Quote Originally Posted by lamballana "If you'd offered us top 8 at the beginning of the season we'd have snapped it up. I think top 6 is achievable if we are lucky with injuries and invest again in the window". I saw this on another thread and I started thinking about how much money we have spent and, basically, have we spent it wisely? If you think that Lambert cost £1m, and many people thought that was too high at the time, have our subsequent purchases given us anything like value for money? I suppose the very fact that I'm asking the question suggests that I don't think they have. If you take the Hull game, no Ramirez, no Yoshida, a cameo from Osvaldo, probably Wanyama's poorest game to date, Rodriguez ok but not much more, Mayuka not at the club, Forren just weird and so on. And yet we were superb. Thats about £50m worth of players give or take a few. I really think that for that money we should expect to get players who are better than what is already at the club otherwise what is the point? Obviously, there are exceptions. Clyne was a great buy, and Lovren of course. I don't want to sound like I'm moaning at a time when things have never been better at the club but I genuinely believe that if we had spent that kind of money more wisely we could be top of the league by now given how well we have progressed this season. Maybe the jury is still out on all those players. It is still too early to really talk about Osvaldo for example and Yoshida would be a starter but for Fonte's great run of form. At the start of our 'journey' we bought very wisely, players like Hammond and Chaplow who were perfect for the job that was required of them at that time. Now, I don't think we are being quite so wise and it sometimes appears that we spend for the sake of it. We all get highly agitated during the transfer windows and I was as keen as anyone to see some high-profile signings. But maybe we just don't need the big names. Maybe spending £2m on an 'unknown' such as Michu or even a lower league player with promise might be a better way of doing it. For example, had we been a premier league club at the time with the kind of money we have now, we would never have even looked at Lambert and look what we would have missed.
Gaston was off with Uruguay but I accept the jury is out. Maya scored in the week and as you say would be playing apart from the form of Jose and Dejan. Victor has made a few mistakes but is only 22 and will be a huge player for us moving forward. Jrod must be doing something right to get an England call. Have to give you Forren and maybe Mayuka although he could stilll come good. Overall I think we have done pretty well.
Team that started vs Hull - 31 Boruc - Free 02 Clyne - £2.81M 23 Shaw - Free (Youth) 04 Schneiderlin - £1.32M 06 Fonte - £1.23M 05 Lovren - £8.8M 16 Ward-Prowse - Free (Youth) 12 Wanyama - £12.76M 07 Lambert - £1.05M 20 Lallana - Free (Youth) 09 Rodriguez - £7.61M = £35.58M / 11 = £3.23M per player (Figures from transfermarkt.co.uk) please log in to view this image
I think that that is my point. We have a great side without the real expensive signings. Arguably, you could replace Cork for Wanyama and not weaken the team too much. So that would mean we have considerably more expense on the bench than we have playing.
Also, a player's value to the team is not simply what he contributes on the pitch, but how he helps to raise the game of the other players around him.
Isn't the problem that we are no longer shopping in Primark, but can afford M&S? You can make mistakes in either, but the latter is simply more expensive. Ramirez is the only truly bad buy in my view, and wasn't predicted to be (Forren cannot be included as it was, as you say, just weird). He has simply not bought into the changes, it seems. But Osvaldo looks like he'll be e big player for us as does Wanyama. Lovren has hit the ground running, and having Yoshida as back up as we hit the really busy time of the season is no bad thing. The emergence of our own talent either through the Academy or the development of bargain basement buys (Rickie and Morgan for example) is a huge plus for us. It has also distorted our sense of a player's worth. You cannot compare the £12m spent on Victor with a "freebie" like Luke Shaw. A question for us would be how much would, say, Lallana cost now? The Ramirez signing is interesting in hindsight. Our team was a bit naff and facing a huge struggle to adjust. A Uruguayan international signs for big money and is seen as the messiah. He has now been overtaken by events - the improvements in the team and the changes to the style. He was a good buy back then. He is still a very good player, but we've moved on.
LFF I think you are underestimating the impact Victor has had. Yes he has made a few mistakes but his partnership with Morgan is much more effective than Cork's was imo.
To put our squad cost into perspective Man City's vs Sunderland was £200M... or £18.18M per player, compared to our £3.23M and no harm in seeing this again! please log in to view this image
Good point, and it shows the value of developing our own players which we are obviously doing and will continue doing. You're probably right. I'm a bit blind when it comes to Cork!
All it prooves to me is that players are not guaranteed a starting spot irrespective of their "value" and that their addition have strengthened the overall squad and made players fight for their place. It could be that Mayuka and Gaston simply do not fit Poch's system and style of play and it must be remembered that they are both still in their early 20s and will not have become devalued during their time with us.
Here's a slightly unrelated question (although relevant if you are looking at overall money spent). Would Walcott or Oxlaide-Chamberlain be in then current starting 11 had they remained at the club?
I reckon they would be at least in the squad (not sure about starting 11), but they would be different players as they would have been moulded to our style and work rate from the start.
Nail on head IMHO . Which makes me think why MP won't be going anywhere soon . He has taken over a group of very talented players , some big ( for us mortals ) money signings , no EGO's & they WANT to play for him . Not sure this would work in a group of mega egos & filthy rich players . I am LOVING it & LONG may it continue !!!!!
I think they would both be better players than they are now, especially Oxlade Chamberlain who would be playing the wide attacking midfield role. Walcott I'm not so sure if he would fit. But J-Rod would be finding it hard to get a start.
