This is true but four of the five were in place for the second half of last season. And they were nothing like as good then.
Analogy: You have a champion greyhound. Then it loses one of it's legs and it comes last in every race it runs. The lost leg must therefore have been the leg doing all the work.
Also players are not the same from one year to the next.....they develop experience of the demands of the league, and the players they play against. They get stronger and fitter. They also decline in physical prowess, and they come in and out of form and fitness. There are not always direct comparisons to be drawn (for me Neco is a stronger fitter athlete this season, compared with last, for example). A weakness plugged can change the performance dynamic of a unit, without it necessarily being the most significant factor. If a goalkeeper concedes a goal every time the ball is kicked towards them, the defence has to stop the ball being kicked towards them to be successful. Which is a lot harder than just stopping good shots being kicked towards them, which in turn means the defenders around him might be able to prioritise different aspects of their game, in terms of their positioning and thoughts when on the ball, that holistically contribute to an elevated performance level of the unit/team.
Exactly. There are many players who, over the course of the season, have been key to elevated results. The back and the front have performed to an elite level, and all of the main players in those areas have been major contributors. Midfield have been good, and buzzed around filling holes, with Anderson and Dominguez doing more than that. Sangare has started to show the flickering light of some fitness for purpose, for me. Yates will always do you a job. But it's in the midfield, and the first stage backups, that obvious improvements look possible. Both of which will be absolutely key in a season with more games....in some of which we will definitely have to play in a different way (and playing the same way in the league is unlikely to have the same high level outcome as this season).
Thanks, I tried!
He's had a superb season, made some great stops and kept lots of lovely clean sheets.
On the flip side, he's not very commanding and has made quite a few errors that he's mainly managed to get away with.In the same way that I don't think Chris Wood will ever get close to twenty goals in a season again, I doubt Sels will always have that level of luck. The defence is already starting to creak in front of him and that's reflected in the fact that we've only had 2 clean sheets since the start of April (9 games).
For me therefore, I'd like an upgrade (Kelleher would be my choice but it looks like Villa are first in that queue).
I'm not saying there aren't other positions we need to look at first, but this would still be on my list.Possibly, but there's going to be a limited pot of cash this summer and replacing the current first-choice goalkeeper doesn't seem like an area of priority.
I can't imagine Aaron Ramsdale will be starting the season in the Championship, for example, but he would not be cheap to acquire. That's the problem with upgrades in the Premier League - and would he be markedly better than Sels?
Seen lots of pictures and videos from training. Haven't seen Murillo. Hope it's not a thing.
Can you regain your mojo as a keeper after conceding 84 goals in the second-worst team ever?
You will often find that goalkeepers who come on a lot, do so in shit teams where they get a lot of practice. Not suggesting that he has. If we are going to do an actual upgrade we may have to do some scouting and not rely on someone we played against last season. Which might be a bit cheaper, because a lot of teams seem to prefer recruiting midfielders, than actual goalkeepers. Someone looked at Onana, presumably with their eyes, and thought he was worth over 40 million...and he doesn't even have functioning hands.
Ramsdale has been relegated from the Premier League 3 times with 3 different clubs, the only one he's played a full season with and not been relegated is Arsenal and one of those seasons was their lowest finish in a decade.
Hard pass.
I get where you're coming from. There's a few goals we've conceded, where if Matt Turner had been in nets, he'd have been crucified for it, but people refuse to recognise Sels as culpable. I also think his distribution needs work.
That said, there are much more pressing areas where squad depth needs strengthening (CF, LB, CD, RW, LW), so a new GK would be way down my list.Mail reporting that Forest have banned Gary Neville from the City Ground on Sunday, which seems ridiculous and another unhelpful distraction in what's one of the biggest for the club in years.
Counterpoint: it's fucking hilarious
I'm with Russ, the blokes a cunt it's brilliant!
Not sure I see who it is distracting, if the players are even aware they are going to think it's bloody funny too.
Now do Carragher
What did he do, invade the pitch and remonstrate with our manager?
I meant purely in terms of it becoming a big story ahead of the game. It's clearly come from the owner and is a gift for Sky.
I see. He's been banned all season I think since last year's comments.
You could argue it takes the pressure of the game with a sideshow distraction.
