I'm entirely sure there is already a thread about this but I'm too lazy and drunk to look for it.

 

So we have a transfer ban and we f**king deserve it. Let's not be big snowflake twats. We are as guilty as Gary Glitter in an episode of Grange Hill.

 

Lampard has come in with a degree of rare patience (we can all surely accept he'd never have got the job if the ban wasn't in place) and he is getting plaudits for what he has achieved with players that other managers would never have promoted.

 

But soon (probably in the summer) his safety net will be cut as he will have the option to buy which means his immunity will expire.

 

So what does he focus on given he will have a transfer budget larger than Mick Quinn.

 

For me its

 

1. A left back

2. A centre forward

3. A goalkeeper

 

And its in that order of priority.

I’d swap goalkeeper for a proper right winger in the Robben-esq category. 
 

It’s too early to write off a very young £70million player who’s just nicked the first choice place for his national team and plays in a position that generally hit their peak the older they get.  
 

Maybe just set him on extra w**king sessions to strengthen those wrists?

For me it's similar as well...

1. Left back

2. Centre back

3. Forward ( a winger or striker )

IMO the one thing we need is a major physical presence to dominate the midfield. Jorginho and Kova are having great seasons but are too lightweight. A supreme athlete, a hardman enforcer, with a brain, who can also play a bit. A second Michael Essien would make us a frightening side to play.

59 minutes ago, just said:

IMO the one thing we need is a major physical presence to dominate the midfield. Jorginho and Kova are having great seasons but are too lightweight. A supreme athlete, a hardman enforcer, with a brain, who can also play a bit. A second Michael Essien would make us a frightening side to play.

RLC ??

7 hours ago, coco said:

RLC ??

Not really Coco. RLC has the physical size, but is nowhere near the athlete that Essien was.

That said, very excited to see RLC in this team. Hopefully he is 100% over his injury when he returns.

 

9 hours ago, loz said:

 

1. A left back

2. A centre forward

3. A goalkeeper

 

And its in that order of priority.

 

I was hoping Emerson could prove to be a shrewd buy, but on top of being injury prone he's decided to join Marcos Alonso school of defending, so now I'm inclined to think we may need two new left backs, not one.

A centre forward is a must. Tammy should continue to work hard on his game and get valuable experience but neither Giroud nor Michy are good enough to give him a real competition for the starting spot. Again, I'd be looking for two new forwards.

Caballero is too old to be relied on as a second choice, he has to either move to Rob Green's spot or leave. Kepa is a headache. He's young and came with an embarrassingly huge price tag, yet still hasn't done nearly enough to convince he is the number one choice for years to come. There was a rumour about Lamps bringing in Shay Given to help him in training, true or not, but something has to be done to address flaws in his game.  Maybe he needs a kick up his arse and having  a non-threat like Caballero is the wrong way to go about it. Let's get someone good and of a proper playing age to give him a real competition for a starting spot, that could make a difference.

Apart from those three positions, I personally think we have to spend heavily to bring in top quality CBs and even the RB spot is up for grabs. People are desperate for Rudiger to return, but even at his best, he's not a world class CB, never was, not to mention what shape he comes back in after a long layoff. Christensen is never going to be good enough, too weak both physically and mentally, needs to move on. Zouma would be a great asset to have in a squad, but he's never a first choice in a top side, too clumsy with the ball and not a good passer, just don't have the right characteristics for the team Lampard is trying to create. Tomori is still learning, but needs time and a better more experienced player alongside him to guide him and show what to do, Kurt is not that because he can't do those things properly himself. So in my view we need to bring at the very least one top class CB and let Tomori/Rudiger fight for the second spot.

Azpi is getting on quite a bit but his experience and leadership qualities are important, plus he's still the best one-on-one defender we've got. He shouldn't be our first choice RB next season, but his versatility and experience make him a valuable asset, and I'd keep him. James needs to make a case for himself this season, but I'd bring in another RB anyway, to create competition for places.

