Always liked Morrison. And I'd imagine they know each others game fairly well from their Boro days (not sure how much they played together as Downing was preferred). Persuading him to link up with you guys over West Brom at present may be difficult. They look a very good side to me on an upward curve. I think if you look to the continent there are plenty of options. I'd maybe be looking in the baltic nations too because the Serbs (maybe not wise at present!!), Croats, Bulgarians etc all have very high technical levels.
Yeah, I appreciate that WBA are a very, very good and entertaining side at the minute, but I do still feel that we would be seen as a bigger club. That, and the possible links to Catts & AJ, as well as the fact he's a Darlo lad, may make it a goer. He's a very tidy player, links well, scores a few, but he would cost, and as you say, he might not see it as the best time to move, which would be understandable. Clarke has managed to keep them playing football, but given them a backbone.
So what you are saying is that we actually need someone else to basically do all of Johnson's donkey work for him so in fact we have wsted £12 million an a luxury player who mat get a cross over once every 3 or 4 months. Basically a waste of a player in todatys game
As far as I can tell, the difference between Johnson at City and Johnson at Sunderland is the time and space he is being given due to the runs of other players... At City Johnson had 5/6 other dangerous players, making runs inside or even overlapping and getting to the byline, causing the defenders to take a step back and giving him more time and space on the ball to exploit. At Sunderland (only from the little I've seen mind) it seems like at times the less creative players pass him the ball and basically say 'crack on lad'. The lack of creativity from the rest of the team is killing you, both in terms of chances and belief (opposition don't worry about your off the ball runs as much, and your own players seem to be making them less and less). The test of Johnson's mettle will be whether or not he can adapt to this current system (albeit with a few changes that are necessary) and become a key player for you...Personally I think he will, he did it at Boro, and he's still very young!
No, what he's saying is any team playing with wingers needs a player to link defense and attack, and without that AJ & Sess are overloaded. Anyone who watches us, and football, knows he's got it about right. JWAG, Movement is a massive issue, Fletch & Sess are constantly looking for the ball, AJ holds his spot and in truth I've not seen him asking for the ball at all. Sess, despite not being near his best, wants it constantly, so it's more forgiveable that he's not firing. I felt for Sess Tuesday, he rarely lost possesion, and several times he skinned a man or 2, and he had nobody to give it to, as despite Fletch great movement, Boro were doubling up on him in the middle.
No I don't think I have said that at all. I think you need balance in your team and squad. You lack a creator or ball player is the pretty obvious point I made. You need luxury players. We have one in Ben Arfa. They are worth the trouble. When people used to moan about Ginola not tracking back I would always think "I don't really want him too". Its about putting together team which can function together. Unfortunately I think you are missing a fairly key component which will alow the flair player to fulfill the role the supporters are craving.
That would be fair enough if he was actually creating anything but he isn't. My conclusion on Johnson is that he is just not very good, in fact he reminds me of Elmohamady.
O'Neill has a history of buying British-based players. I think for Villa he maybe signed one or at most two players from overseas, John Carew springs to mind. He'll likely be going after more of the same to fix any problems that he's identified. It's not something that would satisfy me as a fan, I like a Kagawa-type signing and the anticipation and excitement that comes with it. O'Neill made a massive coup bringing in Johnson, but a few scouts in Holland and France for example wouldn't do him too much harm for his transfer plans.
Morison would be mad to stay at West Brom if Sunderland came in fo him, West Brom will be a half season wonder at best, and while Sunderland aren't exactly setting the league alight, the potential is there at least. I think that is the main grind the mackems have at the minute, everything is in place for them to challenge but it's just not happening. Fanbase, money, training ground, youth setup etc. That isn't there at West Brom so I'm sure Morison would come if Sunderland stumped up the cash. Would love the lad at newcastle but we won't pay the price, we'd rather look abroad. MON is the opposite to that so it's a great shout tbh.
I'd love us to go abroad mate, but I just can't see MON taking the gamble. Mathias Fernandez has long been one of my favourite players, he was available, tediously linked, he went to Fiorentina. Farfan & Holtby at Schalke are 2 fantastic players who can play as a link man as well as on the wing, both would cost, but both would be potentially immense. Isco of Malaga is a stunning if inconsistent player, Malaga are still in a financial pickle, although they look to be through to the CL knockouts, and he'd cost uwards of £15million. Morrison seems a good alternative, great feet, pacey, again can drift wide, good eye for a pass, and realistically £8million would probably seal it. We have to remember we are a team without European football, that rules out the majority of established CM's, before we even consider geography and wages. I still kick myself that we never pressed ahead for Kevin Prince Boateng before he went to Genoa (and immediately to Milan). We couldn't have beaten Milan in a fight for him, but we had the chance to do a deal early and missed it. He would be as close to perfect for us as you can get.
