Who do you want to follow Poch from Southampton?

[Kingdawson]

]well he either makes the position his own for a sustained period of time - at his it age could quite feasibly be a decade or so OR he gets sniffed out by a super rich club if the team doesn't progress and you make your money back[/B].

either outcome would be money well spent imv

or he doesn't reach his potential at all and fails miserably.

 

[DubaiSpur]

Just a shame he can't pass and doesn't have a creative bone in his body.

His defensive work is great, but he holds us back offensively by failing to release the ball.

Great. Convert him into a 'pure' DM a la Sandro, and stick alongside a deep-lying distributor in Poch's favoured 4-2-3-1. It would be perfect: we'd have a defensive midfielder who's both strong and very technically-skilled, allowing him to easily participate in recycling possession from deep.

--------------------------GK--------------------------

RB-------------CB---------------------CB------------LB

---------------DLP------------------Dembele----------

RAM----------------------CAM----------------------LAM

---------------------------FW-------------------------

Get Schneiderlin in from Southampton to act as the deep-lying playmaker, with Lallana as well to stick in the LAM position if possible. Shouldn't cost more than 45 million tops for the pair of them, and you've got yourself a fearsome team.

 

[Craig_J]

I'd take Shaw from Southampton but doubt he'd be interested once Chelsea move for him seeing as he sypports them.

I'd take Lallana, Rodriguez and would personally still take Lambert from them though.

 

[Raziel]

Honestly, no one ... not at the hype and overpriced range they would likely be in.

Fact is, Poch has much better talent to start with here in Eriksen, Sandro, Lamela, Ade, Soldado, (not to mention Bentaleb, Carroll, Pitchard, Falque, etc.) all with potentially higher performance ceilings. We also hopefully have better scouting and acquisition system and the support of Baldini

To me it's a lazy cop out when managers go back to their old clubs and pay overpriced fees for players, really hope we don't fall for that trap again.

 

[Gutter Boy]

Great. Convert him into a 'pure' DM a la Sandro, and stick alongside a deep-lying distributor in Poch's favoured 4-2-3-1. It would be perfect: we'd have a defensive midfielder who's both strong and very technically-skilled, allowing him to easily participate in recycling possession from deep.

--------------------------GK--------------------------

RB-------------CB---------------------CB------------LB

---------------DLP------------------Dembele----------

RAM----------------------CAM----------------------LAM

---------------------------FW-------------------------

Get Schneiderlin in from Southampton to act as the deep-lying playmaker, with Lallana as well to stick in the LAM position if possible. Shouldn't cost more than 45 million tops for the pair of them, and you've got yourself a fearsome team.

But he's not as good a DM than Sandro or Capoue. And recycling possession is exactly what he can't do, because he doesn't move the ball. Plus he can only last 60 minutes before his OAP's hip kicks in.

I just think we need to cash in before his value plummets even more. Upgrading him with Schneiderlin or Banega would have a massive impact on our fluidity IMO.

 

[AdamB]

But he's not as good a DM than Sandro or Capoue. And recycling possession is exactly what he can't do, because he doesn't move the ball. Plus he can only last 60 minutes before his OAP's hip kicks in.

I just think we need to cash in before his value plummets even more. Upgrading him with Schneiderlin or Banega would have a massive impact on our fluidity IMO.

Teh distribution thing is the real problem with Dembele. Without wanting to compare him to Jenas, he does remind me of JJ in the way that he takes about 20 touches when 2 would suffice. Granted Dembele does sometimes go on a dribble and beat people but generally when he gets the ball it means that the pace of attack slows down and the defence re-groups simply because he doesnt move the ball quick enough

 

[metalgear]

one thing for sure we need a LB and a new CB - so Shaw and Lovren for me.

by and large it depends on the price of who we get and who we sell. say if we offload our players at higher premiums then why not? no sacred cows as they say.

 

[Superted]

To me it's a lazy cop out when managers go back to their old clubs and pay overpriced fees for players, really hope we don't fall for that trap again.

agree with this. Plus it's just rude. Leave the poor buggers alone.

Only one I'd take is Osvaldo, and they don't want him anyway.

 

[braineclipse]

One thing worth remembering with Dembele is that he started his career much further forward, iirc he came to Fulham pretty much as a forward/second striker or at least as an out and out attacking midfielder. He was only really moved to a deeper position much later, where he did really well thanks to some of his strengths mentioned in this thread already.

But very much of his footballing life would have been spent in positions where he's supposed to do stuff on his own. He doesn't have as much experience being the player asked to distribute/recycle/play make from deep/various descriptions. Makes me think that perhaps there's more potential for improvement there under Poch.

 

[SteveAWOL]

Teh distribution thing is the real problem with Dembele. Without wanting to compare him to Jenas, he does remind me of JJ in the way that he takes about 20 touches when 2 would suffice. Granted Dembele does sometimes go on a dribble and beat people but generally when he gets the ball it means that the pace of attack slows down and the defence re-groups simply because he doesnt move the ball quick enough

Agreed. Had hoped that Dembele would fill the void left by Modric when he arrived but he's turned out to be a more athletic version of Parker imo, with Scotty' pirouette replaced by the blind alley dribble. At least Jenas chipped in with 12 league goals in his first couple of seasons compared to Mousa' haul of just 2 goals in 59 games.

Perhaps it's a confidence thing and Poch will have Dembele launching quick counter attacks / banging in lots of goals next season tho...

