Ryan Gravenberch

[Irishnev]

I think it’s good. He should be Macca’s replacement, get in a dedicated #6 and give him a bit more freedom.

Sorry Rich, he cannot be Mac's replacement

Mac at his best is tenacious, a great passer and a tough ****er. Grav is none of those things, he is brilliant at carrying the ball when the opposition press him. He does not use his size or lacks the aggression needed to really live up to his talent level. Opposition sides now stand off him and he is not effective, press him and he'll kill you.

[Charly]

Our midfield was fantastic last year. It looks utterly disfunctional this. Most of our defensive problems are related to the shape of the midfield

[Paul12]

Our midfield was fantastic last year. It looks utterly disfunctional this. Most of our defensive problems are related to the shape of the midfield

Agreed. Grav is playing further forward and no longer a secret weapon, and Macca has been pretty poor (and looks so slow) most of the time, yet Curtis has been very curate's egg, and Wataru is past his sell-by-date. Trey looks a prospect but it is early days still. So we need more man power to be able to change things up, and we need a bit of a tactical rethink for the midfield because they are consistently caufght too far forward.

Going back to the Grav contract renewal, it is worth bearing in mind that, although we all know that Ibou and Robbo's contract ends at the end of this season, Trey's does too I think (as well as Woodman's and Williams', which are less important).

[labourRed]

Reports he got 280k. Seems a lot to me, given how he's performed this season.

[Charly]

Extra personnel wont help imho. Its purely tactical and how we are positioning leaving big gaps to play through.

Even **** teams in the PL are still very good tactically and athletically. It seems boring because the standards are really high now. Dutch football is nowhere near as competitive.

[Le Chef]

Reports he got 280k. Seems a lot to me, given how he's performed this season.

Would be shocked at that, unless that includes all bonuses and title/cup bonus - I recall all contracts inc a CL clause to help hem achieve those numbers.

[Buzzo]

Great that he’s signed. Easy to forget he is only 23, and was a huge reason as to why we won the League last season getting young player of the season.