How would you rate our summer window?

[simplyared]

Pretty dire I would say!

Amongst the players we’ve brought in I’d say Cavani is the only one who has made any form of impact on our team.

The players that came with a price tag are:

van de Beek (39m)
Diallo (21m)
Telles (15m)

Diallo we’ve not yet seen so we don’t know how good he is. VDB we’ve hardly seen and from what we’ve seen he’s certainly not getting me excited and Telles for me is just an unecessary signing.

I’m looking at some of the best deals that were done in the summer window and I come up with 2 players. One is a DM and the other a CB. The pair of them together cost 52m:

Leicester paid 35m for Fofana and Spurs 17m for Höjbjerg. Both of them imo 2 of the best signings to come out of that window.

Bearing in mind we’re screaming for a CB and DM, why the feck do we spend the same amount of money on 2 players it would appear we don’t even need?

Not only the above named, but there were more very good signings made in the summer. Why do we seem to always miss out?

For those of you who are fine with the business we are doing then you have no reason for concern. Albeit I’d be surprised if I’m alone on this.

I am btw fully aware Fernandes has been a great signing. Surely though we cannot be content on that alone?

 

[Adnan]

I think it's a question that should be asked in 2 years.

 

[Jim Beam]

Diallo will become a Messi/Ronaldo hybrid. You heard it here first.

10/10

 

[Flying high]

Our biggest rivals won the title last year. We could have invested to give ourselves a real chance of being the best team again.

3/10

 

[Rood]

Its too early to properly judge but based on the first few months Im happy enough with the players that came in - the biggest issue with this window was leaving it so late (again)

our signings this summer were mostly about improving the squad depth and Telles and VdB definitely give us a stronger bench which was lacking last season - Cavani is looking better than I expected as well, hes the only one who can claim to have improved the First XI

Obviously the glaring issue with the window was not sorting out priority positions which for me are RW and CB, I dont actually think we are in desperate need of a DM just yet

 

[Forevergiggs1]

In hindsight the summer window was a 3/10 but looking at it logically it wasn't a bad window at all. Last season we had one of the best defences in the league which is probably why we didn't look at a CB. Ole loves his McFred partnership which is why we probably didn't look at a DM. AWB looked a very good signing and the only defence issue (at the time) was Shaws injury record. Which made signing Telles a good move.

Of course it was a fiasco putting all our eggs into the Sancho basket but who was going to buy a player for over 100m in these times? In the end we got Cavani which looks like a pretty good deal.

VDB was an intricate member of a great Ajax side who was on his way to Madrid before they pulled the plug so they obviously seen something in him to think he was worth a punt but if Ole sees fit not to use him a lot then I guess it could be seen as a pointless signing.

Diallo I'm not even going to talk about because if you posted a photo of him I wouldn't recognise him never mind watching him play.

In the summer I would of given the club a 6/10 because we did fill some important holes with what looked like talented players but the reason I talked about in hindsight is because now instead of needing a RW we've suddenly discovered we're crying out for a CB, DM, RW, CF and maybe a RB which didn't seem so urgent only a short time ago.

 

[M Bison]

Strange thread to start at this point in the season and too early to say imo. VdB may well develop, Diallo hasn’t even joined the club yet and Telles is backup.

Weird thread.

 

[Regulus Arcturus Black]

Cavani was a superb signing and will continue to prove it throughout the season.

Telles I like, very good option and very different from Shaw.

VdB.... too early.

It wasn’t a great window by any stretch but it was fine. Who’s windows was much better really during Covid-time? everyone wanked over Chelsea’s but looking now... Meh at best.

 

[M Bison]

I’d say our summer window was a success. If we’d have paid 120m for Sancho the fans would be up in arms based on his performances for Dortmund this season and instead we paid nothing for a top striker.

Decent business i’d say.

 

[Regulus Arcturus Black]

Why was Telles unnecessary @simplyared ?

 

[M Bison]

Cavani was a superb signing and will continue to prove it throughout the season.

Telles I like, very good option and very different from Shaw.

VdB.... too early.

