Rohit wrote:
I am fine with us selling Holding by the way if we are investing in someone better.
This is not having a go at anyone and certainly not yourself, I just want to pick up on this.
IMO it's not so much about getting someone 'better' as opposed to someone being more suited.
IMO this is where AW got the recruitment 'wrong' as he was always talking about no one being available to 'improve the quality of the team', rather than actually being 'fit for purpose'.
As such IMO you can lose quality (individual or team) regarding technical ability, but actually gain in terms of performance and capability by becoming 'fit for purpose'.
Using Holding as an example he is a decent defender, but IMO is not suited to playing in a high defensive line even as a sub/cover, whereas someone else may not be as solid a defender in terms of heading or tackling, but may be a better fit in terms of playing in a high line, and may have better positioning and passing = horses for courses.
I think we are guilty of forgetting this in regards to this rebuild. IMO at this point in terms of this season functionality & capability are more important in terms of performance than individual quality - the whole being better than the sum of it's parts. If we regain top4/UCL then this time next summer is where we look to improve our quality and depth.
That said if there is an opportunity to sign players who are both quality and fit for purpose we should do so , which brings me back to beating my drum about the opportunity to set us up for 3-5 years IF we have the appetite to take advantage of this depressed COVID market. We are not going to get value for money in terms of player sales, however we can offset that by getting value in transfers in to build a strong and capable match day squad with players of genuine quality.
