Re: Official - Lamela
The club needs to be very smart about Eriksen, Lamela, Soldado.
The next manager needs to keep them in his plans, get a good preseason in with them, make sure they know they are part of his plans and we could have a real bonus start to next season.
I agree with you here. We simply can't make a judgement on a lot of these players, because they are too early into their stay in England. The only new player I really feel like isn't good enough is Chadli, and I wouldn't have an issue with moving on. Just don't think he does enough for me as an outside forward to be worth starting matches. The others haven't turned into poor players overnight, and I think that we've certainly seen enough flashes from Eriksen, Paulinho, Soldado, Capoue, Vlad, and Lamela to feel like they have something to offer going forward.
I would love next season to see an attack built around a young core of Lamela, Eriksen, and Townsend with Ade, Soldado, Sandro, etc adding the necessary veteran steel.
I'd love to see us line-up on opening day with something resembling...
-------Goalkeeper (hopefully still Hugo, but I could see him moving for CL)----------
Walker---Chiriches---Verts (or good CB replacement)---New Left Back (Shaw? Umtiti? Fryers?)
-------------------Sandro---------Paulinho-------------
Lamela----------------Eriksen-------------Adebayor (roaming behind Soldado)
--------------Soldado (also roaming)-------------
There are goals in that side, as all of our front six, except Sandro, have scored goals throughout their career. Also, all of those players (Sandro included) are one-touch, passing footballers. Obviously, against better sides you could drop in a Bentaleb or a Capoue, but I would be very excited to see this side week in, week out.
We'd also probably need to buy a young striker to rotate, esp as Ade and Soldado are a bit older. I'd also take a punt on a couple of young players, who we could develop. Possibly a Jordy Clasie, Michy Batshuayi, or even a UK-based player like Ward-Prowse or Shaw.
I'd also be happy selling Siggurdson, Dembele, Rose, Naughton, Livermore, and Dawson. I'd look to keep Holtby and Capoue and do my best to hold on to Lloris and Vertonghen. That said, you can replace CBs easier than goal keepers, so I'd fight harder for Hugo.
