[Albion] Unpopular Opinion - Our Window This Far

[Swansman]

I agree with a lot of what you say, but I've had to pick this line out, because unfortunately, the short term is MASSIVELY IMPORTANT, now more more so than ever.

If we drop out of the Premier League, with zero crowds, we are falling into a financial abyss. I honestly don't know how long EFL clubs can carry on under this current crisis, nobody does. PL clubs are at least still being propped up by the billions in broadcasting rights, there is still always going to be a TV product to sell to the masses, crowds or no crowds. But nobody pays to watch QPR v Barnsley, and if we we end up plunged into that market, then we are bang. in. trouble. With the rest of them.

So whilst a long term plan is all well and dandy, and not something we should lose sight of, the short term - the here and now - is more crucial than its EVER been before. Pre-Covid, relegation from the PL would probably not have been a catastrophe for BHA. Now though ?

While I understand your concern, the value of the squad has skyrocketed over the last year. Lets compare with i.e. Burnley, WBA and Fulham, if they get relegated, what are they able to sell to mitigate the drop in income? Brighton could just sell two or so of the great talents and a few more established players and then, with the parachute money, the club would be fine economically speaking.

Adding players on PL wages means you could be stuck with another Locadia or similar for plenty of years. There is no guarantee that a signing are going to be a success, if you are not 90% certain that you've signed the right player then you are taking a great risk at this time.

Currently its quite obvious that - even if some fans disagree - the club is pretty happy with the squad.

All of the "Murray left and now we only have two strikers and its all doom and gloom" is just overdramatisation. Do people actually believe that Trossard would be a worse CF than Murray in 2020? Even Ali J got a great nose for goal.

The future is great, pretty much whatever happens, and the present is good as well. A lot of names mentioned over this window, like Wilson, King, Pukki, Deeney etc would most likely add very little to this squad. There is plenty of ways to work around this alleged lack of strikers, since there is a lot of quality in the squad overall.

It's going to be fine. I'm sure that in a few games time people are going to realise that the team is good enough to relatively comfortably stay up and hopefully a bit more than that.

 

[dingodan]

Worst summer window since promotion. The side is weaker than last season Have you seen us without Lamptey on the pitch team of cart horses. Can’t defend set plays, can’t take set plays can’t hold on to a lead or equaliser for more than five minutes.... Am I saying anything that isn’t true Four season of PL football and we are now so reliant on Lamptey having a good game is embarrassing. We should of buried Manure by half time only we could manage to lose that game. As for White he got sold like a pup by Rashford, bullied by Lewin he still has a lot to learn so no I don’t agree with you.

Why should we have buried Man United by half time?

Would it be because we played extremely well and created lots of chances? In a match in which Lampty had his quietest game by the way.

We also played very well against Chelsea, and Newcastle. 3 out of our opening 4 games we have played very well.

After 3 games we were 4th in the league in xG difference and had a positive NPxG difference in every game.

Yet for some reason you are convinced we are going to get relegated?

You make no sense.

 

[Easy 10]

While I understand your concern, the value of the squad has skyrocketed over the last year. Lets compare with i.e. Burnley, WBA and Fulham, if they get relegated, what are they able to sell to mitigate the drop in income? Brighton could just sell two or so of the great talents and a few more established players and then, with the parachute money, the club would be fine economically speaking.

Adding players on PL wages means you could be stuck with another Locadia or similar for plenty of years. There is no guarantee that a signing are going to be a success, if you are not 90% certain that you've signed the right player then you are taking a great risk at this time.

Currently its quite obvious that - even if some fans disagree - the club is pretty happy with the squad.

All of the "Murray left and now we only have two strikers and its all doom and gloom" is just overdramatisation. Do people actually believe that Trossard would be a worse CF than Murray in 2020? Even Ali J got a great nose for goal.

The future is great, pretty much whatever happens, and the present is good as well. A lot of names mentioned over this window, like Wilson, King, Pukki, Deeney etc would most likely add very little to this squad. There is plenty of ways to work around this alleged lack of strikers, since there is a lot of quality in the squad overall.

It's going to be fine. I'm sure that in a few games time people are going to realise that the team is good enough to relatively comfortably stay up and hopefully a bit more than that.

I was never advocating a random £25-£30m splurge on a punt on some unknown striker, as you say, there's never a guarantee it would be a success. But by the same token, with our current striking options, we are currently an injury away from a full-blown crisis. We got away with it last season, as nobody got injured or suspended. But that luck can easily run out in an instant. Maupay does his ligaments, and we are royally STUFFED. Thats my worry. And yeah, its great to look to the future having kids coming through and all that, but if we drop through that PL trapdoor and have to start selling off all our silver, then our future (in this new covid world) would look rather bleak.

