It's incredible the depth of our squad, when everyone is actually fit.....
Sarcasm at its finest
Good Evening Ladies and Gents,
I just wanted to comment on how strong our squad actually looks on paper when everyone is fit.
There are obviously still some positions that need to be strengthened but when you have Reece James, Christopher Nkunku, Wesley Fofana and Romeo Lavia who all played 45 mins last night, now available that is a massive boost to the squad. Fofana, Lavia and Nkunku are going to feel like brand new signings.
Between them these players featured 23 times (just over 10%) out of a possible 204 with 12 of them coming from the bench and only 3 completed 90 mins between them. If that can even rise to around 50% we will see a huge improvement on the pitch, 2 of these players (Nkunku and James) are world class with the other 2 having incredibly high ceilings.
We definitely need to improve in the GK department and it is time we address this properly, we need a world class or nearly world class keeper to elevate us to the next level.
We are completely blessed in the right back department with Malo and RJ. At centre back we are in a really good position although I would potentially move on Disasi & Badiashile if possible and replace them with one new CB. Left back can still be addressed but with Cucurella’s resurgence (not everyone agrees), the signing of Renato Veiga and Ben Chilwell we have bodies in that area.
In centre midfield we have multiple options and that position has a solid roster of players with the ability to loan out the likes of Santos & Ugochukwu as well as the potential sale of Conor Gallagher. We have strength in depth in all central midfield areas, with multiple players able to play in each midfield role.
The wide forward areas are stacked but we need to make some adjustments, I think Mudryk has this season to adapt, improve and try to prove himself. Sterling needs to move on, he is too inconsistent and costs us so much in wages every month. Madueke keeps improving but his final 3rd play is so frustrating, he really needs to improve his decision making and be ruthless. I liked Angelo’s cameo yesterday but still believe he needs one more season on loan to adapt to European football. Nkunku can play wide but I think he is best utilised in central areas. We need a direct wide player who can play either side in my opinion. Tyrique George was brilliant in his first game for the first team.
We HAVE to sign another No9, Armando Broja will be sold and rightly so for him and his career, Nicolas Jackson had a really good first season and will need to keep pushing on, he also needs someone to lighten the load and that is where a new striker comes in. We also have Marc Guiu who had an excellent debut v Wrexham but the jury is still out if he needs a loan.
Thanks for reading.
Luke Rushbrook
I think the Wrexham reactions are a bit over the top for a preseason friendly. I think the first half was far more indicative of what we can expect from the team. They all looked a bit rusty and not as sharp since it was the first preseason game, but I thought they played pretty well in the first half and did a very good job at controlling the game.
I think there were massive overreactions to the second half performance. I think a lot of the issues stemmed from Achempong looking completely uncomfortable playing RCB in this system because his inability to mark the correct runs inside him in transition made Fofana and Chilwell have to break shape to try and cover the space. But I don't put too much stock in that second half since half of the players that were playing will either start with the Dev Squad or be loaned out anyway.
Watched the Wrexham game back last night, Lavia is going to be such a game changer for us. So calm, moves the ball through lines/round corners with one touch passes with perfect weight, retains well in super tight spaces, really dogged in winning balls back ala Ngolo. Looked so sharp. Same for Fofana as well, he was steaming into tackles and breaking forward, looked really confident. Nkunku just glides across the pitch and if we can utilise him properly he can take the team up a level by himself.