[Albion] So we spend £20M on a defence that was pretty sound to begin with?

[Hugo Rune]

The players that we have signed will allow us to attack more without weakening the defence and perhaps gain us more goals and 1-1 instead of 1-or 2-0 defeats and hopefully more wins. even 1-0

This exactly.

With 3 quality Centre Backs, in the 3-4-3, we can drop our defensive midfielder Stephens and bring in more attack minded players such as Kayal, Bissouma & Alzate to play with Pröpper.

 

[dejavuatbtn]

At what point do we actually address the elephant in the room ie lack of goals? Bolstering an already decent defence may well ensure we lose 0-1 instead of the traditional 0-2, but without goals the only way is the same old same old which is down. Unless of course Duffy can up his game and net 10 instead of last season's 5. Nobody else currently looking likely to challenge Murray for top spot. Still, I'm sure the club know what they are doing

Sound? We had the 7th worse defensive record in the division. That’s nothing to shout about and plenty to improve on.
Agree we need some attacking players but we are rebuilding from the back, so no complaints from me.

 

[SeagullCrow]

Because the problem isn’t Murray !!

The problem last season was the lack of attacking intent beyond Murray... so we’ve changed the system to make us better going forward. In Potters opinion that required another high quality CB.

For me it isn’t about a striker as such it’s about goals from elsewhere in the side.... Murray has a decent return both seasons in the Prem so far..... however the lack of goals in the rest of the team (Duffy aside) is poor and that needs to improve.

Agreed, but Murray's form dropped like a stone in the second half of last season. It became very clear that age was catching up with him, and he's going to be another year older going into the season. We can't continue to rely on him pulling rabbits out the hat.

The OP's sentiment is valid - we patently do need more options up front, but there is evidence that we are chasing targets for that position (as mentioned by others on this thread). In many respects, this is a conversations we've been having since promotion to the Premier League and it hasn't been adequately addressed earlier (- insanity, given that we know that Murray is no spring chicken. The club don't seem to be very good at succession planning). More of a concern for me is the ability to control the midfield and provide opportunities for whichever striker we choose to bring in - and there is no real chatter about us targeting anyone for that position.

 

[Tom Hark Preston Park]

and Dunk.

Oh, yeah, forgot about the OG. Remember clearly thinking it was an OG at the time from the North. That head-mental edited Spanish vid looks very much like that also. Tho due lack of being arsed, am quite prepared to concede it wasn't an OG. Tho don't really care.

 

[Arkwright]

Was our defence really sound last season? It only looked sound when we showed no ambition to attack and stuck eleven bodies behind the ball and parked the bus.

Playing three at the back we need five centre halves to cover injuries and suspensions, great signing in my book.

A week to go to add a striker and a right back and we'll have a well balanced squad

 

[Tom Hark Preston Park]

"Mum, the records stuck again!"

Wonder why that is?

 

[Steve Foster]

Perhaps the intention is for 38 0-0 draws. That should just about keep us up. Who knows we could nab a few 1-0 wins & reach the lofty heights of perhaps 15th? Failing that I fear we are going to have a miserable season. Less than a week left of the pre season, we have spent less than most of our competitors & no centre forward joining us yet. Are there really 3 sides worse than us in the league? Without my BHA spectacles on I can’t see that being the case. Hope I am wrong ..

 

[blockhseagull]

Agreed, but Murray's form dropped like a stone in the second half of last season. It became very clear that age was catching up with him, and he's going to be another year older going into the season. We can't continue to rely on him pulling rabbits out the hat.

The OP's sentiment is valid - we patently do need more options up front, but there is evidence that we are chasing targets for that position (as mentioned by others on this thread). In many respects, this is a conversations we've been having since promotion to the Premier League and it hasn't been adequately addressed earlier (- insanity, given that we know that Murray is no spring chicken. The club don't seem to be very good at succession planning). More of a concern for me is the ability to control the midfield and provide opportunities for whichever striker we choose to bring in - and there is no real chatter about us targeting anyone for that position.

Disagree about Murray’s form

Was he less effective in the 2nd part of the season ... massively

Was it because he was completely isolated with no one anywhere near him for the majority of the games since Xmas ... yes.

