rock paper scissors

All depends upon Bale, doesn't it?
If he goes there'll be a great big hole in the park.
That's the problem with a one man team!

CREATIVE MID. !!!!

Admittedly I have not seen a lot of Paulinho, but if he is in the same mould as Sandro and Dembele I would be majorly concerned about where the creativity is going to come from.

We need to finally find a Modric replacement. The strikers can only score if the opportunities are there for them.

Yeah i guess so Ted, i think most people are of a mind he'll stay for at least one more season though.

Makemyday We've needed a Berbatov replacement for longer! I guess a lot depends on Sandro - if he comes back fit & on form he could make a huge difference..

2 proper strikers is not enough. PHFACT

I agree makemyday, if we're going to buy a cm imo it should be someone in the modric/carrick mode. Nevertheless, Paulinho is an excellent player, he can attack very well, and if we buy someone creative at left mid then I'm all for this signing, especially for only 14 mil

BalesLeftBoot - you are right but it's whether we can get that quality striker in. For example, do you think Damaio would prove better than Ade or Defoe considering we create relatively few chances?

The talk of Gary Hooper and the like during January were pretty scary. Ade and Defoe are 2 proven Premier League strikers.

Goes to show what a great signing Berbatov was for us.

Analog - to be fair all that was said about Dembele when we signed him - that he can attack very well.

Dembele is a good player but if I'm being perfectly honest I did expect a lot more in the final third from him this season.

From what I've seen of Damiao in actual games maybe not.. but then international friendlies are a tough platform to judge any player on. For sure he's got better technique on the ball than Ade or JD.

My point about Sandro coming back is that he'd allow Dembele more freedom to create.. he played further forward for Fulham and earned himself a 15m transfer..

Apparently Hull want Hooper.. good luck to them!

Baldini is already being credited with the move for Paulinho.. let's see what he can do

Hmmm I do sort of disagree, the first half of last season I think Dembele was up there with the best CMs in the league, he just tailed off quite a bit, rumours of playing through an injury. He has all the attributes to become our 'tempo setter', if you like, he passes excellently, his dribbling is unmatched, he's a physical presence, etc... I just feel that he needs to play more incisive forward passes between the lines, I don't care if he scores goals, that's not really his role, the box-to-box ie paulinho/sandro should be scoring more than him in all honesty

Dembele is great at ghosting past people but when it comes to the crunch he very rarely sets a chance up and when he does shoot it's usually into row z!

Hopefully he can sort this injury niggle out and have a full season playing, as you said, in his preferred role further up the pitch.

Analog - I agree the talent is there, no question. The injury probably didn't help and of course it was only AVB's first season. Hopefully the formation will settle into place next season.

I think a lot of people (not helped by some clueless pundits) got the wrong impression that Dembele was a direct replacement for Modric. I am in no way attempting to criticise Dembele - he is a very good player.

I prefer dembele deeper than further forward though. We need to sign a left mid, bernard, by the looks of him, looks like a talent. Able to come inside and on the outside

I think we are all agreed we need a playmaker. Sharpish.

If the left mid we buy is creative, I'll be fine with paulinho instead. Could mould holtby to play a deeper playmaking role?

I thought this Bernard was off to Dortmund

It is a big season for Holtby. Hopefully it comes off and he proves a gem of a transfer.

Or it could be another Pienaar job where he just doesn't fit in.

But you don't get games for Germany if you are a mug, that's for sure.

comment by Analog (U17200)
posted 2 minutes ago
If the left mid we buy is creative, I'll be fine with paulinho instead. Could mould holtby to play a deeper playmaking role?

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who would you drop then?

holtby hasnt shown enough to warrant starts at the moment

Dembele is great at ghosting past people but when it comes to the crunch he very rarely sets a chance up and when he does shoot it's usually into row z!

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That's fair, maybe if we had a better striker in front of him he'd take that option more often..

I'm playing devil's advocate here, but I genuinely think we need both a creative midfielder and striker.

Left wing I'm not so sure, Townsend could be a revelation next season.. I heard he's backed himself to score a few goals..

Chronic

if we stay injury free all year - the likes of Sandro and Dembele - I cannot see Holtby getting anywhere near the first team.

It is very unlikely though with the bad luck we get with injuries

i hear that but then what do we do about creativity?

if sandro and dembele are fit then they play...

Balesleftfoot

I would definitely say creative midfielder is a priority. Being slightly controversial I would then say a centre back is needed.

We conceded far too many goals last season and who knows when Kaboul is going to be back and whether he will stay injury free.

I see Lescott is up for sale according to today's gossip. Or someone like Jagielka who is proven in the Premier League.

We really do miss Modric and VDV.

lescott wages are huge. jags is everton captain - dont think he would come and he would be v. expensive.

i agree about a centre back though... our defence was the main reason we didnt get 4th, not lack of striker... our defence was SO leaky towards the end

Chronic

What centre backs would you suggest? I was going for those with premier league experience. Would you be happy with a Shawcross for example.

We're still unsure what the score is with left back also. The signs were that BAE would be leaving but everything is quiet at the minute.