To be honest, I would rather wait until next season and hopefully we'll be in Champions League so we can attract real quality. I'd hate for us to spend the same amount of money on players like Downing, Henderson and Carroll again. I rather we had value for money. Note - Not bashing the above players, I think they all add something different to the team but I'm talking strictly in terms of value for money i.e. Suarez £24m compared to £35m Carroll.
To be fair we're not scoring enough goals. Carroll isn't doing it and Suarez, as good as he is, is not (yet) prolific. We need a striker for sure.
SSN again commenting on our 'heavy' spending which runs to an incredible 30m net spend since FSG took over. Never mind the savings we've made on wage bills. 30m is peanuts nowadays and that's almost what we've saved from wages. Lazy journalism trying to imply we're just happy spending without thought a la city when this couldn't be further from the truth. I have no doubt we'll spend again in January if we lack something or suffer injuries but we'll also reduce the wage bill at the same time and sell before doing so (kuyt/maxi being prime targets in the near future). If we're in the top 4 at the end of the season, we might spend without selling purely because we would be in a position to do so with CL money.
I don't think we need that much to be honest. Maybe 5-10m on a forward but that's about it. Save money for next summer although I still think we're ok for the short term. Look To spend money youngsters and general squad depth for the next 18 months.
I think we need to increase depth and competition for players on wings/ attacking midfield. We also need to start scoring more goals from those positions, as well as improving assists. If the delivery to Carroll was better no one would be saying we need a new structure so urgently.
The thing is we're good at the small passes, through balls and keeping hold of the ball. Exactly what doesnt suit Carroll's game. He prefers direct passes and crosses where he can out muscle rather than out run/skill/speed a defender. That goes against the likes of Suarez.
I say a good traditional right winger wouldn't go a miss. We have the left sorted but we seem to lack a good right winger. Yes Kuyt etc can do a good job there but I would love to see someone flying down the RW taking people on. Carroll isn't good enough so I think a striker wouldn't go a miss. To be honest though I would rather wait till the summer and get a better price for a better player. I think we have plenty of options to have a good enough season.
Let's see where we are in the league when the window opens and what we will have learnt. The summer offers the better opprtunities to improve but we still need to be in the top 4.
Last summer, we brought in players who improved the depth of the squad. Next summer, I want us to focus on players who can slot straight into the first team and make an impact. As someone mentioned - quality over quantity.
