UEFA Europa Conference League - Alkmaar, Legia and Zrinjski

[Toronto Villa]

I couldn't disagree more. There's never an exact perfect time, but if you do well, you get European football then it's up to the owners/Purslow/Lange/Emery to put together a suitable squad. There's no guarantee that if we miss out that we'll achieve it next year, and what happens then if you get the likes of Martinez wanting to move on?

Exactly. We cannot be scared by the prospect of qualification. There’s no such thing as too early. Other sides manage to balance the extra workload and we are in a position where we have a bloke who has mastered that. We absolutely want qualification. Every single year from now on. We will build this summer, and hopefully in years to come compete on all 4 domestic and content trophy fronts each year.

[paul_e]

Lets take a minute to look at the squad and what needs to happen to it to give us the depth we want:

Goal: Martinez is fine, Sinisalo is probably as good a 3rd choice as we'll get for now so we need to replace Olsen
RB: Cash and Young have both been good, KKH as a backup is ok. Maybe we'll need to replace Young in the winter.
LB: Moreno is excellent, Digne is probably too good to be cover, this is one of our strongest positions.
CB: Mings is fine, Carlos needs a chance now he's fit, Konsa and Chambers are ok as cover but we could do with replacing 1 of them.
DM: Kamara and Doug are superb, Dendoncker is decent as cover, Tim coming back should get a chance as well.
CM/WM: McGinn and Ramsey are good here, 1 signing and AJ Ramsey should be enough for now. Maybe Sanson can come back in?
AM/Wing: Buendia is fine, Coutinho can be a good option, Bert is good from the bench. Philogene might be worth a look as an option, replace Bailey.
Striker: Watkins is great, Cam deserves a chance to back him up, 1 more and we're good, could be the same player as the Bailey replacement.

I make that 4/5 signings in the summer (which is as many as I'd want regardless) to give us options everywhere without closing the door on the youngsters who have done well on loan.

I agree with most of that, but would say:

I really hope we keep Digne, as he showed what he's capable of on Saturday. He's not as good going forward as Moreno (even though he helped set up the chance for the goal), but he's a better defender. Emery said last week he wants two players for every position, so when left back looks extremely well covered, why change it?

There's no way on earth that Sanson is coming back. I'd be surprised if Philogene is seen as being an option for the squad next season either so we definitely need two versatile forwards who can both cover for, and play with Ollie. It might be overkill, but I'd love to see a Guendouzi type sign as well.

I do wonder if despite being on the bench, that Carlos isn't a bit more fucked than we realise. 3-0 up at home to Newcastle and he still didn't get even a couple of minutes at the end, which I found weird.

Just to be clear, I wasn't suggesting we let Digne go, I was pointing out that he's too good to sit on the bench every week. the extra games would help with it because we'd be able to guarantee him a decent amount of starts.

I have Guendouzi down as the player to compete with Ramsey and McGinn. The Sanson thing wasn't entirely serious but he's the only senior player who's on loan that might have  case to be given more of a chance.

Carlos is a tough one really, he got fit as we were in the middle of a run were we've conceded 3 in 9, I get the feeling Emery isn't the sort to bring someone in just for fitness if it runs the risk of giving up a clean sheet, even in games where we're on top.

Philogene is really tough one, from what I've seen of him he's got the technical ability and pace to be a real threat but he's a bit raw still. I just wonder if he's someone that the extra direction and planning from Emery could help turn into the real deal. He's looked pretty good in a relegation battling side this year so I think he's worth a look. Duran is another option up there as well and he's done a decent job every time we've seen him (I didn't include him because I'd loan him out to the championship for the first half of next season).

With both of them (and Young and Patterson who have both been with the first team since Emery came in) we seem to have a lot of options for players who could be worth a look in the summer. If we do get a second attacker I'd expect hem to come in really late in the window, and maybe only on loan.

[Risso]

We're *probably* not going to win the league next year, but we have a man in charge who's a serial Europa League winner. We've seen already what he can do with the smallest squad in the Premier League and only one of his own players, imagine what he's going to do when he gets a bit of backing.

[Drummond]

Yep, I agree.

In summary we need a new No.2, at least one central midfielder, one wide player and a striker.

Philogene isn't the man.

Archer, Ramsey A, and Iroegbunam are all good options to add.

As for Carlos, I suspect we're resting him for as long as we can. Absolutely no point rushing him back or pushing too hard when he doesn't need to play. The longer he can train and build strength and confidence the better.

[Drummond]

We're *probably* not going to win the league next year, but we have a man in charge who's a serial Europa League winner. We've seen already what he can do with the smallest squad in the Premier League and only one of his own players, imagine what he's going to do when he gets a bit of backing.

Absolutely. We'll be shopping in the more exclusive end of the market too.

[simboy]

We're *probably* not going to win the league next year, but we have a man in charge who's a serial Europa League winner. We've seen already what he can do with the smallest squad in the Premier League and only one of his own players, imagine what he's going to do when he gets a bit of backing.

Oh ye of little faith ...

European football under Emery makes us a far more attractive proposition to those players uninitialed in the joys of B6. We can develop youngsters who may be "good enough" whilst at the same time buying what our manager thinks we need.   

[OCD]

Carlos is more one for next season when he's had a full pre-season with the rest of the squad. He'll be up to speed and understand exactly what Emery wants from him.

[Smithy]

Qualifying for Europe a year earlier than planned could cause us all sorts of problems. Squad depth will be a big issue, and signing too many players in one window can upset the balance of a squad. It could be bad. It could turn out really bad.

