2019/20 Dominic Calvert-Lewin

[Nymzee]

His overall game has come on leaps and bounds this season im not disputing that whatsoever - but its obvious in a 442 we currently have a lad who's main strength isnt his finishing (no matter what his fanboys say bla bla 13 goals) and a top class wide forward who is playing in a more rigid front 2 set up rather than a 433/4231 which suits his natural game.

Its not necessarily a knock on DCL - its more long term I dont think them as a pair is natural nor ruthless enough in the 442 set up to have us right up there.

People can say we are a good side but being in 12th behind guff like Crystal Palace and Burnley tells its own story. Even under Carlo we haven't blown teams away and thats down to the whole team from Pickford up to the strikers.

In terms of goals scored we'd be 9th.

 

[ForeverBlue92]

In terms of goals scored we'd be 9th.

9th is still miles away from 4th-6th which is what we want to be under Ancelotti.

If we dont and are happy to accept 8-11th every season we may aswell have just kept fat Sam and saved Moshiri a few million on wages per year.

In an ideal world - Richarlison would be at LW and we would sign:

CF
RW
CM
CM
CB
RB
GK

its scary how far off we are considering the money spent.

 

[Lelouch]

His overall game has come on leaps and bounds this season im not disputing that whatsoever - but its obvious in a 442 we currently have a lad who's main strength isnt his finishing (no matter what his fanboys say bla bla 13 goals) and a top class wide forward who is playing in a more rigid front 2 set up rather than a 433/4231 which suits his natural game.

Its not necessarily a knock on DCL - its more long term I dont think them as a pair is natural nor ruthless enough in the 442 set up to have us right up there.

People can say we are a good side but being in 12th behind guff like Crystal Palace and Burnley tells its own story. Even under Carlo we haven't blown teams away and thats down to the whole team from Pickford up to the strikers.

Our front two has gotten roughly the same as United's front two (Rashford/Martial) The trio of Richarlison/DCL/Kean is enough to get us into Europe the problem is our defensive side and ability to close games off lets us down, The last thing to change in this team currently is the striking options.

 

[Disgruntledgoat]

Remember that game against Newcastle when Dom conceded two goals in injury time to drop 2 points?

He's doing his bit. There's only 4 or 5 players in the league have scored more than him this year. It's not his fault our midfield is atrocious or that Marco Silva wanted to play walking football in our own half for most of the season.

 

[Nymzee]

9th is still miles away from 4th-6th which is what we want to be under Ancelotti.

If we dont and are happy to accept 8-11th every season we may aswell have just kept fat Sam and saved Moshiri a few million on wages per year.

In an ideal world - Richarlison would be at LW and we would sign:

CF
RW
CM
CM
CB
RB
GK

its scary how far off we are considering the money spent.

Not arguing we're not far off just meaning we're scoring enough goals to be higher we just also have a terrible defence.

 

[ForeverBlue92]

Remember that game against Newcastle when Dom conceded two goals in injury time to drop 2 points?

He's doing his bit. There's only 4 or 5 players in the league have scored more than him this year. It's not his fault our midfield is atrocious or that Marco Silva wanted to play walking football in our own half for most of the season.

What did Richarlison do against Utd/Chelsea?

DCL wasted criminal chances against arsenal

We wasted as an attacking team God knows how many chances against Brighton and were lucky to escape with the 1-0 win.

Thats the problem over the course of the season we have/face dropped/dropping points due to not being ruthless enough in front of goal just as much as the GK/defence letting us down in other games.

Look at Chelsea- they could easily say they have a good young CF in Abraham but they go out and sign Werner as they look to constantly improve - we epitomise "we got with what we've got" and its no coincidence why we haven't won anything in 25 years because there has to be the constant desire to improve/have quality competing for every position on the field.

 

[LEONARD]

Harry Catterick on Sunday.

Only to be let down by Pickford throwing the ball in his own net 5 times.

 

[Arteta10]

What did Richarlison do against Utd/Chelsea?

DCL wasted criminal chances against arsenal

We wasted as an attacking team God knows how many chances against Brighton and were lucky to escape with the 1-0 win.

