Bailey

Dyche regularly talks about his wingers being deep to help out the fullbacks and that means the striker is going to be isolated more often than not. When we play teams that can push us back, I think it is very likely that we will still need a long out ball where the striker is going to have to fight for everything. They will either need pace or strength, or both. If they don't the ball will just come straight back again. I don't see us playing out from deep positions very often!

I think that last part hits the nail on the head. It must be exhausting to be the Aussies in this series. Bazball is relentless and it must be mentally draining to be up against that way of playing, knowing that if you aren't at it for even one session, you will find yourselves well and truly on the back foot with bat or ball. Hopefully we have another cracker in the last test.

Maupay has an average xA of 3.08 per season when he was at Brighton. Iheanacho has an average xA of 2.66 per season during his time at Leicester. There is no doubt that Iheanacho has played with much better finishers as whilst Maupay was a big contributor to Brighton underperforming their xG he certainly wasn't the only one! On the other hand, Iheanacho has played far less minutes and therefore less opportunity. Stats aside though, I think Iheanacho is a far more dangerous player. Its not hard when you are comparing him to Maupay though! I have just watched his goals and assists from last season and honestly you wont see a scabbier bunch in your life. He scored a great goal at Spurs and a very deft touch for an assist in the last game of the season but not only are they very basic contributions, they are not really situations that we will find ourselves in very often. When you look through the games from last season, even when Vardy didn't start, Iheanacho wasn't the automatic replacement. Rodgers went with Daka instead which I don't understand. I think there were clearly some trust issues. Its hard to know whether goals and assists like the two I mentioned are what he can genuinely produce on a regular basis or whether they are one offs. Leicester forums seem to really rate him, but then Brighton fans were positive about Maupay too! If we see more of the ball consistently under Dyche, and can get it into him properly, I think he could be a solid signing and it is never a bad thing to have a guy that has made a career of doing well from the bench, on the bench, either. It is just how he works when we are pumping balls up to him and asking him to work the channels. I have a massive doubt about that.

I was thinking more about Young than the othet two

I wouldn't read too much into positions at this stage as it is more about getting fitness in the tank.

The only thing I can think of is if plan B is for them both to play in a 442 type set up? I agree about the differences about Iheanacho, but IMO he is very much a finisher and not a lot else. Therefore we are going to have to create chances. Whilst we created a couple of chances for Maupay, it was hardly lots and fact is Iheanacho wouldnt have finished all of them. So he will need chances to be created for him as well. Personally, I think would benefit more from someone that helps us in the build up phases more.

At the cost of the rest of the team? For example, Maupay and Iheanacho are almost certainly best in attacking teams that create lots of chances, keeping the ball on the floor. At Brighton, the former was used more as a player the ball went through, whereas Iheanacho was played to be on the end of chances. We know the rest of ohr squad is completely incapable of playing the way that is required for genuine attacking football. We can't play with a high line. Our CB's aren't good on the ball under pressure. We don't have technical footballers in midfield (Garner excluded). Our wide players aren't known for their pace and directness or goal scoring ability. We have seen in the past what happens when we have tried to play on the front foot and it almost always leads to getting mauled on the counter attack. The biggest issue we have is that there is such a big difference between Dom and Maupay (and potentially Iheanacho). Its hard to make such big tweaks to how a team plays when the differences are that big.

But what if the rest of your squad are crap at crossing? Do you change every players role to get the best out of them even if it sacrifices team or do you sacrifice the individual for the benefit of the team?

Whatever you think about Iheanacho, I would back him all day to put these chances that Maupay just cant regardless of whatever else he does or doesn't bring to the team.

I do agree that they arent a loss from the first team but the issue is who now comes in? At the moment instead of it being Mina, Coady, Davies etc its going to be a bigger downgrade from starter to back-up and that is the issue. I do still think it is early days though. We were never going to be doing our business early so its just a case of seeing which new faces come through the door. And this is the reason. On the whole, I'd back Dyche and Thelwell to not repeat the mistakes of the past, albeit the Iheanacho one (assuming we don't plan on changing the way we play a bit) sows a seed of doubt

I understand your point but I disagree. Managers can only do so well with the tools at their disposal. If you want to get the best out of your football club, bearing in mind its an 11 man team sport, then the players need to fit they way the manager wants to play. You don't want 4 paceless defenders who are crap on the ball playing a highline when the rest of the team suits that style of football. The managers idea of how to win football games must combine with the players brought into that system. Its fundamentally important. Maybe Iheanacho is giving you the same impression Maupay did? And fwiw Iheanacho is definitely not a left or right winger. He is probably best as a second striker IMO. I don't think he gets through enough of the hard graft required for a player that spearheads an attack in a team like ours. Past experience! We signed Maupay when Lampard had us unable to advance the ball out of our own half!

I guess from those squads that Cannon is off somewhere.

That feels like quite a lot of straw clutching there Shukes. Dom has to be fit for us to be stronger. He currently isnt. Branthwaite is not going to be a better player than Mina next season. He might be available more but he will be a step down from our starting pair. Gomes was completely out of his depth last time he was in an Everton shirt. Dele was a passenger last time he was in an Everton shirt (bar 45 minutes).

I get this argument generally however a lot of people would have made similar comments about Maupay last season. Decent player or not, does Iheanacho fit in with how Dyche is likely to play. If he doesn't, if he costs £1mil or £100mil it won't matter as whatever it will be is a waste of money.

Myers confirmed medical is on Saturday.

He gets a chance in training everyday. If he isn't up to the level we need him to be, then he needs to move on, in the best interests of both parties.

As has been mentioned, I think his goals record is actually pretty good considering the minutes he plays. I would put him in the Maupay category, albeit a much better finisher, in that he needs to play for a team that create chances for him and his record is better than he actuallly is because he has played for a team that does create chances.

I'm generally the opposite on the whole, knock it all over the shop at times but Ill get up and down far more often than I deserve to!

Root at 3 certainly seems the most logical/traditional thing to do. I suppose the one thing Stokes and McCullum have earned the right to do is try out these mad ideas every now and then!

The Mitoma comparison is in terms of potential output. I.e. Gnonto could do similar numbers in a similar team IMO. I do agree that it would be better if we got these guys first, but I believe that whatever we have to pay for Gnonto now, you will get back at the very least. I'd be fairly confident he could go on to double it if his progression continues. I wouldn't call it piss poor if we still make that profit from the signing or get our money back after a successful spell at the club. But like you say, if Villa are involved, he will go there!

I don't really get the hype about Ali to be honest. Some of the talk about him from the commentators makes him sound like he is an England great but I agree that he is just completely unreliable with the bat. No 3 shouldnt have an average of 30, which is even more shocking (both bat and ball) against the Aussies. I guess the hope his, he comes out smashes a quick 50 to put the Aussies on the back foot.

This guy is ready to start and flourish in the Premier League. If he joined a team like Brighton, he would end up with at least a dozen goal contributions. People would look at him like they do now with Mitoma. Leeds can hold out but what does that do for them? If he strops, doesnt play, gets injured etc, his price drops. If they leave it last minute, they have lost the chance to get their own replacements in to give them the best chance of staying up. There are a lot of hypotheticals here but I don't see Leeds turning down a reasonable offer for him.

Anderson replaces Robinson for the next test. Hopefully Jimmy gets the result his career deserves on his home ground.

If the lad wants to be playing for Italy next season, I suspect he will need to be playing in the Premier League (or another top league) to do it. I really don't see Leeds being able to get him to stay and be happy about it.