My point is that there is nothing new to say on this- it's been talked about ever since he came and there are only so many ways to say the same thing. Even if the criticism is aimed at the club none of us on here is responsible for their decisions so what can we say that hasn't already been said? My own, well documented, opinion is that the money in football is generally insane anyway and is destroying the spirit of the game. Bafflingly, the decision makers consistently fail to consult me on this.
well in this case as the new owners got the club for a song and wiped up all debt from other mad buys and as torres fee was ridiculuos at 50mil... well we can afford in this case to throw 35mil away. I was raging on the day this was done as i felt we could have got two better players for that money.. its a chance wasted but not one we can't afford.... what we cannot afford is to ever waste that kind of cash again. keane aquilani carroll at least we could say the guys who signed the first two got sacked....
I think it's starting to burst now, but a lot depends on UEFA. The managers with the most cash, like SAF and Wenger, are now refusing to get involved in the market until it calms down (particularly with regards to wages imo). So the market's being driven by clubs like City, Chelsea and Real who have owners / dodgy deals to cover most of their losses and will just drive wages as high as they can until they price everyone else out. If FFP is strongly enforced, City will have to rationalise their squad - either getting rid of some of their highly paid star players or trimming the overpaid average players like De Jong, Barry and Bridge and replacing them with younger / cheaper players. Chelsea may have to do the same, although they are already moving in that direction with players like Romeu and Lukaku. If those big spenders stop pushing wages upwards, I think the market will stagnate for a long time as the top players will know they can't get higher wages by threatening to move, or actually moving, so will have to stick on what they've got. True, but then as long as football remains a business (and let's be honest at the top level it is), people will continue to judge players based on how much you pay for them. And as MITO pointed out, that £35 million could have been spent on the players that would have gotten you back into the top four by now. The fact it hasn't is always going to hang over Carroll whilst he's at Liverpool, the same as it did for players like Torres, Veron etc. I completely agree with you, particularly at the top end of the game. Problem is, when managers like SAF and Wenger come out and say the same they get castigated for not blowing £30-40 million on big names and accused of having lost the plot. So it seems that amongst the pundits, media and decision makers we are very much in the minority...
I think it's starting to burst now, but a lot depends on UEFA. The managers with the most cash, like SAF and Wenger, are now refusing to get involved in the market until it calms down (particularly with regards to wages imo). So the market's being driven by clubs like City, Chelsea and Real who have owners / dodgy deals to cover most of their losses and will just drive wages as high as they can until they price everyone else out. Do you really think Ferguson has money?
I'm sure everyone associated with LFC hoped and expected Andy to make a bigger impact than he has. If he'd banged in 15 by now no-one would be getting too much mileage out of the price tag. But all these of decisions are a gamble and, so far, this one hasn't paid off. The decision of some fans to hold back on criticizing him is being supportive of your players (surely a good thing?), not being blind to his shortcomings. The decision to buy him was the club's- not something we had any say in. We can offer an opinion of course, but only so many times before we end up repeating ourselves. As I've just done there. Unless the debate evolves and there is something new to bring to it I can't see the point in dragging it out all the time.
If I were to be cynical, I'd have to say, probably not, given the re-hiring of Scholes, unless, of course that the information is that the injury crisis is going to be over soon for United. Its not like they don't have bodies, just not ones not currently taking up valuable time on the Owen Hargreaves Memorial table...
He says he has got enough depth and quality so he doesn't need to buy, yet he brings Scholes out of retirement...speaks volumes to me.
in fairness ferguson bought young, jones and de gea for big money. so........ I think there is a case to be made that stagnation will bankrupt some clubs... like leeds example. or indeed chelsea. Back in 2000 or so they paid bogarde 40k per week for 5 years for nothing, absolutely nothing and in the end bates bankrupted them and the rest is history. I really don't know where football can go after 250k per week = 13million per year wages, not to mention agents fees and 80mil or 90 mil transfer fees. A team of 25 players at 250k per week = 325million turnover and only say the top 3 richest clubs i nthe world could afford it... but not to pay the other staff anything.
