19 Jan 2018 06:24:49
Is anyone else a little worried about us depleting our squad with nothing coming in the other way. Coutinho (covered 2 positions) and Grujic have gone with Sturridge and Ings now also being linked with moves away this january. Henderson is back in training but sadly relying on him and Lallana to stay fit for the rest of the season is like playing Russian roulette. Firmino, Mane and Salah cannot play every game from now until the end of the season and similar for Ox, Can and Wijnaldum. As it stands we are in a great position in the league and knockout stages of the CL and a big part of that has been the ability to rotate every now and again (or sometimes every other game) . I really hope that this does not come back to bite us on the a**e as a successive top 4 finish this season will put us in a great recruitment position for the summer financially and opportunity wise.

{Ed001's Note - how many games did Grujic actually play? He will not be missed as he was ineffective anyway. Sturridge is always injured. Ings has been out for a long time so has not been there to pick either. I fail to see a problem offloading any of those.}


1.) 19 Jan 2018
19 Jan 2018 06:44:51
think ed001 is pretty much spot on. yes, maybe if a crisis occurs, we'll have to use our youngsters, but is it really that bad? i mean surely we have a few players that can be put in from our youth squad, rather than keeping this players costing of hundreds of thousands in weekly wages.


2.) 19 Jan 2018
19 Jan 2018 07:05:54
I'd keep one of Sturridge or Ings. Letting both go without getting in a striker would be stupid imo. I am still a bit worried about the depth up front. Our Fab 3 aside, we don't have any real quality or experience that will bridge the gap in case of injuries up front. Maybe Ings and Solanke might be the solution but its still a risk the club is taking.


3.) 19 Jan 2018
19 Jan 2018 07:40:44
Agree with you Indian. I feel like we are short on the wings. When we had Coutinho, we could afford to rest/ drop one of either him, Salah and Mane for rotation/ injuries/ dip in form etc.

Now that he's gone, the drop in quality on the wings is significant (if 1 of Mane or Salah is rested or dropped) . Lallana, Ox, Firmino and Wijnaldum could play there but they are nowhere as effective as Salah and Mane. In any case, I think these players are much better suited in other positions.

Woodburn could be given a run but he's still inexperienced in the PL and should only be eased in. I doubt Ings and Solanke could play out wide.


4.) 19 Jan 2018
19 Jan 2018 08:30:14
We have solanke? I'm sure he'd appreciate extra games! Especially when sturridge used to come on last ten when we were 3 up, always thought that is a good time to try and get your first goal.


5.) 19 Jan 2018
19 Jan 2018 09:19:41
No way would have dancing feet wijnaldum on the wing, he panicks too much, for me he should be played as the deepest CM, his closing down and press are top notch but further up the field he is poor.


6.) 19 Jan 2018
19 Jan 2018 11:13:00
Very good points Ed01 and couldn't agree more with you mate. What I meant was more than the player (Grujic and Ings) it's the numbers we could be missing. The fact they were rarely used shows the lack of quality in the squad but if 4 were to leave then we would also then have a lack of depth.

{Ed001's Note - but depth is irrelevant if it is not good enough to get used anyway.}


7.) 19 Jan 2018
19 Jan 2018 13:17:20
Jayden, having warm bodies who don't or can't contribute is not depth and frankly, this has been our problem with building our squads. I vividly remember people saying we should replace a player who was not playing at all for the first team, just cos he was off-loaded. This is what has gotten us to having bloated squads for years.

We just think that having warm bodies who are ineffective is ok cos well, it makes the squad bigger. It is simply not an effective way of building a squad. The likes of Grujic, Ings, Studge, Marko etc are not contributing to our progress right now so why keep adding to them instead of offloading the ones you can, to make the squad look more balanced and make the depth in it more effective? We have enough players in the squad and lest I forget, we just signed VVD.