Found this just this morning on FTB. http://www.ftbpro.com/xposts/the.ro...-can-make-instant-impact-but-ustari-a-mystery Looks like we could finally have a decent striker on our hands. ............................................................................................................................................................................................................................ What does a respected expert think about Sunderland's sudden influx of Argentinians? Ignacio Scocco is a 'very, very, talented player'. That is the opinion of renowned South American football expert Tim Vickery. Vickery was quizzed on Sunderland's incoming Argentinian players on this week's BBC World Football Phone-in on Five Live, and had nothing but superlatives for the striker, who is expected to complete a move to Wearside this week. He said: Scocco is a lovely striker. A very very talented player. You probably wouldn't play him right up top in the Premier League, you'd play him off the main striker. He strikes the ball very very well indeed, moves with great fluidity - I think he's a really interesting player. Of the three (Scocco, Ustari and Vergini), he is the one most likely to be pitched into Sunderland's relegation struggle and instantly make an impact. You are certainly hard-pressed to find any experts with a bad word to say about the former Newell's Old Boys forward, which is encouraging. The positional quandary offered by Vickery is an interesting one, however. At the moment, the closest thing 'off the striker' the Sunderland system has is probably Fabio Borini's position on the left hand side of a front three. You wonder if that position may be an option for Scocco with the Italian moving to the central role. You certainly can't really see Poyet changing much about his system. He seems very set on it and has been for some years now. Oscar Ustari, on the other hand, appears to be a total mystery. Vickery explained: Ustari is one of the most bizarre cases I can ever remember. He is 27 now and, going back 8 or 9 years ago, we all thought that he was going to be Argentina's goalkeeper for the next 15 years. I watched him in the under 17s and under 20s for Argentina and for Independiente and he just seemed to have absolutely everything. Big, commanding, good reflexes, stood up well, good kicker... you just thought he had everything. In 2007 he went to Getafe in Spain with the idea being to play him a few times and then sell him on at a big profit. That was the idea. Unfortunately, when they played him he was absolutely terrible. I just don't know what happened to him. He lost all confidence and a goalkeeper with no confidence is a terrible terrible thing to have. He's never really properly regained it and never really subsequently nailed down a first team place anywhere. He started off the 2008 Olympics in the Argentina team and suffered a serious injury, which didn't do him any good. So he came back to Argentina and played for Boca Juniors for a while but was awful. Not because of any technical flaws I think but just because his confidence had gone. So this is a big test of Poyet's man-management. Because all the fundamentals, I think, are there. He just needs to get his confidence back. Can Poyet, who speaks the language and comes from just across the water and should know the mentality, get him back to what he looked like being a few years ago? If so, there is a cracking goalkeeper there. With no transfer fee and just a six-month contract, there appears to be little risk with Ustari. In actual fact, if he has as good an all-round game as Vickery claims, it could be a very clever signing by Poyet. Either he gets in his head and restores his confidence or he moves on with barely troubling the accountants. It's not as if Vito Mannone looks like relinquishing his hold on the top spot any time soon anyway. And what about Santiago Vergini? Well don't expect too much seems to be the recommendation: Vergini is a big centre half who I think might struggle a little bit. I think he's vulnerable on the ground. I've seen him done too often. Poyet kind of hinted at this. He said "English football is much much quicker than anything he's been used to and he's going to need time in order to adapt". He has perhaps been thrown in at the deep end. Again, though, that seems to be a low-risk deal provided players like Carlos Cuellar and Valentin Roberge stick around as a safety net. These are just the opinions of one man, it must be remembered. True, a very well-respected and informed opinion, but opinion nonetheless. You can never really know how players coming over from South America will deal with the Premier League It is definitely an opinion worth taking notice of, though. Take from it what you want, really.
Vergini and Ustari are merely short term solutions to short term requirements. I am not sure either will remain after the summer. Scocco seems like a really good signing and coupled with Bridcutt, a sign of Poyet's growing influence on the club. I still think there will be other targets left until the summer and depending on what league we are operating in, his real team will be evidenced at that time. We cant lose on the forst two and at £3m-£4m we are not risking the kings jewels on him either. Win, win, win as far as I am concerned.
We can't lose on any of them really. The loan deals either work out and we buy them, they don't and they return to their parent clubs, they won't be on mega bucks wages for sure so not much to lose and everything to gain. Bridcutt is a talent for sure and will only prosper and at the money being mentioned he's a snip, Scocco again not exactly a kings ransom and i think from what has been said and you tube etc, we have a decent player. Certainly can't be any worse than Graham or Altidore can he?
You've got a point mate, no denying Fletcher has struggled this term, i personally think he is still carrying his ankle injury, he certainly doesn't look fit anyway. I read another report where Gus was saying that both Fletcher and Altidore were struggling with his system/style of play but he was backing Fletcher to come good and said he would work with Altidore to get him scoring. If he can achieve all this then he truly is a god plus we'll have one pretty potent strike force.
aye, I just dont like this singling Jozy out thing thats happening. None of our srikers have done well this season. Either they're both ****, or both struggling with the system. not one one way and one the other.
I'll throw this out there cos it's Friday and I'm bored but, what about a forward 3 of Scorchio, Borini & Whickham? Put Fletcher & Altidore out of their misery for a while and work on them over the summer to regain fitness, confidence and get used to Gus' style of play.
Not a bad idea STK, When Wickham returned we all thought he would be used as transfer bait to land Bridcutt and obviously that is not the case, he was sat on the bench on Wednesday and didn't get a run out, unless something more is happening today in the transfer market then bringing Wickham back to sit on his arse dosen't make sense. I'm sure in time all will be revealed, Gus knows what he's doing with spades on.
Ignacio "Nacho" MartÃn Scocco (born 29 May 1985 in Hughes, Argentina) is an Argentine international football player who plays as a forward for Sunderland. Scocco can play on both wings, but prefers to play on the left. He can also play as an attacking midfielder and often as striker. Scocco is well known for his powerful accurate shot, dribbling skills, pace and attacking intelligence. Bardo, OShea, Brown, Alonso Ki, Bridcutt Scocco AJ.........Borini Jozy The movement in that midfield/attack would be amazing imo Jozy could drop deeper, with Scocco pushing up front. AJ, Borini and Scocco could all inter-change and swap Ki could push forward, or support Bridcutt further back mouth watering if Poyet can get them set up right
My team for the nags would be: Manonne Bardsley O'Shea Brown Alonso Catts/Bridcutt (depending on Catts fitness) Johnson Colback Borini Fletcher. Subs, from - Scocco, Gardner, Larsson, Jozy, Vergini, Celustka, Whickham, Keeper.
Tim Vickery is one of, if not the best journo out there, I read his columns religiously & they are always spot on. As such, I'll take all 3 of these as he describes, Ustari, for the record, had 3 or 4 good months at Getafe before it went wrong, but the whole team had a slump around him. Anyway we have Vito, and Vito is better than god.
Cest. Poyet has been a fan of Vergini for the last few years. He see's him as a long term player who fits our system. Not sure where you've got the idea he's a stop gap. Besides, why would we sign a player who needs time to adapt as a stop gap? It's counter productive.
