ok, let me explain this a bit better than i have been doing. our defence last season conceded way too many goals than is sustainable for a club to keep surviving. sooner or later we needed to stop the goals going in. how do we do this? most of the goals we conceded last year, other than from opponents brilliance, came from either individual errors or straight through the heart of our midfield. the goals which split our midfield to sunder were partly because we were set up to attack in vast numbers, therefore being caught on the break. a holding player, one in the variety we do not possess on our books as it stands, would help prevent these type of goals. they would also provide a more solid midfield base than we have had which would also help sure up the central defenders who would have some protection, rather than opponents running direct at them. it would also give greater license to our creative players to move forward without looking over their shoulders for any potential breakaway. if that means playing one less attacking midfielder then so be it - as it happens, dropping johnson, who is not capable of playing the more defined holding role, would still give us similar options to what we currently have going forward. to me, its been blatantly obvious that its a major weakness. lambert never corrected it - i thought johnson would be that man but he's not that type of player - and now we have hughton who needs to address it. if i had my way i'd throw the largest chunk of our budget at one of these players because it would make such a big difference, even if they might not 'excite' many of our fans. the 'water carrier' as they are known - a vital cog in modern football. check out how many successful sides play not just one of them but two in most games. we desperately need one.
A decent holding midfielder is a LOT of money. I think we can tighten up with better defensive structure from the back going forward. I think we have to play to our strengths though, we have to go for it. With players like holt, hoolahan, snodgrass etc we have to attack. Only the truly great teams ever truly strike the balance between defence and attack, it's a tricky subject. Maybe we have a player in our ranks that can perform this role already? Maybe Whittaker or another we haven't anticipated? I'm not sure what Hoots will line up with Saturday but a 4-4-2 wouldn't surprise me, we can't be messing too much at this stage, lets get the points and get it done. I'd love to see the return of the diamond, but i'm old skool like that.
maybe im just in gung-ho mode but we never needed one before (when we were conceding all those goals lol)
the diamond, though positive, was one of the main reasons why we conceded so many goals! its so reliant on the full backs making headway that i'd rather see us move away from that formation if possible. when it works it works well but when it doesn't work it REALLY doesn't work. agree beefy, quality holding players cost a lot of money but that's the position i felt we were in most need of signing some quality and i still feel it hasn't been addressed, therefore we will continue to have the same problems in midfield and defence. improving the calibre of players in defence should help but we are still way too easy to drive through the heart of. i keep mentioning the balance of the team doesn't look quite right and i'll say it again now - we are either too attack-minded or too negative. until a balance is struck between going forward and being solid we will continue to concede goals and a holding man - one position - will help with both aspects to try and get that balance. the more i think about it, the more i think we should chuck every penny we have left right now at n'zonzi or someone of that ilk. if his wages are too much then fair enough, it can't be done, but its that type of player and that type of quality i want to see brought in to that role.
With the overall quality of the squad, adding a decent defensive midfielder would improve the team more than buying a £20 m striker.
yep, sounds a bit strange to say that but i believe that to be true more or less - maybe i could accept a £20m striker though! lets say a £10m striker instead...
N'Zonzi would be a good acquistion - he's exactly the type of player we need - rather we spent money on him than perhaps Bunn as I am not sure about the need for another goalie although I do see the need to give Rudd or Steer some game experience and Scunny (h) may not be enough. N'Zonzi's wages would be the issue I reckon but I'd love to see him at CR or failing that Bridcutt.
This 5.5mil seems to be correct, weve been mugged well and truly if the case or our transfer kitty is alot bigger than people suggest or he just isn't going to sign anyone else!
No, every indication is that it is in the £2.5m mark, other than the Evening Standard which is well known to be a very Tottenham/London leaning newspaper. Tottenham were desperate to offload so there is no way it will be anywhere near 5.5m
Maybe the deal is worth £5.5mil £2.5 mil Fee £3 mil Wages £20k p/w over 3 years is roughly that isn't it?
we need a good defensive midfielder and its worth paying for. someone like leroy fer of twente would be 4-5 mil.
I can understand Hughton wanting someone at the back that he knows. The trouble I see coming is that we now have obliterated what was there before and none of these players have played together. I'm happy with the signings Hughtons made though, I think they are an improvement on last seasons. My opinion of Hughton keeps swinging back and forth, I like he's at least trying to improve the defence, but I don't like how he's doing it. I like the players he's signed but again I don't like how he's trying to get them to play. Rigidity, restriction and instruction is fast becoming an old fashioned concept. Expression, awareness and intelligence are the attributes to be encouraged. At the moment it just looks like they are being strangled.
I do understand your concerns buh, but don't count out the ability of these players and the belief they have shown us. I believe these players will be lifted on Saturday, they know what it means, Hughton knows what it means, lets just get to it and get on it! Lets have some belief buh!
It really is a balancing act, I think Hughton is trying to find the formula to stop us leaking goals so much and to show a the similar attacking prowess. I think he can do it in time personally, it's almost as though on Saturday he tried too hard to stop leaking goals and just completely backfired. I remain confident and still think it's only a couple of tweaks. Garrido, Turner and Bassong will all be good solid signings and have all proven that they can be very good defenders in this league. Saturday will be an interesting one nonetheless.
