There is some debate currently about the veritable merits, or otherwise, of investing in EPL based players as opposed to looking abroad? Personally, I am very encouraged by the targets we are looking at and the signings so far. Agreed, we may not be competing with Man Utd and Chelsea for Champions League players but the likes of Larsson and Gardener (maybe) are players that have performed at this level and unlike the Riveros, Da Silva and Angeleri's of this world, will settle immediately and be ready to play against Liverpool. Should we pursue the likes of O Shea, Brown, Gibson, N'Zogbia, Crouch, Pavulychenko and maybe Welbeck, plus one or 2 others then I will be very satisfied indeed come August. There still may be a surprise package to come in the shape of a Gyan style signing and that will be the cherry on the cake not the body of it. Foreign players may turn out to be good and perform but they are just as likely to struggle and become bogged down in the early part of their careers, which means fans get frustrated and things can go awry. They are complete gambles IMO and if your squad isnt strong enough to cope, it can be dealt a crushing blow very quickly. I've been highly critical of Bruce recently but he seems to be showing signs of realising his errors and acting to rectify a very poor end to the season, by recruiting lads who can add to the squad from day 1.
I'm with the EPL experience all the way brigade Cest. WE have Sessegnon and Gyan for that bit of flair, and will hopefully add one more of this nature, but then we have a load of players who are up for the physical battle, Gardner will add goals and steel in the middle, Larsson gives us a long missed weapon from crosses. I think the balance of the team is getting there, we need a few more in, but we are definitely ticking a few boxes with the signings we've made, and as you say, they can hit the ground running. Sessegnon with pre-season behind him and improved English, is going to be like a new, mega signing for me. We saw glimpses at the end of the season to suggest he may go on to be one of the finest players this club has EVER seen, he, combined with the British players who are up for the fight when needs be, fills me with a lot of confidence that we won't lose the midfield battle so often this season.
Simple way is, try and think of your top all time prem players, and look at how many of them are foreign. Think you'll be suprised, at just how many foreign players do come in and are highly sucessful.
Don't think it realy matters, EPL players could just as easily come to us and fail as foreign based players. If there is a good player out there and there is a chance we could get them then we should go for them EPL based or not. Sess and Gyan IMO are our best two players and were signed from the french league
Valid point Poolie, but we have a poor track record with overseas players in general. Da Silva, Riveros, Angleri, Laslandes, Nunez.... Sessegnon and Gyan we knew were a bit special before they came. Anybody think we missed a trick with Adrian Mutu though? Sold to Cesena for a pittance.
I meant the foreigners for us though comachio, not the Zolas, Henry's, Berkamps and Van Nistelroys of this world. Totally agree about Sessegnon. With a few months behind him and a full close season he could be dynamite but thats my point. These players need 4 or 5 months to settle and some clubs wont have 4 or 5 months to let them.
That’s what I meant BB. Its not that foreign players are crap but our dalliance with them has proved a very poor investment. I can only think of Thomas Sorensen and Julio Arca as the unquestionable successes in recent years. All the rest were here one minute and gone the next. I'd love to have another Julio Arca though. One of the best footballers I have seen for skill, attitude and adapting to the EPL I have ever seen in a red & white shirt IMO. I was gutted the day he left SAFC. As for Mutu? No thanks for a drug taking has-been. Good player in his day but far too much baggage for me.
On this point, I'm still wondering what went wrong with Muntari. Not only did he have Premier League experience, he'd played in Italy as well! At least he scored a goal for us though.
Every player has an element of risk attached foreign or otherwise. Maybe one of our friends from NE1 can highlite it for us. Biggest prem flop (non foreign) of all time? Well that has surely got to belong to them...And an expensive one.. There's only one Micheal Owen..
I love Julio, in fact i'll love him forever, remember his reaction when he equalized against Arsenal in the last minute? He was one of us, no mistake. Mutu is a cracking player still Cest, Fiorentina is my second team, owing to my Nan (she was Siena-born, and therefore a glory supporter of Fiorentina), the club have let him go because of the baggage, but when you consider it's rumoured he went for under a million? Might have been a masterstroke.
