James Maddison

[Silly McSilly Face]

Well that's Madders out of the CL squad , so that's an association trained player out, Palhinha in, where does that leave us on numbers locally trained etc if we do go into the transfer market ?

Where does it leave us? Pondering questions such as: Dele Alli is a free agent? Whats Marcus Edwards doing these days?

Of course if we had any modicum of ambition we'd be on the phone to Palace asking what it would take to get Eze

 

[thfcsteff]

Where does it leave us? Pondering questions such as: Dele Alli is a free agent? Whats Marcus Edwards doing these days?

Of course if we had any modicum of ambition we'd be on the phone to Palace asking what it would take to get Eze

I think there's likely a good reason we are not going for Eze, and I think it has little to do with money TBH.

 

[Silly McSilly Face]

I think there's likely a good reason we are not going for Eze, and I think it has little to do with money TBH.

Well then that would further explain the attempt for MGW and links to Harvey Elliott. Whoever we bring in next will need to be HG unless we do some serious shifting of others in the squad.

 

[thfcsteff]

Well then that would further explain the attempt for MGW and links to Harvey Elliott. Whoever we bring in next will need to be HG unless we do some serious shifting of others in the squad.

Both players you've named work very hard besides their talents. I feel that is important to Frank...

 

[Grays_1890]

Both players you've named work very hard besides their talents. I feel that is important to Frank...

Watching a fair number of Frank videos this summer I would say you are right, he demands a level of work that isn't suited to some.

Given that Pauli is now here I would expect Bergvall to play a more advanced role with some defensive work as part of his role rather than the almost quarterback back role we have seen so far.

 

[Yiddo]

Where does it leave us? Pondering questions such as: Dele Alli is a free agent? Whats Marcus Edwards doing these days?

Of course if we had any modicum of ambition we'd be on the phone to Palace asking what it would take to get Eze

There is a high chance Marcus Edwards could start on the first game of the season at the Lane.

 

[Muttley]

Must admit, Maddison's injury record now makes it an absolute priority to find alternative solutions. Even if you take the pure injury data for him, that doesn't account for how many times he's been on the pitch but not 100% fit. We know that impacts his form.

My guess is that Frank would like Damsgaard, a known quantity to him.

I'd still be looking at Joao Gomes, Elliott Anderson and Morgan Rogers. Perhaps not number 10s but they all have some fantastic attacking qualities.

 

[Bishop]

Well then that would further explain the attempt for MGW and links to Harvey Elliott. Whoever we bring in next will need to be HG unless we do some serious shifting of others in the squad.

Beyond those 2 and you'd have to think MGW is now off limits there aren't really any quality British attacking midfielders.

There maybe someone who falls under the HG banner that I'm not thinking of but really, I wanted better than Maddison anyway and I can't think of anyone who fits.

If we're honest the best playmakers and attacking midfielders tend not to be British in the first place so it's doubly hard if that's the market we aim for.

 

[Muttley]

Beyond those 2 and you'd have to think MGW is now off limits there aren't really any quality British attacking midfielders.

There maybe someone who falls under the HG banner that I'm not thinking of but really, I wanted better than Maddison anyway and I can't think of anyone who fits.

If we're honest the best playmakers and attacking midfielders tend not to be British in the first place so it's doubly hard if that's the market we aim for.

In UEFA comps, you can only have 4 association trained players in those allocated boxes. The other assoc players have to go in List A.

The clear AT's are Solanke, Madds, Davies, Spence and Johnson. I think even Gray and Odobert could be classed as AT as well even though they're U21s. They have not been at the club for 2 years so can't go in List B.

So in the last few days we've seen Paulhinha take Sonny's place in List A. Unfortunately, we've probably seen another List A place open up because of the Madds injury. That doesn't need to go to a British player at all in my mind. In fact, it now opens up a space for Vuskovic, Takai or Yang if Frank chooses to name them. If not, it's who we buy next.

As for British playmakers, Elliott Anderson got rave reviews when he covered for MGW last season. He'd been playing behind him previously in the 8. Morgan Rogers was fantastic for Villa playing in that Madds role. I think there are a couple but don't see us paying the top dollar it would take. Doubt Forest or Villa would let us have them either.

