Next season- What do we need?

[joellufcprice]

After what in my eyes has been a fantastic first season back what do we need in terms of additions/development for next season. I think a lot of players have stood up well this season to the rise in quality but I do think for that next step some just need to move on or be moved to second choice, we've suffered this year with lack of depth particularly in midfield and that was woefully highlighted against Brighton with us having Roberts, Klich and Koch in our midfield which just didn't work.

Team for next season:

GK: Meslier/ Caprile (Happy with this tbh, unless there is a youngster out there we have our eye on/ someone older with experience to guide Meslier and drop in when necessary.

LB: ??????/ Huggins (I'm hoping Huggins is good enough to be the genuine back up here, obviously we have Dallas but Dallas can't be cover for every position on pitch, this is our biggest weakness when we have our strongest team out and needs addressing)

CB: Llorente/ Cooper (No complaints here, good options with Cooper as back up, providing he is happy with that role)

CB: Koch/ Struijk (Again, happy with these two, don't know who is better yet so switch either round though I think with game time at CB Koch would show his class, Struijk still has lots to learn but is a big player for the future)

RB: Ayling/ Drameh (I'd love Drameh to step up here, I don't want wholesale signings and would rather youngsters stepped up and again Dallas could step in to this position)


CDM: Phillips/ ?????? (***** we get someone in here, preferably someone who can play this role and more advanced when needed, we've lost 6 out of 9 without Kalvin this year not necessarily just because he isn't there but because nobody can play that role, we gambled a little on Forshaw coming back but that is never happening so needs addressing)


CM: ????? / Klich/ (An area we have really struggled with imo this year, Klich I think is suffering impact of a lot of football and we need someone there to support him)

CAM: ?????? / Roberts (Again a key area, I just don't rate Roberts, I think he will be a good player but not good enough for what we need, happy for him to be back up and keep playing as I think he is trying to improve but I'm just not convinced he has the quality, he shows odd flashes but I rarely watch him and think he is changing a game like Pablo did for example)

LW: Harrison/ Gelhardt/Summerville? ( think harrison has the potential to keep getting better, he has shown it this season and has been a bit off at times but I think a large part of that is playing with Roberts/ no Phillips who don't get ball to him, in terms of support I'd hope Gelhardt can step up but I don't know if Bielsa sees him as ready, same with Summerville)

RW: Raphinha/ Poveda/ Costa (Fairly happy with this, I think Costa gets a bad rap at times but as a back up I'm fairly happy with him, however if we got an offer for him I'd sell and trust in Poveda/ rest of our youngsters)

ST: Bamford/ Rodrigo (Really not sure here, I guess Rodrigo is the one to support the midfield but if he is we need a new striker for when Bamford is off the boil like he has been and I don't think Greenwood is ready yet, but I'd rather we stuck with this than sign 5/6 new players)


In my eyes we need 3 crucial additions at left back, attacking midfield and someone who can play both the Klich role and drop back to play the Phillips role when needed. Outside of that my hope would be that kids can step up and fill in. I have not included Dallas in any positions as for me as I see him as cover for everywhere and an essential cog in our team.

Players to let go:
Alioski- We all know his time is up, great character, great effort but this league is beyond his talents

Pablo- Sad but its the end, doesn't get the game time. That said, I'd love him to stay and do bit parts in the team and guide likes of Gelhardt and eventually become a coach but I'm not sure he wants his career on the pitch to finish quite yet.

Forshaw- I really see no point in him staying next year, even if he got fit I didn't really think he was good enough before for PL. Love the guy but time to move.

Berardi- Hope he gets a game before end of season, club did well by him getting him fit but again just time to move on he has a lot more left in his career to let it dwindle by on our bench.

Casilla- Not arsed here, if he wants to stay and keep being number 2 then fine but other than that I'd get rid.

Leif Davis- Just not seeing it from him, fallen out of picture completley, get him out on loan.

Jamie Shackelton- I've never been overly convinced by him, he works hard and has lots of energy and is a good footballer but I've never quite got what he is best at. Maybe a loan move, he needs full season football.

Helder Costa- If we had someone else coming in and someone offering a good fee for him I'd let him go.