However I do agree we need a further striking option.... your right that he is getting older and he will need to miss some games in order for him to perform at his best.

 

[dazzer6666]

Sometime before the window shuts would be my guess.

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[GT49er]

Because the problem isn’t Murray !!

The problem last season was the lack of attacking intent beyond Murray... so we’ve changed the system to make us better going forward. In Potters opinion that required another high quality CB.

For me it isn’t about a striker as such it’s about goals from elsewhere in the side.... Murray has a decent return both seasons in the Prem so far..... however the lack of goals in the rest of the team (Duffy aside) is poor and that needs to improve.

This, in spades and with knobs on. Last season our strikers had to get by with very little supply and absolutely no support from the rest of the tem, who were usually huddled around our penalty area. Unsurprisingly, they didn't score very many.
Now, however we appear to be making a radical change by sometimes having several of our players in the opposition half, sometimes even all at the same time! If our strike force convert the same percentage of their chances as they did last season, the only reasonable conclusion is that they will score more this season. A nice new shiny 20 goals a season striker would certainly be nice - and the club do appear to be looking at a couple of possibles - but I refuse to join in the panic that some people seem to be getting into.
Maybe that new 20 goals a season striker is Tau next year - perhaps Potter and all the other soccer professionals we've got running the club have looked at the resources available and decided we have enough to see us through until then? Maybe? Maybe not - I don't know, but whether we land Maupay or that other chap or not, I'm still not panicking,

 

[brightn'ove]

Was it pretty sound? Seem to remember conceding a lot of comedy goals towards the back end of last season. It definitely needed strengthening.

 

[Triggaaar]

Is it moany to point out that we have pretty much **** all in attack other than an ageing Murray?

It's moany to suggest the club aren't trying to do something about it. Signing a defender doesn't stop us signing others too.

Then put me down as a moany bastid

Nah, I've already got you down as a ****.

 

[studio150]

Defence wins titles

 

[London Irish]

A better defence allows us to attack better. The switch to 3 has come up with the inspired idea of March at wing back. We now look lethal on left with Trossard link-up.

Sadly we may have gone backwards on right since days of Bruno/Knocky

 

[GT49er]

Sound? We had the 7th worse defensive record in the division. That’s nothing to shout about and plenty to improve on.
Agree we need some attacking players but we are rebuilding from the back, so no complaints from me.

Sound? - yes. 7th. worse record - actually that is very, very good. You have to take into account the amount of time per game spent defending. Take any of the teams with good defence records - Liverpool, Leicester, Wolves, for example - their defences would have conceded far more goals than they did had they been defending against wave after wave of unhindered attacks for 85 minutes of every game!

Was it pretty sound? Seem to remember conceding a lot of comedy goals towards the back end of last season. It definitely needed strengthening.

See above. The defence was actually very, very good.

 

[Tom Hark Preston Park]

It's moany to suggest the club aren't trying to do something about it. Signing a defender doesn't stop us signing others too.
Nah, I've already got you down as a ****.

Then my work here is done

 

[dingodan]

What should we do with the extra £10M we saved?



https://www.bristolpost.co.uk/sport/football/transfer-news/revealed-what-aston-villa-everton-3017670

 

[Pat McCrotch]

Someone need their sheets changing


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[rogersix]

At what point do we actually address the elephant in the room ie lack of goals? Bolstering an already decent defence may well ensure we lose 0-1 instead of the traditional 0-2, but without goals the only way is the same old same old which is down. Unless of course Duffy can up his game and net 10 instead of last season's 5. Nobody else currently looking likely to challenge Murray for top spot. Still, I'm sure the club know what they are doing

the op will not be happy with that effort

 

[Tom Hark Preston Park]

Was it pretty sound? Seem to remember conceding a lot of comedy goals towards the back end of last season. It definitely needed strengthening.

Defence was under constant siege all season. Dunk, Duffy and Ryan deserve bumper bundles of bonuses for keeping us in the PL for as long as they did. Only human that they should start to flag towards the end. The pressure was unrelenting.