 

[elyid]

Looked super innocuous and it was the same knee, which implies he wasn't ready to play.

At least this brings a lot of clarity to the decision. Even more than before, we cannot trust the fitness of Madders, so need to bring in some quality player or players to replace that function.

Ideally 2 of:
Grealish
Eze
Morgan Rogers
Millot
El Kannous

Grealish and Millot for me.

I know Grealish gets a lot of jibes for being “past it” but he’s capable of playing a lot of matches and always seems to care. Still talent in there, just had boring roles at city imo

Millot also seems pretty hard for a creative player, and loves to run. We need some more toughness, even in a creative role.

 

[Yiddo]

We want a number 10 not a winger who has attributes to play as a number 10. Has Grealish ever actually played 10? Even at Villa he played off of the left. We need an out and out creative playmaker who plays centrally.

 

[Gutter Boy]

We want a number 10 not a winger who has attributes to play as a number 10. Has Grealish ever actually played 10? Even at Villa he played off of the left. We need an out and out creative playmaker who plays centrally.

No, just LW i think. And i'd def start Odobert and Tel ahead of him

We need a passer for ACM, not a former dribbler

 

[SirPercyHotspur]

In UEFA comps, you can only have 4 association trained players in those allocated boxes. The other assoc players have to go in List A.

The clear AT's are Solanke, Madds, Davies, Spence and Johnson. I think even Gray and Odobert could be classed as AT as well even though they're U21s. They have not been at the club for 2 years so can't go in List B.

This was the squad for the knockout stages in the Euros which numbered 23 because of lack of club trained . Taken out Sonny, Madders and Whiteman which gives us 20 so add Kudus and Palhina gives us 22, the only club trained is Austin and to have a 25 man squad you need 4 club trained , are we now restricted to a 22 man squad and the only way to put say Vuskovic on the list is to leave out someone like Davies or sell to make space . Find these squad lists very confusing, assuming that club trained have to be over 21 otherwise they go on the B list , is that right.

1 Guglielmo Vicario
4 Kevin Danso
8 Yves Bissouma
9 Richarlison
11 Mathys Tel
13 Destiny Udogie
14 Archie Gray
15 Lucas Bergvall
17 Cristian Romero
19 Dominic Solanke
21 Dejan Kulusevski
22 Brennan Johnson
23 Pedro Porro
24 Djed Spence
28 Wilson Odobert
29 Pape Matar Sarr
30 Rodrigo Bentancur
33 Ben Davies
37 Micky van de Ven
40 Brandon Austin

PS Forgot we also have Dragusin who was injured and not on this list.

 

[Gutter Boy]

I'd imagine Maddison, Dragusin and Takai will be left out of the squads for the first half of the season now due to their injuries, which will help us a bit

 

[Gutter Boy]

Looked super innocuous and it was the same knee, which implies he wasn't ready to play.

At least this brings a lot of clarity to the decision. Even more than before, we cannot trust the fitness of Madders, so need to bring in some quality player or players to replace that function.

Ideally 2 of:
Grealish
Eze
Morgan Rogers
Millot
El Kannous

Millot has opted to end his career in Saudi now, so obviously doesn't have the right mentality.

My shortlist would be:

El Khannouss
McAtee
Elliott
Alex Scott
Dibling

All young but with EPL experience, and mostly HG.

 

[Bishop]

We want a number 10 not a winger who has attributes to play as a number 10. Has Grealish ever actually played 10? Even at Villa he played off of the left. We need an out and out creative playmaker who plays centrally.

We need a passer and Grealish is not that, he's a ball retainer and somewhat of a space ingresssor. Not what we really need and not a replacement for what Maddison on a good day provides or Kulu.

I'll be honest I think those looking at Grealish are being a bit lazy and are not really thinking of about what his strengths are and what this team is lacking.

I'd argue we have more need of a creative passer and ideally a tempo setter in the offensive space, that's not Grealish's game.