It wasn’t a great window by any stretch but it was fine. Who’s windows was much better really during Covid-time? everyone wanked over Chelsea’s but looking now... Meh at best.

Agreed. Chelsea’s is looking catastrophic at this point (chilwell aside).

 

[Bebestation]

I think you missed Cavani on a free if that counts?

Personally I had a feeling that Woodward didn't trust Ole during Summer completely and will more likely see a budget this January or Summer.

Telles is a good signing. Helps us to have an attacking minded LB to get crosses in to a target man type striker that Ole will target/Cavani. Ole has also used him as a way of mentoring Shaw whose crossing ability has gone up a complete notch to the point he is taking consistent free kicks and corners.

Van De Beek - Squad Depth of some good quality though not exceptional, a bit early to say how well this can go but I have hope we can see more of the guy in the next year. He is a goal scorer from midfield, something we are not exactly missing; when what we lack is defensive stability still - maybe Ole knows this a bit.

Cavani - Great Free signing. Much better than Willian etc. Gives an idea of the different types of strikers we can have as a system and how flexible Ole can be with his tactics at the same time. Should be seeing more of him soon.

Dialo & Pellestri - Early signings so we dont have to keep spending stupid for being Manchester United.



It's not the best but again I felt that was on Woodward because there was smaller trust on Ole - you cant totally blame him either because not alot of us did ( I didn't fully either, I was Ole Out until mid-October when I changed my mind) and alot of us still dont.

Ps This is why I think Pochettino has signed for PSG recently because Ole is looking safe at United for Woodward now.

 

[Regulus Arcturus Black]

Agreed. Chelsea’s is looking catastrophic at this point (chilwell aside).

Yup.

I guess people have nothing to moan about currently so...

 

[Bwuk]

Cavani a superb signing. Exactly what we needed for now.

Telles has looked good, he’s only been here a few months and had COVID. Seems to fit in with Bruno etc.

Van de Beek hasn’t worked at all yet. Doesn’t seem like we know what to do with him.

 

[Regulus Arcturus Black]

Squad building and strength in depth wise it was absolutely fine.

First team wise, Cavani will see to that in the coming weeks.

Bizarre moany ass thread, especially getting giddy at teams signings that are below us in the table... did the OP think Schneiderlin was a good signing too after 4 months?

 

[Rozay]

Pretty dire I would say!

Amongst the players we’ve brought in I’d say Cavani is the only one who has made any form of impact on our team.

The players that came with a price tag are:

van de Beek (39m)
Diallo (21m)
Telles (15m)

Diallo we’ve not yet seen so we don’t know how good he is. VDB we’ve hardly seen and from what we’ve seen he’s certainly not getting me excited and Telles for me is just an unecessary signing.

I’m looking at some of the best deals that were done in the summer window and I come up with 2 players. One is a DM and the other a CB. The pair of them together cost 52m:

Leicester paid 35m for Fofana and Spurs 17m for Höjbjerg. Both of them imo 2 of the best signings to come out of that window.

Bearing in mind we’re screaming for a CB and DM, why the feck do we spend the same amount of money on 2 players it would appear we don’t even need?

Not only the above named, but there were more very good signings made in the summer. Why do we seem to always miss out?

For those of you who are fine with the business we are doing then you have no reason for concern. Albeit I’d be surprised if I’m alone on this.

I am btw fully aware Fernandes has been a great signing. Surely though we cannot be content on that alone?

These players were signed on 5 year contracts, not 5 weeks. Definitive conclusions at this stage are very premature.

 

[SuperiorXI]

I'd rate it one Phil Jones out of five

 

[Regulus Arcturus Black]

These players were signed on 5 year contracts, not 5 weeks. Definitive conclusions at this stage are very premature.

But hey, Höjberg looks good in a negative as feck Mourinho side don’t you know!
I know they’re behind us in the table, but ignore that and concentrate on the brilliance of Höjberg.

 

[simplyared]

Why was Telles unnecessary @simplyared ?