In fact, the only thing worse than qualifying for Europe would be not qualifying for Europe.

[Smithy]

Carlos is more one for next season when he's had a full pre-season with the rest of the squad. He'll be up to speed and understand exactly what Emery wants from him.

I could be wrong, but I don't think Emery is the sort of manager to substitute a central defender unless they have a specific issue? There are no tactical changes that would necessitate swapping out a central defender? It's a bit like the goalie, in that it's a position that never really gets swapped to "freshen things up". My guess is we'll only see Carlos from the start of a game, or if one of the first-choice centre-backs gets a mid-game injury.

[Risso]

Carlos is more one for next season when he's had a full pre-season with the rest of the squad. He'll be up to speed and understand exactly what Emery wants from him.

I could be wrong, but I don't think Emery is the sort of manager to substitute a central defender unless they have a specific issue? There are no tactical changes that would necessitate swapping out a central defender? It's a bit like the goalie, in that it's a position that never really gets swapped to "freshen things up". My guess is we'll only see Carlos from the start of a game, or if one of the first-choice centre-backs gets a mid-game injury.

He's said he wants to give Carlos minutes when he's fit enough to. Newcastle was the game to do it, which can only mean that Carlos isn't really up to it yet.

[Brend'Watkins]

Qualifying for Europe a year earlier than planned could cause us all sorts of problems. Squad depth will be a big issue, and signing too many players in one window can upset the balance of a squad. It could be bad. It could turn out really bad.

In fact, the only thing worse than qualifying for Europe would be not qualifying for Europe.

On the other side, not qualifying for Europe could equally cause us all sorts of problems.  I'd be disappointed if we missed out on a Europa cup place as Spurs are imminently catchable.  If it's the lesser competition we have enough as it is in the squad with the loan signings coming back.  We still have 18 pts to play for, let's get them and add some more quality where needed in the break.

[Risso]

Qualifying for Europe a year earlier than planned could cause us all sorts of problems. Squad depth will be a big issue, and signing too many players in one window can upset the balance of a squad. It could be bad. It could turn out really bad.

In fact, the only thing worse than qualifying for Europe would be not qualifying for Europe.

On the other side, not qualifying for Europe could equally cause us all sorts of problems.  I'd be disappointed if we missed out on a Europa cup place as Spurs are imminently catchable.  If it's the lesser competition we have enough as it is in the squad with the loan signings coming back.  We still have 18 pts to play for, let's get them and add some more quality where needed in the break.

Whooooosh!

[tomd2103]

I couldn't disagree more. There's never an exact perfect time, but if you do well, you get European football then it's up to the owners/Purslow/Lange/Emery to put together a suitable squad. There's no guarantee that if we miss out that we'll achieve it next year, and what happens then if you get the likes of Martinez wanting to move on?

Exactly. We cannot be scared by the prospect of qualification. There’s no such thing as too early. Other sides manage to balance the extra workload and we are in a position where we have a bloke who has mastered that. We absolutely want qualification. Every single year from now on. We will build this summer, and hopefully in years to come compete on all 4 domestic and content trophy fronts each year.

The sides that balance the extra workload tend to be the 'top six' sides who have the squad depth to cope with it.   A number of other teams who have qualified for European competitions have had poor following seasons in the league as they haven't had the depth in the squad to manage the workload.

On balance, I would like to see us play in Europe next season as I agree that you have to take the opportunity when it's there, as it might not be next season.  I think we have a manager with a wealth of experience in European competitions who will know how to balance the workload of the squad and as I say, I think we would have a chance in both the Europa and the Conference tournaments (we would be one of the favourites in the latter).

Think it is going to be an ask though, simply because of the games Liverpool and Brighton have in hand over us.  If we were on the same games, I would fancy us.

[Flamingo Lane]

Imagine Purslow visiting Emery.

'Unai, we're so pleased with how things are going.  Fantastic.  Far better than we had even hoped for, to be honest.  Realistically of course, we won't be finishing in the top four, no problem there obviously, that would have been beyond our wildest dreams.  There's a real chance now of course that we might get to finish 5th or 6th, which would be really good, of course. On most levels, anyway.  And better than we'd thought, to be honest.  However, trying to finish in 5th or 6th place carries the real risk that we might actually end up in 7th place, and having to take part in that Conference thing.  Which we think it best to avoid, all told, for all sorts of reasons.  So having weighed everything up therefore, what we'd very much like please, between now and the end of the season, and only for this season mind, is for you to fix it to ensure we finish 8th.  Which would obviously still be really good.  And better than expected.  Would that be ok?'

[tomd2103]

Imagine Purslow visiting Emery.

'Unai, we're so pleased with how things are going.  Fantastic.  Far better than we had even hoped for, to be honest.  Realistically of course, we won't be finishing in the top four, no problem there obviously, that would have been beyond our wildest dreams.  There's a real chance now of course that we might get to finish 5th or 6th, which would be really good, of course. On most levels, anyway.  And better than we'd thought, to be honest.  However, trying to finish in 5th or 6th place carries the real risk that we might actually end up in 7th place, and having to take part in that Conference thing.  Which we think it best to avoid, all told, for all sorts of reasons.  So having weighed everything up therefore, what we'd very much like please, between now and the end of the season, and only for this season mind, is for you to fix it to ensure we finish 8th.  Which would obviously still be really good.  And better than expected.  Would that be ok?'

Don't think that is the case.  If we get into Europe then great, bring it on.  If we don't, then although it might be a bit disappointing, it might not be the worst thing in terms of next season.