Thats the problem over the course of the season we have/face dropped/dropping points due to not being ruthless enough in front of goal just as much as the GK/defence letting us down in other games.

Look at Chelsea- they could easily say they have a good young CF in Abraham but they go out and sign Werner as they look to constantly improve - we epitomise "we got with what we've got" and its no coincidence why we haven't won anything in 25 years because there has to be the constant desire to improve/have quality competing for every position on the field.

That comparison doesnt work tho because Chelsea are a much more attractive proposition than we are at the moment. Do you really think we could actually attract the likes of Werner when the top 6 teams are also interested?

Its all well and good saying 'we cant accept what we've got we have to sign better players' but its not realistic to just click your fingers and sign players who will vastly improve your team

 

[ForeverBlue92]

That comparison doesnt work tho because Chelsea are a much more attractive proposition than we are at the moment. Do you really think we could actually attract the likes of Werner when the top 6 teams are also interested?

Its all well and good saying 'we cant accept what we've got we have to sign better players' but its not realistic to just click your fingers and sign players who will vastly improve your team

I get what you mean mate but Chelsea could easily have said "we have a good young ST in Abraham who will get better with age, lets spend that £50 million on a top CB etc." but they have brought Werner in to provide competition for places and having quality to choose from.

Even if we had £200 million to spend I doubt we would bring in another CF as the culture at the club is to go with what works "alright" but never to say - lets get better.

Pickford is a perfect example - we wont sign a top GK as we believe he's that big a name we wont get anyone better to compete with him.

 

[Arteta10]

I get what you mean mate but Chelsea could easily have said "we have a good young ST in Abraham who will get better with age, lets spend that £50 million on a top CB etc." but they have brought Werner in to provide competition for places and having quality to choose from.

Even if we had £200 million to spend I doubt we would bring in another CF as the culture at the club is to go with what works "alright" but never to say - lets get better.

Pickford is a perfect example - we wont sign a top GK as we believe he's that big a name we wont get anyone better to compete with him.

But again, you can't compare the two clubs at the minute.

They're gonna be in Europe and will need a bigger squad, so signing players for positions in which theyre already relatively strong isnt a problem.

We need the opposite, we need to reduce the overall squad size by getting rid of the dross and sign a couple of first team players in positions which we are currently weak in.

For me at the moment, CF isnt one of these positions. In fact Richie and DCL were two of the shining lights in Carlo's first few months. Their form since he came in has been a lot more than just 'alright' IMO

 

[Carlito]

Not arguing we're not far off just meaning we're scoring enough goals to be higher we just also have a terrible defence.

This is what makes me question the long-term viability of playing 4-4-2.

At some point, Ancelotti will have to decide whether or not the benefits of getting the best out of Calvert-Lewin outweigh the cost of leaving the defence exposed.

 

[Arteta10]

This is what makes me question the long-term viability of playing 4-4-2.

At some point, Ancelotti will have to decide whether or not the benefits of getting the best out of Calvert-Lewin outweigh the cost of leaving the defence exposed.

Ancelotti has played 442 everywhere hes been tho mate, hes not just persisting with it to shoehorn DCL into the side.

What we need to do is sign a top CM or CB so the defence doesnt get exposed so much

 

[Nymzee]

This is what makes me question the long-term viability of playing 4-4-2.

At some point, Ancelotti will have to decide whether or not the benefits of getting the best out of Calvert-Lewin outweigh the cost of leaving the defence exposed.

I prefer 4-3-3 with the squad we have plus a few additions next season. New RB, Mina, Holgate, Digne, JPG holding, Gomes up and down, a more attacking CM on the left (preferably a leftie), Richy wide left forward, DCL, a new wide right forward.

 

[Arteta10]

I prefer 4-3-3 with the squad we have plus a few additions next season. New RB, Mina, Holgate, Digne, JPG holding, Gomes up and down, a more attacking CM on the left (preferably a leftie), Richy wide left forward, DCL, a new wide right forward.

Holding what? His achilles?

 

[Nymzee]

Holding what? His achilles?

Your nuts in a vice.