Overall I don't want to see wholesale changes, maybe 3 additions 4 at most and then let 6 players leave who just aren't in the picture. I would love Pablo or Berardi to stay as I think they're good pros and good for the club but I wouldn't want to hold them back.

My aim for next season would be 10th-7th

[hopelesslyoptimistic]

After what in my eyes has been a fantastic first season back what do we need in terms of additions/development for next season. I think a lot of players have stood up well this season to the rise in quality but I do think for that next step some just need to move on or be moved to second choice, we've suffered this year with lack of depth particularly in midfield and that was woefully highlighted against Brighton with us having Roberts, Klich and Koch in our midfield which just didn't work.

Team for next season:

GK: Meslier/ Caprile (Happy with this tbh, unless there is a youngster out there we have our eye on/ someone older with experience to guide Meslier and drop in when necessary.

LB: ??????/ Huggins (I'm hoping Huggins is good enough to be the genuine back up here, obviously we have Dallas but Dallas can't be cover for every position on pitch, this is our biggest weakness when we have our strongest team out and needs addressing)

CB: Llorente/ Cooper (No complaints here, good options with Cooper as back up, providing he is happy with that role)

CB: Koch/ Struijk (Again, happy with these two, don't know who is better yet so switch either round though I think with game time at CB Koch would show his class, Struijk still has lots to learn but is a big player for the future)

RB: Ayling/ Drameh (I'd love Drameh to step up here, I don't want wholesale signings and would rather youngsters stepped up and again Dallas could step in to this position)


CDM: Phillips/ ?????? (***** we get someone in here, preferably someone who can play this role and more advanced when needed, we've lost 6 out of 9 without Kalvin this year not necessarily just because he isn't there but because nobody can play that role, we gambled a little on Forshaw coming back but that is never happening so needs addressing)


CM: ????? / Klich/ (An area we have really struggled with imo this year, Klich I think is suffering impact of a lot of football and we need someone there to support him)

CAM: ?????? / Roberts (Again a key area, I just don't rate Roberts, I think he will be a good player but not good enough for what we need, happy for him to be back up and keep playing as I think he is trying to improve but I'm just not convinced he has the quality, he shows odd flashes but I rarely watch him and think he is changing a game like Pablo did for example)

LW: Harrison/ Gelhardt/Summerville? ( think harrison has the potential to keep getting better, he has shown it this season and has been a bit off at times but I think a large part of that is playing with Roberts/ no Phillips who don't get ball to him, in terms of support I'd hope Gelhardt can step up but I don't know if Bielsa sees him as ready, same with Summerville)

RW: Raphinha/ Poveda/ Costa (Fairly happy with this, I think Costa gets a bad rap at times but as a back up I'm fairly happy with him, however if we got an offer for him I'd sell and trust in Poveda/ rest of our youngsters)

ST: Bamford/ Rodrigo (Really not sure here, I guess Rodrigo is the one to support the midfield but if he is we need a new striker for when Bamford is off the boil like he has been and I don't think Greenwood is ready yet, but I'd rather we stuck with this than sign 5/6 new players)


In my eyes we need 3 crucial additions at left back, attacking midfield and someone who can play both the Klich role and drop back to play the Phillips role when needed. Outside of that my hope would be that kids can step up and fill in. I have not included Dallas in any positions as for me as I see him as cover for everywhere and an essential cog in our team.

Players to let go:
Alioski- We all know his time is up, great character, great effort but this league is beyond his talents

Pablo- Sad but its the end, doesn't get the game time. That said, I'd love him to stay and do bit parts in the team and guide likes of Gelhardt and eventually become a coach but I'm not sure he wants his career on the pitch to finish quite yet.

Forshaw- I really see no point in him staying next year, even if he got fit I didn't really think he was good enough before for PL. Love the guy but time to move.

Berardi- Hope he gets a game before end of season, club did well by him getting him fit but again just time to move on he has a lot more left in his career to let it dwindle by on our bench.

Casilla- Not arsed here, if he wants to stay and keep being number 2 then fine but other than that I'd get rid.

Leif Davis- Just not seeing it from him, fallen out of picture completley, get him out on loan.

