Gus' 23 man squad plan

[perseus]

I would prefer it if we didn't have such rigid roles. I don't like saying"this guy is left back, this guy is back up left back". I want options, I want the left back to be able to play let wing if needed, and vice versa. I want the centre back to be able to move to right back and so on. I think listing players as a single position and alternative for single position leads to blinkered views of the players and their potential role for the team.

I suppose you want the footballers to kick with both feet as well, not like Robben and Gerrard.

PS: I agree with you.

 

[Ninja Elephant]

I would prefer it if we didn't have such rigid roles. I don't like saying"this guy is left back, this guy is back up left back". I want options, I want the left back to be able to play let wing if needed, and vice versa. I want the centre back to be able to move to right back and so on. I think listing players as a single position and alternative for single position leads to blinkered views of the players and their potential role for the team.

"Jack of all trades, master of none".

When typing that, I immediately thought of Adam El-Abd. I would say his career has suffered for being "versatile". I agree with your point to an extent, but I think it's a bit short sighted. I'm sure Greer could play right back if needed. But would we want him to? I'd rather play him, and the rest of them, in their best positions, so they can master that one position. There's alot to be said of the Wilkins' approach to coaching the kids, and playing them all over the pitch to make them more well rounded. But there then comes a time when a player has to master just one position. I think so, anyway.

 

[Albumen]

I would prefer it if we didn't have such rigid roles. I don't like saying"this guy is left back, this guy is back up left back". I want options, I want the left back to be able to play let wing if needed, and vice versa. I want the centre back to be able to move to right back and so on. I think listing players as a single position and alternative for single position leads to blinkered views of the players and their potential role for the team.

I want to f*** Angie Dickinson, let's see who gets lucky first.

 

[Mendoza]

McNulty, Tunnicliffe and Whing will be off, so we will be light for cover at the back.
Striker needed badly, and then a couple of left wingers.

Centre midfield will be our stongest position I think with Navarrro, Dicker, Sparrow, Kitchenchef and Baz fighting out for a place

 

[B.W.]

Top striker and left winger are all we need now to make a decent challenge at the right end of the table this season, IMHO...

 

[Acker79]

"Jack of all trades, master of none".

Are those our options? Either great in one narrowly defined position and shit in any other, or decidedly average in all of them? Do you not think there's a middle ground? A left back who has no problem moving to centreback or right back, as it's all defensive play, or perhaps is decent enough as a stand in left winger?

I don't mean that I expect every player to be a star in every position. But I do expect a player to be able to play well enough in other positions as necessary, and feel that listing specific positions for each member of the squad leads to them being pigeon-holed. If, for example, we dare to push Elphick into a defensive midfield role he is "being played out of position" because he is listed as, so people view him solely as, a CB.

 

[upthealbion1970]

Sorry got to disagree as it would be good but not as , crucial as a 25 goal a year striker, that is much more important and that is crucial.

you want bobson but not lualua, are you really being serious? bobson is no better than a certain seb carole

 

[Simon Morgan]

Personally I think that a half decent finisher would become a lethal predator with a wideman like LuaLua serving him! Look at Paynter last season. Generally considered a bit of a workmanlike striker, bit of a donkey perhaps, but he banged in 30 because the service from McGovern was nothing short of superb. If you want a reference to the value of a superb wideman, note Ashley Barnes' goal against Southampton.

You cannot praise Lua Lua for his service. Of course he can get better but as far as I can remember, that cross for Barnes was one of his only good ones in his spell with us. I feel Kazenga is a little bit hyped up on here. I would love us to sign him like anyone else on here, but he has a lot of development ahead of him.

 

[Marshy]

Kishishev will cover both full backs also

 

[murraymints4brighton]

Does anybody else think that we look a bit weak at Center Back? Greer is a good player and we can't judge Dunk on one first team appearance, but as good as Elphick and El-Abd can be, they can also be hopelessly shit, Elphick more so than El-Abd and they have been a key part in a faltering defense that I have seen crumble at home and away for a few seasons now. CB x1 needed

On the plus side we look good in those full back areas, yet that is all that I am really happy with.

Gk: Brezovan was alright, but very error prone, e.g. Leeds away, Exeter away, (that game at home where he missed a punch, Carlisle?) Is he good enough for the Championship. Poke and Walker are adequate cover yet not starters.

Midfield: I don't know why everyone is creaming themselves over the midfield. We have Bennett, who is class and then horrifyingly shit the next week, mainly at home. We then have Carole and potentially Hart for cover along with Baz who let's be honest, nobody apart from Gus e.t.c has a clue about. Hopefully Lua Lua will be back, yet I still think we need someone who can cross the ball at a stand still, a different player to Bennett and Lua Lua. winger x2 needed

Center midfield is an interesting one. Is Navarro good enough? Is Dicker? Will that argie and Caskey be up to it. I don't know, yet I would question where the goals would come from. Attacking midfielder x1 needed.