I think you may be still missing the point I'm making. If you give him the ball in the right areas at the right time, he WILL create. Its his natural game and he has proven on many occasions he is capable. A mixture of tactics and the make up of the team are the problem in my opinion. To compare to Elmohamady and say he is a championship player is inaccurate.
Mush Maybe O'Neill can go knocking on Chelsea's door in January, Marko Marin and Florent Malouda can't get a game to save their lives. Both attack minded and Malouda is certainly a winger but it's a better option than McClean for me, at least short term. Wages shouldn't be an issue with a loan deal since he's rotting in their reserves on probably £100k a week anyhow. I don't know exactly how sour things have turned between us and you lot but there's a few of our kids could do with some experience too, Nick Powell is more than capable at this level and Henriquez could do with some experience, he's been doing well in the U21's and he scored against Newcastle! I think a couple of loan signings in January could sort out some problems you might have, the value for money in January is always a problem with buying permanent transfers. I'd be happy for Nick Powell to get half a season under O'Neill for sure, we're well stocked in CM at the minute especially if Anderson can perform like he did last night on a regular basis.
Can he keep the weight off though Terry? I can't believe how its went for him with you guys. I watched him for Porto and remember thinking at the time "this lad could be anything". His touch and ability to dictate play and pick passes was fantastic. I thought when he signed he might be the guy who eventually pushed Scholes to one side through age. But the number of times I've watched him for you guys and seen him look flabby round his chops is frightening for a pro footballer. I assume that is why Ferguson has never really relied on him.
WP I don't have an answer for that bud, he looked a different player last night. He was dictating the play in midfield along with some fancy footwork too, he forced RDM to bring on his 3 biggest weapons in Ramires, Oscar and Hazard. Anderson was getting on just fine til that lot showed up! He has looked beefy (in a bad way) for a long time but he looked agile and confident last night. I'm confident that if he played the full 90 last night instead of being pulled off for that wet fart Tunnicliffe we'd have won the game, although to be fair he looked very tired after 80 minutes. For the record, in a couple of years I reckon Chelsea will have the best midfield in the world. Oscar is unbelievable, Ramires for me is the best midfielder in the league and if Hazard can reach his potential, then along with a well established Juan Mata they'll look so damn good it's untrue.
our players made Leadbitter look good, MON should have went for Moses and Rodellago, and Dempsey. We could bring Kenwyne back, and Bent if Villa go down next season, but Ancellotti should be in charge by then, if we lose on saturday.We need a manager who has won trophies and has tactics. And as for Morrison he is at a bigger club than ours at the minute, Fulham and WHU are bigger bigger than our laughing stock. Bon jovi is coming to the stadium of light next season and so could M K dons!.
Have to agree. Hazard is a real gem, along with Mata. Funnily enough I was just discussing how good Ramires is this morning. Oscar is just a world beater. Brazil don't often bestow the number 10 on just anyone, Zico etc have made it something to be treasured. He has it at such a young age for a reason. Last night he showed a bit of grit too when he came on (great tackle on Nani). Couple that with his ridiculous natural ability and they are a handful. I have to say I don't think Mikel or Romeu match up to the other four in their formation! They'll be a handful heading forward though. That said I think they'll finish 3rd this year. I still think the Manchester sides will fight it out. RDM has done very well but he needs to bite the bullet in terms of Luiz. His head isn't right and he is a walking goal a game for the oppo. I realise they have Terry to come back but he dropped Cahill last time. I'd only use Luiz as a last resort. I'd play Ivanovic and Cahill ahead of him.
Mikel will never be what Chelsea think he is, he's basically a piss poor version of Essien. On his day, Essien was the best DM around, didn't take no **** from anybody on a football pitch it's a massive shame his injuries ruined him, although I've not been keeping an eye on him at Real Madrid. Ramires does like to get forward which is why I think they play him alongside Mikel as opposed to playing him instead of Mikel. Over time I guess Ramires might be told his defensive duties come first and rely on Mata, Oscar and Hazard to get the goals. He does have a knack of getting important goals though and is a great finisher, his goal against Barcelona at Camp Nou was sublime, from Lampard's assist - another free scoring midfielder that they have at their disposal...scary.