I'm assuming (hoping/praying) that in doing this Cleverly is close to a return. Anderson is also back, for what it's worth, so it might be that rather than spend he's taking a chance. Alternatively, and more likely, he has no money to spend.
new spriti of co-operation breaks out- gerrard defends his england mates glen and wayne from the nasty italian! what do you make of that! england team spirit 2012 or just a wind up?
I'm sure he capital to spend - like MITO says, we spend over £50 million on two youngsters and a player who, whilst good, is nowhere near world class this summer. The main thing driving SAF, as I've said before, is likely to be wages. Currently Rooney is the only Utd player on significant more than £100k. If we bring in someone like Sneijder, who will want similar wages to Rooney, the rest of the squad is going to start getting antsy for bigger wages. Just look at City - they were fine when it was just Tevez on mega wages, but as soon as they brought in Toure, Silva and Aguero on circa £200k, squad players like De Jong and Richards started angling for six figures. The net result is that they now have to sell players from an already relatively small squad to try and control the wage bill. To be honest the debate will probably never evolve. Just like Veron or Robbie Keane, people will be stuck on the same argument forever. That, or there's no one available he wants right now, or no one worth making the wage commitment for. Even City have said they can't sign De Rossi cos his wage demands are too big. Scholes seems to me like an experienced stop gap to cover injury problems, much like Henry for Arsenal or Larsson back in 06/07. If he plays more than nine or ten games for the rest of the season I'd be quite surprised, tho' a lot depends on Cleverley and Young making smooth returns from injury. It wasn't stagnation that bankrupted Leeds, it was inflation. They had the money to get into the top three fairly comfortably in 99/00, but then Campbell got his £100k a week deal from Arsenal and players realised the power that Bosman offered. So wage demands jumped and Leeds got screwed. If the market doesn't stagnate soon, it'll only be a matter of time before a PL club goes to the wall, probably no one in the top six but someone like Everton or Villa who have punched above their weight for too long. More likely just trying to point out Mancini's hypocrisy at criticising Rooney for his "two footed" gesture, then asking for Johnson to be sent off. Isn't that the third time Mancini's asked the ref for a red card in the past year or so? Surprised the FA hasn't tried to charge him yet...
one of the biggest problems with these huge wages is that players get their agents to spread rumours that certain players will move to rivals if they are not offered longer contracts on big wages - problem for the club then as they have to keep paying the player even if he isn't bothered about playing and is secure knowing he is financially set for life no matter what happens - these players demanding big wages also create waves through the club as a hierarchy is created where a certain elite group are on huge wages - i wouldn't be too happy to be playing for man city and be on less money than someone like balotelli who just doesn't seem to be bothered putting in any effort
Althought its not legal they will eventually look into having wage caps to prevent clubs going to the wall.Its a joke how much players get especially given that for the money you would expect them to be able to use both feet equally. Balotelli is just one example of the overpaid prima donna that exists in the football world...
Like I said in the post you have a very poor scoring record this season, you didn't open us up at all, we played with 5 in midfield, contained you well and kept the crowd reletively quiet until you scored (from a set piece) Why are you talking as if you hammered us? The only chances I can remember are Suarez's chance in the first half and Kuyt's chance after we scored.
Quick question on that subject - I think we worked out on the Utd board that we have scored barely any goals from set pieces this season. But have Liverpool scored more from set pieces (either directly or as an assist) than from open play this season? Not having a go, it just seems you are hitting the target a lot from freekicks and corners this season, whereas we are not at all.
We also have one of the worst conversion rates in the PL that i know of.As for set pieces...scoring penalties hasnt been overly successful this season.
From set pieces or in general? I know your chance conversion in general is poor, but thought you were doing pretty well from set pieces (penalties aside ). I remember set piece goals against Villa, City, Utd, Newcastle, Oldham and Chelsea, and there must be a few more?
Sunderland, Bolton and West Brom too. And our QPR goal was from a short corner IIRC. I would say its more down to the sheer volume of set pieces we get, rather than any consistent quality delivery into the box.
