The reason why we are where we are is we have no creativity in the middle. Aqualani on loan and selling meireles when he especially looked good has left us short. We need a player who can unlock defences. Discuss
Now then, do you mean that we need a Fabregas type player, or say a Chippy Brady type player (going way back)? There's more than 1 way to beat a defence than having a single play-maker!
but utd have scholes and 2 wingers.... so bang goes that theory... we need a lot more than one player
The reason we are where we are is cause we let aqualani go on loan after getting him fit and let meireles be sold when he was really beginning to shine. We didn't replace quality with quality
As a neutral, I'd suggest that you've still yet to bring in a suitable replacement for Alonso. Adam can do a job for you, especially in the Europa League with younger players around him and learning from his experience, but he's not good enough for your first XI.
ermmm... not really. aquilani is a terrible player really. everytime he felt a breeze he was complaining of the flu. he didn;t want to be here and actually we had in theory gerrard and meireles so in fact mr meireles decided he wanted double the money so wanted to go too. I do not at all doubt that we would be far better off with meireles than adam.. no question but the fact is downing has been terrible and a big let down compared even to where he was at villa. like i said the top sides have more than one player. ... utd at thier best had scholes and giggs and beckham or scholes and ronaldo and nani/giggs. We need more than aqua man or lightweight tackle jumper meireles. adam = terrible buy, downing = big let down. suarez = 1/4 season ban. thats the reality. good job we won acup and are looking to the next semi having beaten everton every time we play.
agree with poll.... alonso and mascherano were bascially the best midifeld partnership we had... gerrard and hamann even were not as good. lucas isn't quite replacing maschernao but is close before his injury, primarally bacause he didn;t give it away. alonso is one of reals most vital players which proves why since then we've tumbled down the league. aquilani was a terrible error that cos rafa his job i nthe end. Kenny bought adam who is awful. at least kennys got a cup in his pocket to get the time to fix it. make no mistake we need to add quality as suggested, but it can't be lightweight like meireles or a total waster like aquilani.
I suspect Aqua could be better than you're giving him credit for mito. True, he was a bit lightweight (more skilful players often are) and true he didn't want to be here. This adds up to him not being the right player for us for sure, but I still think he's a quality player who can come good in the right team. If his attitude had been better, and his wife/gf not so fussy about the bracing North West, I think we might have had a decent player there.
Yeah I agree with this. I remember him playing for us against Portsmouth (I think) and he completely tore their defence to shreds.Was also very good in last summers pre season.
he's a malingerer. is he setting milan alight... nope. he;s coming on as sub. the fact is we conceeded a shedload of goals in rpeseason so its no place to judge anyone really. if we did we'd sell skertl! i think roma were delighted to sell their own hometown boy to us and snapped our hand off laughing as they did... juve said no, fiorentina said no and milan are waiting to see if they will actually buy him... why? his wages. if he was as good as you guys are saying that would be no barrier clubs. I;m not saying he;s adam but i am saying he's not the guy that would solve our issues, not at all.
Fair enough, our opinions differ on this. I agree in the main with your points but not necessarily the conclusion you draw. I don't want to argue about something that is hypothetical anyway, but would point out that I didn't claim he would "solve our issues", merely that I believe him to be a better player than you say.
The problem is your good player (Gerrard) is now past his best and your new signings are just not good enough. Comolli has spent a lot of money on over priced rubbish.
I find it very interesting that visiting posters feel the need to comment upon our midfield. That same midfield (in all of its guises) has created more chances per game than any other and sat in front of one of the meanest defences - and yet it is continually slated as not being good enough. I can't argue about Alonso. With the way the game is now being Ref'd in the Premiership, Masch would always be an accident waiting to happen. So let's not look back there Plus Alonso is now out of our age criteria. Sure, our midfield still needs further work. It will improve and evolve and then we'll see just what the pundits have to say in a year or two.
Why do you judge Downing after less than a season with us but not the Utd players? First seasons: Ronaldo: 6 in 40 from the wing. Nani 4 in 41 from the wing. Kuyt: 14 in 48 from the wing. Ronaldo and Nani not so hot early doors, then.
To be fair, Kuyt played as a striker in his first year and moved over to the wing when Torres joined.
But as a striker Kuyt was'nt prolific saint but his undoubted energy and work for the team cant be faulted,his first touch and his offside awareness has been his biggest downfall for me.
