I feel i better point out that 26 signings over a 6 season period is just over 4 a season average - do you think that's a particularly high number of transfers? I think 4-5 a season would compare quite well to most of the league.
Out of that 26 we've signed Vorm and Gazzaniga for backup GK roles (24 players left) Clarke for the future (23) and we're also yet to see the 3 first team signings from this summer hit the ground so that leaves 20 players from the 5 seasons previous to judge him on.
Alderweireld Davies Trippier Dier Wanyama Sanchez (14) - all players that have contributed defensively to the first team and also most have been used as squad players for substantial periods also. We also had Wimmer (13) for a brief period who initially looked a good prospect and filled in admirably when Vertonghen was out injured, good enough so some supporters were calling for him to start in the not to distant future at one point - he was sold to Stoke at a profit and never looked the same player he did under Poch again. Foyth (12) a young prospect who could go either way at this point, still early days.
Sissoko (11) undoubtedly showed remarkable improvement from his first season where he barely looked like he had seen a football before to someone who fairly competently covers a couple of positions as a squad player and really has had to fill in as a first XI player due to injuries and lack of strengthening in the market the past couple of years.
Alli and Son (9) don't really need much explaining, both successful signings who improved their game during their time here, though fair to say Alli is seen to have tailed off the last couple of seasons, having to fill in at CM due to lack of investment in that position as well as injuries and suspensions no doubt contributing to that.
Llorente (8) signed as a back up player and performed that role as you'd expect, was written off by supporters initially but come the end of his brief stay he had chipped in enough to justify his signing.
Moura (7) i don't particularly rate the player, he was on the subs bench at PSG for a reason and I think he was probably expected/hoped to be a hidden gem that an elite (rich) club had overlooked and could compete at the same levels as Son - he's worth a squad position and contributed massively in the CL when filling in, is that enough to consider the signing a success? He was signed for a similar fee to Son but in a time when transfer fees had risen considerably - so really no surprise if all he amounts to is a squad player.
That leaves 6 (if my maths is correct) duds over a 5 year period, the likes of Stambouli Fazio and the N'brothers that were cheap punts as alternatives to more costly primary targets (Mussachio/Mane/Schneiderlin?) or just bad buys like Aurier and Janssen. I don't think 6 bad signings over a 5/6 year period is particularly out of the ordinary, especially when you factor in we are trying to compete with sides at the top of the table when spending less than half of our rivals do on average per man (as shown in previous posts) and spending a lot less on wages.
Wages being a key point, the rest of the top 6 give their reserves/back ups wages that we just can't get close to for back up/rotation players and it's for this reason that Poch, has focused on a first XI rather than a squad - his hand pretty much being forced by a lack of financial clout - players of the required quality who would be happy to sit on the bench at a top club want to be picking up big wages all the same, if they can start at clubs further down the table and pick up similar or higher wages where is the incentive?
Essentially our transfer policy was to sign the level of player our rivals would for their subs bench (see transfer fees and wages offered) and build a team greater than the sum of it's parts in order to compete with teams that can buy ready made top level talent - it had to be because we couldn't afford to go toe to toe with the rich/elite clubs and it is a policy that has served us well over the ENIC years, however it is not without it's flaws, namely that you're taking punts (educated or otherwise) that you can spot a diamond in the rough/beat the system basically and i think over a long enough time you're eventually going to have it catch up with you, that said the 6 in 5 years hit rate for bad signings under Poch would actually compare favourably to the 5 years previous or the 5 years before that and so on.
Really the bigger issue with transfers is the club not moving on players that need(ed) moving on - it has clearly prevented us from being able to bring others in as the squad is bloated with crocked/uninterested players taking up registered places or in the case of Eriksen and Alderweireld potentially key players with high value that could have been reinvested in top talent (Fernandes at Lisbon or Dybala last summer gone instance) i think if you look at our form this past year it is clearly the first team that is on the wane and looking at incoming transfers fir the years previous it's also clear there was no real investment in first XI players since we signed Son, so no players of the required quality to refresh a first XI held together by a merry band of low level squad level signings.
*wow that was a long toilet break
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