I suspect we'll see some activity now this is done. Last summer's dash proved the club can do (damn good) business very quickly if they need to.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2012/aug/15/liverpool-arsenal-real-madrid-nuri-sahin? Terrible day for us.
Sums up our window now. [video=youtube;lTHCwU9rUdY]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lTHCwU9rUdY[/video]
Like Mertesacker, Santos and to an extent Arteta yes. Seeing as we were linked with the likes of Mata and Hazard last year but couldn't sign them, we panicked on the last day and signed Arteta. He was quite good, sure but no doubt Hazard or Mata would have been far better and Arteta was obviously a Plan B or C player.
Well I'd find it hard to see that we wanted Arteta all along as the first anyone heard of it was on deadline day. I guess you're right about the job role, but in reference to my point, it did come across as a bit of underwhelming signing.
It seems like they have just taken a load of obvious points and thrown them into one article. Mourinho wants him to go to Liverpool - Why? More playing time. Real Madrid want him to go to Liverpool - Why? Less money to contribute through wages and no pressure of a buy out clause. Now they have taken the Xabi Alonso link to manufacture a rumour that Sahin now prefers to join Liverpool over Arsenal and that Champions League football isn't a vital factor. All seems a bit strange to me, considering for the past few weeks it's all been about how much Sahin would prefer a move to Arsenal.
Santos was weak defensively and Mertesacker really wasn't that good last season. Arteta was very solid, not amazing, but a good addition.
Arteta was the foundation of our team last season, it annoys me when people say he did nothing spectacular. Ever seen Xavi play? never does anything fancy, but he dictates the tempo and flow of the game, and that's why Xavi is the worlds best midfielder. Arteta is a mini xavi. We didn't win last season without Arteta in the side.
You're right. They were all stunning acquisitions and we really couldn't have done much better, which is why we finished third in the league. Good call.
Xavi is a brilliant passer of the ball, much much better than Arteta. I really don't see how you can make that comparison. Arteta moves the play on well, sure, but he rarely picks out killer passes and is mostly just there to keep attacks going. You can argue it's a "foundation" but to me that's just doing a fairly basic job. Although I'm not denying that he did it well, he's not exactly an amazing player.
I called Arteta a mini Xavi, i didn't say he was at Xavi's level, i just highlighted that they have the same role, which is to dictate the tempo of the game, and start attacks.
