In his latest article for the Fancast, Nick Stroudley analyses our business in the summer transfer window.
Thank God that’s all over. This summer’s transfer window has been packed full of rumours, from the sublime to the ridiculous, all the way to the utterly fantastical. At one stage, I even envisaged us being linked with Peter Crouch…
OK, we haven’t solved the striker issue, but now that the window is shut, we can finally concentrate on what we’ve got, instead of what we haven’t. And I’m pretty happy.
The mistake that was made last season was signing (injured) mediocrity to strengthen depth, rather than searching for genuine improvements to problem positions. Throughout the squad, there’s a number of players that we should feel optimistic about. Jorginho and Kovacic could be great additions, Barkley looks like a new man (literally) and the return of Loftus-Cheek and Abraham gives us plenty of strength-in-depth. We’ve signed the most expensive GK of all time, so he must be pretty good (and if he’s not, we’ll just pick Rob Green instead). On top of this, we managed to keep hold of Willian and Hazard. In short, this is all rather pleasing.
In my previous blog, I mentioned that this season I’d like to see our young players taking their opportunity – and two of them have done just that (albeit in pre-season, but that’s all Sarri will have to go on).
Hudson-Odoi has rightly received praise for his recent performances; he has looked to dominate and impose himself, whoever the opposition. You could argue that this has been enough to ensure we didn’t go out and spend £50million+ on a player who isn’t world-class. Surely that’s what we want, right? If we weren’t going to sign a player who is better than Willian or Hazard, then what would be the point? Alongside Pedro, CHO has done enough to be part of the rotation of the front three.
Defensively, there’s no hiding from the fact that we were poor against City. But remember, it’s a new formation, with a new midfield, playing the best team in the league, with a completely fresh style of play (I’ve come to accept that this season we’ll probably win some games 4-3, and lose some 3-4). However, a shining light from the Lyon match was Ethan Ampadu, who appears to be just the type of player Sarri would enjoy. Unfazed by Champions League opposition, he gives the impression he’s ready to make the step-up.
Are there better, ready-made centre-backs out there at the moment? Undoubtedly. There’re probably better, ready-made centre-backs in the squad at the moment. But there’s a lot of potential there, and his attitude seems to be precisely what’s required. As a fan, which excites me, it makes me want him to succeed more and makes me glad we haven’t gone out and spent significant cash on an ‘average’ alternative.
This has been a huge summer of upheaval and as tough as it is, it’s more about managing expectations. Of course, I want us to come in the top-four, win a trophy etc. But realistically, that’s probably going to be quite tough. If it doesn’t happen, it’s not the end of the world; there’s still a lot to be excited about.
Please let us beat Huddersfield on Saturday, though.
KTBFFH.
Written by Nick Stroudley – @nickstroudley