I personally don't think he's an upgrade on Williams. Also Williams is young and the introduction of Telles has meant no game time for Williams which I dont believe is good for his development. LB certainly wasn't a priority in my mind so lets put it that way!

 

[Rozay]

But hey, Höjberg looks good in a negative as feck Mourinho side don’t you know!
I know they’re behind us in the table, but ignore that and concentrate on the brilliance of Höjberg.

To be fair, Höjberg is a good player, but he’s always been a good player. And was good value for money too.

But saying the likes of VDB and Telles are bad signings at this stage is so premature. When you sign a young player on a long contract, you have to give them more than 3 months.

Look at Joao Cancelo. People were calling him trash last season, but his quality is mow visible to all. Admittedly, sometimes you can quickly see that some players are not up to it, but of there are flashes early on, you need to give them a chance.

 

[Regulus Arcturus Black]

I personally don't think he's an upgrade on Williams. Also Williams is young and the introduction of Telles has meant no game time for Williams which I dont believe is good for his development. LB certainly wasn't a priority in my mind so lets put it that way!

You’re surely not serious?

Our first choice left back was a sick note (still is). Our second choice left back was a right footed kid who isn’t a left back.

And Telles was cheap.

Williams isn’t even trusted to play in his actual position ahead of Tuanzebe and Lindelöf.

 

[Rozay]

I personally don't think he's an upgrade on Williams. Also Williams is young and the introduction of Telles has meant no game time for Williams which I dont believe is good for his development. LB certainly wasn't a priority in my mind so lets put it that way!

Shaw is very injury prone, and the prospect of Williams playing weekly for any sustained length of time is disastrous. Ole saw that and did something about it. Williams, at best, is not ready to play regularly for us yet. Given Shaw’s problems, that is always a real prospect. We needed a ready left back. Telles isn’t spectacular, but he’s at least dependable at both ends of the pitch.

 

[Forevergiggs1]

I personally don't think he's an upgrade on Williams. Also Williams is young and the introduction of Telles has meant no game time for Williams which I dont believe is good for his development. LB certainly wasn't a priority in my mind so lets put it that way!

Don't you think Shaws performances have improved since Telles signed? Having Williams wasn't much of a challenge for Shaw because he's a lot better player but if signing Telles gives Shaw extra motivation then that alone was worth signing him. And Telles is a much more level headed footballer than Williams.

 

[M Bison]

Out of the top 5 or 6 teams, I’d say our business was the best personally.

 

[Regulus Arcturus Black]

Out of the top 5 or 6 teams, I’d say our business was the best personally.

I guess some people don’t appreciate the importance of squad depth.

As Rozay says, imagining Williams playing LB for a sustained period is an absolutely terrifying prospect.

As for Cavani, we saw the start of last season what no depth in the striker position can do.

 

[USREDEVIL]

Alright business but not what we needed.
VDB hasn't been used to real effect.
Telles is ok, but not better than Shaw.
Cavani was a nice signing though. And i was very skeptical he'd come good. So far he's done his part, albeit a small part.

Needed a CB and we needed to sign a real right wing phenom in Sancho.

 

[Regulus Arcturus Black]

Alright business but not what we needed.

Telles is ok, but not better than Shaw.

Why does he have to be better to be “something we need”

Oh and Sancho for 120m would’ve been a stupid signing.

 

[Pavl3n]

Out of the top 5 or 6 teams, I’d say our business was the best personally.

Jota going to the scousers was a pretty good deal, too.

The OP feels so salty and the timing feels so off. Personally I like Telles so far - he looks like he has a bite in him.
Cavani is a very decent signing - I'd have him over Lukaku any day of the year, so that's a good replacement.
And VdB also looks as a good signing. Unfortunate for him that he has to stay on the bench for so long.
He was brought to cover for Bruno and I hope he keeps sitting on the bench - simply meaning I hope Bruno carries on with his form.

Sancho was meant to be the big signing, the improvement on the first 11. Unfortunately Dortmund are greedy cnuts and they thought they could
milk yet another club for £100+ on the back of a player's good season. I am happy we didn't match their asking price - which shows character.
I'm a bit tired of reading left and right how we were taken to the cleaners every time we negotiate.