 

[peterward]

While I understand your concern, the value of the squad has skyrocketed over the last year. Lets compare with i.e. Burnley, WBA and Fulham, if they get relegated, what are they able to sell to mitigate the drop in income? Brighton could just sell two or so of the great talents and a few more established players and then, with the parachute money, the club would be fine economically speaking.

Adding players on PL wages means you could be stuck with another Locadia or similar for plenty of years. There is no guarantee that a signing are going to be a success, if you are not 90% certain that you've signed the right player then you are taking a great risk at this time.

Currently its quite obvious that - even if some fans disagree - the club is pretty happy with the squad.

All of the "Murray left and now we only have two strikers and its all doom and gloom" is just overdramatisation. Do people actually believe that Trossard would be a worse CF than Murray in 2020? Even Ali J got a great nose for goal.

The future is great, pretty much whatever happens, and the present is good as well. A lot of names mentioned over this window, like Wilson, King, Pukki, Deeney etc would most likely add very little to this squad. There is plenty of ways to work around this alleged lack of strikers, since there is a lot of quality in the squad overall.

It's going to be fine. I'm sure that in a few games time people are going to realise that the team is good enough to relatively comfortably stay up and hopefully a bit more than that.

Burnley? They have just rejected bids of 30million for Tarkowski, They have one of the best keepers in the league in Pope, for sure 20 million plus and Chris Wood is also worth a good few million. Those 3 is well over 60 million.

Yes I believe old grandad Murray is still a better "Centre Forward" than Trossard in 2020 as Trossard is simply not a centre forward, our system has changed, no wingers, not many crosses, but with those 2 things he would still bag more than either Connolly or Trossard. He is an incredible header of the ball, one of the best we've ever had. You never saw him play consistently before you turned up here just as Potter sidelined him. His footballing brain is unrivaled even if his legs are on the way out. His instincts as a centre forward make up for lack of pace. His lack of game time last season was not down to a sudden lack of ability, its a new manager who wanted to play a new way without so much width or wingers and that was not suited to Glenns strengths.

Wilson, King and even Deeney would all add something to this squad, experience, depth and crucially cover. Round pegs round holes. Centre forwards for centre forwards - not wingers/midfielders filling in.

As for Ali J, love the fella, and truly admire his determination - but he's shown nothing consistently in 2 seasons at PL level, thus why he never gets a run of games at this level, not a bad player, looks great against lower league opposition, but not shown he is up to consistent performing at this level yet, the odd wonder goal doesnt cancel out the many weak/anonymous performances when he's had a chance and gone missing - Potter doesnt leave him out of the starting 11 without reason. He cant get a start now, so how is he the solution if Maupay gets injured?

Answer, hes not.

 

[peterward]

I was never advocating a random £25-£30m splurge on a punt on some unknown striker, as you say, there's never a guarantee it would be a success. But by the same token, with our current striking options, we are currently an injury away from a full-blown crisis. We got away with it last season, as nobody got injured or suspended. But that luck can easily run out in an instant. Maupay does his ligaments, and we are royally STUFFED. Thats my worry. And yeah, its great to look to the future having kids coming through and all that, but if we drop through that PL trapdoor and have to start selling off all our silver, then our future (in this new covid world) would look rather bleak.

You are again Spot on.....its getting boring!

 

[Swansman]

Burnley? They have just rejected bids of 30million for Tarkowski, They have one of the best keepers in the league in Pope, for sure 20 million plus and Chris Wood is also worth a good few million. Those 3 is well over 60 million.

Yes I believe old grandad Murray is still a better "Centre Forward" than Trossard in 2020 as Trossard is simply not a centre forward, our system has changed, no wingers, not many crosses, but with those 2 things he would still bag more than either Connolly or Trossard. He is an incredible header of the ball, one of the best we've ever had. You never saw him play consistently before you turned up here just as Potter sidelined him. His footballing brain is unrivaled even if his legs are on the way out. His instincts as a centre forward make up for lack of pace. His lack of game time last season was not down to a sudden lack of ability, its a new manager who wanted to play a new way without so much width or wingers and that was not suited to Glenns strengths.

Wilson, King and even Deeney would all add something to this squad, experience, depth and crucially cover. Round pegs round holes. Centre forwards for centre forwards - not wingers/midfielders filling in.

As for Ali J, love the fella, and truly admire his determination - but he's shown nothing consistently in 2 seasons at PL level, thus why he never gets a run of games at this level, not a bad player, looks great against lower league opposition, but not shown he is up to consistent performing at this level yet, the odd wonder goal doesnt cancel out the many weak/anonymous performances when he's had a chance and gone missing - Potter doesnt leave him out of the starting 11 without reason. He cant get a start now, so how is he the solution if Maupay gets injured?

Answer, hes not.

About Burnley: pretty much proving my point - their three best players together are worth two Ben White, perhaps little more than one Tariq Lamptey.

