A little earlier than normal, with the current season still being active, but I think its around about the time we started looking forward to next season. This thread isnt really for speculation regarding players we should buy, simply a way of looking at how the squad changes from 1 season to the next and to highlight any holes we feel should be filled during the off season.
Manager
Ronald Koeman
GK
Joel Robles
Maarten Stekelenburg
RB
Séamus Coleman
Mason Holgate
LB
Leighton Baines*
CB
Ashley Williams*
Phil Jagielka*
Ramiro Funes Mori
Brendan Galloway
Matthew Pennington*
DM/CM
Morgan Schneiderlin
Muhamed Bešić
Idrissa Gueye
James McCarthy*
Gareth Barry*
Tom Davies
Wingers
Aaron Lennon*
Ademola Lookman
Yannick Bolasie
Kevin Mirallas
ACM
Ross Barkley*
Strikers
Dominic Calvert-Lewin
Romelu Lukaku*
I have excluded young players who havent yet played any serious time in the first team for now, as always, the door is open for them to make a mark in pre-season and just cos I havent named them it doesnt mean they wont feature in the future. I have also excluded all the players currently on loan elsewhere and of course the likes of Kone and Valencia.
The asterisk is the Homegrown players we have in the squad currently, with the amount of speculation involved with a lot of them, the HG player rule might be factor at some point during the window, it also might mean we retain certain players rather than replace. The only player not named that is HG that could feature is Tyias Browning, Mason Holgate isnt classed as HG due to being under 21 and Galloway wasnt named in our squad last year, so im sure he would be HG, anyway, enough waffle regarding the HG player rule.
So, lets take a closer look at the squad, a squad that will be hoping to fight on 4 fronts next season, with this in mind, we will assume the optimal numbers for each position should be as follows :
GKx3
RBx2
LBx2
CBx4
CMx4
ACMx2
Wingersx4
Strikersx3
There is of course leeway regarding younger players and players able to play in different roles within the squad, but I think the above should be the min regarding amount of players.
GK - I personally think we need a new number 1, Robles and The Stek have both played very well at different times during the season, but neither, in my eyes are good enough.
RB- Seamus is going to be out for a long time sadly, Holgate has come in and done a very decent job, but whether Ronny feels he would be better at CB or whether he feels we need another RB only he knows, with the scouse Cafu JJ and the boy CC both looking the part, it remains to be seen how able we are to cope without Seamus for many, many months.
LB- Leighton Baines, he has his haters, but not me, hes clearly NOT the same player he was 6 years ago and age you would think will someday catch up with him, but I love him. With his age in mind and only really Galloway considered as "backup", maybe, you would think its an area that maybe Ronny will be looking at.
CB- Well, where to start here, I like Ashley, but he hasnt been great so far, not as bad as people are making out, but, meh, I dunno, Jags also has been up and down and neither are getting any younger, Mori is an utter donkey and is DEFO not the answer, jury is currently very much out regarding the boy Matty. We need at the very least 2 new CBs in my eyes, you would think maybe 1 or 2 of them would be moved on to "make room". We of course have Holgate, Browning and Galloway here, so numbers wise its not bad, but quality wise, its utterly grim, on the main, its not good.
CM- An area we are thankfully rammed full of utter quality, the 1 complaint I would have is that, young Tom aside, the others I would consider number 6s and theres a lack of REAL number 8s, maybe some movement here with Jamo falling foul of Ronny and possibly Gaz Baz making a move elsewhere to get more game time. Of course the Bosnian Prince will be at full fitness just in time to claim the ballon.
Wingers- Wingers, wingers, wingers, hmmm, Superkev hasnt really had the best of seasons, in and out of the side and hasnt really made a mark sadly, hes showing lots of willing, but the sparkle has gone, sorry Kev, I do still love you, but there you go, Yala is of course still dead and who knows when the boy Lennon will play again, if at all and without kicking a man while hes down, hes not really "the answer". Mola seems to have been shelved for now, but hes got plenty of time to "grow" in time for next season. Personally you would hope Ronny has his eye firmly fixed here for improvement.
ACM- WHAT HAVE WE GOT? But for how much longer, I will try and avoid speculation, but please Ross!!!!! Stay or goes, we have needed some cover in this area for years!! This needs fixing ASAP.
Strikers- Oh Rom, they call you lazy, they wont know what they have till its gone. DCL, I mean, what the hell? Lets see how that pans out. Romigo or Romistay, we need, in my eyes 2 strikers MIN, if Rom goes we need 3.
So anyway, they are my thoughts, feel free to add yours, but the main point of the thread will be to watch how the squad changes during the off season, I will of course update the squad list as and when things change.
@LinekersLegs @Brownie @Connor
lol
