The old guard v the new begining. Wickham/Fletcher/Johnson v Borini/Defoe/Lens Then as part 2 Catts/Larsson/Rodwell v M.Villa/Gomez/Toi. Is Aj capable of outsting Borini or Lens ? Will any of the old 3 midfielders regain a starting place?
Good point comm. We know johnson rodwell larsson and catts are good players and can be very good at times. Problem is i think it has been to easy for them to get in the side. Now with competition for places and them slipping down the pecking order they have to up their game if they want to get in the team. That can only be good for us. Remember when we got these players we were over the moon thinking we would go to the next level. Now is the chance for them to show it. If they do we will have the basis of a cracking squad
If we'd had AJ to come from the bench yesterday we could have won that. The substitutios were due to tiredness rather than tactics. Borini Gomez and Toivenon wwould all have finished the game if they were fully match fit. This ultimately cost us the game with the iintroduction of Cattermole. You wouldn't have found a bigger Carts fan that me but he cost us that game, just fell asleep and watched Mason waltz through. Had he been on all game maybe you could sight mental fatigue but he'd just bloody come on. Something isnt right with him and Dick needs to get to the bottom of it.
Of the lot of them I think Johnson is the only one that will get a place and only if he shows form we know he can (but rarely see) - otherwise nothing changes - they are not bad "squad" players (midfielders anyhow) but once Toivonen and M'Vila are fully fit then the rest will struggle to play - and you all know how much of a Cattermole fan I am!!
Still think I would put Rodwell in before Gomez. Cattermole and Larsson can go and improve our reserve teams league position for all I care.
I still can't believe my eyes when I see this - Altadore swap for Defoe. Overall cost,= more or less, nothing ! Wickham sold for approx 8M plus add-ons. Then, as a replacement, Borini bought for approx 8M plus add-ons. Overall cost = more or less, nothing ! Money-wise, I love this wizardry !!
I doubt we will see Fletcher and Graham again, unless we get hit by injuries. Catts would struggle to get a starting place this season even in top form, he might even find himself without a place on the bench if he doesnt up his game and get back to his normal self. Larsson is a very useful squad player imo, so should be on the bench most games. AJ would thrive in the current set up imo. Last season he struggled as he was the only player the opposition needed to mark out of the game. This season he would get a lot more space, as they wouldnt be able to only concentrate on him. Should he get starting space ? Depends on who performs best in training. Rodwell ? Not a fan at the moment. From what I have seen so far this season, shouldn't even be on the bench. Pants, PVA, O'Shea, Kaboul, Matthews (he is our player, not someone going back to another team in the summer), Gomez (based on 1 game?), M'villa, Toi, Lens/AJ, Borini/AJ, Defoe should be the main starters. Subs: Manone, Coates, Yedlin, Larsson, Catts, Watmore, AJ/Lens/Borini Backup: Gooch, Rodwell, Jones, Fletcher, Graham
The commentator said yestarday that our net spend was £31m, haven't a clue where he got his figures from but that's not bad money for what we brought in.
? Not sure I see your logic Rackem - Altidore cost £6m - ergo Defoe cost £6m (regardless of worth at the time of the swap) - Wickham cost £8.1m and sold for 8m = 0 - Borini then cost £7.75m of the money that Liverpool still owe us from Mig and Henderson deals - but, that said, we have the better end of both deals (although I'm still bloody annoyed at Defoe missing that chance yesterday - people say "unlucky" but a striker, 1v1 with a keeper has to score those chances at this level! He played well otherwise though)
We created more chances yesterday than we did for most of last season. JD didn't connect well for his shot, but on another day they fly in. That's strikers for you and how many times did we see Altidore miss from better positions? this team will get goals mate, no doubts in my mind.
I know we bought Altadore for 6M Marcus....but my point is that we swapped him for Defoe for more or less no cost, otherwise we would still have Altadore. The same logic for Borini and Wickham. The bottom line is - we have Borini and Defoe instead of Altadore and Wickham, for arguably nothing at all........otherwise we would still have those two carthorses.
Not sure the relevance of Altidore - JD is streets ahead quality wise - but you can't afford, in our position, to miss those chances. If the keeper saves it then you say well done but to miss the target is criminal in a 1 on 1 at this level. Having said that, Vertonghen and Mason (their scorer) should've both been red carded - Mason's challenge on Borini was horrendous and we didn't even get a free kick for it! Borini got booked for a little trip - some of the most one sided refereeing I've seen!
You are being very unfair and harsh on Defoe mate. He's scored 5 already this season and played fantastic yesterday. He missed a chance yesterday, he can't be expected to score every time.
Agree the ref didn't help us at all yesterday and we should have had a penalty regardless of whether JD went down or not, he was clearly fouled in the box and should have been given the penalty. The reference to Dozy was that we were so used to watching him miss good scoring opportunities. I can forgive JD's miss although you are right, we need to be burying those chances. My main point was that we are now creating chances unlike last season, last few seasons tbh. Goals will come mate, i'm sure if we keep playing and creating then we will score.
No Further cost is one thing - not no cost though as the outlay of both players is still there - I work in numbers and often with money so maybe I'm being a little too logical about it!! But I do understand your sentiments The Borini deal is interesting though as Liverpool still owed us around £10m from Hendo and Mignolet - so, if Borini fulfills all of his clauses, that'll be their debt paid just about (I think) - but, looking at it from a football and accountancy standpoint - we've spent £6m on Defoe and 8m on Borini!!!
I've been hinting at this sort of team for years, you're moving into a new era now. It's hard to see it the same as an outsider when your opinion is influenced by players like Cattermole who show the grit and determination that digs you out of holes. Truth be told, it's players like him who put you in the holes in the first place. Players like M'Vila can do a better job that Cattermole with half the effort plus a lot more that Cattermole just can't do. You don't need him, or Johnson, or Fletcher in your team, because they do sometimes look great, they do fight, they do get important goals but what they've done best is hold you back, year after year.
Agreed but of the players mentioned i think Johnson has the ability to be included in the current team, might just be a bench warmer but he should be given a chance to show if he can adapt his game to fit DA's new line up. I honestly don't see anyway back for Fletcher or Cattermole other than through injuries. We have so many options in midfield now that i just don't see Catts getting many starts this season.
So if Defoe had shot a little more to the right where the keeper would have saved it that would have been ok.
Harsh on AJ that. I reckon AJ has been held back by the team in many cases. In previous seasons (last 2), who on our team did the oppo have to worry about ? AJ was the only one imo. This meant the oppo only had to concentrate on marking him out the game, and that was it. He often had 2 or more players marking him. With M'villa, Toi, Lens, Borini etc playing at the same time as him, the oppo can no longer afford to have 2 players (or more) marking out a single player, which gives all our attacking players more space and chance to influence the game. I think AJ could thrive in the current squad. I cant remember the last time we had more than 1 attacking player in our squad who managers of other teams actually had to worry about. 2010-11 season when we had a front 3 of Bent, Welbeck and Gyan ? perhaps the the 2013-14 season, when Poyet got AJ and Borini playing well. (again, 2 players making space for each other).
Defoe's issue yesterday was he took one touch too many before the shot, and for me he should have went near post with it. Won't hold it against him, strikers miss, but that's a poor miss.
