http://www.caughtoffside.com/2014/0...player-swap-deal-that-could-suit-all-parties/ I have to say as much as I love AJ I would love to have Fabio back. If this is true I would defiantly swap them.
Don't think this has legs, not at the moment anyway. Liverpool are being linked with a few left footed wide men at the moment, they can't be in for them all. Time will.
Yeah I would swop, AJ just doesn't do it enough. I'd go for the 8 out of 10 every week from Borini. So much energy he gives to the team.
This is one rumour I really hope isn't true, Kinda like borini but he's not a patch on aj imo.. Where never Gona get anywhere if we constantly get rid of our best players, he was top scorer last year with the most assists, just makes no sense what so ever imo.
Johnson wouldn't go to Liverpool, he'd be a benchwarmer like he was at City. He left City to join us, so he could play regularly. Even if we saved ourselves from spending £10m on Borini, we'd have to spend that sort of money to replace Johnson This has absolutely no legs
The time has come where we need to increase our "better" players not swap one for another. Getting us nowhere. Early signs on summer transfers is promising however.
Bang on mate. What's the gain? The ability level is very similar, AJ probs shades it on talent, Fabio on application. We want both, not either/or.
Less goals and less assists and just as inconsistent (if not moreso) Definite NO from me. Johnson is a much better finisher away from the penalty spot (remember that Borini scored about 7 penalties this season). No way for me - If we could only have one of them I'd prefer AJ
Johnson's a clever player, he'll thrive more from playing alongside better players that Gus Poyet might fetch in this summer. With all due respect, he's a rung above the likes of Larsson, Gardner, Colback and Bardsley. Those guys operating around him won't have really offered him much in terms of showing his more intelligent side on the pitch. I think he'd link up well, with somebody like Leroy Fer who can give a bit more and isn't just a workhorse.
Larsson is now the only one of those players which is at Sunderland though Terry so I agree. And Arsene Wenger wanted Larsson recently as well but couldn't offer him first team football so I don't get your point - he may be a rung above those players but they are no longer at the club. SO with all due respect, no-one has any idea who Gus will sign and our midfielders at the moment are Catts (definitely a level of player we want), AJ and Giaccherini (Italian international signed from Juventus)
Fer would be a great target, I know he laboured a bit but the lad has proper quality. He'd compliment tle likes of AJ & Fabio down the flanks.
At the end of the day, Gus needs to build his team for his philosophy, if he feels we'll benefit from moving any player on to replace with someone more suited in his eyes then I'm happy with that. This includes AJ.
No, wouldn't swap AJ for Borini. Borini is a canny player, but i'm not sure what price tag kind of player he is. He ain't a 12/15 million player imo,
Neither is Johnson mate and Borini was effective and influential in a majority of his games, even out of his chosen position. AJ was largely ineffective played in his chosen position. I'd like to see both in our squad but if this was the only deal to get Fab, I'd jump at it.
That doesn't mean he's a good player mate, Wenger is a sucker for a **** player, Larsson is a poor CM to have in a Premier League starting 11 for any team, he's not a number 10, he's not got the pace to be a winger so I don't see a job for him apart from sub. My point was that Gus Poyet will probably be looking at more intelligent players to suit his own philosophy of pass and move, quick football, so Johnson would probably suit that system a lot better once the players come in. His performances can't just be judged on his own individual ability, he can only work with the players he's put on the pitch with and I think his below-expectations start to his Sunderland career can be attributed a lot to that. Giaccherini may flourish in his 2nd season as well, who I believe is much better technically than Borini and can play a very similar role. I am aware the others have left, my point was that these guys are the ones he's been stuck working with, players that aren't on his level technically/mentally with a ball.
If you're surrounded by ****e you end up stinking yourself. Through no fault of his own this is what has happened to AJ at Sunderland. The perceived Poyet blueprint will suit his style to a tee. And why can't we just buy Borini? Come ES, get the knot untied from your purse. **** or get off the pot. We can't keep getting shot of the better players at a loss to generate funds for more average players to save on the wage bill. There, I've said it.
