You talk sense at times which is why I dont but you then go and let yourself down with some insane post about fielding an under 19 side full of Ajax and Anderlecht signings and its a hard read.
Well...theres some contributing factors;
A-- Weve seen with martinez that having a squad which doesnt suit the style of play doesnt work.
B-- Weve seen that buying random players at inflated fees under koeman doesnt work.
C-- Looking at City, theyve specifically targeted u23 players of top quality and who fit the system and style of play. Huge amounts of money spent on individuals but those who can contribute as individual cogs of a machine.
D-- We can finish 8th despite having a shambles of a season. This shows that we could rebuild the side rapidly with a new style of play and new system and still finish in this, or around this position.
E-- Unless we are going to splash out on 4 or 5 big money signings (like rose at spurs) to eat out transfer budget and wages we need to follow a pragmatic approach.
This means looking at certain players approaching or around 30 years old and replacing them with long term signings who are u23 (same as City).
Likewise binning off the players who dont suit the system or who may be replaced at a profit for a more suited player.
For example, Robles is off on a free and Stekelenburg is dire. If we need to spend £6mil on the 19 year old keeper who has been linked (already been fully capped) so that position is covered with him and Pickford then that makes logical sense.
Coleman and Kenny are fine for right back but then on the left and centre theres only Holgate who can play a high defensive line..so should Brands then spend £50mil+ on 26-30 year old superstars to come in OR is it better to sign u23 players and mould them into top players -- for the system?
Even Walcott and Sigurdsson although good players in the short term...they dont add huge value for a team who can finish outside the top 4.
Id argue that its sensible to move on as much as possible and invest in potentially top players to fit the system and then once theyre in place add in 3 super signings to add some class.
If lets say in 2 seasons we had 7 very good above average top 6 level u23 outfield players (all signed at u21 age or thereabouts). Then we added 3 top class £50mil signings (which is possible due to the money saved) we'd be able to push for top 4.
That has to be the strategy i think and what brands has intimated.
