Manga, has been used as a right-back this season but has clearly brought his bad habits to his new position) and only three forwards. Marko Arnautovic, who told the Guardian earlier this season about how David Moyes taught him to “work hard, run as much as you can and the other things will come”, could do with a few more lessons – there is only one attacking player in the Premier League who runs less than him."
The only other point I would make about Seri is if he understandably wants to quit England where does the 'loan' take come from as that would seem to conflict with both his and Fulham's best interests.
Daily Record journalist Keith Jackson has claimed that West Ham and Crystal Palace are believed to be showing “tentative interest” in Rangers striker Alfredo Morelos.
Last season, the Colombia international scored 30 goals and provided 11 assists in just 48 games. And he has already got off the mark this season, coming off the bench to score in Rangers’ Europa League qualifying round win.
The 23-year-old now has 49 goals in just 92 matches since his 2017 move from HJH Helsinki. He is young and a natural finisher but his hot-headed character will put potential suitors off.
Morelos, nicknamed El Bufalo, was shown a staggering five red cards last season. The last one was for losing his head and kicking out at Celtic captain Scott Brown in a high-stakes Old Firm derby clash. If he cannot iron this out of this game, Morelos will be deemed a liability.
Burnley Hammer wrote:I've not heard much said about this side of his game but was hoping he was the kind of player who puts in a shift and defends from the front. We really lacked that last season. All it takes is a few people putting in a shift like that and it inspires others to start doing the same.
Morelos would do well in England and under somebody like Pelly. A club like Rangers is simply no good for a volatile temperament and he’d be better moving.
Irrons wrote:Contrary to most I think we're covered in central defence and don't need to bring anyone else in; we have Diop and Balbuena as our first choice pairing with Ogbonna and Reid as cover (both decent pedigree for backups). We also have Rice who can play there if we're really stuck.
Defensive midfield is the priority and then the wing-backs/backup striker.
Agreed. Fact is if we find a good enough defensive midfielder then that gives us the extra flexibility to use Rice as a central defender if we really had to in emergencies. The fact that we are weak in DM actually as a side effect, weakens our options in CD so by strengthening the former you automatically strengthen the latter in one move.
Then as you say it's fullbacks but sadly that may have to wait unless we can find a DM who can cover there too.