Depth is a bullshit excuse and unless you know how to carefully manage a large squad it'll cause more issues than solve. Ole found this out last season.
Liverpool’s squad is freakish in terms of fitness and no injuries. So much so there’s conspiracy theories about asthma pumps etc
Two days from our first game and we literally have no fit striker.. come on
For me the issue is not so much "how many Eredivisie players" per se, but more whether the club as a whole has really moved on. The issue with Moyes/Van Gaal/Mourinho was that they all seemed to want to turn the club on its head and more and send it in a totally new direction. Clearly we want a level of change, but are we just again remaking the club according one particular individual's particular vision, when they may or may not be there in three years time.
I really doubt that. We have a first XI which should beat Brighton and Brentford, maybe draw against Liverpool but we can't play them for 38 games. First XI would get into TOP 4 most likely if we could do that.
There is a happy medium between having Elanga as the backup winger and having Cavani, martial, Lingard, Greenwood, mata all in reserve you know.
Of course it would, but we likely won't even beat Brighton. We've not even got a fit striker.
Because no-one can seriously argue that last season's 6th place was just the natural ceiling of a group of limited players all doing their best. It was a catastrophic, club wide meltdown early on that led to fans, manager and players alike losing all faith in each other and the whole project going down the toilet in a dramatic way. Barely any player reached anything close to their potential. I'm assuming there that ETH will get most of his players to at least the personal performance level that Ole got them playing at. I think that's a fair enough assumption, and if he does, then using last season as a benchmark makes little sense.
Yup. Big, big task to achieve anything of note with the current state of our recruitment.
It's irrelevant what was the ceiling of that group since some of those are gone already, and they have not been replaced. So it's perfectly possible the ceiling of this squad is 5th/6th as things stand.
Our recruitment has been almost entirely manger lead, he's as responsible as anyone for the state of our dealings in my opinion.
We have zero knowledge of internal expectations. Maybe we are on a 3+ year rebuild. Who knows?
A lot of other teams will say the same about their teams/some of their players. You are only as good as you perform, and a 12-18 month period, in which we have been dreadful, is enough proof.
This is almost exclusively ETHs own doing. He was adamant about scrapping the players we had lined up and getting his own list.
And what players did we have lined up
It wasn't, but at the same time, we've lost mainly Greenwood from last season's group. He should've been priority 1 to replace. He hasn't been replaced. And that's what will cost us this season. You just can't go into a season with only Rashford, Sancho, always injured martial and a 37 year old wantaway Ronaldo as the attack options.
Why do people keep saying this? What evidence is there to make such a wild accusation? And who are all the great players we had lined up to sign that he vetoed?
There's nothing wrong with it being ETHs fault. Which is fact. This transfer window is a heavy consequence of his decisions and also the board deciding to let him make those decisions. That's ok! It doesn't mean he's a bad manager or leader. Just a steep learning curve that hopefully makes things go smoother next transfer window.And what players did we have lined up
The only links to attackers were Darwin (who Ten Hag wanted, club failed to get), Nkunku (signed a contract extension early on anyway), Raphinha (only wanted Barca) and Antony who who we've been priced out for because we waited too long.
That line is horseshit. Ten hag might have rejected Tielemans/Ruben Neves in favor of a pursuit of Frenkie, but in the actual position we need players in (attack), nothing.
Who did we have lined up?
I never said McFred are our best midfielders. I don't think the 3 you mentioned are that great.
Of course not.
I'm saying it's a bullshit statement. Some talk of us just going with his call in midfield, sure. But who exactly were the club's targets in attack that he turned down? Our midfield isn't a desperate situation. We have 6 first team midfielders without even looking at youth team players who have impressed. Our attack is our desperate situation. What have the club looked at there? Darwin? Antony? Nkunku? There's been nobody else even mentioned, yet it's a completely desperate situation for the club.
The transfer window is not the managers job
I don't know where you got that from. Seems like you're reading every post with an angry voice. And you're creating a narrative out of nothing. Have you considered working for the media? Maybe a Twitter journalist?
Not talking about ETH obviously. My point was about Murtough
Blame is not the right word. It has the wrong connotation.
Why don’t you help the quality of discourse by answering his question? I’m curious about the answer too.
Have you considered taking it down a notch, friend? I didn't attack you personally nor did I play armchair psychologist with you. I'm simply pointing out that the season hasn't started and some are already waiving white flags and calling ETH a failure.
18 months ago we were on route to finishing 2nd in the league after being undefeated away from home all season. Not that I think that was a true reflection of the squad either for what its worth, but it does show how short term you're looking at things here.
