Zed is not dead
Full Member
- Joined
- Apr 9, 2023
- Messages
- 1,543
Very sensitive post.All transfer windows are considered critical during the moments we're in them.
The problem we've had is treating every summer as critical and then scratching around desperately to tick off every item on our shopping list even when the price is too high because we've believed that missing out is going to make the difference between winning the league or not.
Well, the reality is that it's not. We're nowhere near close enough to be making RvP or Carrick type signings for over the top prices to put the cherry on the cake. We need accept some lean years to actually make the cake first. It's what what Arsenal did when they sold their overpaid stars and put trust in their prospects. And it's what Newcastle and City did despite all their riches giving them the freedom to throw away as much money as they want.
By treating every window as critical, we're tricking ourselves into believing that every signing is vital for our survival.
Missing out on Amrabat might cost us a handful of points over the course of the season. But we could instead invest those savings on a hungry but potential world class 20 year old next summer. Short term pain for long term gain.
People complain about the lack of strategy but to me it looks like for once they’re planning for the future.
Replacing the players you can without sacrificing too much depth (which explains why we weren’t that desperate to get rid of Maguire and McT, as much as we may hate them here they can provide depth and be correct squad players), getting in younger players because the squad is ageing, getting more « system players » than individual game changers, and give time to the manager to get his squad.
We’re not yet at the stage where the team needs a bit of tweaking to be competitive.
Look at Arsenal and Liverpool, over which people are creaming themselves here, they didn’t have overnight success, and had some pretty shit periods before being competitive.