Striker: Everyone can see that we need a striker, and a quality one at that. But no scare mongering needed, two are on their way in...

I would say that another CB, 2-3 more midfielders and the two strikers would see us seriously challenge next year and I trust the Gus to deliver.

 

[sten_super]

I would say that another CB, 2-3 more midfielders and the two strikers would see us seriously challenge next year and I trust the Gus to deliver.

There is NO chance that we will sign that many. I disagree with your analysis wholeheartedly.

GK: If Brezovan didn't make mistakes he would be playing at a high-end Championship club. He is clearly Gus' number 1 and we will not be signing a new keeper.

Defence: El-Abd played very well in the second half of the season. I would agree that I wouldn't want El-Abd and Elphick to be first choice, but one of the two alongside Greer (who seems like a decent leader and can help his partner through the game) is great. Dunk as 4th choice centre back probably won't see much 1st team football, so isn't really a concern.

Midfield: Assuming that Lua-Lua comes back, we'll have him and Bennett as first choice, with Carole, Hart and Baz as backup. More than enough.

I can't believe you are questioning our central midfield. Goal-scoring midfielders are incredibly hard to come by. Hopefully Sparrow will score a few.

Strikers: Yes, obviously we still need one more striker. Why two? Surely new signing, Murray, Barnes and Holroyd are a good enough four?

You seem to want a squad of 26 players all good enough to start 46 games. That's never going to happen as it would be far too expensive and the players would all want to play every game. Being realistic we need about 14/15 players that are good enough to play week in week out and then a selection of reasonable backup players.

I expect that McNulty will leave, Kishoshev will come in and cover the full back positions and midfield, we will sign Lua Lua and a striker and that will be it. If we are very lucky then we'll bring in another winger.

 

[Box of Frogs]

There is NO chance that we will sign that many. I disagree with your analysis wholeheartedly.

GK: If Brezovan didn't make mistakes he would be playing at a high-end Championship club. He is clearly Gus' number 1 and we will not be signing a new keeper.

Defence: El-Abd played very well in the second half of the season. I would agree that I wouldn't want El-Abd and Elphick to be first choice, but one of the two alongside Greer (who seems like a decent leader and can help his partner through the game) is great. Dunk as 4th choice centre back probably won't see much 1st team football, so isn't really a concern.

Midfield: Assuming that Lua-Lua comes back, we'll have him and Bennett as first choice, with Carole, Hart and Baz as backup. More than enough.

I can't believe you are questioning our central midfield. Goal-scoring midfielders are incredibly hard to come by. Hopefully Sparrow will score a few.

Strikers: Yes, obviously we still need one more striker. Why two? Surely new signing, Murray, Barnes and Holroyd are a good enough four?

You seem to want a squad of 26 players all good enough to start 46 games. That's never going to happen as it would be far too expensive and the players would all want to play every game. Being realistic we need about 14/15 players that are good enough to play week in week out and then a selection of reasonable backup players.

I expect that McNulty will leave, Kishoshev will come in and cover the full back positions and midfield, we will sign Lua Lua and a striker and that will be it. If we are very lucky then we'll bring in another winger.

Agree 100% with this.

 

[Marc]

Centre midfield will be our stongest position I think with Navarrro, Dicker, Sparrow, Kitchenchef and Baz fighting out for a place

 

[hans kraay fan club]

Midfield: . We have Bennett, who is class and then horrifyingly shit the next week, mainly at home.

.

Utter bullshit.

 

[B.W.]

There is NO chance that we will sign that many. I disagree with your analysis wholeheartedly.

GK: If Brezovan didn't make mistakes he would be playing at a high-end Championship club. He is clearly Gus' number 1 and we will not be signing a new keeper.

Defence: El-Abd played very well in the second half of the season. I would agree that I wouldn't want El-Abd and Elphick to be first choice, but one of the two alongside Greer (who seems like a decent leader and can help his partner through the game) is great. Dunk as 4th choice centre back probably won't see much 1st team football, so isn't really a concern.

Midfield: Assuming that Lua-Lua comes back, we'll have him and Bennett as first choice, with Carole, Hart and Baz as backup. More than enough.

I can't believe you are questioning our central midfield. Goal-scoring midfielders are incredibly hard to come by. Hopefully Sparrow will score a few.

Strikers: Yes, obviously we still need one more striker. Why two? Surely new signing, Murray, Barnes and Holroyd are a good enough four?

You seem to want a squad of 26 players all good enough to start 46 games. That's never going to happen as it would be far too expensive and the players would all want to play every game. Being realistic we need about 14/15 players that are good enough to play week in week out and then a selection of reasonable backup players.

I expect that McNulty will leave, Kishoshev will come in and cover the full back positions and midfield, we will sign Lua Lua and a striker and that will be it. If we are very lucky then we'll bring in another winger.

100% agree with that... and once we have a top striker and LuaLua or similar winger, we will be a top team / squad in league 1...

