2019/20 Transfer Rumours & Discussion Thread

[SG90]

History could repeat itself

Norwich interested in Kalvin Phillips now

I thought Farke said they were only looking at loans?

[1964white]

Scored against Burnley on the final day.

Is he a duffer like the last gooner Arsenal loaned us ?

[SG90]

Is he a duffer like the last gooner Arsenal loaned us ?

I dunno. He scored twice against Norwich in the EFL Cup 17/18, but other than that, I don't remember hearing much about him. I'd much rather play Kun, Edmondson or Dalby. We're not a finishing school for other clubs.

[Cjay]

The thing is that from the start Bielsa made the best out of what he had. Now that shows that he doesn't have to have the perfect players and could still do well. Now if for example MB identified players in a way similar to computer games he might have say 20 categories that he would rate the players in (speed, passing ability, composure etc). Now it isn't the case of being Man City and getting players that hit near the top marks in all the categories but a case of signing a player that is higher in the required categories than the player currently at the club - and that is definitely doable whether the player comes from non league or abroad. With a few improvements or players more suited to positions then you would expect the results to improve and even a slight improvement should be enough to get automatic promotion.

Now if we take KP as an example and it never seemed that he was actually Bielsa's preferred player in the defensive midfield position. Remember him dropping him for Forshaw. So on the face of it KP was a big square peg in a round hole, now Forshaw doesn't seem to be the answer either but if Bielsa was able to turn KP into a decent defensive midfielder being sought after by premiership clubs then what can he do if we sign a player that fits into Bielsa's idea of the role better (or even promotes from the youth team)?

That for me is why I don't see a problem if KP and PJ go. If we can use the money to buy in players that tick more of Bielsa's boxes then the team actually improves. This isn't a Bielsa team having to compete against Barcelona or Real Madrid, or Monaco and PSG, this is a Bielsa team in a 2nd tier league. I made the point in a different thread that I feel being a top class player is 10% ability and 90% mental. There are a lot of very talented players that are playing at low levels and all it may need is the right coach to bring it out of them and make them into the player they can be. Bielsa has so far shown us that he can make players play a lot better than we all thought they could.

Very true, we dont have to get the best players we just have to get players as close to suited to Bielsa style as we can which is fine.

Ideally a cb who is an upgrade on Cooper but imo one mentally stronger is key, Cooper is an ok defender but mentally he wilts to often when the pressure is on. For me we need a cb who is used to a sweeper keeper, in fact the entire defence needs to be used to that because as we have seen its a system that does require a different type of defending at times. Not always about the ball as usual defending is sometimes its about anticipation and composure and that is something Ayling and Cooper lack imo.

One thing i did notice is if you look at that Marseille team, lot of pace, tons of pace.

Imo that is something Bielsa will look to add.

Marseille had a really exciting attack actually.

SG's mate Gignac, big burly number 9 but quite mobile and comfortable drifting wide.

Behind him Payet, tricky and creative but also quick then either side of him Andre Ayew and Florian Thauvin both pacey and direct wingers.

Then as wing backs they had Benjamin Mendy who is rapid and Dja Djedje who is also fast.

They then had Imbula who was a big powerful unit ahead of the back 3 then N'Koulou and Morel who are also apparently fast and mobile with another guy.

Thinking about what SG said i do wonder if it would be in our interests to try and add some players Bielsa knows.

Imbula for instance before he flopped at Stoke was highly rated, Gignac maybe if possible just to add some familiarity?

We definitely need to add some real pace and flair imo.

[SG90]

Gignac
Ivan Cavaleiro
Carles Perez (loan)

You've got me dreaming Cjay

Shame it's only a dream

[weasel]

One thing i did notice is if you look at that Marseille team, lot of pace, tons of pace.

Imo that is something Bielsa will look to add.

I would have said that's a definite. The 2 things that Bielsa consistently mentioned was us not taking our chances and the ability of someone to run with the ball at pace to move it from one area of the pitch to another quickly (think it was along the lines of transitions) and that we never replaced Samu. No coincidence that Dan James was the no.1 target and seemingly the only outfield player Bielsa wanted in January.

I would think that there will be much more planned for the summer in terms of changes. January was a chance for fine tuning rather than trying to fix what wasn't broke. But with the whole summer and having seen this squad for a full season I certainly expect more activity in the market and wouldn't be surprised to see 5 or 6 new faces.

[Cjay]

Gignac
Ivan Cavaleiro
Carles Perez (loan)

You've got me dreaming Cjay

Shame it's only a dream

Can't imagine Bielsa being willing to stay if it isnt his squad (distinctly remember him saying this is Orta's squad).

