25/26 Recruitment

[wassy04]

Couple of things stand out from the Summer, obviously the issue regards the apparent lack of input from the manager we'll just hop over for now.

The fact a full back wasnt the number one (or two, or three) priority bugs me and i think its Salv's biggest peave.

At no point did we find or even look for that explosive winger to replace Elanga. Ndoye, Hutch, Bakwa all very technical.

Signing Bakwa made little sense when McAtee can also play there.

Signing the french Jermaine Defoe also made no sense for a league where no-one plays a front 2.

The full back I think is a bit unlucky too, if Aina either gets injured before the deadline or doesn't get a long injury, I doubt it's a massive discussion point. Savona and Zinchenko would've only played occasionally and Savona would've played most Europa games. 

All good and reasonable points though, can't disagree with any of them.

I think the Bakwa one in particular because it ended up blocking Mcatee for more minutes. Under both Nuno and Dyche Dominguez has played there too so was another one really necessary. That said Bakwa hasn't blocked Mcatee as they've either both played or neither! We could've definitely used that money on a full back or centre back though instead of a winger or saved it for this window to overpay for a striker, I would say.

Plus don't forget the bizarre decision to not pick Hutch in the Euro squad (and include Bakwa).

In conclusion:

Hutchinson (made sense, bit pricey)
N'Doye (made sense, attempting to replace Elanga)
Mcatee (made sense, highly rated and cover for MGW and out wide)
Jesus (made sense, cheap and needed forward depth)
Savona (made sense, needed a backup RB although questionable whether he's really a RB)
Victor (made sense, needed a backup keeper)
Cunha (made sense, young and needed CB depth)
Luiz (made sense, needed another body in midfield as was expected to be a starter)
Kalimuendo (Made sense in that we proved with Wood's injury we needed another striker, just he didn't fit the system and didn't seem to like being in England)
Zinchenko (needed a backup LB)
Gunn (needed a 3rd choice keeper)

Bakwa (not required as Dominguez and Mcatee provided adequate cover)
Cuibano (no comment)

For me this shows the amount of bodies signed was broadly correct barring a few exceptions and the issue was just a few odd choices and a lack of investment in certain areas. Plus bad luck on Luiz injury. Not going to hit on every one, particularly with the amount of investment required to have a full 25 man squad. Still time for some of these guys to really step up and then everybody will go back to saying how well we did too!