Players Who Simply Aren’t Good Enough

[BC Villain]

McGinn has been consistent. Consistently a 4/10 for about a year.

That's being fair. McGinn has been atrocious for the last 18 months.  Its damning that he still starts most weeks, let alone Gerrard's utterly  bone-headed decision to make him captain.

[Risso]

It's fair to say that the more players he has brought in, the better the results have been.

Whilst for us, replace McGinn with Dedoncker and Targett with Young, and at the moment we've got the same team that got Dean Smith the sack.

[langleylions]

fuckin all ov them !!

[john e]

It's fair to say that the more players he has brought in, the better the results have been.

Whilst for us, replace McGinn with Dedoncker and Targett with Young, and at the moment we've got the same team that got Dean Smith the sack.

In fairness Carlos and Kamara Both new signings are unavailable at mo
But I know what you mean

[Risso]

It's fair to say that the more players he has brought in, the better the results have been.

Whilst for us, replace McGinn with Dedoncker and Targett with Young, and at the moment we've got the same team that got Dean Smith the sack.

In fairness Carlos and Kamara Both new signings are unavailable at mo
But I know what you mean

Yes I'm not saying that we haven't spent any money, just that for various reasons, we've still got 90% of the same first team that was underperforming a year ago.

[langleylions]

yes and newcastle had 80 % of the same team as last year ....where are they in the league ,??

[Allan C]

Where was this thread last weekend? We're always going to be at our most pissed-off when we lose but the biggest difference between us and Newcastle is not in quality but in attitude and how well they're coached. Now that we have a proper manager incoming, we will see who fits and who doesn't.

Stop hiding behind bad coaching. There are players there who have been average at best for almost two seasons now. They are what they are, average

I would say our ceiling with this squad is mid-table/bottom of the top half. We're the 7th highest salary-payers in the league according to Purslow; often held as a more accurate indicator of quality than net spend (which ours is distorted by the likes of Kamara and Coutinho being purchased for free/below their market value due to high salary). As those players are paid commensurate to their abilities, I just don't buy it that "they're all shit". It's too easy and unlikely/depressing to say that the answer is to spend £300m more on the squad to get a tune out of them.

Do you really think that Fulham and Bournemouth have better players than us? No, it's because they are trained to play in a particular way and are capable of carrying-out their roles. Our squad is completely unbalanced - from having four wingers this time last year we now have one and he's been played on the wrong side most of the time. We have full-backs that will have to forget what Beale & Gerrard confused them with and re-learn their roles from Emery. And a mixture of central midfielders, all with various, unique talents but few of which we are setting-up to thrive on as they're often playing in roles that don't bring out their best qualities.
 
Smith didn't get much of a chance (i.e 11 games) to stamp his ideas on the post-Grealish team and Gerrard tried to do his Rangers-model of full backs scoring and assisting at will which failed miserably.

We're now finally going to get a coach who knows how to make a team hard to beat and also be comfortable in possession. Not all of the squad will be up to it but he's got more than enough talent to work with, keep us in the middle of the league and then progress from there in the forthcoming windows.

Sorry but I don’t buy some of this. I don’t think “they’re all shit” just pretty average. If our wage bill is 7th then some are way overpaid. I look at the current top 7 and wonder how many of our current squad would fit into any of those teams. During the last window, unless I missed something, only Luiz was wanted by a team in the top 7. No I don’t think Teams such as Fulham and Bournemouth have better players than us but there’s not much in it IMO.  It’s too easy to blame poor coaching but these guys are not Under 10’s, they’re seasoned professionals many of whom have represented their countries. They’ve been average for the best part of two seasons under two different coaching teams. Yes, at last we’re getting a proper world renowned coach but it’s gonna take time and patience to produce a squad capable of challenging regularly for the top honours.

[Steve67]

They are not earning their money, simple as that.

[PaulWinch again]

Thing is clearly there’s areas that need improvement, but you see time and time again quality coaches managers make their players better and more than the sum of their parts. Conversely poor managers make players poorer than they are. I’m really hoping that our new manager, with his obvious quality, will drag a lot of these players up.

[Risso]

yes and newcastle had 80 % of the same team as last year ....where are they in the league ,??

Pope, Trippier, Botman, Burn, Guimaraes. All started today, and none of them there a year ago. That's not 80% the same team at all.

[hilts_coolerking]

yes and newcastle had 80 % of the same team as last year ....where are they in the league ,??

5 of the starting 11 today were bought after Eddie Howe joined.  Howe replaced 5 of the first teamers and they soared up the table.  Not saying he hasn't coached the other players well - he's done a very good job there, especially with the forwards - but as much as I think Emery will get some of our current players performing better, I also think he'll not fancy a good few who started for us today.

[PeterWithesShin]

Of course Unai will bring players in, every manager on the planet does at a new job. There's a massive difference between signing an entire new side and bringing in a few upgrades while improving a bunch of the players already there. The key thing is a good coach will improve that bunch of players, something Gerrard spectacularly failed to do, and Howe has done fantastically well.

[langleylions]

dan burn ....dan burn ffs he couldnt get a game for the noses ffs

[PaulWinch again]

Of course Unai will bring players in, every manager on the planet does at a new job. There's a massive difference between signing an entire new side and bringing in a few upgrades while improving a bunch of the players already there. The key thing is a good coach will improve that bunch of players, something Gerrard spectacularly failed to do, and Howe has done fantastically well.

Yep that’s the sum of it.

[hilts_coolerking]

Of course Unai will bring players in, every manager on the planet does at a new job. There's a massive difference between signing an entire new side and bringing in a few upgrades while improving a bunch of the players already there. The key thing is a good coach will improve that bunch of players, something Gerrard spectacularly failed to do, and Howe has done fantastically well.

No-one's suggesting he buys an entire new team.  I think he will replace more than some might expect though.  For what it's worth, I think we consistently overrate our players.  Ultimately it depends on what target he's been set, how soon they expect him to get there and how much they give him to do it.  I think he'll improve the youngsters significantly but those in their late 20s maybe not so much.