 

[Neymar]

i'm in the camp that thinks there's a lot more to come from dembele too. a lot of our players weren't helped by the managerial changes and the general poor form of the team overall. once dembele gets his confidence back, i have very high hopes for him.

the reason i wouldn't get the likes of lallana is that fundamentally, i don't believe he's any better than what we already have. and he would cost a fortune. if the following article is to be believed, paulinho will be in brazil's starting 11.

http://www.mirror.co.uk/sport/football/world-cup-2014/world-cup-2014-paulinho-brazils-3615318

i don't think anyone would put lallana in the brazil 23, let alone the starting line up. i think it shows that our current players are a lot better than what they showed this season.

 

[braineclipse]

i'm in the camp that thinks there's a lot more to come from dembele too. a lot of our players weren't helped by the managerial changes and the general poor form of the team overall. once dembele gets his confidence back, i have very high hopes for him.

the reason i wouldn't get the likes of lallana is that fundamentally, i don't believe he's any better than what we already have. and he would cost a fortune. if the following article is to be believed, paulinho will be in brazil's starting 11.

http://www.mirror.co.uk/sport/football/world-cup-2014/world-cup-2014-paulinho-brazils-3615318

i don't think anyone would put lallana in the brazil 23, let alone the starting line up. i think it shows that our current players are a lot better than what they showed this season.

I hope we're right about Dembele

One of the things that I've said before during this season is that we have a very strong squad, but not a very good team. Out of our squad that contains players like Paulinho we've struggled to put out a starting 11 that's been as good as the quality in that squad would indicate.

It's not always about one player being better than another. Comparing Lallana directly to Paulinho is difficult anyway as they don't play the same positions/roles. Brazil's strengths lie elsewhere than England's.

If we're lacking one or two key players to make sure we can make a very good team out of our very good squad then the absolute ranking of those players compared to what we have isn't really the important issue. If those players cost £15m or £25m is also somewhat irrelevant as long as Levy thinks we can make the deal.

 

[braineclipse]

Honestly, no one ... not at the hype and overpriced range they would likely be in.

Fact is, Poch has much better talent to start with here in Eriksen, Sandro, Lamela, Ade, Soldado, (not to mention Bentaleb, Carroll, Pitchard, Falque, etc.) all with potentially higher performance ceilings. We also hopefully have better scouting and acquisition system and the support of Baldini

To me it's a lazy cop out when managers go back to their old clubs and pay overpriced fees for players, really hope we don't fall for that trap again.

Lazy? They will know those players in and out, not just what they can do on the pitch, but so much more.

Doesn't seem lazy to me, seems like smart business. Not sure when exactly we've fallen into that trap before? Baldini getting Lamela? I'm guessing you're not talking about Crouch, Defoe and Kranjcar under Redknapp?

 

[Grassroots]

Cant help but say it again (sorry)

Why would we buy any southampton player when the reason we beat them twice was nothing to do with poch or tim but because we have much better players ?

That was according to a lot of the poch fans anyway.

For the prices they want I'd pass on them all thanks plenty of decent fish in the sea.

 

[Raziel]

Lazy? They will know those players in and out, not just what they can do on the pitch, but so much more.

Doesn't seem lazy to me, seems like smart business. Not sure when exactly we've fallen into that trap before? Baldini getting Lamela? I'm guessing you're not talking about Crouch, Defoe and Kranjcar under Redknapp?

Its also overpaying because you are usually dealing with a club that already is negative towards you for taking their manager

was more thinking Hoddle with Richards

 

[Yiddo]

Pretty sure a few people were writing off Lallana when he looked set to go to Liverpool.

 

[veron23]

1) Lovren - ideal replacement for Kaboul (assuming he is perma-crocked)

2) Schneiderlin - replacement for Modric/upgrade on Dembele - deep sitting ballplayer with strong defensive attributes

They'd be my two priorities.

Re the others - Eriksen and Lamela can be our own (and have higher ceilings than) Lallana and Rodriguez, and Shaw is out of our league/price range.

Ive never paid much attention to Schneiderlin other than quotes on Gilette Saturday that he's one of the most underrated players in the league.
How does he compare to Strootman, Claise and Schweinsteiger and other deep laying playmakers?
Who is he better than, who is he not quite as good as?

Is he a mobile type like Modric and Javi Martinez or a simple sit in front of back 4 and spray balls around Pirlo type

He looks mobile and tactically aware on Youtube, but who doesn't on a highlight reel

 

[jts1882]

I'd like an answer to that question too.

Schneiderlin's position seems the one we don't have a like-for-like replacement in "The Poch" (based mainly on my reading in these threads) so of all the Southampton players he might be the most useful. I was impressed by his interview explaining the training and tactics, which suggests he is an intelligent player.

 

[Grassroots]

Ive never paid much attention to Schneiderlin other than quotes on Gilette Saturday that he's one of the most underrated players in the league.
How does he compare to Strootman, Claise and Schweinsteiger and other deep laying playmakers?
Who is he better than, who is he not quite as good as?

Is he a mobile type like Modric and Javi Martinez or a simple sit in front of back 4 and spray balls around Pirlo type

He looks mobile and tactically aware on Youtube, but who doesn't on a highlight reel

He will cost more and probably will not be as good

 

[Kingdawson]

Ive never paid much attention to Schneiderlin other than quotes on Gilette Saturday that he's one of the most underrated players in the league.
How does he compare to Strootman, Claise and Schweinsteiger and other deep laying playmakers?
Who is he better than, who is he not quite as good as?

Is he a mobile type like Modric and Javi Martinez or a simple sit in front of back 4 and spray balls around Pirlo type

He looks mobile and tactically aware on Youtube, but who doesn't on a highlight reel

Stootman is not a deep lying playmaker.