Telles, VdB and Cavani are great improvement in squad depth. I would have those three any day ahead of Dallot, Pereira or Lingard and Ighalo, although the latter had
some good games. But sentiment won't bring us titles. And the two kids - well it's clear we are changing our transfer strategy. Finally someone up top has heard
the thousand pleas on the caf that we want to buy those nuggets before they get polished by someone else.

 

[ReddBalls]

Telles is a brilliant signing because he both gives competition to Shaw and is his backup. Shaw at his best is pretty good, but he needs to be pushed, and his muscles do not last for 50-60 games.

Cavani is also brilliant because he let's Greenwood and Martial develop, along with being a model professional and a great player.

DvdB might be shrewd, but I guess he is still learning his role and it is too premature to judge him.

The RW-boys is both for the future, so impossible to judge.

What I liked most about the window is that the fans don't have any of the over the top expectations that follows when you pay record sums for players. In stead of disapointment, we might just get to be pleasantly surprised.

 

[M Bison]

I guess some people don’t appreciate the importance of squad depth.

As Rozay says, imagining Williams playing LB for a sustained period is an absolutely terrifying prospect.

As for Cavani, we saw the start of last season what no depth in the striker position can do.

Agreed. Our ability to make 9 changes vs Everton and seeing the quality and cohesion in that team was fantastic.

We’re far from the finished article and we’ll have further setbacks and disappointments this season but we’re on the right path, nothing more certain IMO.

 

[M Bison]

Jota going to the scousers was a pretty good deal, too.

The OP feels so salty and the timing feels so off. Personally I like Telles so far - he looks like he has a bite in him.
Cavani is a very decent signing - I'd have him over Lukaku any day of the year, so that's a good replacement.
And VdB also looks as a good signing. Unfortunate for him that he has to stay on the bench for so long.
He was brought to cover for Bruno and I hope he keeps sitting on the bench - simply meaning I hope Bruno carries on with his form.

Sancho was meant to be the big signing, the improvement on the first 11. Unfortunately Dortmund are greedy cnuts and they thought they could
milk yet another club for £100+ on the back of a player's good season. I am happy we didn't match their asking price - which shows character.
I'm a bit tired of reading left and right how we were taken to the cleaners every time we negotiate.

Telles, VdB and Cavani are great improvement in squad depth. I would have those three any day ahead of Dallot, Pereira or Lingard and Ighalo, although the latter had
some good games. But sentiment won't bring us titles. And the two kids - well it's clear we are changing our transfer strategy. Finally someone up top has heard
the thousand pleas on the caf that we want to buy those nuggets before they get polished by someone else.

Jota was a good signing for the scousers, hate to compliment them but fair do’s

 

[USREDEVIL]

Why does he have to be better to be “something we need”

Oh and Sancho for 120m would’ve been a stupid signing.

Yeah I guess Telles was a decent signing as we needed a backup for Shaw. But it's not a signing I'm all that excited by. As for Sancho, it's a tough call for me. I never said we should have spent 120M, and not sure we needed to spend that (i'm not an ITK) but we need him and did not get him. It isn't my money so i'm not all that concerned with paying a bit over the odds.

 

[Zen86]

I wasn’t impressed with the summer transfer window originally, but I think it’s been decent looking on it now. Cavani has certainly surpassed my expectations.

We maybe lacked a standout signing to make a statement of intent this season (not Sancho), but squad depth was just as, if not more important an issue for us tbh.

 

[Foxbatt]

We needed a DM and a top class CB but Woodward was never going to buy a CB after spending a fortune on Maguire. I would think DVB was bought just in case Pogba left in January. I am more worried about our youth players not coming through at all. We still have Lingard, Jones, Rojo, Romero around. If we are not playing them then we should have sold them or moved them. I do not understand why we did not sell Romero to Everton? I mean if we think he is shite(Obviously Ole think so as he is not even included in the squad) then why not let him go to Everton and get rid him from the wage bill? We could have got ridden of all of these players and got one good DM for sure.

