How good is our squad?

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Managed to catch a bit of the City Chelsea game and the level of football was a stark reminder of how far away we are from competing at the top level again.

Both teams were just filled with players that have the combination we so sorely lack: physicality and technical ability. From back to front both teams are full of quality on the ball and energy off it.

I think our league position at present pretty much aligns with our quality though we do have the X-factor of Kane which gives us a shot at overachieving in any given period.

This isn't meant to be a debate about Mourinho's failings or what X new manager could do with the squad but rather an honest assessment of our players without nostalgia tinted glasses or Spurs bias.

I will split out the squad into a few categories:

Technical high level (assured control and general play, reliable/measured passing):
- Kane
- Ndombele
- Lo Celso
- Bale
- Bergjwin (before reaching the penalty area)
- Alderweireld

High-level physically (Pacey and or/dominating presence in one on one duels):
- Kane
- Hojberg
- Son
- Lucas
- Lamela
- Reguilon
- Rodon
- Tanganga
- Sanchez

Neither:
- Aurier
- Sissoko
- Winks
- Dele
- Davies
- Dier
- Vinicius
- Doherty

For me the issue is we have very few players that fall into the first two categories. I would say probably only Kane and a fit Gio.

The highest level of modern football requires a team full of athletes who are technically sound and we simply don't have enough technical quality in our ranks - and certainly not enough combination of the two.

The other glaring issue is the amount of minutes the group in the "neither" category have seen for us in recent times. Any team giving any combination of those players significant minutes is not set up for success, it's as simple as that.

Looking at the sorry state of the squad is the reason I believe recruitment will be the key factor in how we progress over the next few years not a change of manager. I want to see better, progressive football but I don't want to give the new manager this rubbish to work with.

Realistically it takes time (and a lot of money) to put together a squad like City, Chelsea or even United so there is no quick fix for this. But we need to making incremental progress every window.

So just how good do you think our squad is?
 
I think its very difficult to tell until we have seen what the new manager can do after 2 or 3 months in. Lets not forget similar accusations were levelled at the United squad 3 years ago and they've only really added 3 first team players, Maquire, Wan Bissaka and Fernandes. We need to sell a good 7 or 8 minimum and bring in 4 first team ready players but i don't believe we're anywhere near as bad as we've shown this season.
 
Our squad is far better than the performances have been under Mourinho, it's even better than the results, but far better than the performances.

Whether they are 'good enough' is a moot point, as Mourinho isn't turning the form around so we need a new manager first.
 
our squad is very good. And every player (every player) has talent.

problem is that a good squad does not equal a good team and throw in pathetic and risk adverse tactics you end up where we are.
Obviously every player in the Premier League has talent. We are talking about the distinction between top 4/title challenging/Champions League quality and Premier League midtable.
 
The first 11 is ok but squad is poor .
Top 4 at best with a modern exceptional manager but still a long stretch.
We don't sign technical players in the same way Chaves /City do. Tanquay , Le Celso have been poor buys and would only be on the bench for silver ware clubs. The madness in signing a donkey like Sissoko shows we have no vision .
Bergy has been crap as is a limited player.
Our recruitment is measured by other requirements than the competing clubs , sell on is a priority , punts etc , rarely the finished article.
We will always be handicapped till we get another next prime Poch that can give us that extra 20% .
 
Obviously every player in the Premier League has talent. We are talking about the distinction between top 4/title challenging/Champions League quality and Premier League midtable.
As a squad, probably better than Leicester, West Ham. Not as good as Chelsea or Liverpool. So I think, in a normal season about 6th.
 
I think our attack has enough quality. We have lots of decent finishers and technical players in attack, most of whom are being ignored by the manager.

In midfield and defence is where our squad is poor. With the exception of Hojbjerg I don’t think we have one midfielder who is solid in and out of possession. The rest all have obvious deficiencies. I think Ndombele, Gio and PEH could be decent in the right system but until the first two improve their fitness we are never going to see it.

Every single one of our defenders is flaky and can’t be trusted. We don’t even have anyone of Michael Dawson level. Our failure to invest properly at CB is killing us.

Our goalkeepers are fine. Overall we probably have about the 6/7th best squad on paper.
 
I would agree with about 6th. So should a manager be slated for failing to get us into the top 4? Mourinho or the next guy?
Depends. Would 6th and trash football be a good outcome?

Tim Sherwood gets slated to this day for decent (ish) football and finishing 6th.

Jose Mourinho should be the difference between 4th and 6th. He’s not. So he is not doing the job he is employed to do.
 
Managed to catch a bit of the City Chelsea game and the level of football was a stark reminder of how far away we are from competing at the top level again.

Both teams were just filled with players that have the combination we so sorely lack: physicality and technical ability. From back to front both teams are full of quality on the ball and energy off it.

