Really? How have Everton strengthened? Arsenal? Chelsea? Liverpool have spent £80m on Carroll, Adam, Downing and Henderson. Sure, they look better on paper than they did last season, but that's hardly value for money, is it? I'd rather we made the right signings, than quick ones.
Arsenal - Gervinho, one of their targets (and one of ours, apparently) Chelsea - Villas-Boas, a VERY good signing Everton - ok, i'll give you that one Sunderland - 9 new players Liverpool - identified three top transfer targets, and went all out to get them, and they did You would rather we made the right signings, rather than quick ones. So we haven't signed our '2 to 3' top signings, unlike Pool, because??? And you're happy with FREEdel, Caballos, Coulibaly and probably Whitham?
Arsenal - Gervinho signed, who will compete with numerous similar players, but they've lost Clichy and not replaced him, plus Fabregas and Nasri are seriously unsettled. Chelsea - They've signed a new manager, who may or may not succeed and has very little experience at all and none in England. They have a lot of old players. Sunderland - Didn't ask, but they have signed 9 new players. How many of them would make our first XI? Liverpool - Vastly overspent and strengthened positions that arguably didn't need strengthening, bar left wing. Will Henderson or Adam make their first XI? Probably not. Freidel's a decent signing and we've brought in some youngsters. We haven't sold enough dead wood and we haven't significantly strengthened, but there are about six weeks left of the window. Far too early to make panicky, depressed comments.
FREEdel isn't a decent enough signing, he's not the player he was two years ago even, slower and more immobile, he was atrocious last season. youngsters look like they may be prospects.. in two to three years We haven't sold our dead wood, because nobody wants them, nobody, so what are we going to do about that? lessen their sale value? can't do that, we need the money for our 'new signings'? At the minute there's no point looking above us and saying, well they haven't done anything because they're already above us. Below us Liverpool and Sunderland have significantly strengthened, they whys and the wherefores of the new players they have bought in don't matter, they HAVE strengthened, we have stood still. Everton, whilst they may not be flush with money and new signings are a damn good TEAM, a team that can beat us at the moment in terms of desire, hard work, and confidence in each other. so we were fifth, and three teams below us are more than capable of overtaking us unless we do something. Thats why eighth is a realistic guesstimate for our position next season unless we get moving in the next six weeks.
Friedel clearly wan't atrocious last season. That's not a generally held opinion. The youngsters have clearly been brought in for the future. They're largely irrelevant to this discussion and didn't cost anything meaningful. We haven't sold our dead wood because there's been very, very little movement in this window, so far. They're also out in South Africa, which would delay any moves for now. Your speculation is meaningless, until the window shuts. Everton haven't strengthened, so by your own standards, they've stood still. Somehow though, you believe that they've got better and we've got worse.
Friedel last season Conceded 59 Compared to Gomes 39 Clean Sheets 7 Same number as Gomes Saves/game 2.8 Compared to Gomes 3.7 Save % 64% Compared to Gomes 74%, Catch success 96% same as Gomes And a high percentage of people, including many Spurs fans, put our failures last year squarely at Gomes door. So if Gomes isn't good enough, why is FREEdel better? And lets be honest here, if he's so damn good, why was he on a free? And why weren't L'Arse, who need a really good goalkeeper in their ranks, beating down his door? So far there have been 53 inbound transfers in the PL, 95% of which are first them players and only 3 of them for us, one of which is a first team player. So when is it going to get busy?
Statistics are irrelevant, Arsenal never sign anyone over the age of 12, bar the odd random exception and you've made up the 95% stat.
If Man Utd had taken him to replace van der Sar, then they'd have needed to replace him in a year or two, anyway. We're not in their position either, frankly. Goals conceded is irrelevant. It doesn't show how many of them were his fault or how poor the team were overall.
But every goal Gomes let in is relevant? even though many weren't his fault, and were down to failures of the team overall? And his flappy hand last night? was that not his fault too?
When did I say that every goal Gomes conceded was relevant? Stop putting words into my mouth. I felt that the Brazilian was badly used last season and that Redknapp had multiple chances to take a player that looked injured out of the firing line. He didn't do so, despite having two able deputies available and it hit Gomes and the defences confidence in him hard. Friedel's a good keeper, a good organiser and an experienced signing for nothing. One dodgy flap in a friendly isn't going to change that. Long term, we do need to address our goalkeeping situation. Friedel and Cudicini don't have many years left at the top and it's unclear what the future holds for Gomes. If we signed a young keeper though, you might cry.
So there were other options available to you, as I imagine there would have been to us too, but we plumped for FREEdel? And in his years in the PL, with Liverpool, Blackburn, Aston Villa he has been reliable and consistent - so reliable that Pool sold him to a first division club he last won a trophy in 2002, ten years ago and was so valued by his last club that they ended up letting him go on a free
This is a tad unfair. Not many players will survive a stamping like that. What Adam did was malicious..
