I think people got carried away. He had some very good performances that dropped away. I put him in the same bracket as Henderson. I genuinely think he will improve again & be a very useful player. I like the look of Sturridge because he offers the thing missing from our other forwards. Different threats & options on the same pitch. We look less predictable already upfront & our midfield has more manoeuvring room as a result too. I'm hoping Borini develops as well and offers & different type of threat again. Its all horses for courses. We could probably name a better player for almost all of our positions out there but we aren't in a position to entice them yet. Or afford them even if they wanted to come. As you said earlier, from now on we should expect a transfer in to be an upgrade rather than a hole filler. Edit: and because of that expectation I'd rather we didn't buy if the player targeted falls through rather than buy to calm the FIFA crowd.
Yep, agree with all that I just don't see the logic in signing Coutinho or Ince TBH, neither would make a big sudden impact IMO but Sneijder would have done. I don't like spending money for the sake of it, save it and have more to spend in the summer when the market is better
Joe Allen's like a travel agent. You go through him to get somewhere, pay alot of extra money for the service, often go around in circles to come back to where you started and sometimes get confused and give up before looking elsewhere. Whereas other teams like United or City just skip the middle man and go direct to the villa to book their holiday, saving alot of time and money and still getting the nice trip - all without costing extra money and time. Yeah...Allen's job as the middle man is pointless. I don't see a creative streak for him to play higher, I don't see a defensive grit for him to sit deeper. He's a middle man passing between two positions which don't require him there.
Yip, On Coutinho; I know nothing about him so rely on the rest of you lot to make judgement. Always fun when there's an evenly balanced for & against camp! Edit: was lazy & didn't quote Gerrez, so "yip" isn't agreeing with SM. still think its too early to make a judgement yet.
No guarantee Sneijder would have been an instant impact plus with the wages we'd have to give him he'd need to have an instant impact to be worth it. Even then would still be no certainty that we'd get CL football this year. Would much rather someone younger and hungry to come in who is going to improve and possible be with us next 5+ years or so. People takl about bringing in experience and Sturridge has that - he may be young but he's played plenty of football in the Premiership for City, Bolton & Chelsea. If Henderson can step up then we might not need another midfielder just yet. Maybe someone long term to play that creative role but would rather wait and find someone younger (Isco for example) to take over from Gerrard than Sneijder who we'd need to replace in a few years anyway.
I don't really know anything about him either, what I do know is he is 20 years old and has potential but as been a bit part player for Inter despite Rafa playing him when he was there. the key word that puts me off is highlighted
I know that pal, I wasn't exactly singing from the roof top for us to sign him either for similar reasons as you've highlighted, but I could see more merits in it than with Coutinho and Ince. The youngsters we already have at the club would have learnt from Wesley, however hindsight suggests they may have learnt more about payroll than football I reckon we should save the money and go all out for a Isco or Eriksen type, someone that is still young but for the here and now. I'm not overly fussed about experience
I know you've said that you're not fussed about experience but the way you talk about Wesley and the youngsters in the first paragraph suggests to me that you do? Might just be me that see's it this way
I think it would help but I don't think it should be a priority Edit: by help, I mean help guide the youngsters, not help with team performances although ultimately the former would help the later anyway.
That's true, I do think we need an extra person who can bring that extra bit of experience to the team. Someone who can guide the team when Gerrard has gone off the boil a bit. I'd rather Erikson or Isco than Coutinho, although I'd be happy with Coutinho if we still got the funds for say Isco or Erikson in the summer
I reckon Gerrard will be around for another three or four years but Carragher might only have one more year in him. Baring that in mind and what you said, do you reckon someone around the 24-27 years old bracket then...?
So someone already in the team? Who do you think that person may be? Lucas? Could it eventually be one of either Shelvey or Hendo? I'm not sure, only time will tell
All these names but do we have the cash and ambition? This window, and especially the summer will have a large baring on my opinion on the owners. I have liked them, but the continued failure to invest in genuine top quality is hurting us. Signing top players helps keep other top players like Suarez at the club. If they don't invest I may explode
Reina, Agger, Skrtel, Enrique, Johnson, Lucas, Suarez, Downing (if still here) are all in that age bracket. I really don't think we are missing experience to be honest. Then you have Henderson, Allen, Borini, Sturridge who are a bit yonger and have experience, then the rest, Wisdom, Robinson, Sterling, Suso who are younger and less experience. I personally think we have a good balance. Just need to add quality to that now no matter what age.
Take your pick; Johnson, Agger, Skrtel, Enrique, Lucas, Suarez, Downing (), etc. I think each and everyone one of them are able to offer experience and guidance now. Give it the three or four years for Gerrard to retire and Kelly, Wisdom, Henderson, Allen, Shelvey, Sturridge, etc will all be in that bracket too. Edit: just noticed IBWT's comment, good to see I am not alone in my thinking
I think a defender should be the priority, i'm surprised we haven't been linked to any yet. Apart from Agger and Skertel, we really don't have anyone to rely on top matches, Carra's past it and Coates doesn't look ready yet. An injury to one of them would leave us in dire straits.
Wisdom is a CB by trade, Coates has been ok when played and Carragher has been ok when played this year (the fact he's not first choice has left him fresher for when needed to come in I tink). I think we could get by without one for the moment, remember we also have Kelly whose natural position is CB.