I think our league position at present pretty much aligns with our quality though we do have the X-factor of Kane which gives us a shot at overachieving in any given period.

This isn't meant to be a debate about Mourinho's failings or what X new manager could do with the squad but rather an honest assessment of our players without nostalgia tinted glasses or Spurs bias.

I will split out the squad into a few categories:

Technical high level (assured control and general play, reliable/measured passing):
- Kane
- Ndombele
- Lo Celso
- Bale
- Bergjwin (before reaching the penalty area)
- Alderweireld

- Kane
- Hojberg
- Son
- Lucas
- Lamela
- Reguilon
- Rodon
- Tanganga
- Sanchez

Neither:
- Aurier
- Sissoko
- Winks
- Dele
- Davies
- Dier
- Vinicius
- Doherty

For me the issue is we have very few players that fall into the first two categories. I would say probably only Kane and a fit Gio.

The highest level of modern football requires a team full of athletes who are technically sound and we simply don't have enough technical quality in our ranks - and certainly not enough combination of the two.

The other glaring issue is the amount of minutes the group in the "neither" category have seen for us in recent times. Any team giving any combination of those players significant minutes is not set up for success, it's as simple as that.

Looking at the sorry state of the squad is the reason I believe recruitment will be the key factor in how we progress over the next few years not a change of manager. I want to see better, progressive football but I don't want to give the new manager this rubbish to work with.

Realistically it takes time (and a lot of money) to put together a squad like City, Chelsea or even United so there is no quick fix for this. But we need to making incremental progress every window.

So just how good do you think our squad is?
Interesting thread subject

Agree with some of what you’re saying until I noticed Sanchez name in the

High-level physically (Pacey and or/dominating presence in one on one duels):

part

Surely you can remember him getting bullied by Gundogan and ending up on his arse in the ManC away game for their 3rd?
 
Last edited:
Interesting thread subject

Agree with some of what you’re saying until I noticed Sanchez name in the

High-level physically (Pacey and or/dominating presence in one on one duels):

part

Surely you can remember him getting bullied by Gundogan and ending up in his arse in the ManC away game for their 3rd?
He's pacey but that's about it so was touch and go whether or not to include him there. Doesn't use his body well.
 
The squad quality is decent but we have too many samey players. Son, Dele, Lamela, Lucas, Gio, bale, Bergy, maybe even Tanguy too. These guys all seem to play a similar role. They are plonked anywhere in the midfield or forward line but have no nailed down roles, which means our movement is shite because they are all doing the same thing, floating all over the place, you never know where your teammates are.
We could do with some proper width with players that are actually proper wingers.
 
I think we’ve got a decent first team, but overall the squad isn’t good enough. I think we’ve got probably the sixth best squad in the league. One issue is that it’s strong in terms of attacking, but weak on the defensive side.
With players like Sessengnon and Skipp coming back from loan I think we could actually be in a much better position just from the purchase of a couple of good defenders. A couple of proper wingers might be useful too. Depending on who we buy that could push us back up to fourth best squad with only two or three purchases. We need to clear out some deadwood too though.
The other really important thing that we’re lacking compared to those around us though is coaching. A well coached squad can perform above their level.
 
Skills - I'd say we're top 6, our excellent attacking talent offset by a few cloggers.

Endurance - nowhere near Poch levels. 10th at best.

Mentality - 18th. Fighting to avoid relegation and fucking up.

Stadium, training grounds - best in the world.

The gulf between the last two is immense, maybe what winds me up the most. The ugly sister foot does not fit the glass slipper.
 
Skills - I'd say we're top 6, our excellent attacking talent offset by a few cloggers.

Endurance - nowhere near Poch levels. 10th at best.

Mentality - 18th. Fighting to avoid relegation and fucking up.

Stadium, training grounds - best in the world.

The gulf between the last two is immense, maybe what winds me up the most. The ugly sister foot does not fit the glass slipper.
Medium term the stadium revenue and the training ground could help us build something that can compete, but it is more and more obvious that Poch's "painful rebuild" comments were spot on.
 
Too many hopeless players. Kane & Loris are the only ones that will make it into any team in the world. The rest are going to have to really prove themselves.

No matter the manager, some of these have had really shocking games where you can just tell Harry & Hugo are disgusted to be on the same team as them:

Bale: excellent ability but appears washed or doesn’t care, which is worse?
Dele: ditto
Tanguy: what does he need? Why can’t he be professionally fit after more than a year?
Lo Celso: see above
Son: on fire, does nothing, scores a good goal, does nothing, rinse and repeat
Lucas: tries so hard but end product isn’t on par with Harry’s.

The rest of the players are not worth mentioning as these above are the ones that have the ability you can say should win you matches every week.

We need way more than Levy is willing to offer and I’m afraid Kane will leave.
 
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