18 Apr 2020 10:51:54
Ed 02 are we interested in any home grown players? Cheers.
{Ed002's Note - Not that I can think of.}
18 Apr 2020 11:17:51
It makes no sense Ed. It’s another big problem we are going to have unless we sell a lot of non home grown players and replace them with youth.
{Ed002's Note - Much of it is driven by cost - Maddison, as an example, would cost double that of an equivalent from mainland Europe.}
18 Apr 2020 13:00:02
Maybe we should take risks on players like Maddison before they move to clubs like Leicester. We take risks on players like Pepe for big money.
20 Apr 2020 16:43:29
Wouldn't an easier and less expensive solution be to continue to cultivate some of the young talent that we have? I have been really please with the play of our lads (Saka, Willock, Nelson, Nketiah) and hope there is m ore to come (Smith Rowe, John-Jules) . Wish one or two were solid defenders, but with Saliba, Mari, Holding (and maybe Disasi) , things could look great in the middle.
20 Apr 2020 16:45:57
And I still think Pepe is class. WE might have payed over the odds, but he is a creative spark that has done well enough in a first season. He's on an upward trajectory and has great movement, one on one is very very difficult to defend and has a very respectable goals and assists tallies for the amount of time he has spent on the pitch. If you expected him to win the Ballon d'or this year, your expectations were too high.
23 Apr 2020 10:29:24
I think with Pepe it is important to keep in mind that he has very rarely played on the RW with a natural RB behind him (I. E Bellerin) - attacking fullbacks help a lot with creating space for the wingers by drawing away opposition fullbacks/ wingers on defence. More often than not Pepe has had either Sokratis, Chambers, or AMN behind him this season, and has meant he is often in 2 v 1 situations vs the opposition full back and winger. I think we will see a much more free and even more dangerous Pepe next season with a natural RB behind him.