I think we might see a busier January window than usual. Wenger 'needs' to spend, AVB will want to spend and Liverpool have to spend. The league is a lot closer this season and many clubs will want to make that extra push.
I agree YV. For the level we're trying to get to, I don't see Falque or Townsend making it. Falque has already been to Italy and Spain and if he was that great, someone would have seen that in him by now. He's premiership standard, but again like a fair few of our players, is he top 4? I don't think so. Townsend is ok. he's fast and dangerous and a good impact sub. but again, is he top 4 standard? not for me and I don't see the signs that he will be in the future, either. Again, a decent winger who'll slot in well at another premiership club. The problem we're going to be faced with IMO, is that Levy is going to want to see Falque and Townsend play more often before he lets AVB spend a fortune on a winger. I can see levy looking at the situation and thinking that those 2 haven't really had much of a chance and that he'd like to see them have some more action through out the rest of this season, and then make a decision in the summer. - To be honest, we're not desperate for a winger, we'd just like one as we don't feel the back up options are quite good enough. - But there are other positions on the pitch that we are desperate, such as the creative midfielder role. I actually have more faith in Townsend and Falque, than I do in Hudd and Livermore. Hudd has not come back the same player and Livermore is clearly an outcast now. when was the last time AVB played him??!! I'd rather we signed 2 quality midfielders and sold those 2 mentioned above, as I think the new replacements in the centre of the park would help to get the best out of the likes of Falque and Townsend as they continue to grow. I honestly don't think Hudd has been interested since that loan move nearly happened in the summer. i think he thinks that is time is limited now and as a result, has lost his passion. As a result, that leaves us a player who's not going to come on and make a difference. - and that is where we're really short. Our attacking options from the bench don't excite me at the moment. When it comes to the business end of the season, the squad as a whole is going to be vital. We really short of any game changers, IMO.
I knew someone was going to put that! I even wrote that to start with, but gave talkshite the benefit of the doubt because it says "according to reports in italy"
A cheaper option maybe, but I don't particularly like the idea of resting our current creative shortfall on a 20 yr old who hasn't left a club yet (Eriksen), there's lots that can go wrong there. Rarely seen Walcott in this no.9 role, but when I have he doesn't look bad at all, I've had a thought before Wenger might be missing a trick there, its an interesting one for the French twat to sort. Seems reasonable to assume Theo won't re-sign unless he plays up front...what effect that will have on Plod and Giroud, who despite a poor start has started to be a handful in some games, finally finding his feet!... please log in to view this image
finally! We might actually get shot of him! http://www1.skysports.com/football/...e-a-target-for-rival-clubs-in-transfer-window
Yeah I read about his desire to join Barca, but he's not good enough for them... Yet. If he thinks he is he's deluded. They have Xavi, Iniesta and Fabregas (plus Thiago, who's a fantastic talent) - all of whom are amongst the best in the world, and while I truely believe Eriksen can become a world star, he needs at least 2-3 seasons in a top league before making such a move. I think we stand in good steed to sign him should Ajax be willing to sell, even though we have no CL football, Vertonghen can hopefully help with negotiations/ persuasion and the fact we can guarantee him a starting spot is always beneficial for someone like him plus we play in a style that would suit him and he likes being the playmaker and we're craving one - seems a perfect fit to me. Fingers crossed and all that
Good player. Would be a welcome addition. Don't be fooled by the fact he doesn't get much game time, he has the second best player in the world and an Argentine magician in front of him.
To be honest with you notso, I can vouch for him (not that it's worth much ) and say Eriksen isn't just a usual 20 year old. He's been the best player of a top club for the past 18 months and if you've been fortunate to see as much of him as I have, you'll know that his age is only a plus point, his ability is already superior to that of Dempsey and Sigurdsson (not hard in fairness) and I'm pretty sure in saying if we don't get him in January (or the Summer latest), we'll massively regret it. I've never been so confident of a youngster's ability to shine, really do believe he has an amazing future ahead of him, hopefully we can be part of it.
hang on....something's just twigged for me here. (might well be a bit of an "action replay" comment coming up! ) hasn't he been saying that he wants to stay at Ajax for the rest of the season? well, course he does. There's no point in any of us saying "but we don't have CL football". if he moves in Jan to anyone: a) he won't be able to play CL football even if that team are still in it as he'll be cup tied b) he has no idea whether the team he moves to will be in the competition next season either! (unless he goes to city, united or barca etc.) The "lack of CL" comments are irrelevant for a Jan transfer window, as he can't play for anyone if he makes the move. So course he's going to wait until the summer, even if Ajax decide they wouldn't mind selling in Jan. **** the bed... that applies for Moutinho, too.
Hmmmm... Talk about putting a dampner on things mate! I wanted to believe my own words in that he'll join! I suppose we'll see though come Feb 1st what he decides. One thing he can look forward to is that he has plenty of time left to play in European competitions... **** it, I'm still clinging to a bit of hope!!!
As we found out this time last year, Ajax don't like selling players in January. However, there's no reason we can't agree a deal for Eriksen to arrive at the end of the season now - albeit there's plenty of reasons for Ajax not to. Meanwhile, Liverpool have announced deals for Daniel Sturridge and Tom Ince. Slight problem with this, though - they haven't agreed fees with the clubs, let alone contracts with the players, so they're setting themselves up to be gazumped. In other words, it's just like their announcement that Anfield will be redeveloped without even submitting a planning application...
they say in life "it's about who you know". This could be one of those times where AVB and/or Verts are going to have to have a word with the likes of Eriksen and Moutinho personally as friends, and ask them to look past the next 6 months, and to really consider the project that we're building. Otherwise it's going to be very difficult prizing them away.
Verts has already made comments about Eriksen and Alderweireld to the papers in the last week or so, so there's possibilities there. Meanwhile, after one of the Zenit supporters groups said they want the club to only play white players, I'm surprised no tabloid hack has shown the creativity to link former Porto star Hulk with a January move to us. True, any move would go against UEFA's three clubs in one season rule, but given they come up with stuff like Wenger offering Walcott + £8m for Raheem Sterling...
im trying to stay off this page till January kicks in...then ill be wanting some intense info on some of our targets Roo.
Naturally, the BBC website neglects to mention this - but does have an interview with Chris Samba (of Anzhi Makhachkala) saying they're racist...whilst neglecting to mention any of the examples of Anzhi's fans being accused of racism. Of course, this isn't the typical British media way of pointing the finger at other countries despite black players being subjected to monkey chants and racist abuse via Twitter by English fans recently...
Blimey...have you got a poster on your wall! ...thats high praise, I shall watch out in the EL games, Ajax might fancy it this year seeing as the Final is at their home ground, unlikely though, its a fairly young team.
