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Summer 2022 Transfer Window

We are already a midfielder light and Moutinho is likely to go at the end of the season so why would we let Donk go? He’s no world beater but he’s a lot better than many are suggesting. With a run of games in a deeper role I think he’d do well and we can concentrate on getting a more advanced midfielder in.
 
Wouldn't surprise me if MGW is our new midfielder. So the logic could be that selling Donk to free up funds for an upgrade like Nunes is prudent, especially as let's be honest, Donk's probably never going to increase in value from this point.

(Although I use "the logic" here very loosely, all we have to go on is a rumour that Everton might want Donk, not that we're considering selling.)
 
jd1981 said:
Ability wise turning to a back 4 could leave him exposed but what he’s shown whilst being with us is that he’s very capable of changing and adapting his game.
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Think this is debateable, personally. He was moved from CM because he wasn't very good there to begin with and there wasn't a chance once we signed Neves (and had a manager who saw what Saiss was capable of) he was going to play.

Has he done well for himself since, of course, he's made the position his own. But that position is literally the most protected on the pitch, he always has 3 people around him (2 CBs plus GK behind) to do a lot of the defensive work and give him an option for passing the ball. Whenever he is exposed in the open field he frequently is outpaced, whenever a physically strong CF zeroes in on him he is frequently bullied.

His passing is also, if I'm being blunt, over-egged by some. He can hit a good accurate long ball out to the wing but he's often got nobody within 10 yards of him when he does so - I'd expect a lot of our players to be able to do similar. His 'normal' passing in to feet to the CMs is not quite so good or effective, and he gives the ball away far more than he should.

He does well as the last man and cuts a lot of things out, but he can be as bad as the others when it comes to making mistakes, he just has the extra security that comes from playing deeper. You could make the argument he benefits more than anyone else from us playing 3 at the back.

Ultimately I think most on here are agreed we need to do something to change how we play as things have become stale and we really struggled to score or create for a couple of years now. The logical conclusion is to have that extra attacker that comes from a change in formation, unfortunately for Coady that means its his position that will come under most scrutiny as its really the one that has to go in order to do that.
 
Also makes sense that they've been linked with MGW and now Donk considering Thelwell's their DoF now. He's no doubt been dusting off his old scout reports.
 
Elephant Pyjamas said:
Well some of the comments on here are very negative about him.

Also the certainty that so many of you have that he definitely won't be able to perform in a 4 seems a little odd to me, he's very adaptable as proven from his transition to CM to RB to CB, he's clearly very open to change, if the coaching is good i think he could be a 7/10 CB in a four.

Why certainty that Kilman and Boly are the better CBs in a 4 when we have seen as much of them there (if not less) than we have seen Coady there? Neither are much quicker?

It just feels like it's been said so many times it's become fact, when we just don't know.

Time will tell - but i haven't written him off, not yet.
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Think using the positional changes as proof of adaptability is a little disingenuous. He was a poor central midfield, a passable stop gap at right back and then found a home as a sweeper. I think it's more a case that he's finally found a role that suits rather turn his hand to multiple roles.

I'd worry about him in a back four because he's more likely to be exposed to 1 on 1 defending and I think he's often been seen to struggle with that. He's ok when forwards are facing away from goal, particularly since Lage joined there's been more emphasis to get tighter sooner and force them back the way they came, and he covers space well to pick off passes on behind. He's poor when someone is running at him though, lack of pace and often seems to get himself in a tangle as soon as someone does anything other than runs in a straight line. We've seen multiple time how physical forwards can beast him when isolate 1v1 too.

I think he'd be ok in a four if you were playing like Burnley, sitting deep and rarely being exposed but then any team with a big physical forward would probably fancy their chances against him aerially in that situation.

He's not the only centre half to have reservations about in a four though. Boly lacks discipline for me, goes chasing the ball too often and that will lead to more gaps to be exposed without a Coady to cover behind. Kilman we just haven't seen play that role, we've seen him grow and become more physical but again it's going to increase the burden taking away a defender from alongside him so maybe he'd struggle a bit, positionally who knows what would happen with him but he's the least risky one to try for me at this point.
 
proslo said:
Also makes sense that they've been linked with MGW and now Donk considering Thelwell's their DoF now. He's no doubt been dusting off his old scout reports.
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And Adama. £30m for the pair would be excellent business at this stage.
 
MARKakaJIM said:
Think using the positional changes as proof of adaptability is a little disingenuous. He was a poor central midfield, a passable stop gap at right back and then found a home as a sweeper. I think it's more a case that he's finally found a role that suits rather turn his hand to multiple roles.

I'd worry about him in a back four because he's more likely to be exposed to 1 on 1 defending and I think he's often been seen to struggle with that. He's ok when forwards are facing away from goal, particularly since Lage joined there's been more emphasis to get tighter sooner and force them back the way they came, and he covers space well to pick off passes on behind. He's poor when someone is running at him though, lack of pace and often seems to get himself in a tangle as soon as someone does anything other than runs in a straight line. We've seen multiple time how physical forwards can beast him when isolate 1v1 too.

I think he'd be ok in a four if you were playing like Burnley, sitting deep and rarely being exposed but then any team with a big physical forward would probably fancy their chances against him aerially in that situation.

He's not the only centre half to have reservations about in a four though. Boly lacks discipline for me, goes chasing the ball too often and that will lead to more gaps to be exposed without a Coady to cover behind. Kilman we just haven't seen play that role, we've seen him grow and become more physical but again it's going to increase the burden taking away a defender from alongside him so maybe he'd struggle a bit, positionally who knows what would happen with him but he's the least risky one to try for me at this point.
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Can't argue with a lot of that, it's the definitive "Coady can't play in a 4" as though it's a fact that i find particularly unfair, especially when it seems there is little doubt about the others.

He has got better defending against the bigger lads though, something that was really obvious in the first couple of seasons of him at CB, he's definitely improved that aspect of his play.

He'd been playing with an injury for the latter part of the season too, his form dipped as a result, before that he'd had a really good start to the season, far more aggressive, coming into the gaps between defence and midfield and picking the pockets of attackers attempting to hold it up.

The benefit of a back 4 is that the nippier full backs will be nearer to him than they would in a 5, where instead he has had slower players such as Boly, Saiss and Kilman to help cover.
 
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Elephant Pyjamas said:
Why certainty that Kilman and Boly are the better CBs in a 4 when we have seen as much of them there (if not less) than we have seen Coady there? Neither are much quicker?
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Kilman is a lot quicker, with Boly I acknowledge it would require the pre Covid version to still be there, but if he is that's also not particularly close. They also read the game a lot better than Coady does from a defensive perspective, so it's not just pace it's also positioning, particularly with a high line. He's very reactive in the way he defends.
 
I'm not so sure, the way he was reading/anticipating those passes into the forwards and picking their pockets in the early part of the season suggests to me he does have the anticipation and positioning. However I think sometimes his positioning can look poor because he gets isolated, sometimes of his own making.
 
I wouldn't lose any sleep if we lost Coady, Dendonker and Adama. Provided we got replacements in who are better, which I think wouldn't be too difficult.
 
Getting in players to replace Adama , Donk and whoever else is the stumbling block . It clearly is not that easy unless you have a magic money tree .
Also - does Donk want to leave......that's another issue . Maybe he is perfectly happy , then if he shows improvement this season - then I'd be keeping him .
A lot of the mid table clubs are finding it hard to close out deals this Summer .
Newcastle - how many have they signed ? Not many at all and they're loaded .

Signing players tends to be a long drawn out process these days .
 
I`d be gutted if we let our best back passing midfielder go.
 
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