Summer 2013 Transfer Rumour Thread - Mk3

I cant understand how no one has taken on Richardson, i thought he was great for us in the championship, you think people would want a promotion winning RB? No? Just me?

 

I also thought he was very good in the Championship and handled himself very well in his brief Premiership outings early in the season before his injury and was more than happy for him to stay with us for depth at full-back. I'm sure he'll end up somewhere reasonable.

 

I was thinking derby? they have just lost there RB

 

Yes, I guess Richardson's fitness is his only barrier. I am surprised we did not give him another chance but there you go. We still have players such as De Ridder, Barnard, Hammond, Lee and Sharp who generally are decent.

 

Not a bad shout.

 

Derby is a good fit for him. Only problem is his age I suppose and lack of pace tracking back.

 

Crook has now changed his mind saying Pochettino said 1 or 2 more quality signings.

 

Such a mug that bloke. Probably wasn't even in Austria.

 

If we have only one signing left, I think Osvaldo would be good. He brings more than just goals. If we sign Damiao and no one else I'll be pretty concerned.

More than anything, though, I hope there are two more signings to come.

 

Damiao and Banega.

 

That'd be a decent combination. Not sure what our chances are of getting both though.

 

Injuries

 

I'd like one maybe. But I'm okay with what we have. It's not that I don't think we need another striker or whatever. I just think if we don't get one this year, there will be an opportunity to land one next year. Quite possibly a better one as we will have two years in Prem and likely a higher finish.

If we can land a striker a la Osvaldo that is of high enough quality that they can play even when we are at/near NC's lofty ambitions, that's fine. Alternatively, I won't mind a decent player on a short-term contract or a young player we can flip at a profit if the club outgrows their talent. Just don't want us to reach and get a guy on a four year contract who is already at their peak but will have to be replaced in a year or two. Or for us to miss out on a better striker next year because we bought one this year.

We have a bit of luxury now to wait out the best deal, instead of like last year when we needed help immediately.

 

Remember all the frustration last season of having all of the ball but not managing to create anything from it? We definitely need to improve on that. Maybe the current squad can improve on their performances last season (Lallana and Ramirez in particular) but that's a risky route to take. Adding competition for their places could only be a good thing. I don't think finding someone who can put the ball in the net is the main concern; I think it's more important that we find someone who can find the man who puts the ball in the net.

 

The three players so far this window that seeing us linked with has resulted in me clawing at my own face in desperation for us to sign them have been Wanyama, Banega and Kiyotake. One of three isn't bad and the Kiyotake link it seems was either pure invention or we merely made a very quick enquiry, and although the Banega deal seems to have gone off the boil I still have a gently simmering hope we may still land him.

From this point all I'm really after is a player somewhere in the attacking midfield three that gives us something new, whether it be a direct, pacey, hit-the-byline winger or a creative number 10 or another goalscorer, I don't really mind. Would be happy for us to sign a full-back or a striker but as I have mentioned in the past I do not personally see those as necessities.

 

Randomish thoughts:

1) I agree that a playmaker is probably the big missing piece right now. Has to be the right fit for your team, and so many variables to consider. That's why I think I'm way more nervous/hesitant about Banega than many others here even though I've seen his quality. And you need to have all the other pieces in place. The #10/trequartista role is kind of like the quarterback of the team. Big risk/big reward. And to continue the analogy, having Ramirez last year was like having a QB but no offensive line. He was asked to do too many things or not given the ball where he needed it so he do what he does best.

2) I thought our big problem for most of last year was getting the ball from defense to offense. Or stopping the ball in midfield and transitioning quickly. That's why I loved the Wanyama acquisition so much. It's true that once MP got here that problem went away to a large degree and then we had trouble finishing. But I think that is partly due to the offense not gelling. The defense was the priority and got all the experience because we were on the defensive much of the time in the early season. So it wasn't until MP that the offense even got an opportunity to try and figure it all out.

3) I think a striker/winger is generally a safer bet. I know Rodriguez had some trouble on the wing, but again I think that was more he had to play like a left-midfielder rather than an outside striker. It's easier to find finishers or inside/outside hybrid forwards than creative attacking playmakers, IMO. So even though optimally I'd prefer a #10, I think it might be easier and safer to bring in the forward. I don't want a fast, get-to-the-byline-and-cross kind of winger. That's not our style, plus I think Shaw and Clyne are capable of bombing forwarding and doing that enough to keep defenses honest.

4) All the guys we are linked with would be good. I was against Osvaldo but I've softened my stance. He still makes me a little nervous but I trust NC/MP on that one. Banega makes me super-nervous but at the price it's hard to lose. Just don't know if we will get any of them because they are a bit of a reach. So if we have to settle for something a little less, I don't mind settling at forward. I don't want a like a second round quarterback. It never works out.

 

A la Banega? Of all the players we have been linked with Banega is the one I want most. I can't help but feel he is the player to 'find the man who puts the ball in the net'. Keeping everything crossed we get him.........

 

Pretty much, yeah. I mean there's a chance he won't fit in or whatever but he's the right kind of player.

 

There's a couple of other points on Ruined the Party's post for me.

1. Our full backs don't get to the byeline anywhere near enough so if we signed a midfield/forward/winger that did, I'd be happy. We have the perfect striker to feed of that type of play. He got 15 goals without anyone pulling it back to him from the byeline; he'd get even more if we got in behind their full backs.

2. The no. 10/quarter back role will always be a gamble/risk. The nature of that type of player is they are a little bit prima Donna or a lit bit hit and miss. Remember MLT? I'd have a quality one (Banega) any day of the week; they win you games and I'd risk taking the hits for a few misses always. For me, it would be simply a case of, "sorry Vic/Corkie looks like you e got a bit of extra work to do today" on the days that were misses.

 

Agree with Party, I would love Banega and think he is one of the most exciting solid transfer rumors we've had for a long time, but if he was our next and last signing of the summer then we would be a team of QBs with one receiver.
Teams could simply drop deep, put a man on the runs of Rodriguez and we'd look pretty toothless.
Have liked the clubs transfer policy of young and talented players but now is the time to give more thought in how they'd gel with our style of play. At the moment you could argue we've bought good players and we will worry about how they play together later.