 

[murraymints4brighton]

Utter bullshit.

errr, no it isn't. I saw every home game last season and about 10 away games and he was very inconsistent. He would score some great goals one week, then let a pass roll under his boot and out of play the next and more than often go missing at home.

 

[murraymints4brighton]

There is NO chance that we will sign that many. I disagree with your analysis wholeheartedly.

GK: If Brezovan didn't make mistakes he would be playing at a high-end Championship club. He is clearly Gus' number 1 and we will not be signing a new keeper.

Defence: El-Abd played very well in the second half of the season. I would agree that I wouldn't want El-Abd and Elphick to be first choice, but one of the two alongside Greer (who seems like a decent leader and can help his partner through the game) is great. Dunk as 4th choice centre back probably won't see much 1st team football, so isn't really a concern.

Midfield: Assuming that Lua-Lua comes back, we'll have him and Bennett as first choice, with Carole, Hart and Baz as backup. More than enough.

I can't believe you are questioning our central midfield. Goal-scoring midfielders are incredibly hard to come by. Hopefully Sparrow will score a few.

Strikers: Yes, obviously we still need one more striker. Why two? Surely new signing, Murray, Barnes and Holroyd are a good enough four?

You seem to want a squad of 26 players all good enough to start 46 games. That's never going to happen as it would be far too expensive and the players would all want to play every game. Being realistic we need about 14/15 players that are good enough to play week in week out and then a selection of reasonable backup players.

I expect that McNulty will leave, Kishoshev will come in and cover the full back positions and midfield, we will sign Lua Lua and a striker and that will be it. If we are very lucky then we'll bring in another winger.

Tanks for actually coming back with an argument worth replying to, instead of the usual sarcastic bollocks most write on here.

. I still beleive there are better defenders that we could have at the club for a good price than El-Abd and Elphick.
. I really think that we need more goals from the midfield, i.e. someone to play with Sparrow. Sparrow is going to be an engine, much like and better than Crofts. If we could get a CM that could score say 8-10 goals from midfield, then we would be seriously good, coupled with the signing of Lua Lua.

I hope are team looks something like this come August the 8th:

............................................Brezovan.........................................
Calderon....................Greer....................new CB...................Painter

Bennett.................. new CM..................Sparrow..................Lua Lua

..................(Murray"sus") Barnes........... new striker

Poke
Kishishev
Elphick
Navarro
Dicker
new winger
new striker

I think Gus said he would like 3-4 new players and I would go with 4, but we may need 5. Plus the part I posted about two strikers in the aforementioned post was not my preference, it was a hint...

 

[sparkie]

Tanks for actually coming back with an argument worth replying to, instead of the usual sarcastic bollocks most write on here.

. I still beleive there are better defenders that we could have at the club for a good price than El-Abd and Elphick.
. I really think that we need more goals from the midfield, i.e. someone to play with Sparrow. Sparrow is going to be an engine, much like and better than Crofts. If we could get a CM that could score say 8-10 goals from midfield, then we would be seriously good, coupled with the signing of Lua Lua.

I hope are team looks something like this come August the 8th:

............................................Brezovan.........................................
Calderon....................Greer....................new CB...................Painter

Bennett.................. new CM..................Sparrow..................Lua Lua

..................(Murray"sus") Barnes........... new striker

Poke
Kishishev
Elphick
Navarro
Dicker
new winger
new striker

I think Gus said he would like 3-4 new players and I would go with 4, but we may need 5. Plus the part I posted about two strikers in the aforementioned post was not my preference, it was a hint...

I reckon we need 2 strikers as well, given that Murray seems to miss a number of games. Barnes is young and is more someone to come off the bench rather than be a regular starter when Murray isn't about.

I agree 100% about a new centre back as well, and I think we are all agreed about the winger. Not sure about the central midfielder though.

 

[y2dave]

Poyet talks of a 23 man squad but I think he knows his preferred (and realistic) first chouce 11 already. I think he will be quite prepared to blow some cash on proven players for the starting 11 and gamble that the likes of the Argies, Caskey, Dunk etc will put some pressure on them while being prepared to wait for an opportunity.

It does seems pretty clear we are signing players to go straight into the team and others who have a point to prove and be prepared to bide time.

Most encouraging for me is that defensively we look our most solid since Mcghee took us up, are more comfortable on the ball and now have a proven leader in Greer. The lack of a Cullip/Butters type saw a lot of the promising youngsters begin to lose there way IMO.

Get at least one left midfielder and we should be play off contenders with what we have. Add a top league 1 striker and we could be right up there, the rest of the side is decent enough.

 

[astevens76]

Gk: Brezovan was alright, but very error prone, e.g. Leeds away, Exeter away, (that game at home where he missed a punch, Carlisle?) Is he good enough for the Championship. Poke and Walker are adequate cover yet not starters.

This was his first game for us, when he had signed about 2 days (if that) before.
Made a couple of mistakes, which isn't surprising after not playing for a while - but also saved a penalty! (even though he gave the penalty away).