I don't understand this point of view, "As things stand currently we're not that much better than we were before." We have an extra winger, Salah, so our attack gets an extra dimension, we have a proper new LB, Robertson, and a rejuventated one in Moreno. We have TAA and Gomez breaking into the team who if nothing else fills out the squad very nicely. We also have Solanke, Kent and Woodbourne who whilst young give us a few more options in the squad. The ONLY loss we've had is Lucas who whilst being a great servant to the club was really only an ok utility player, fairly ordinary at both CB and DM.
So from my POV we are in every regard a far stronger team and squad this season and if we can secure VVD and Lemar then we are starting to look very very strong indeed.
But if you take off the rose tinted glasses for a second what we have is:
Salah - Absolutely, he has improved the first 11 and improved the squad. Couldn't agree more.
Robertson - The lad has had one solid game in a red shirt, he looked good but lets not get too carried away just yet
Moreno a rejuvenated player - He might be rejuvenated but that doesn't mean he is any good or that he has improved. Two games in pre-season and a solid performance at the weekend which included a classic Moreno moment (see the clearance he should have put out but kicked low straight to an Arsenal player and then he nearly scythed him down in our area with a trademark Moreno kung-fu tackle. Fine lines in football but we wouldn't be talking about a rejuvenated player had he made contact and given away the penno)
As for Solanke, Woodburn, TAA, Kent, Gomez etc. Who knows. Last year we had Ejaria looking superb in pre-season but then he looked completely out of his depth when it came to competitive football in the season. A couple of these kids show real promise but it's foolish to rely on them.
Given that we will be playing a ton more football this season I am struggling to see how the current squad has improved. If anything (given the volume of football) we have to play it has actually gone backwards.
Also it is important to remember that the football we played this time last season (and for the opening 2 and a half months) was right up there with Sundays performance. But of course Jürgen and the squad hit a Wall in January, knackered, out of form and out of the title race by February only to recover with some dogmatic football during the run-in.
The squad is nowhere near as strong as it needs to be. We will be utterly relient on relatively unknown quantities such as Grujic, Woodburn, TAA and fringe players such as Origi & Klavan to ALL step up this season. Meanwhile the mancs can bring on the likes of Martial, Carrick, Herrara, Young, Microphone Head and Smalling to change a game.
Logged
