http://espn.go.com/sports/soccer/st...ght-middle-game-chicken-tottenham-real-madrid I hope he stays, will be a massive loss if he leaves, one of those you don't know what you had until it's gone players. Just need to add two strickers and Lloris and we should be in for a good season.
Like I have already said, Levy has not reneged on what he said. Yes Mod can leave...for the right price. Quite obviously, no right price, Mod stays on his contract thats got 4 yrs left, he never said he'd give Luka away.Simples.
Welcome to the board Good article, although I totally disagree about him being better suited to playing a number 10 role than a deeper midfield role for Real. I'm still not convinced we need a new goalkeeper and if we get one I'd rather it was someone cheap and quality like Julio Cesar. Anything over £10mill for a keeper seems like madness to me when, in my opinion, we still need 2 strikers and a winger, plus a Modric replacement if he ends up leaving.
It says a lot about the confidence that most of us have in the depth to our squad and the way that AVB has been setting himself and the first XI up, that few of us appear to be that bothered about Moddy leaving. Even the wums have given up on the subject.
Pretty much agree with all of that except for the Modric replacement. Just don't see anyone out there on the market who's a like for like (or as near as possible) to replace him that we could attract (unless we find a unknown gem of couse). I know Moutinho's been touted but whenever I've seen him, he's more of a box-to-box player more so than a playmaker who controls the game. Banega is a decent shout though his injury record is pretty bad as of late. If I'm completely honest, I think I'd rather use the Luka money (providing he is sold) on a striker (or two), top draw winger and a keeper to either come this or next season. We can use what we have to fill the void left by Luka, we've still got some very accomplished midfielders in the squad. Not taking into account any potential buys, we've got some great options: Sandro/Parker--Sig/Hudd Lennon----Rafa----Bale or ---Sandro---Parker---- Rafa/ Lennon--Sig---Bale or Sandro/ Parker---Hudd Lennon--Rafa/Sig--Bale Not forgetting the likes of Livermore, Carroll, Gio, Townsend, Jenas and Bentley (yes, the latter two do still exist ) in reserve. Those players in them formations are still head and shoulders above most in the league and still capable of achieving our top 4 aspirations in my opinion. All are vastly experienced in the competition too which I think is a big plus. I'm always happy for new players to come in and improve the squad but I won't be too disappointed if we don't add to the midfield area, with or without Luka.
SoS, we struggled last year with Parker and Sandro in the middle and every time we've started without Huddlestone in the friendlies we've struggled so I'm not convinced by the middle line up. I've never seen Sigurdsson play in the deeper role before either so I'm going on the assumption that he's not strong enough and doesn't have the passing range to make it work. I'm not sure what all the fuss is about with Moutinho but then again I've only seen him in a few games. Dembele looked excellent playing deeper for Fulham last season and he's who I'd go for. This all seems a bit speculative though as AVB's only talking about signing a striker at the moment, whether that's him being diplomatic or he genuinly believes that's all we need.
In truth, the Parker and Sandro formation is probably a bit too defensive anyway, I'd prefer just having the one DM but was just laying out the choices we had available. Sig, admittedly not seen him play deeper but his passing range has been impressive whenever I've seen him. Got a great cross on him when ever he drifts out wide too which I think is a bonus but hopefully Hudd is over his injury problems now. Dembele's a decent player but what's his passing like? Only ever seen his dribbling skills in games, never noticed much on his playmaking side.
Marcotti echoes the popularly held opinion that Modric isn't suited to playing a deep playmakers role and is better off further up the pitch. I really don't know where this idea comes from, as it can't be from watching him play for us, where he dominates games in the deeper role and becomes anonymous in the hole. Not sure he'd suit playing alongside Alonso, but when he was paired with Huddlestone for a run of games towards the end of the 10/11 season we won them all. I guess that's the closest comparison available. Most of the rest of the article's pretty accurate, though. With Real going for glory in a lot of trophies this season, I'm sure that they'd be able to find space for all of these players. The Croatian would definitely be at risk from suffering the treatment that Berbatov's had at Utd, though. He'd play, but not all the time and he wouldn't be anywhere near as big a fish.
I think as he gets older, Sandro will be more of a box-to-box player, like Bryan Robson and less of a sitting defensive player. Has already shown he likes to get forward, and maybe AVB will give him more license. We all remember him getting a bollocking off Redknapp for being too far forward after scoring a goal against Chelsea couple of seasons back. Not Harry's greatest celebration
Interesting point that. He has been getting forward a lot more, both for Brazil and the latter stages last season. Could become our "Yaya Toure" of the team. I remember that, was at the Bridge that day. Fair to say Sandro's celebration weren't too great either haha!
He was doing a weird chicken dance, as I recall I think Sandro can bring in a more attacking element to his game also, which is why I thought 4231 with Parker and Sandro would work, which it didn't really no matter how optimistic I tried to stay about it. As for Dembele, he's still learning the role but he's good at keeping the ball moving whether it's running with it or spreading the play. We'd be hard pushed to find a direct replacement for Modric but I think he'd slot well into a centre mid role for us in a 433 or 4231.
It's possible that, with VDV fit, we might play a version of 4-4-2 - Rafa playing off STRIKER WE SHOULD'VE SIGNED BY NOW, with Kane and Sigurdsson as understudy.
