Thinking Ahead

I’ve written quite a bit over the past few months about our squad building: Summer 2024 Squad Planning – Update (July 2024) and More Needed (August 2024). I think we need to update this now that we’ve seen how the squad is shaping up so far this season.

I had already mentioned in both of those pieces the transition of Dejan Kulusevski to a central player. That transition is complete, and he has barely played wide at all. In addition, he has played *with* James Maddison, not as a rotation. And I think that combination is what has led to our attacking output taking a leap. I think that changes our needs fairly significantly.

I talked in the summer piece about the midfield links (Conor Gallagher, Jacob Ramsey, João Gomes). I don’t know whether Kulusevski’s total transition came as a result of having failed to land any of these targets, or whether they were always meant to add depth to the dual eights of Maddison and Kulusevski. I would include Eberechi Eze in this cluster of links and would not be surprised if Spurs were to go back in for him. However, my instinct is for us to sign another right sided player who can also play in-field, like Kulusevski, as opposed to a left-sided player who can also play in-field like Eze. That is because our right-wing cover is Brennan Johnson and no-one if Kulusevski is playing inside. It has been clear so far that Wilson Odobert looks more comfortable on the left, and the same is certainly the case for Mikey Moore — the angles suit him far better — and Werner has really struggled when played out on the right, as was the case for Son Heung-min and Richarlison before.

The other option is to roll with the midfield options – assume that Pape Matar Sarr, Lucas Bergvall and Archie Gray can cover those roles between them (and pray Maddison and Kulusevski stay fit) and sign a right-winger. There are good options out there — my favourite is Brian Mbeumo (who can also play up-front), my second favourite is Antoine Semenyo (who can also play on the left). There are strong arguments for and against each of these options, and really it comes down to who Ange trusts and how much business we are willing to do. Think about how we would cope without Maddison or Kulusevski, and think about how we would cope without Johnson — which feels the easiest to power through? I think we need some cover for Maddison’s vision and passing ability whichever way we decide to go.

I think we also need to prioritise a left-sided centre-back, but whereas before I ideally wanted us to target one who can also play some left-back, I actually feel really quite happy with the options of Djed Spence and Archie Gray for full-back cover on both sides. I still think someone like Rayan Aït-Nouri would elevate us, but I think we can cope with what we have at full-back, at least for this season. But were we to lose Micky van de Ven for any length of time I would be hugely concerned. I have been quite up-front that I don’t think Radu Drăgușin is there with his in-possession game, albeit he’s a really strong box defender. But that weakness is exacerbated when he’s on the left.

Our build-up game is the best in the league and arguably the main reason why we function. Much is made of centre-backs being able to play a bit of football these days. In Ange-ball it goes beyond that — it’s a fundamental part of the role. Just as being able to mark, knowing when to challenge and when to drop-off, holding an off-side line, etc, are key facets of being a centre-back, in our system so is being comfortable receiving the ball and having the technical quality and problem-solving ability to play out when pressed. We don’t need another Cristian Romero level creative passer — if that player even exists — but we need someone with high levels of composure and comfort with the ball at their feet.

The other positions of need over the next two windows are: goalkeeper and number six. Both may have to wait until an obvious candidate becomes available.

Managing squads is hard, folks! Fortunately, our Academy might have some additional solutions for us over the next couple of years.