Edited November 24, 20196 yr by abramovich

You're talking about bringing in 7 or 8 players. For me that's far too many.

Just makes a good point about us needing a proper enforcer. Someone like Essien, Keane or Viera would never allow us to surrender the centre of the park the way we sometimes do against higher quality opposition. If we brought one in Lampard has to decide which of Jorginho or Kovacic steps out. Then a fit RLC gives him another decision.

I'm comfortable with James becoming our regular right back and if Azpilicueta is happy getting less playing time then he can be the back up left and right back and in event of major injury crisis he can even fill in at centre half. However a proper left back is crucial.

So if I'm capping it at 3 new first team players then it's keeper or striker. I'd go for striker. To some extent to give Abraham competition but possibly to be the first choice. I am still not wholly convinced that Abraham is going to become a really top drawer striker.

So you don't think we have a problem in the central defence? I believe this is a key area and I'm still not convinced a single player we currently have (for various reasons) is a proven guaranteed starter in a side that wants to challenge City/Pool for the title in the next few years and seriously compete in the CL.

7 minutes ago, abramovich said:

So you don't think we have a problem in the central defence? I believe this is a key area and I'm still not convinced a single player we currently have (for various reasons) is a proven guaranteed starter in a side that wants to challenge City/Pool for the title in the next few years and seriously compete in the CL.

Issue is there is a dearth of top class CBs currently. Look around the PL and tell me who you will have ahead of our 4 bar Van Dijk & Laporte? At a stretch you might say Soyuncu but Leicester will want Maguire type fee for him. Outside the PL no CB stands out bar De Ligt & Upamecano who City are rumoured to be interested in. Koulibaly who was flavour of the month a year or so ago has been ropey and available at a discount but I wouldn’t touch him.

Personally, a top class RW, LB, FW & a competitive GK in that order.

LCB > Benjamin Hübner
CF to replace Giroud > Gerard Moreno or Izzy Brown
LB to replace Emerson and/or Alonso > Ben Chilwell
LW/AM > Jack Grealish
RW to replace Pedro and/or Willian > Chukwueze, Hudson-Odoi or Izzy Brown
CM to replace Barkley > Lewis Cook or Pasalic
GK to replace Caballero > David Button
RCB to replace Zouma, Christensen or Rudiger > Gianluca Mancini

In terms of who we have been linked with,

Right back- Atal

Centre back - Ake, Romagnoli

Left back - chilwell

Midfield - Milinkovic-savic, Berge

Right wing - Sancho, Neres

Centre forward - Werner, Dembele. 

- left footed centre back

- another quality full back

- physically imposiding centre midfielder

- quality right winger

- serious competition for tammy

 

 

2 minutes ago, ducavis said:

Issue is there is a dearth of top class CBs currently. Look around the PL and tell me who you will have ahead of our 4 bar Van Dijk & Laporte? At a stretch you might say Soyuncu but Leicester will want Maguire type fee for him. Outside the PL no CB stands out bar De Ligt & Upamecano who City are rumoured to be interested in. Koulibaly who was flavour of the month a year or so ago has been ropey and available at a discount but I wouldn’t touch him.

Personally, a top class RW, LB, FW & a competitive GK in that order.

What about Skriniar at Inter? Not saying he's available, but just as a suggestion. I keep hearing his name, but wonder if those watching Serie A regularly know how good he really is.

13 hours ago, just said:

IMO the one thing we need is a major physical presence to dominate the midfield. Jorginho and Kova are having great seasons but are too lightweight. A supreme athlete, a hardman enforcer, with a brain, who can also play a bit. A second Michael Essien would make us a frightening side to play.

 

Said this on another thread but we need 4 players. 

CB

LB

ST

RW

Right back we have Reece who will start permanently by the end of the year and Azpi who will be the perfect back up.

Left back is self explanatory. Alonso will be moved on and Emerson will hopefully stay and rotate with a world class LB. Emerson would be a more than adequate back up.