As for Glenn, I wont question his ability in the air or his cleverness, but I think you are wrong about him possibly scoring more than Connolly / Trossard would do. When your legs are gone - and his are -, all that cleverness or ability in the air wont matter much in a league like PL.

It happens on occasion that 37 year olds score a lot in the Serie A or even sometimes in Spain, but in the PL it is very uncommon that anyone over 35 is able to bag more than a handful goals. Sure, Zlatan did it but thats not really a fair comparison. And it becomes even more unusual when they turn 37. Teddy Sheringham and Les Ferdinand did well at that age, but that was a long time ago.

It was time for Glenn to go and while it might sound harsh, I doubt he will be missed on the pitch. To be perfectly honest I'm worried he might even struggle to perform in the Championship, but hopefully I'm wrong on that one as he seems like a fun, clever man.

 

[HastingsSeagull]

I think we again got a little better all round, and this time also got younger and with more potential whilst keeping the balance of experience. Dunk at the back, Propper, Lallana and some others like Veltman. We have strong leaders like Bruno around the team and I'd rather have eager, young players than set in their ways journeymen.

That said for what feels lile the 24th window in a row, we didn't really fix our striker situation which for the 24th window in a row felt the obvious need.

I liked when we brought Murray back, I liked Barnes and Ulloa, I like Maupay and thought Andone was a decent deal at the price. But we don't ever go into seasons with 3 first team strikers. Always a couple and some potential a long way behind. We do average business (no bad thing) and tread water but seem to always be one quality player short be it the starter, partner or back-up. I really, really hope our handful of young strikers develop into these roles and we keep enough quality at the club.

I'm sure strikers must cost more in wages (plis likely bonuses) as well as fees so see why we loan out those who don't make the cut but I hope we'll have a window soon where it's not a need!

The rest of the team I'm super happy with realistically.

 

[Uh_huh_him]

Remember Trossards goal Vs Norwich, and the run required to get on the end of it? That's a strikers goal IMO.

His goal Vs Liverpool? Inside the box again, strikers finish that, again IMO.

Yeah.
His goal against Norwich at the Amex was pretty clinical too.



Saying that Trossard is a "square peg in a round hole as a striker" is ridiculous.

I would agree if we were talking about March or Burn (which I have seen several posts for)

 

[Mo Gosfield]

About Burnley: pretty much proving my point - their three best players together are worth two Ben White, perhaps little more than one Tariq Lamptey.

As for Glenn, I wont question his ability in the air or his cleverness, but I think you are wrong about him possibly scoring more than Connolly / Trossard would do. When your legs are gone - and his are -, all that cleverness or ability in the air wont matter much in a league like PL.

It happens on occasion that 37 year olds score a lot in the Serie A or even sometimes in Spain, but in the PL it is very uncommon that anyone over 35 is able to bag more than a handful goals. Sure, Zlatan did it but thats not really a fair comparison. And it becomes even more unusual when they turn 37. Teddy Sheringham and Les Ferdinand did well at that age, but that was a long time ago.

It was time for Glenn to go and while it might sound harsh, I doubt he will be missed on the pitch. To be perfectly honest I'm worried he might even struggle to perform in the Championship, but hopefully I'm wrong on that one as he seems like a fun, clever man.

Glenn is being missed, particularly in our own penalty area. With Dunk, Duffy and Murray, we had tremendous aerial strength and teams struggled to get on the end of stuff. He is, quite simply, one of the best defensive headers of the ball I have ever seen. Brilliant. Ryan was fine staying on his line with these three. Murray and Duffy have gone now and the dynamic has changed. Dunk is more uncertain, as the two around him are not so dominant and zonal marking makes the three of them look like statues at times.
Just on that basis alone, I would have kept him.

 

[Mo Gosfield]

It has been said over and over again and I share the concern that we are one bad injury to Maupay away from being in the poo. Connolly, Trossard, Ali J and Zeqiri are unlikely to get 10 goals between them and yet some on here are suggesting that one or more of these would just slip comfortably into a front running, goalscoring mode. Totally unrealistic.

 

[portslade seagull]

We still have the championship window to go, hopefully something is brewing there. Waiting until January could be problematic if we are struggling as teams will use our desperation to bump up the price

 

[Seasider78]

It has been said over and over again and I share the concern that we are one bad injury to Maupay away from being in the poo. Connolly, Trossard, Ali J and Zeqiri are unlikely to get 10 goals between them and yet some on here are suggesting that one or more of these would just slip comfortably into a front running, goalscoring mode. Totally unrealistic.

Very much this

 

[southstandandy]

Lets just hope we smash Palace in our next game. That hopefully will settle a few nerves. Zeqiri to be the next Bobby Z?