I think/ hope we will see more of his influence this season in the transfer market.

[SG90]

I would have said that's a definite. The 2 things that Bielsa consistently mentioned was us not taking our chances and the ability of someone to run with the ball at pace to move it from one area of the pitch to another quickly (think it was along the lines of transitions) and that we never replaced Samu. No coincidence that Dan James was the no.1 target and seemingly the only outfield player Bielsa wanted in January.

I would think that there will be much more planned for the summer in terms of changes. January was a chance for fine tuning rather than trying to fix what wasn't broke. But with the whole summer and having seen this squad for a full season I certainly expect more activity in the market and wouldn't be surprised to see 5 or 6 new faces.

Hopefully Shack's performances in the playoffs mean he will get more starting berths next season.

[BGwhite]

Adding pace to this squad must be top of MB's list as we are very pedestrian and laboured....toi easy for teams to defend against us.

Sent from my XT1032 using Tapatalk

[SG90]

Confirmed that Saiz won't be joining Getafe on a permanent deal, however other clubs in Spain are interested including Valencia.

My ideal replacement would be Franchu from Real Madrid. Plus he's an Argentine so he'd love to work for Bielsa.

[SG90]

Lasogga on a free anyone? No doubt in my mind he would score loads in this team. He was a great finisher, not like he just scored tap ins. As long as he took a paycut of course.

[leic white 63]

Lasogga on a free anyone? No doubt in my mind he would score loads in this team. He was a great finisher, not like he just scored tap ins. As long as he took a paycut of course.

not for me . wouldn't last five minutes under bielsa . lazy fucker.

[SG90]

not for me . the kraut wouldn't last five minutes under bielsa . lazy fucker.

With a Bielsa pre-season under his belt, he'd comfortably be the best striker in the division. He was in the German national squad the year they won the WC. If an average journeyman like Pukki can score 29 goals, he definitely would.

Using the Gignac example from Bielsa's Marseille, a big burly forward can fit and be prolific under his system.

German media are reporting he's coming back to England apparently. Please not Huddersfield, that would come back to bite us.

[Cjay]

Lasogga on a free anyone? No doubt in my mind he would score loads in this team. He was a great finisher, not like he just scored tap ins. As long as he took a paycut of course.

[SG90]

Sums up football fans!

[leic white 63]

With a Bielsa pre-season under his belt, he'd comfortably be the best striker in the division. He was in the German national squad the year they won the WC. If an average journeyman like Pukki can score 29 goals, he definitely would.

Using the Gignac example from Bielsa's Marseille, a big burly forward can fit and be prolific under his system.

German media are reporting he's coming back to England apparently. Please not Huddersfield, that would come back to bite us.

disagree fella . a pre season with mb would kill him .
he got dogs abuse when he was here . majority of our fans couldn't wait to get rid.
we should be looking to go forward not backwards.

[weasel]

With a Bielsa pre-season under his belt, he'd comfortably be the best striker in the division. He was in the German national squad the year they won the WC. If an average journeyman like Pukki can score 29 goals, he definitely would.

Using the Gignac example from Bielsa's Marseille, a big burly forward can fit and be prolific under his system.

German media are reporting he's coming back to England apparently. Please not Huddersfield, that would come back to bite us.

Would agree fully. He came to us nowhere near fit, his partner then had a baby and believe me that upsets your whole sleeping pattern so no way you will be able to perform at 100%. Lasogga would give us something we just don't have and that is the ability to hit the ball from outside the box with real pace. None of this fannying around trying to curl it into the top corner just thwack and it is past the keeper before he can move. Whether Bielsa rates him though is the big question as it doesn't look like we tried to sign him last summer (although obviously there would have been a sizeable transfer fee if we had) but now he is available for nowt and no longer on the huge wages he was on it could definitely be worth a punt.

[Chilli D]

not for me . the kraut wouldn't last five minutes under bielsa . lazy fucker.

Nor me....definitely don't want that donkey back.
Jeez, the thought of it...

[weasel]

Yeah wouldn't like someone who scored 10 goals in 21 starts (11 times subbed off, 10 times subbed on so that sort of cancels itself out). 10 goals in 21 matches at a completely new team, in a league you haven't played in, in a country you haven't played in and being short of match fitness.

Yeah definitely not worth considering on a free.

[Gandalf]

Kamil Grosicki has been released by Hull. Bielsa can't have been other than impressed with his performance at ER. Just the sort of pacy winger we need (9 goals and 12 assists in 39 appearances last season). His wages would be a stumbling block to most Championship clubs, but no fee and £25k per week should be within our remit. 30 years old - we should get Klich in his ear "Bielsa got me back in the Polish national team, he can do the same for you."