Dutch D
Well-Known Member & FPL Champion 19/20
Never heard anyone describe Koopmeiners as someone with 'more pace'.
Valverde?! Surely you can't be serious.Current thinking:
GK: Ramsdale (Turner)
Left back: Zinchenko (Guerreiro)
Centre back: Gabriel (Kiwior)
Centre back: Saliba (White)
Right back: Cancelo (Tomi)
Midfield #1: Rice (Partey)
Midfield #2: Valverde (Jorginho)
No 10: Ode (ESR)
Right wing: Saka (Jesus/Nelson)
Left wing: Martinelli (Trossard)
Striker: Jesus (Hojlund)
Add (summer or January):
Zaire-Emery (midfield)
Lamine Yamal (right wing, Cesc-style signing)
Am serious, read he may well be available. Fantastic player, serious clubs pay for serious players.Valverde?! Surely you can't be serious.
Where? No chance Real let him go, no chance he wants to leave Real.Am serious, read he may well be available. Fantastic player, serious clubs pay for serious players.
Can't help but think we might just be chasing the wrong West Ham midfielder. Would love Rice, but also feel Paqueta is better suited to the profile we need.
You could look at it like that, or you could look at from the point of view that in those games you need players in the middle who have incredible technical ability and ball security with the ability to get you up the pitch.Paqueta is definitely suited to us on the days when we're starting games expecting to win.
But did you watch the 2 City games? The Liverpool 2nd half? Or did you watch any of the Champions League Quarters and Semis? Especially the 2 Madrid/City games.
Dog fights pretty much from box to box with technical skill in the very final 3rd. Sustained pressure, absorbing the force and will of an opponent who has a squad of a combined worth of 1B+.
We have a lot of players who can play in that final 3rd, but its time to stock up on players who can help us fight in those 5-10 games next season where trying to outscore equally or better matched opponents won't work.
That's not me limiting Rice to a defensive only plodder, but when you watch super high level football, the games we lost, Madrid v City v Bayern games etc., the difference between winning and losing is who can hold off, control or contain their equally matched opponent well enough and long enough to let their front 3s or 4s slit their throats.
He is slow and defensively poor. We need rice and not another overhyped BrazilianYou could look at it like that, or you could look at from the point of view that in those games you need players in the middle who have incredible technical ability and ball security with the ability to get you up the pitch.
Paqueta is the total package who just needs the right environment to flourish. He is box to box, good size, good engine, good defensively, great on the ball, can create, can score. He's the ideal player for that LCM role.
He is slow and defensively poor. We need rice and not another overhyped Brazilian
Outside of last 6 weeks he has been poor. How about he actually prove himself in the league like riceDefensively poor? Have you watched him? He wins a lot of duels. Even in a poor season, he's in the 90th percentile for tackles when compared to other mids. 80th percentile for blocks and aerial duels.
Outside of last 6 weeks he has been poor. How about he actually prove himself in the league like rice
You could look at it like that, or you could look at from the point of view that in those games you need players in the middle who have incredible technical ability and ball security with the ability to get you up the pitch.
Paqueta is the total package who just needs the right environment to flourish. He is box to box, good size, good engine, good defensively, great on the ball, can create, can score. He's the ideal player for that LCM role.
He is good. Very good. Even defensively - he does a job. He isn't the greatest, but he isn't a slouch.
But the question I ask myself is "if we had Player A,B or C in Game X, Y or Z, what would have been the difference?"
I don't think the difference between losing those games, or getting a draw, or even winning them was a Paqueta in place of Xhaka.
We need more steel. We need more defensive anticipation. We need more assertiveness to not only absorb pressure but defensively put the pressure on people. The Rice's and Caicedo's of this world are the players you take into those important games and it goes from a match where your gloves are up for 70% the fight taking punches to punching back and making your opponent think about you. Not just a game where they're sizing you up and deciding how to kill you for most of the match.
That's the difference.
Dunno if we need Zaire-Emery when we have Lewis-Skelly tbh but he's a great talent. Proper unicorn midfielder.Current thinking:
GK: Ramsdale (Turner)
Left back: Zinchenko (Guerreiro)
Centre back: Gabriel (Kiwior)
Centre back: Saliba (White)
Right back: Cancelo (Tomi)
Midfield #1: Rice (Partey)
Midfield #2: Valverde (Jorginho)
No 10: Ode (ESR)
Right wing: Saka (Jesus/Nelson)
Left wing: Martinelli (Trossard)
Striker: Jesus (Hojlund)
Add (summer or January):
Zaire-Emery (midfield)
Lamine Yamal (right wing, Cesc-style signing)
Thoughts Rasmi?Outside of last 6 weeks he has been poor. How about he actually prove himself in the league like rice