 

[amexer]

Makes no difference to me as will support whatever division we are in. However with Blooms wish to become a top 10 side what a gamble he is now taking
. Beyond belief they have only Maupay and unproven Connelly upfront.
Unless you include Molumby and Sanders no obvious holding midfielder
If we revert to 4 at back we will again be playing a CB at fullback.
Just a shame in hindsight money spent on Webster,Ali,Bernardo etc could have been used on one strker

I just hope Burnley,WBA,Sheffield , Newcastle and Fulham continue to struggle.

 

[chaileyjem]

Connolly Is an Irish international, has 25+ appearances in the Prem, Potter trusts him up front and multiple pundits acknowledge his pace, how he draws away defenders and his ability to press. He’s young and inconsistent and we’ve yet to see if he develops further - like many other prem strikers - but the idea that we have 1 striker not 2 is disingenuous.

 

[Napper]

Overall its an ok window.

Pretty sure we will be in a relegation battle again but we have reduced the average age and the style should evolve a bit more.

The striker situation is a joke though. Hopefully we will be lucky with the 2 we have got. It was the one area that was screaming out to be addressed so it is quite bizarre the Albion have chose to " ignore the noise "

Someone said about the top 10 talk being a mistake to air publically as it is and it raised peoples expectations.

You finish where your budget is generally.

Is what it is and see how we go

 

[wellquickwoody]

Connolly Is an Irish international, has 25+ appearances in the Prem, Potter trusts him up front and multiple pundits acknowledge his pace, how he draws away defenders and his ability to press. He’s young and inconsistent and we’ve yet to see if he develops further - like many other prem strikers - but the idea that we have 1 striker not 2 is disingenuous.

But how many will he add to our goals scored figure THIS season?

 

[Springal]

It has been said over and over again and I share the concern that we are one bad injury to Maupay away from being in the poo. Connolly, Trossard, Ali J and Zeqiri are unlikely to get 10 goals between them and yet some on here are suggesting that one or more of these would just slip comfortably into a front running, goalscoring mode. Totally unrealistic.

Ermmmmmmmmmmm............... Connolly, Trossard & Ali J literally did get 10 goals between them last season didn't they? And that was with Trossard really only hitting form after the break.

 

[Springal]

It has been said over and over again and I share the concern that we are one bad injury to Maupay away from being in the poo. Connolly, Trossard, Ali J and Zeqiri are unlikely to get 10 goals between them and yet some on here are suggesting that one or more of these would just slip comfortably into a front running, goalscoring mode. Totally unrealistic.

Whilst I cannot agree with all of your points, this is a deeply dissapponting window. We have still not acquired a quality striker, after what, six seasons? We have let our talismanic forward go without having a clue what to do next. Yeah Ollie Watkins was expensive, good strikers do not grow on trees, but six years, really? If the Maupay, Andone, Locadia money had been pooled we might have had 30 or 40 million to spend, as it is we have Maupay. It is not the lack of striker this time around, it is a culmination of years of being unable to kick on. TB wants top 10 he says, I am not sure he really does, you cannot achieve that long term without having a serious threat to the opposition goal.

What exactly is wrong with Maupay? Really how much better are we expecting? Easy to say pay £40M (from 3 players) but guess what - £40M valued strikers want big wages to go with it. Or should we pay a striker £150k/a week, but the rest of our squad £50k? Sounds like it'd cause a few issues to me

A reminder of the *only* players who scored more in the PL than Maupay last season.. Incidentally, Maupay is only a couple of goals behind the experienced Glenn Murray, at the age of 24.

Jamie Vardy
Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang
Danny Ings
Raheem Sterling
Mohamed Salah
Harry Kane
Sadio Mane
Raul Jimenez
Marcus Rashford
Anthony Martial
Sergio Aguero
Tammy Abraham
Gabriel Jesus
Chris Wood
Dominic Calvert-Lewin
Richarlison
Kevin De Bruyne
Son Heung-min
Teemu Pukki
Riyad Mahrez

 

[Nameless]

For the future yes maybe, to reduce costs, a big success. For the here and now, it’s been poor imho.

Lallana is decent, nothing on Mooy’s first few months yet, Veltman is experienced, but Not bigger, Better or more battle hardened PL experience than Duffy?

We’ve lost a decent striker in Murray, who still would get a few with opportunities and service, plus good defensively. We’ve lost an experienced DM.

I like the tilt to academy, but we’ve lost a lot of experience and on field leaders and haven’t replaced that.

In 2 years some of these players may be gems, some not. We need to stay in the league first and foremost and we’ve weakened not strengthened our overall squad.

Agree with the majority of this however, if you put the two careers up against each other Veltman is on paper at least a far better player than Shane Duffy. One of the first names on the Dutch team sheet, spent a long successful period at Ajax winning things and getting to a European final.