Matt1892

I don’t think we would be selling ASM because we bought Barnes, we would be selling him because we need to trade some pre PIF players to free us up for FFP and him failing to cement a place in Howe’s formation.

This is a really strange take on things.

In the back to back seasons where Leicester finished 5th he scored 15 goals and got 12 assists in 61 appearances (46 starts). I think he will score less here but his assists will go up compared to the last 2 seasons.

This scout report from last summer is a good read. https://totalfootballanalysis.com/article/harvey-barnes-at-leicester-202223-scout-report-tactical-analysis-tactics

I thought this was a good point.

The only wide players from the top six sides with more goals than him last season are Salah, Rashford, Martinelli and Saka. If he gets in to double figures with us next season and we finish top six he will be raved about.

Barnes is less about taking someone on and more about doing a 1-2 with the forward player so he have the ball played in the space in front of him to run on to.

They don’t appear to be any different to the sort of goals he’s been scoring this season.

Is that purely down to his ACL or is that age as well? As he was 24 when he did his ACL for the second time and he is 31 now, it is surely to be expected that most players will lose a yard of pace when they are in their 30’s compared to early 20’s. Most players have to adapt their game as they get older even if they haven’t sustained an injury. As for why Juventus would sell him for £35 million; there is no saying they would but it would be a similar fee that they paid for him last summer and is a saleable asset. I don’t know a great deal about current Italian football but if the club feel he is worth the risk then I’m fully supportive of it.

I think as fans we are over cautious of ACL injuries due to the adaption Alan Shearer had to make to his game when he had his, which doesn’t appear to be the norm any more.

I will be surprised if Take Kubo isn’t on the list.

If City offered £85 million for Botman as their first offer then I’m surprised the club were not open to entering in to negotiations. He is good but he’s not irreplaceable.

We can probably get away with spending a lot this window but that will have a knock on in future windows, the issue for the club is that despite fans being told that the level of spending in recent windows is unsustainable some still expect it as the new normal. There is also a resistance from some in selling players who have been here for a number of years who hold value to free us up for FFP. You can’t have your cake and eat it every window. Something has to give. Im confident we will sign another quality player or two that will improve the first team, unless we unload one of ASM, Almiron or Wilson and then we will possibly sign another on top.

It is worth watching this and seeing how similar Leicesters tactics were in the early days of Brendan Rodger’s compared to what Howe uses with us now, then see how Barnes was used at the time. They were one of the best pressing sides in the league. Also interesting when you consider he had Ben Chilwell playing behind him and how he got forward.

It was always going to be difficult after the season they had in League 2 under Rob Edwards as they played really good football, the problem is when a team does that they end up losing most of the players which is what happened here, as well as the manager. Ian Burchnall wasn’t great but Ferguson was absolutely abysmal, the mistake was not getting rid of him as soon as the season finished.

Chalobah is a solid premier league defender.

I’ve read an article about him recently that said he wouldn’t move to a top club to be on the bench most weeks, instead he would rather go to a bottom half Premier League club to play every week before making the step up. It might have been a local article to him. We would probably be better off buying Alcaraz from Southampton who can play anywhere in midfield, on the right and up front.

They also say he’s an attacking midfielder who also plays on the left. No idea if he can play down the right or not.

He can still be moved to the middle if we have a number of injuries though, with Gordon, ASM, Elliott or even Isak being moved to the left. A few years down the line then maybe look to add that sort of depth but it isn’t a priority for us this season when a number of other positions have a serious lack of depth.

I don’t remember thinking we lacked a physical presence in midfield last season when Joelinton played on the left, as he often rotates positions throughout the game with Willock and drops back if needed. Another midfielder should be a few notches down our list of priorities.

Leicester usually play with one up too and their wingers cutting in, similar to us but with a different set up in midfield.

Diallo reminds me of a young Raheem Sterling.

It would be interesting to see how their midfield compares to ours when they have finished and Tonali is signed.