Pre-season 21/22 & season ahead views.

[Mudface]

6 minutes ago, Bjornebye said:

I actually thought Milner was one of the better performers when he played last season 

Sadly, he was. I think it's pretty noticeable that he's not at the same level of a couple of years ago. Still useful, though.

[Scott_M]

1 hour ago, Mudface said:

Three out of those 7 aren't good enough and Old Man Milner didn't look great last season. 

 

1 hour ago, Strontium Dog™ said:

 

Milner's a million years old, and Keita and Ox have spent more time in hospital this past year than doctors on the covid wards.

Like Old Man Modric, Old Man Kroos, Old Man Chiellini, Old Man Bonucci, Old Man Robben, Old Man Ribery, Old Man Ibrahimovic, Old Man McAllister…

 

He’s not going to be a regular starter and he can be relied upon when required. I don’t see the problem with it.

[Pete]

Who's the bearded fella in the cap? No glasses but looks familiar..

[Mudface]

4 minutes ago, Scott_M said:

 

Like Old Man Modric, Old Man Kroos, Old Man Chiellini, Old Man Bonucci, Old Man McAllister…

 

Hes not going to be a regular starter and he can be relied upon when required. I don’t see the problem with it.

But, those players you just mentioned are regular starters. Milner is obviously useful, but I'd be surprised if he started more than a handful of league games. 

[Strontium]

2 minutes ago, Scott_M said:

Like Old Man Modric, Old Man Kroos, Old Man Chiellini, Old Man Bonucci, Old Man Robben, Old Man Ribery, Old Man Ibrahimovic, Old Man McAllister…

 

He’s not going to be a regular starter and he can be relied upon when required. I don’t see the problem with it.

 

I'm a big fan of Milner, but (a) he's not going to last forever and (b) we've lost a midfielder who made 51 appearances for us last season. I think it's asking a lot for a team that couldn't retain its title last season to regain it after being weakened further.

[Bjornebye]

1 minute ago, Strontium Dog™ said:

 

I'm a big fan of Milner, but (a) he's not going to last forever and (b) we've lost a midfielder who made 51 appearances for us last season. I think it's asking a lot for a team that couldn't retain its title last season to regain it after being weakened further.

Having to play two of our best midfielders at CB and our best CB and the new guy coming in plus Gomez returning from injury kinda suggests we aren’t weaker than last season. Plus Thiago 

[Strontium]

2 minutes ago, Bjornebye said:

Having to play two of our best midfielders at CB and our best CB and the new guy coming in plus Gomez returning from injury kinda suggests we aren’t weaker than last season. Plus Thiago 

 

Sure, and hopefully we don't have the same injury concerns that we had last season, but it's a gamble, isn't it. I prefer not to leave things so much to chance.

[sir roger]

Despite what the Echo and others are saying I think a decent midfielder will be brought in using the sale of the fringe players and no money spent on forwards with Origi still here as 5th forward.

[Bjornebye]

2 minutes ago, Strontium Dog™ said:

 

Sure, and hopefully we don't have the same injury concerns that we had last season, but it's a gamble, isn't it. I prefer not to leave things so much to chance.

Oh we need more players for sure. 

[Scott_M]

10 minutes ago, Mudface said:

But, those players you just mentioned are regular starters. Milner is obviously useful, but I'd be surprised if he started more than a handful of league games. 

That’s the point I’m making. Milner won’t be a regular starter, so we won’t have to rely on him as much.
 

As a squad player, he’s more than adequate.

[No2]

Origi and Ox looked like they summered well.

[Scott_M]

10 minutes ago, Strontium Dog™ said:

 

I'm a big fan of Milner, but (a) he's not going to last forever and (b) we've lost a midfielder who made 51 appearances for us last season. I think it's asking a lot for a team that couldn't retain its title last season to regain it after being weakened further.

I can’t add more than Stig has.
 

I would like another midfielder to come in as well, but it wouldn’t be at the expense of Milner if we did. 

