5 hours ago, Zeta said:

Ake is not one of the best in the league. He's not even an upgrade on what we have. Massively overrated by some.

Yeah I dont see it either, hes a decent mid table player who occasionally has a very good game but he would not be a upgrade on what we have.

On 21/07/2020 at 12:39, wizardous said:

Another solid performance yesterday, looks like we somehow let him go too easily.

This reminds of Ake who went on to become one of the best CB's in the league and now some big clubs are after him. And also Boga who is in excellent form and running rings around Serie A defenders at the moment (although there is a favorable buy-back clause).

Such a pity that we couldn't at least send Lamptey on loan, he is only 20 and already seems capable of playing regular, first team football in a PL club. In Brighton's current system which really suits him he could develop into a fantastic player.

I think we might regret this transfer in near future...

He refused to sign a new deal because a generational talent is infront of him, not much we could do, when you're producing so many player's it's inevitable some will leave as there's simply no room.

1 hour ago, Argo said:

He refused to sign a new deal because a generational talent is infront of him, not much we could do, when you're producing so many player's it's inevitable some will leave as there's simply no room.

I know what happened but it is just that we've let so many talented players in the past few years, and now we are regretting it. 

James is an amazing talent undoubtedly but there is a big hype around him at the moment, and he is yet to prove himself. I mean just look at Alphonso Davies from Bayern who is already a world class player. As much as I love James and his style of play, you can't really compare these two right now... 

Sometimes I wonder if it's time for a Matic type re-buy again... If I think about what system could most ideally exploit our squad next season (which ideally will be bolstered with another top-class CB to take over from Silva), I end up with a 4-4-2 (diamond) containing two athletic, attacking full-backs and a CDM that can cover for them when they're high up the pitch. In addition I'd like to see a transitional CM (like Kovacic or Kanté) together with two attack minded midfielders like Mount (future captain), Pulisic, Ziyech or CHO, playing behind the front pair of Havertz and Werner.

Now there's two ways I can picture this happen...

1. buy Declan Rice

-------Werner--Havertz-------

------------Pulisic-------------

----Mount(C)----Kovacic------

-------------Rice---------------

Chilwell----X------X------James

- Rice would clearly be an ideal fit for that role, combining great passing with the ability to act as a surrogate CB

- however he'd probably come with a hefty price tag

- and I keep wondering if James is the kind of right back to beat his man and provide width in attack. To me it often looks like he has the ability but is just too chill in his approach

 

2. buy Tariq Lamptey

--------Werner--Havertz----------

-------------Pulisic----------------

----Mount(C)-------Kovacic-------

-------------James----------------

Chilwell-----X------X-----Lamptey

- now we don't know yet how James would perform in that role but I hope we'll get to see it sometime this season

- Lamptey clearly would be ideally suited for that interpretation of right back

- any other fast athletic right back would obviously do as well