 

[el3mel]

Well Cavani and Telles have been a success in their roles so far. Cavani is fantastic and Telles has offered decent depth in the left back position even if he's nothing special as a player.

VDB has been extremely disappointing signing since he barely plays and even when he does, he does nothing in particular.

So I'll say 6.5/10 for the whole window is a fair rating for it, so the signing that costed the most money did barely anything.

 

[jem]

Pretty dire I would say!

Amongst the players we’ve brought in I’d say Cavani is the only one who has made any form of impact on our team.

The players that came with a price tag are:

van de Beek (39m)
Diallo (21m)
Telles (15m)

Diallo we’ve not yet seen so we don’t know how good he is. VDB we’ve hardly seen and from what we’ve seen he’s certainly not getting me excited and Telles for me is just an unecessary signing.

I’m looking at some of the best deals that were done in the summer window and I come up with 2 players. One is a DM and the other a CB. The pair of them together cost 52m:

Leicester paid 35m for Fofana and Spurs 17m for Höjbjerg. Both of them imo 2 of the best signings to come out of that window.

Bearing in mind we’re screaming for a CB and DM, why the feck do we spend the same amount of money on 2 players it would appear we don’t even need?

Not only the above named, but there were more very good signings made in the summer. Why do we seem to always miss out?

For those of you who are fine with the business we are doing then you have no reason for concern. Albeit I’d be surprised if I’m alone on this.

I am btw fully aware Fernandes has been a great signing. Surely though we cannot be content on that alone?

How can he be unnecessary given that he's already stepped into replace an injured Luke Shaw, as well as providing much-needed competition, something that seems to spur Shaw on? Unless of course you're ok with Brandon Williams getting extended minutes there...I do agree that we should have signed a CB and/or DM.

 

[TrustInOle]

Upon reflection, it wasn't too bad, picking up a few interesting youth prospects, but we failed to get first choice targets and recruit in potions in the most need. So I would go with a 5/10. See alot of potential with Donny and Pellistri.

 

[lysglimt]

Generally - a huge percentage of the transfers have had little or average impact at best:

I would struggle to name much more than 10 players I would consider to be very good signings.

 

[lysglimt]

Had to try : )

15 best signings - where you even consider the price paid as well:

Soucek - possibly the best signing of 2020. The best header of the ball in the P.L. 7 goals in 28 is really good for a central midfielder at West Ham.
Hojbjerg - perfect fit for Mourinhos football. Not very creative, but good at breaking up the play
Reguilon - still not up to his best, but a massive upgrade for Spurs
Cavani - 4 goals and 2 assists so far. Free transfer - still one of the best strikers in the business.
Dias - looked quality in the heart of the best defence in the P.L. Pep finally got it right with a defender ?
Jota - generally been the best Liverpool-attacked which says it all
Fofana - looks a lot more experienced than he is. Leicester may have hit the jackpot with Fofana
Raphina - quality wenger. Leeds maybe best outfield-player together with Bamford.
Areola - went a bit below the radar, but Fulham have one of the 5-6 best keepers in the P.L. Massively underrated.
Lookman - if you can keep this guy away from the penalty spot, he is pure class. Involved in almost everything going forward.
James - quality before he got injured. Surprisingly good
Chilwell - expensive but looks worth it. Chelseas second best signing
Mendy - so many levels above Kepa its scary. Looks a really good goalkeeper
Watkins - what a difference he has made to Villa. Suddenly they have a player capable of getting 15-20 goals. Huge hit
Cash - one of the best signings of the summer. Been brilliant for Villa

 

[simplyared]

How can he be unnecessary given that he's already stepped into replace an injured Luke Shaw, as well as providing much-needed competition, something that seems to spur Shaw on? Unless of course you're ok with Brandon Williams getting extended minutes there...I do agree that we should have signed a CB and/or DM.

I'm ok with Williams stepping in for Shaw. I already answered another poster my views on this. I think the lad has a lot to offer, I like his attitude on the field, he's an academy player. Telles for me is not an uppgrade but that's just my opinion.