[Strontium]

3 minutes ago, No2 said:

Origi and Ox looked like they summered well.

 

Not surprising, they've been sat on their arses for most of the past 12 months.

[johnsusername]

1 hour ago, aRdja said:

We have 7 midfielders (Fabinho, Hendo, Thiago, Keita, Ox, Milner, and Jones) for 3 midfield spots. We need a back-up right back before yet another midfielder.

Perma crocks, I believe is the modern slang.

[sir roger]

While Keita and AOC have both had a lot of injuries I think it is unfair to lump them both together constantly . AOC gets big injuries , has been available every game since last November and seems really keen to succeed whereas Keita doesn't look like he wants to be here and gets constant small injuries and dubious 'illnesses'.

[Scott_M]

15 minutes ago, sir roger said:

While Keita and AOC have both had a lot of injuries I think it is unfair to lump them both together constantly . AOC gets big injuries , has been available every game since last November and seems really keen to succeed whereas Keita doesn't look like he wants to be here and gets constant small injuries and dubious 'illnesses'.

Ox also contributes when he plays. 

[Jairzinho]

Henderson, Fabinho and Thiago is a very good first choice central midfield. Milner is good experienced back up. Jones is a promising young player. Keita and Oxlaide-Chamberlain need binning, they're both a complete waste of resources.

 

We need one more and it needs to be a player that is somewhere between 21-24 that can still improve, but is a more solid option than Jones.

[CapeRed]

1 hour ago, an tha said:

We had all those players last year yet Wijnaldum played pretty much every game.

 

You can't lose that many minutes from a player and not replace IMO.

 

I know we had midfielders playing at centre half and would expect to not have to be in that situation again - but still, Wijnaldum has easily been our most reliable midfelder over last few seasons...i feel we need more in there now he has gone given the question marks over rest of them.

I think we have to replace Gini and ,if we can sell Origi, buy another forward .

[m0e]

1 hour ago, Bjornebye said:

I actually thought Milner was one of the better performers when he played last season 

That's because he was. Just look at the results in the games he started.

 

This age thing is a nonsense, and has been going on practically since he joined us.

[Pidge]

Would like a midfielder, it would be a gamble to not get one in. Not to the same degree as not getting a CB last season was, but still. 

 

Would be disappointed if we didn't do something up top though. Feels like we're chasing losses with Origi and he's lost direction as a result. Best for everyone to cut out losses and find him a new home.

[an tha]

1 hour ago, Scott_M said:

While true, I don’t think thats the full story.

 

We lost VVD, Gomez and Matip. We then also lost Fabinho and Hendo in the middle of the park and then Hendo for the rest of the season through injury. 
 

We also missed Thiago for the first half of the season. 

 

Although we’ll be missing Wijnaldum, we will be gaining the above players.  
 

However, IMO, I’d sign another midfielder as I don’t trust Keita. 

Yeah I think we are on same page here pretty much.

 

 

[an tha]

57 minutes ago, Jairzinho said:

Henderson, Fabinho and Thiago is a very good first choice central midfield. Milner is good experienced back up. Jones is a promising young player. Keita and Oxlaide-Chamberlain need binning, they're both a complete waste of resources.

 

We need one more and it needs to be a player that is somewhere between 21-24 that can still improve, but is a more solid option than Jones.

Neither Henderson or Fabinho are ultra reliable though - i would expect both to miss at least a quarter of our games.

 

It is when that happens that we are then really stretched.

[Strontium]

26 minutes ago, m0e said:

That's because he was. Just look at the results in the games he started.

 

This age thing is a nonsense, and has been going on practically since he joined us.

 

I've always said if you're old enough, you're good enough.

[m0e]

There is no way we buy a midfielder without selling either Keita or Oxlade first.

 

No chance.

[m0e]

5 hours ago, Bjornebye said:

Salah looks gutted he's missing the amateur Olympics