Although I've been a member here for quite a while, I haven't actually posted much so this is my first thread. Please feel free to completely ignore if you're not in the mood for a long read! After what's been a terrible weekend footballwise I think the reality is sinking in now finally. We've done well over the last few years to get amongst the top teams but I think the next season will be an ever bigger season in terms of shaping our future. That Chelsea result could set us back years or even decades if we don't react in the right way. The most direct result of that shootout (the one time you're actually desperate for Germans to win on penalties they fcking let you down ) could be Modric leaving to Chelsea. If this were to happen it would be a double blow as they we'd be significantly strengthening one of our main rivals and weakening ourselves. They could really do with some creativity in the middle and with that one penalty kick they have improved their chances of getting just that. With their resources I'd be surprised if they aren't competing for the league next season as they really should be. Anything else is failure on their part. Unfortunately they're gonna be here for a while unless Roman disappears or the FFP rules actually work. Neither is likely so it makes things much harder for us. If Modric does leave it will be a big big blow even if we get a huge fee like 40m. The reality is we won't be able to buy anyone as good and proven to be effective in our team. Even though Arsenal appear to lose their best players on a regular basis they can still attract higher talent as long as their in CL. The quality of players we'd be able to attract are likely to be of lower quality. Another problem would be the low wages we can offer. This is why Modric is worth so much more to us than players with similar ability at other teams. If Modric is on 50k and someone like Nasri is on 170k at City, we're saving 6m a year by keeping Modric. Over the 5 years on his contract that's 30m we'd be saving that can be spent improving our team elsewhere. Basically this is a really long way of saying I think Levy should reject all bids for Modric unless they are bordering ridiculous. There might be a lot of interest in Bale this summer but I think with how unrealistic our demands will be, we shouldn't really have to worry about this. Unless of course Man City are interested and then we might be in big trouble as if they wanted him I think they'll pay whatever they'll have to. More positive news though is Adebayor and Levy appear to be sorting things out. Initially I thought there was no way this would be possible as it would mean Ade accepting no CL and a big reduction in wages. I'd be delighted if this happened. He's crucial in our formation and his contribution is underrated (even though he got 18 goals and 12 assists). Without him we have no one able to play the lone front man and he has a great all round game. Admittedly his finishing is a bit wasteful sometimes. Defoe is too one dimensional to start for us. Vertonghen still looks a possibility from some of the things I'm reading. Was again surprised by this. Would be a great signing IMO. Young but experienced, strong and good on the ball. Very prolific for a defender too which would be a great asset considering how little Kaboul contributed from set pieces given his size. Might be the actual delivery that's the problem but I sometimes don't think we attack the ball as much as other teams. Whilst we're buying from Ajax, I would be over the moon if we tried going for Christian Eriksen although unlikely. Very talented midfielder. Maybe give them 30 mill or so to Ajax for both of these players if Modric is going. I'm also looking forward to Huddlestone coming back. We've missed him a lot this season. He makes our midfield strong and can the move the ball very quickly to Bale and Lennon. We need to start thinking about a new keeper soon although Friedel could still do a job for a season. Wouldn't mind Foster from Birmingham. Would be relatively cheap. Could perhaps do with another striker too but that could be extremely greedy. In the space of a day I've gone to no hope to optimistic we can still compete with the top teams and can aim for CL again. I'd be delighted with this team: Foster Walker Kaboul Vertonghen BAE Sandro/Parker Modric Lennon VDV Bale Adebayor On an unrelated note, I'm surprised how much Arsenal and fans enjoyed the Chelsea win. The rivalry aside, but with the obvious improvements to Chelsea it makes things even tighter for the top 4. If Chelsea really push ahead to fight with the two Manc clubs it leaves only one CL spot available as opposed to two before. Chelsea can now offer CL and more money to players they were competing with Arsenal for.
a report today say's Spurs will swap Modric with Real Madrid for Diarra,while i would like Modric to stay,if he really want's to go make this deal happen.he goes abroad,so our pl rival's are'nt made stronger,and we get another player in return,who may not be as good as Modric,he's still good.
Agreed. Why do we need him? I think that, given his head, Sandro will become a key player for us. He's still learning, but he looks different class sometimes, already.
Modric can go to real and they can give us the rumoured 25mill + a player, but it won't be diarra. Infact, it won't be any of their players as we wouldn't pay the wages. Therefore 40mill + please.
I also agree. Our 4 def mids (assuming you include THudd) are very different and meet all our needs in that position. If Modders goes, I wonder if Sandro will be used more as a box to box midfielder, with Parker sitting and VDV doing all the playmaking. I am starting to think Sandro is more than just a defensive player. When we first got Rafa there was a lot of views that he and Luka were not ideal together, should be one or the other. May be some truth in that.
With Modric possibly leaving we will probably need to bring in a replacement, but does anyone know when Huddlestone will be fit again? He's been missed badly this season and if he can regain his form again could be a massive asset to us next year. A midfield duo of Sandro and Hudd doesn't sound to bad to me
If we sell Modric to real, Diarra isn;t the player we should be trying to get in exchange - Higuain or Khedeira, both of whom aren't starters, would be better.
Sandro is going to become a great player in my opinion - he has so many qualities. He hasn't learnt how to play alongside parker effectively in my opinion but it may well work given time. If we could send Modric to Real and get Higuain in p/x that would be a great bit of business
How is Higuain's back? He was out with a back injury for a while wasn't he? Thats a slightly abnormal injury for a footballer, i'd want to make sure that is done and dusted before taking him. (i don't think he'd be on offer or agree to come to us, but who cares?)
Wages shouldn't be a problem, because any deal would most certainly include a fee to the player, which would compensate him for any loss of uplift on his salary.
This is just something we shouldn't entertain. If we are to let Modric go, let's let it benefit us, not giving us a player we don't need, when we could have more money to buy players we DO need
Hence my suggestion of Higuain and Khedeira, both of whom are players we need and neither is in Real's first XI nor feature in their long-term plans.
Thought it might interest people that Huddlestone announced on twitter today that he was back in full training. Can't wait to see him in action next year, if he hits his top form it'll be like a new signing
He's going to be well slow with that hair providing massive wind resistance. I assume he's still growing it seeing as he hasn't scored that first team goal yet? First penalty we get should go to him so he can get down the barbers
Higuain is a striker, I'm ok with that, but why do you keep touting Khedira, he's not a playmaker, he's more a DM, if anything he's like Sandro, and as has been said we're almost overloaded there now, so I do not see the need for him.