Jamie Shackelton- I've never been overly convinced by him, he works hard and has lots of energy and is a good footballer but I've never quite got what he is best at. Maybe a loan move, he needs full season football.

Helder Costa- If we had someone else coming in and someone offering a good fee for him I'd let him go.


Overall I don't want to see wholesale changes, maybe 3 additions 4 at most and then let 6 players leave who just aren't in the picture. I would love Pablo or Berardi to stay as I think they're good pros and good for the club but I wouldn't want to hold them back.

My aim for next season would be 10th-7th

Good summary.

Agreed that left back and midfield are key areas. Will be interesting to see if Alfie Mc and Gotts get a chance when they return as both had rave reviews.

We keep being linked with Ryan Kent which would be a really good signing but beyond that who knows.

Also think a reliable goal scorer will need to be added at some point as if PB gets injured we are likely to struggle.

Hope we show the same ambition in summer signings as we did last summer - if they can unearth a Rapha quality LB then that would be a huge boost.

[Monaco_Totty]

Priority wise we'll still be looking for a Michaël Cuisance type of creative player who can play central midfield/attacking midfielder/deep-lying midfielder with the strength to hold the ball that we've never had all season and a disciplined aggressive wing back replacement.

No big shake up required yet.

[spaldy]

Love Bamford's unselfish game but can't help but think what we would be if had a pure, deadly striker. Honestly don't think that 30 goals would be much of a stretch, The problem is that many of those type players are only strikers and don't help back. it's hard to say since we've never given such a type of player a chance on what it would do to the team.

I'd offload Rodrigo back to spain and use that money for a pure striker.

Also hate to say it, as Joel said but Pablo, Forshaw and Berardi are done. I think that Klich is done as well. Gave it his all but he's a shadow of himself these days. Have to have someone to replace him.

Please leave most of the rest intact. we are set for keep for a long time and our defense came around nicely. Strujik has star potential and Lorente, Koch and Ayling are very solid. we played all season without a true LB. think how much better they would be with a great LB.

[Billyni]

A combative midfielder
A creative midfielder
A striker who scores reguarly( not a hatrick hero then nothing for 2 months)
A LB
Learn how to play against those who pack their defence.
Learn how to defend corners and set pieces (although there has been an improvement)
Top 6 nailed on.
Dont give a flying fk about the thursday europa league, id rather win any domestic cup.

[Monaco_Totty]

A combative midfielder
A creative midfielder
A striker who scores reguarly( not a hatrick hero then nothing for 2 months)
A LB
Learn how to play against those who pack their defence.
Learn how to defend corners and set pieces (although there has been an improvement)
Top 6 nailed on.
Dont give a flying fk about the thursday europa league, id rather win any domestic cup.

Well it made Mum smile but not the dog Billy

[LeedsFTW]

I know my answer is not quite what the topic requested, but I feel the team need someone that can come off the bench and change the game.

Jack Clarke and Nketiah when we had them, would come on for last 30 mins or so and would work a piece of magic that might get you something from the game. At the moment I don't think we have that. I had hoped Pablo would be that person, but its not worked out that way this season.

[hopelesslyoptimistic]

I know my answer is not quite what the topic requested, but I feel the team need someone that can come off the bench and change the game.

Jack Clarke and Nketiah when we had them, would come on for last 30 mins or so and would work a piece of magic that might get you something from the game. At the moment I don't think we have that. I had hoped Pablo would be that person, but its not worked out that way this season.

Think Summerville could do that if given a chance but if we sign Ryan Kent and those drums are beating loud again then if he doesn’t start he could fill that role.

Just hope we sign them early so that they can be inducted into the ways of MB

[whitestomper45]

Bielsa and his staff...

[joellufcprice]

Love Bamford's unselfish game but can't help but think what we would be if had a pure, deadly striker. Honestly don't think that 30 goals would be much of a stretch, The problem is that many of those type players are only strikers and don't help back. it's hard to say since we've never given such a type of player a chance on what it would do to the team.
.

I always think that about Bamford but then I also just think how hard is it to tell someone to run and close down whereas being a natural goalscorer often isn't something that can be coached which Bamford isn't, he has had a great season but like last year I always think what would a properly high class striker have scored.