I don't agree that gerrard and lucas can be in the right place. I see lucas charging about slamming into people form behind a lot and gerrard jsut plain too far out of positio or ball watch. I am i think more about bigging up xavi than knocking mascherano. he was indeed very good as you say. far better than say a barry or a parker for example... but i would rather have a xavi than a javier any day of the week if i was offered a direct choice. I personally think masch did more kicking of people and alonso was hugely under rated in his stuff. he could mix it too.... I totally agree about gerrard and lucas... this is why i was so upset we never tried for javi martinez before bayern swanned in.
I totally agree with this. just let gerrard wander off when he likes cos he does anyway. then he switches off for 5 mins at times and in the role we are asking its causing issues. Henderson is showing some ability that he could build on in CM. I personally would push suarez wide but have the 3 with coutinho more flexible as the three players will do it anyway.
Would Chelsea let Ryan Bertrand go if a bid came in? He's not getting a sniff even with Cashley out Bertrand is a top young player. There was talk that we made an enquiry back in July.
I know we didn't get either but I am enjoying seeing Diego Costa & Henri Ryan scoring plenty of goals for A.Madrid & Dortmund. Not because I think we'll go in for them again but because it shows that R does have en eye for talent. Yes Henri Ryan was scoring plenty of goals but people were saying it was only in Ukrainian league so questioned his ability but the fact he's doing it for Dortmund shows he is a decent player. It gives me hope that if we do go out and spend £20m+ on an attacking player that they will make a similar impact that Sturrudge & Coutinho have made.
Would have loved either of them this summer. Henri is such a classy player - I didn't think he had the best of games yesterday but he's done extremely well for Dortmund this season. Costa is a beast at the moment - prior to this season, there were questions over his finishing but he has jumped up a level. As you say, it's encouraging that we're scouting the right calibre player now - I've been impressed with the committee ever since they were set up (starting with last January's window). And the best thing is that we haven't overspent on players. We acquired them all for decent money an I include the likes of Ilori, Sakho and Alberto in that list.
L'Equipe say Blaise Matuidi will sign a contract extension with PSG soon. Can't say I'm surprised as he is one of their best midfielders - would have loved him at LFC.
He is a bit pig faced, similar to Luis Muriel. Iturbe is another at Porto who has slipped under the radar a bit.
Luis Muriel and Cuadrado would be two players I would love to sign - fast, exciting, skillful, exciting players.
oinks, nutmegs, scores, lefty.... [video=youtube;Iq2hl0Jhxvo]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Iq2hl0Jhxvo[/video]
Can't say that I watch him too much but I get the impression he's a big physical player with bags of energy. It's what we need but I think we can find similar players with more in the locker - M'Vila is an example of a strong physical player combined with elegance and attacking ability. Does Mulumbu have any technical ability?
He's a classy player, he's more of a Dembele type of player, can step past tackles, uses his strength to shield the ball and has a great eye for a pass. He doesn't score though, which is probably why he's gone under the radar by most.
