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Aye, it would be something if we could pick up a budding Cabaye, Ginola or Robert or even a ben Arfa who could be taken from early in his career and channelled in the right direction. That along with a certain amount of team spirit would hold us in good stead.Quote:
Originally Posted by TheOtherTerryMac
Would be nice to have someone that got the whole crowd on their toes but none of the current squad do that for me.Quote:
Originally Posted by ex_pat_magpie
In which case I'm a bit confused - if our side was stocked with top 15 players, why did we finish in the bottom 3?Quote:
Originally Posted by pboromag
I think you're romanticising the quality of those players to be honest - Colo was finished by the time we went into that final season, both physically and mentally. And even if he was better than Lascelles was then, he wasn't better than Lascelles is now, because he wasn't as strong or as mobile as Lascelles and he was far more error prone. Sure, he could possibly read the game better, experience will do that for you, but what good is it being able to read well if your back is too ****ed to pick up a book?
And you say a few of them went to top half team (2 - Wijnaldum and Sissoko) and that maybe 2 of ours would at present. That's the same number mate, so it doesn't serve your argument at all. And nobody who knew anything about Sissoko thought that he was actually good enough to go to a top side, and it turns out that was true. I think most of us grudgingly accepted Wijnaldum could do it in a better team.
What I do agree with you on is that I don't think we have a player in our side who is at Wijnaldum's standard, which means that our players now fall within a bit of a bell curve. I don't think our worst players are any worse than those who took us down - they are, in some cases, the very same players - but our best players aren't as good. The overall standard is possibly slightly higher for our first 11 in spite of this, in that we have players who are a bit more disciplined in sticking to their task (like Ritchie over Sissoko, Gayle over Cisse). And I think we're adding a little more experience and quality to our cover by signing players like Manquillo (Mbabu was our only cover at RB the season we went down). It's painfully slow progress, and I can understand anyone being frustrated by that when you see what other sides are doing and have done since we were last in the PL, but I think you and TerryMac are totally misguided if you think it was a bunch of PL quality players that took us into the Championship and a bunch of Championship quality players that brought us back into the PL.
Would you have Ben Arfa back?Quote:
Originally Posted by TheOtherTerryMac
Quote:
Originally Posted by TheOtherTerryMac
team spirit and togetherness won leicister the premier league title!
👏👏Quote:
Originally Posted by ranat22
they had some decent players to be fareQuote:
Originally Posted by ranat22
solid back 4 a couple of goal scorers and top lad who went on to win the title again with chelsea
we have at best 2-3 players that would amake atop 10-15 team
:star:Quote:
Originally Posted by ranat22
I personally think it was important to get the poison out of the squad and let anyone with the wrong attitude leave. That seems to be done but I have to agree that we're missing a lot of quality. I think we have a decent spine but we're missing some key positions.
Central midfield could use some help, our number 10 is still up in the air (is it Perez, Diame or De Jong?) 1 up front good enough to get us through the season? Left back is still not sorted and the signings we've brought in seem to be squad players.
Have to agree with pboro that not many of our players are wanted by our competition which means that we're clearly missing some quality. A few first team players can fix all that though.
Apparently teams/success are built by names and skill... Not work ethic, team spirit, hard work and cohesion.
Spot on post Andy1981.
FFS you could put a bad spin on anything in life, which is exactly what you're doing when you're criticising the manager, players and their achievements tbh.
Fwiw I think we've got a couple of special players in the making tbh.. Shelvey is excellent on his day and if he can be the man consistently then don't be surprised to see him in the England team and getting plaudits. I see him excelling against better opposition.
Lescelles I know some see him as a bit of a liability at times but I think this lad can really go all the way as our captain. He's not a Bramble, this lads the real deal, again I see him excelling against Prem teams. He'll only keep on improving.
Gayle I hear a lot of people talking about a striker (we do need one) but not to bench Gayle in my opinion, we need one to challenge/partner him... I think people are forgetting he was our main man last season fizzy pop or not.
He's our number 9, Rafa knew what that meant when he signed him and played him as our lone striker, I think people are under-estimating how much Rafa rates him tbh. He's paid and played to score goals, he does, end of. I think a fair few will be surprised with his goal tally (if we have a decent season, which I believe we will). Watch.
DeJong is another player who can change a game but through visions, pass and touch rather than dribbling ability and speed... He could definitely be our locksmith next season, I hope he stays fit.
I agree though, none of the above are the type of player mentioned, we need a player that gets you standing up "go on", someone who can skin players with pace and guile, a spark even when you're sinking underwater... Ben Arfa was that guy at times but I'd never have him back now though, he simply has not got the right attitude for our team.
My realistic choice for a maverick? Adama Troare... I really think Benitez could get the best out of the lad.
Realistically who would you lot want us to buy to make the "difference"?