Centre back I think we clearly need a calm experienced presence in the heart of the defence to get everyone organised. They will also give the other CH confidence. Hopefully improving set piece defence as well. See Romagnoli. 

Midfield we are stacked and we have Ampadu and Gallagher who are ready to come in in the next few years. 

We do however definitely need a striker to challenge with Tammy. Michy ain’t good enough and Giroud will move on. Maybe in January. 

Wingers I also as self explanatory. We have Pulisic and CHO here for however many years and we need another in the summer to replace the probably outgoing Pedro. Willian I still don’t rate but can’t see us replacing two wingers in the same window. (The only point that negates this is if Frank sees Mount in the left forward position when Reuben comes back. But time will tell on that)

Edited November 24, 20196 yr by rtwelch

Areas needing strengthening for me.

1. Striker - A decent option for when Tammy is tired or injured.

2. GK - If Kepa does not improve before season's end yet anyway think we need an upgrade on the back-up keeper.

3. Wide backs - we need a better first option, think having Azpi that can cover both sides is handy yet not convinced James will be the next RB and think Emerson needs a little longer before being relegated to the bench. Caught out yesterday yet recently injured and up against the best.

4. CB, sell Christensen and buy another decent one or bring a good prospect through the development ranks.

I listed in order of priority for me.

 

Full back (left particularly) and centre-back for me. And we need to splash the cash on 2 people in those positions that are top quality and possibly have a bit of experience. We live or die by our defence this season, and probably next season if we don't invest into it. 

The other areas like midfield and attack, I wouldn't mind if we get people around the same level of Pulisic, that is, good, young, and with the potential to be world class. That would save us some money for the defenders.

Back up striker, Get Aubameyang for the next 2 years

Midfielder, Draxxler maybe, been a while since we had a decent German in the ranks

Defenders, not sure.....

CB - Soyuncu (Leicester)

I would say the person we need in most is whoever does the scouting for Leicester... look at the players they have bought in for the fees they pay and then way their value rockets... who had heard of Kante, Mahrez or Soyuncu before they went there? 

11 hours ago, coco said:

CB - Soyuncu (Leicester)

a half season wonder?

Nowhere near proven enough, will need to wait until next year imo.

Center Back:

Incoming: World Class CB like Romagnoli or Koulibaly and maybe Ake as well

Outgoing: Zouma, Rudiger

Left Back: 

Incoming: Chilwell? Not ideal, but can't really think of many other signings at the moment, 70m is very steep though. Emerson is a good backup option to have.

Outgoing: Alonso.

Center Midfield:

Incoming: We don't need anyone coming in.

Outgoing: Barkley

Wingers:

Incoming: Sancho, Neres, Ziyech (Not all 3, but if we can get Sancho + 1 of the other 2 that'll be perfect)

Outgoing: Willian, Pedro

Forwards:

Incoming: Struggling to think who we can have here to provide competition for Tammy. Id go with someone like a Dembele, but its tough to say who can lead the line atm.

Outgoing: Giroud, Bats

 

 

These are just the options in our first team squad, we need to dispose of some more deadwood currently out on loan like Bakayoko and Stanny. Think the youth we have currently out could do with another season or 2 at higher levels to get ready for first team action. Gallagher is playing exceptional right now, and i think if he was to get a season in the prem next year and playing regularly, he could become one hell of a player for us the following season

13 hours ago, Ballack & Blu said:

Back up striker, Get Aubameyang for the next 2 years

Midfielder, Draxxler maybe, been a while since we had a decent German in the ranks

Defenders, not sure.....

Aubameyang won't play second fiddle.

12 hours ago, coco said:

CB - Soyuncu (Leicester)

A possible yet do we really need to get another player from the foxes?

59 minutes ago, DisposeOfDeadwood said:

a half season wonder?

Nowhere near proven enough, will need to wait until next year imo.

We are talking about next year, keep up.

3 minutes ago, coco said:

We are talking about next year, keep up.

I meant the following year - 2021