Summer 2013 Transfer Rumour Thread - Mk3

The other thing to remember is that if you bring in players who might displace last season's first team choices, those players have to perform that bit extra in training to get a chance. They can also learn things off the new players about technique, positioning etc. which they might not have already been exposed to. So the new acquisitions not only immediately improve the squad, they help to keep improving it over the course of a season.

 

It's so quiet! Not even anything really being reported on Banega, which you'd think would be all over the papers if we are indeed in talks.

Also, I agree that we may not need a striker if we sign Banega; I said that on the Banega thread as well. If we find a good one at a good price, then we should still sign him but if not I'm fine with seeing what we have, and then trying again in January or next offseason if we need to.

I don't think we are quite ready for the Top Six just yet. So for me, it's fine to add three players this year, and then maybe one in January, then maybe two or three next year, etc. Don't need to fill every position all at once. CB and defensive MC were the two big needs for me, and that's taken care of. We needed some offense, Banega would fill that void by scoring some himself and also making our existing strikers more effective. I still like Ramirez and think he will be better this year, but I'd say our problems with scoring last year were more a result of the midfield distribution/attacking than a deficiency in our strikers.

 

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We need to bump one of the personal "Saint ****" threads for about 50-100 pages then they will be forced at gunpoint to sign.

 

From watching this guy play a bit, I think he'd be an okay signing. His finishing is very assured.

 

Yes he would be a good signing! Have you seen him play? I would be really surprised if we didn't sign a striker this summer because we need at least 3 good quality forwards.

 

I still want Osvaldo most of all the strikers we've been linked with. Don't think it'll happen though.

 

I really find it hard to understand why people think we need a striker. In Rickie we have the best English striker in the league. With his stats in the box he would be most clubs' dream signing despite his age. More importantly he suits the style of play I expect to see this season.

Rickie (and in a couple of years, jay will take over) will undoubtedly be our target man, laying the ball off for a host of talented midfielders running on - Lallana, Gaston, Puncheon, and JWP to name but four. We won't play with wingers but with wing backs who will be supported on their runs by the likes of Puncheon and Lallana. If the wing backs get caught upfield wanyama will drop back in the centre of a 3 man defence with Lovren on one side and Fonte or Yoshida on the other. This setup will make fox less of a liability on the occasions he plays. Banega would also fit into this setup pretty well. It'll be like the Battle of Britain on the edge of the penalty area with our attacking midfielders weaving in and out with intricate passing. And on set pieces, we still have the big men to bring up!

 

What happens if we lose Lambert and Jay to injury? Who would you put up front?

 

Dan Seaborne has signed a two-year deal with Championship club Yeovil Town. He joins Sam Hoskins there.

 

Mayuka? Guly?

 

Exactly.

 

Yes but I see them as our 4th and 5th choice strikers. I don't think Mayuka is good enough yet and I don't think of Guly as a striker. He did a good job for us in the championship but we really need a natural goal scorer.

 

Top Prem teams run with four top/front line strikers in their squads which gives them options to rotate to rest individuals, cater for injuries, suspension and loss of form.
Also having different types of strikers gives MP the choice of which best suites the opposition
We have two in Rickie and JRod in truth

 

Yep we def need at least one more.

 

Isn't that a bit like saying we need another keeper in case Boruc kelvin and Gazza get injured? Besides, the debate has not been about a 3rd choice striker but one about whether We can get better than Rickie given his age. That was the inference that I was challenging.

But to answer your question, Mayuka proved to be an able 3rd choice toward the end of the season. I don't see our style of play being quite so dependant on a traditional centre forward but if it had to be, don't forget Seager and Sinclair. It's those multiple injuries that often open a door for a youngster. Not Guly though. I am a fan but see him more as a midfielder to break up play these days.

 

Seager and Sinclair aren't ready and Mayuka barely played so I don't know how you can judge him as being ok.

 

Top teams who play with 2 strikers in their starting 11 tend to have 4 strikers in their squad, you're right. However we play with only one striker in the starting 11 which means we should really only need 3 strikers in the squad. Chelsea are a perfect example, they struggled to balance Torres and Ba last season, let alone a 3rd striker!

 

My judgement of Mayuka is based not on what I've seen, but on the fact that he scarcely got picked. Either not good enough or doesn't suit our style. Let's see what happens this season, but i think we need another striker. Imagine if RL got injured at the beginning of the season and we couldn't sign anyone until January.

 

Yes but we are running a one striker system, and we have significantly less games to cater for, we played 42 games last season whilst for example United and City played around 55 games, Chelsea played almost 70 I believe. If we signed another striker unless they were very versatile we wouldn't be able to give enough games to all our strikers to keep them happy. If we can sign someone who will significantly improve us and are worthy of displacing Rickie and Jay then we obviously should grab them, but signing a striker for the sake of signing a striker would be a mistake and would unbalance us in my opinion. Another project like Mayuka or less so Rodriguez would be OK, but I don't think we have room for another 'front-line' striker beside Rickie and Jay, someone would have to be displaced.