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Thread | Do we need to sign 2 new starting midfielders?
at 08:20 20 Jul 2024
Morsy & Luongo have been excellent for us; as individual players consistently putting in strong performances, but especially as a partnership that have complimented each other perfectly.
However, do I dare raise the elephant in the room?
Morsy is 32 & Luongo almost the same, and neither of them have played at Premier League level in their long careers as yet. In fact, despite their excellent form for us, both dropped down to League 1 level at the age of 29 by agreed transfer, as opposed to relegation.
Upon signing them, both were seen as capable Championship level players, but were not even touted as being top end Championship midfielders by that time.
Both played well overall last season, and Morsy once again was a beast for us; but even for him, are we sure that even he can be good enough to compete week in/week out over a Premier League season, against some of the best midfielders in the world, especially if we are sticking with playing a 2 man midfield? The Egyptian national coaches have not thought to include him in international squads for quite some time.
Much of Morsy's game for us has been about coming deep, taking possession from the keeper or centre half - being that assured outlet - and then dropping the shoulder to feint going one way, before losing his man & taking the ball in midfield & us into attack. Will he be able to continually do that against top class opposition? He got caught, or almost got caught on the edge of our box a few times last season - the goal at Hull, where Seri (a Premier level player in his time) picked his pocket, stands in out particular.
Coming up against the quality of midfielders the Premier League has to offer, may require us to switch to a 3 man option in a lot of the games anyway, but we will certainly need to, at the very least, add 1 younger, tough tackling, quality defensive midfielder, with an engine to get up & down for the full 90+ minutes, and I would argue that we probably need 2.
There, I've said the unsayable, but for legitimate discussion purposes.
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Thread | Centre Forward
at 22:19 9 Jul 2024
A lot of fans & podcasters feel that we will still need to sign a new #9 even after Liam Delap is confirmed, as he may well be seen primarily as a right sided attacker.
We have apparently offered up to £25m for Fotis Ioannidis, but that was rejected & that now looks unlikely to be revisited.
Early on in the Summer we were linked with Armando Broja, but figures of up to £50m were being quoted at that point, then there was mention of a 'cut price' fee of £30m, and now after a disappointing Euros, that seems to be down again to £25m - which is what we offered for Ioannidis who is totally unproven in the Premier League.
Broja has been with Spurs & then Chelsea since he was 7, plus he had a very good loan in the Premier League under his belt with Southampton, so he meets the McKenna criteria on that score. Still only 22 & hugely talented, can you imagine what a season under McKenna could do for his confidence & further development?
Maybe worth a cheeky enquiry at this stage? |
| | Len_Brennan
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