Don't get me wrong, I always liked him but as I've said he was poor this year and I'm not in favour of us going out of our way to accomodate him just to keep him happy. We need strikers to be able to play with Van Der Vaart and I don't think he's shown any signs of being able to do this. It'd be great to have him on the bench and as you say, give him a chance in Europe but I just can't see him being happy with that, hence why I'd let him out of the door first.
I don't think I mentioned Jenas once but for the record I'd sell Hutton, Jenas, O'Hara, Keane and Bentley before I sold Defoe. As for Crouch, yes I'd prefer to have him still here come the start of the season, not by a whole lot but the Crouch VDV partnership worked occasionally and he has his uses giving us a constant 'out' ball. It's mostly based on my belief that Defoe would be happy to be 3rd choice striker for another season. Edit: Oh right, I see why you mentioned Jenas now. I was only reffering to the strikers when I said I'd let Defoe go first.
I guess you can tell I'm with the party that would rather keep Defoe. I think with teams defending like they did against us in the later part of the season, Defoe would be the better out. He is quicker, finds better space and will chase down those balls that are hit into the corners. I know you didn't mention Jenas, I mentioned him. I agree with your list other than Defoe before Crouch. The thing about the Crouch VDV partnership is that it got sussed out very quickly, that rendered Crouch **** again. (not that he wasn't IMO)
Controversially, I'd suggest that van der Vaart was actually the reason that the partnership failed. He frequently dropped far too deep and left Crouch isolated and dealing with a whole defence on his own. I'd still like to see the Dutchman playing in a midfield pairing with either Sandro (preferably) or Huddlestone, with Modric on the left wing and Bale at left-back. A proper pre-season with van der Vaart in the side will allow us to experiment and find what works best for the team.
I also subscribe to the view that it is not Crouch's fault that Spurs resort to route one when he plays. I also believe he is a decent player who does hold the ball up well, and is technically pretty good too. However, he aint good enough. I would just like to see any one of the Spurs front men given a decent run in the side. Scoring is a confidence game and, without games, it's hard to gain confidence. It's also hard to believe your gaffer has confidence in you if he doesn'y play you week in week out, even when you're not hitting the back of the net. I am not a fan of the rotation of forwards. You should have a clear first choice, who plays if he is fit - in form or not. You don't find form sat on the bench.
Hopnut..... I agree. We had that spell where Pav would come on, score and then find himself starting on the bench for the next match. Come on again and score again. Then again fin d himself on the bench for the next game. Pav would probably question what he'd have to do to find himself starting. Like the last game against the brummies. He came off the bench and got us a draw with 2 fantastic strikes. We do need a regular first choice striker, Rooney can go a few games without scoring but will still bet he first name on the sheet. I'm not comparing Rooney to Pav, I'm just saying that we need to give 1 or 2 of our strikers a couple of games in a row to get confidence up.
With the talk about us possibly swapping Crouch for Gyan and cash, I think that's the best think for both clubs. Sunderland get someone to rebuild their attack around, we get some money, a classy guy (Gyan is just awesome ), and get rid of a player that doesn't fit in with us
I don't think there are many players than can take 1 touch and completely take out the whole of the Chavs defensive line. I think Pav is brilliant and given games would prove it.
Absolutley agree. I think it is a great shame that Redknapp seems to show no faith in the boy. But then he shows little faith in any of the three tbh. Hey, maybe he knows something we don't. That'd be something.
Lol, unlikely, he just doesn't really like Pav. He likes him enough to make sure he stayed in January though. Maybe he'll get a secret account on here, and see what we all have to think. Next thing we know, Pav will be our starting striker for a while yet
I'm hoping this is a sly move from Harry. All but ruling out the sale of Crouch, saying he's one of the players he wants to keep, but won't actually rule out the sale too. He knows Sunderland want him, maybe he's just trying to push the price up, or get Gyan involved in the transfer. Time will tell.
I think the fact that Jenas is still on our books proves that 'Arry has never joined a forum in his life
