I think Juve are a better example,they were relegated a few years back! Now def looking like back in the CL, even during Europa years were still getting good players coming in, they just needed the coach and might have found it in Conte, although they have something like 15 wind ans 14 draws no losses, second place.......sound familiar? A good example for me is Vidal, would have been awesome for any of the top sides, a very good CM/CDM and he went to Juve, Juve are not guarenteed CL places anymore with Milan, AC, Napoli, Lazio, Roma, udinese in the mix for 3 spots.
I think that is a better example. It takes good planning and the right signings after some excellent scouting work. There are players that will improve the side that don't currently play Champions League football, you just have to find them and take the punt. That is not players like Robben, Muller and De Maria!
Very few had heard of Cavani/Levezzi/Hamsik until the last year and a half but now they're one of the best attacking trio's in European football. It's about finding the talent first and paying low amounts rather than forking out top dollar after they've been discovered. Those three are hot property this summer along with other specially talented players like Eriksen, Hazard, Neymar, Gotze, Muniain and plenty others. You're looking at 20-30mill each in today's market. We're not rich, we can't afford multiple players of that calibre against other clubs and we certainly can't match wages or offer CL football. Thus, we need to unearth these talents early and that seems to be the approach we're taking through the academy. Long term, I'm confident. Short term, the likes of Robben might seem attractive but he would demand obcene wages which we simply can't afford so we need to look elsewhere, like the teams 4/5/6th who, like us, have a few quality players mixed in with some average squad players and try poach them. People like Isla, Luuk De Jong, Podolski, Honda, Ramirez are the ones we can attract (although seems like we missed the boat on Podolski and didn't bother chasing honda in January when he was available) and who do have the quality to push us up another level without breaking the bank. Anyway, no point discussing players without looking at KD or DC. DC first. Hit and miss so far, how much input does he have? How much influence does Kenny have? None of us know, but some transfers simply aren't good. Maybe Kenny's not familiar with the foreign leagues so prefers those he watches regularly, I wouldn't want to guess. But I think we've been poor in this area and need significant improvement in transfer calibre this summer. I think Kenny makes a fantastic coach as proven by our considerable improvements in passing, movement and chance creation (I'll ignore finishing for now). I also think Clarke has done a great job with our defense (although set pieces look dodgy again). What has bugged me all season is our team selection, substitution use and tactics. Whenever questioned, people get all uptight and say, "Trust the King". He's not my king, he was before my era so no, I don't blindly trust him. I judge him on what I see and I see alot of what I perceive to be errors in these three areas. We also can't blame the team's lack of 'gelling' together when it's Kenny who 'tweak's the team week in week out so no wonder they don't play on the same wavelength all the time. Kenny out? Not for me, not yet. But he's not our long term solution either, he's not getting any younger. I reckon he'll stay as manager to see us continue our progression and to help us find a new, young manager to continue the work. I would love Guardiola but well, that's unlikely. Still, for Kenny to stay on for another year or two, he needs more help in the backroom imo. He needs someone with more tactical knowledge (I'm not leading you towards Rafa btw) and someone who can sit next to him and tell him, "look, this isn't working, lets change it up" at half time, not 75mins, or "Adam's having a 'mare, we should take him off", or "Carroll's playing well lately, he should keep his spot to build on it. Kenny chops and changes too much between games, perhaps out of loyalty to players or because he's too soft, I don't know. But it's not helping. He also don't change tactics or make substitutions in a game fast enough to make a difference which doesn't help. Kenny's a short term man to put us on the right path - which he is doing. He's brought passion back into the club, a real togetherness in the squad, a much improved squad on last year at that, he's brought a better playstyle, won a cup and looks like he's interested in youth development long term. All on a 36million net spend. Not too bad despite what the wums will say. But he'll step aside when a younger man with similar ambitions and playstyle turns up. I think that's how the owners look at things also. Most of their investment and involvement is in the background; paying off contracts for unneeded players to get rid of them, stadium work, sponsorships, merchandising, expanding the brand further abroad with only 36mill of their money actually going into first team improvement. Again, despite what people say, that's not a massive investment for a group wanting CL football in the first season. To me, it sounds like they're playing safe with Kenny, giving him a little whilst they work the background and lay the foundations for the 'right' man to take over which should coincide with the influx of our promising youth into the squad. Now, let the disagreements begin
Totally agree and I believe that is the route we are looking at. Of course, this all takes time and patients too. People keep saying Kenny is not here for the long term which, generally, I would agree with considering he is 62 years old now. However, the late Sir Bobby Robson worked as a manager into his seventies and Fergie is doing the same down the road, why can't Kenny? Not saying this is the solution or we should commit for that long, just that it is not 100% a short term option either.
How Downing gets a game for Liverpool is utterly beyond me. I think that as a club you have suffered a number of injuries and losing a player of Suarez's quality for a couple of months when he was playing well would hurt any club. He is an awesome player and will score a bucketload of goals IF given the service and a decent partner. People forget how good a player Gerrard is (in my opinion the best English player of his generation) and he has spent a decent amount of the past two seasons out through injury. Looking back the sale of Alonso was a huge error and the signing of Carrol looks like being proof that it is better to take your time and spend wisely than rush in and spend big. that said at least you made a profit of £15m and Torres has not torn up too many tres at Chelski. I reckon your keeper is top drawer, defence is fairly solid but the midfield needs a fit Gerrard with a quality ball winger and two decent wide men to support Suarez and Kuyt/Bellamy. Still it could be worse, you could be Everton!!
I mostly agree with you except for this statement. I'm really happy with Downing in the last few weeks, he looks like he's finally improving and being much more involved in attacking plays. Granted, he's not the touchline hugging winger we expected to link up with Carroll, but when Carroll is on the bench (not sure why) he links up well with Suarez with the ball on deck. Downing should keep his spot on recent form.
