How many new players do we need?

[JohnB]

Maybe ask a different question - for each of our positions where in the PL would they be

GK - lower mid
LWB - lower mid
RWB - mid
CBs - lower mid
CMs- upper mid
Wingers - upper mid
Striker - prior to injury Top 6, now?

Bench - mid (increasingly stronger)

We are, in my view, a 8-14 side. Without the goals that can drop from 14th quickly, with goals top half.

 

[Contrarian]

Hee-Chan scored on his debut and should have started IMO. And I think it's just the right thing to do to give Raul some time before writing him off
Would a central midfielder that chipped in with goals not be useful too? Particularly now we have two people at wing back that aren't going to score.

Agreed! Don't we already have a central midfielder who could score worldie free kicks and long range rockets? What happened to Neves shooting?

We've given Raul time, it hasn't worked and really hasn't looked like working in 5 matches. Should have been starting on the bench and coming on for increasing game time at the end. Chucking him in the deep end is risking him losing composure through frustration. Hee-Chan has looked far more likely to actually score than anyone else, so would like to have seen him started against Brentford.

 

[GuzzWolf]

A CB and a CM is vital, has been for 2 years now. And depending if Raul can sort his head out or not, a CF.

Also, if we sell Neves to fund those it'll be 2x CM. I can't see how that's gonna work tbh. Maybe even 3x CM if Moutinho retires / moves on and we also sell Neves, best not to think about it too much to be honest lol.

And an executive who knows something about the game.

 

[Andywolf74]

Both West Ham and Aston Villa narrowly avoided relegation in 2019/20 but have made some smart moves in the transfer market since and both have improved significantly as a result. Our recruitment has been very one dimensional with us taking a gamble on young players who may come good in the future. This has increasingly left us short for the “here and now”. Personally, i’d like to see one player come in that improves our starting eleven, rather than a number of players “for the future”.

 

[OLDGOLD]

We require exactly what we have required for 3 years; an upgrade on N’Diaye and an upgrade on Bennett.

All this crap about needing a striker is exactly the same crap that some people were saying in January. I know Willian Jose was ****, but it wouldn’t have mattered if we had put Ronaldo up front. As long as Saiss and Coady continue to play we are ****ed. It’s very simple, if you don’t concede goals you don’t lose games.

We concede goals almost every game, and the only way to reduce that is by playing more **** defenders. That in itself weakens the attack and means we score less. We have **** defenders and slow midfielders that are easily over run. We do not have poor attackers, we have attackers better than most teams in this league. What goalscorers do Brighton have? None.

Caleta-Car and Sanches are what we need. It would create a solid defence, an extra player to help control the play, and an extra body to support the attack. It’s time to get rid of Coady, he doesn’t support the attack and he hinders the defence.

I think you are dead wrong. We have had chances galore in front of goal this season and couldn't score in a brothel. Our defenders are not half as much a problem currently as goal shy forwards.

 

[reanswolf]

I think the fact that at present our strikers are goal-shy surely shoudn't mask deep-rooted isues we have with defence andmidfield.
I can't believe that fans genuinely have been swayed by a few matches. Infact, our defensive and midfield frailties were highlighted by Brentford on Saturday. Just because scoring goals is a genuine concern at present, doesn't remove those longstanding issues.