The #LUFC Breakfast Debate (Tuesday 6th October) Is Raphinha the last piece of the jigsaw?

[andrewjohnsmith]

I think we're still going to be hearing a lot about Championship midfielders for the next 2 weeks. Bielsa likes to play two central midfielders. For now we have Dallas, although he is our first choice LB, Shackleton (still learning) and Forshaw (whose future is uncertain). It's a decent number of options there, but I think he'll want someone that can pivot between the 8 and the 10.

[Lumiukko]

...but I think he'll want someone that can pivot between the 8 and the 10.

Absolutely. That's the position we need to fill, a versatile player for 8 and 10 but oozes quality in both. In order of who I'd love to see come in are (attitidue and egos withstanding) are Benrahma, Buendia, Cantwell; though I concede that the latter is probably the one who could play both positions the best. Benrahma in particular doesn't seem to have the workrate to be a true box-to-box 8.

[Dundalis]

Lets not forget that Pablo is technically a wide player made AMF. My guess is Raphinha is here to play the 10 as I don't think he pushes Jack or Helder out anytime soon. He probably has to get past Moreno too, unless Moreno pushes Paddy out

All the new guys are going to have to wait their turn though. Plus I think the Prem is a bit of a phony war atm, no crowds leading to some strange results, it almost feels like a glorified 5 a side league. Going to be interesting to see if it settles down or we get teams scoring 5/6/7 goals weekly as the norm until crowds come back. Players are playing with very little pressure atm. Must be very freeing.

I think it might be a genuine shift in tactical mindset along with a number of mid to lower table clubs having bought much better quality over the last few years splashing a lot of cash post the big EPL TV deal. You see more teams doing things like playing out from the back and attacking as opposed to just parking the bus even against the best teams. Think this is the most even spread of talent across the league in a long time, and more teams are trying to copy the tactics of the best teams.

I think the difference from Pablo is Raphinha is rapid, which means he's a little bit wasted playing central rather than on the wing where he gets to use his pace more. I feel like he gets his bedding in time to get up to speed physically and tactically, but he gets cemented into the starting 11 pretty quickly after that. After a slow start to the season adapting to the move to France, he was basically Rennes best player since the turn of the year and helped them qualify for the CL. I think he's better than Costa both offensively and defensively, and eye test and advanced stats seem to bear that out. It's the right problem to have though.

[John in Louisiana]

It's the right problem to have though.

Indeed. Where do we slot in all the talent we have?

I'm a happy guy. More than I could have hoped for our first year in the EPL.

A long way to go, but the early returns are promising.

[weasel]

Save £20m on Cantwell and give Shackleton a chance! If we're desperate, then we can always sign someone in January.

Would definitely make more sense to me to keep what funds we have available until January. At present we don't need any player, they'd be a luxury so no point spending £20m on a midfielder and then we end up having Bamford and Rodrigo both injured and no money left to buy a striker in January.

[BielsasBlueBucket]

Thnx for the welcome and nice to be part of the big family ❤

[The Subhuman]

You always pay more in January...

[Dundalis]

You always pay more in January...

True, but the effects of COVID financially will probably hit teams even more over the next 12 months especially for teams in leagues where the money isn’t close to what teams get in the EPL. Wouldn’t be surprised if transfer fees start to come down a bit until fans get back into stadiums at closer to full capacity. There will be teams from the likes of France, Italy, Spain etc who will get hit even harder and might be forced to sell their best players on the cheap like Rennes just did. I’d rather them identify that one quality CM who will be genuine first 11 quality and keep the cash for that, than rush into signing a player who seems well down the list of priorities just to get bodies in.

[The Subhuman]

I just think it's better to get business done in the summer window. Lets not forget it usually takes a new player 2-3 months to start unless pressed into duty via injury..

Bamford/Rodrigo/Roberts/Striker banging them in the the U23's seems a decent striker rotation.

[mothbanquet]

I just think it's better to get business done in the summer window. Lets not forget it usually takes a new player 2-3 months to start unless pressed into duty via injury..

Bamford/Rodrigo/Roberts/Striker banging them in the the U23's seems a decent striker rotation.

I can definitely see Greenwood making inroads this season.