Capoue is a weird one: he started last season and this as an immense presence in midfield that was damn near impossible to get the ball past, then he suddenly became as much use defensively as a cone on the training pitch. Last season he at least had the excuse of being pressed into service as an emergency centre back, before Sherwood dropped him indefinitely, but this season he has been selected in his favoured position but has been outshone by Bentaleb time and again coupled with being one of the Kaboul cartel. On the subject of Kaboul, today's odd rumour is he'll be headed to Stuttgart in a deal that sees German U19 striker Timo Werner join us. Not so sure about that one, as Werner's hardly prolific, with seven goals in 46 games.
Yeah Capoue really is an odd one. Start of the season I was singing his praises, speaking of how I felt he stepped up and filled the defensive void left by Sandro but then all of a sudden he seemed to have forgotten how to tackle and lost his place to Bentaleb/ Mason. Like you say he's clearly talented and can definitely do a good job for someone, especially if they can get him to perform consistently. Does this Werner kid start many of his games for Stuttgart? If he's been a regular starter then his goal return doesn't overly convince me but if he's been a late sub in most of his appearances then I'd be more inclined to see if he can develop. Looking quickly at his transfermarkt profile, it mentions he can play on the wings too, so if he's been used on the wings more often then that could be a result in lack of goals? Clutching at straws a bit though. In all honesty however, I'm at that stage where I'd pretty much take any new strikers that are available, they can't be much worse than Soldado or Ade in front of goal this season.
His stats in the Bundesliga are... Nine starts, seven sub appearances Three goals (two as a starter, one as a sub) one assist Four starts up front (0 goals, 1 assist) Two starts as a left winger (1 goal) One start as a right winger (1 goal) One start in left midfield One start in right midfield
I had been the one saying you shouldn’t be so quick to see poor performance as the result of poor character. My favorite example was Pete Sampras, who was regularly criticized for "poor body language" and a seemingly languid attitude--on the way to winning seven Wimbledons. I lost my way on this issue when we lost to Leicester, as the problem really did seem to be effort level and concentration. Now I’m not sure what I think. I have noticed Capoue strolling around the pitch too often.
Just as long as he isn't a piss-away-promising-build-up-by-tamely-shooting-from-25+-yards-straight-at-the-keeper type of winger...
Of course I agree with your last sentence and it is certainly the case that fans sometimes draw iffy conclusions from tiny bits of evidence (miss the penalty and the player's useless, score it and he's a very decent purchase - I've seen the equivalent on this board). But 100 games is a hell of a lot. Possibly the best part of two and a half seasons. I think that judging the quality of a player is a much more subjective, qualitative process than simply a quantitative one where you crunch the numbers. Absurd example sure but if I played for Spurs you would see within 30 mins that I am simply not good enough. Rasiak looked crap on his first game, then his second, then his third. That'll do me. He's almost certainly crap. Same goes for quality players - you can tell within a handful of games if they're really good or not. Of course judging the players who are somewhere between a Rasiak and a Bale (who looked excellent within about 5 games) is more tricky. We have a lot of those players right now. But should we really wait for another 80-odd games of playing Chiriches at CB to pass judgement on him? I think not. I know I'm ignoring the "...of the same value" part of what you said but how on Earth do you measure that? Transfer fee? No - too many variables (selling club's finances/need/desire to sell, contract running down, age, status of selling club, desperation of buying club etc, etc).
Dele Alli MK Dons midfielder - according to ITKs we've signed him and will loan him back for the rest of the season
Tough one to call, stats aren't overly impressive but he does have time on his side, and lot of it at that. At 18 most players wouldn't even had played 10 league games for a club for a club of that stature, let alone around 50 so the experience is only going to benefit him. And although it's marginal, it does seem as though he'll be on course to better his scoring stats from last season, seeing as he's on 3 already and managed 4 in 30 last year (checked his wiki). Problem is do we need another youngster at the moment? Our squad is young enough already, I can't help but feel that the odd experienced head wouldn't go a miss, mainly to help develop the young talent we already have. That said, if the rumour is true and we are looking at a swap deal, providing we don't have to spend much (if at all) on top of the exchange, I'd be for it. He's young with what seems a lot of potential and will challenge not only Chadli/ Lamela/ Townsend but also Kane, so that's always a bonus, and seeing as Younes is unfortunately a shadow of the player he once was while seemingly alienating himself due to recent behind the scenes actions, we seem to be removing a negative, past-it figure for someone that could turn out a star. Just as I question whether we need more youngsters, this pops up. I've noticed Dele Alli for a while, he's building a very good rep for himself and has averaged nearly a 1 in 3 goal ratio from centre midfield, which is bloody good for someone of his age. If (and I stress the "if") that bit of ITK is true Moorph, I think it's quite a coup. He's arguably the biggest talent in the football league alongside Will Hughes. Sealing a deal for him now and letting him continue his development at MK is good business for all parties involved. Whether he'll be ready in the summer is hard to say but there's a good possibility that if he continues to impress and does well in pre-season, there may be chances for him to stake a claim; Capoue and Paulinho are likely to be sold between now and the 2016 season unless a drastic change of fortunes occur, while Dembele's long term future still has question marks. Welcome to the final days of the window guys!
On paper it looks more like a signing to balance out the squad: Werner is an U21 so has no bearing on our 25-man squad, and by moving on Kaboul that frees up a non-HG spot that we can hopefully fill with someone who will add something to the team.
Reports in Italy suggest that Roma have agreed personal terms with Chiriches - they just haven't gotten around to agreeing a fee with us, with Levy expecting £8.2m
£60 million for Cabaye, Rodriguez and Laporte, I seriously think we should be very careful before proceeding with that.
Cabaye could be a good player for us but I wouldn't want to overspend, the latter two I would be very, very wary of pursuing at £20mill odd each.
There's a simple reason not to believe this story: Laporte is valued at £32m while £16m is being quoted for Cabaye, which would mean Porto would let Martinez go for £12m - which is clearly not going to happen as a fee of £18-20m was being quoted for him not two weeks ago. Add to that the simple mathematics: we don't have three non-HG spots in the team to sign three non-HG players.
Aye hbic but in this hypothetical situation we're talking about Jay Rodriguez, not Jackson Martinez I believe. I wouldn't have the latter either, he's 28 and it seems odd to me that at that age, and given that he's been doing it for Porto for a couple of years now, nobody else has made a big bid to my knowledge. You'd have thought he'd be off from Porto if someone had bid serious money. I'd have Cabaye for £16 mill, but not for any more. He's done it in this league for Newcastle and I think he'd give us more incisive passing from deep than pretty much anyone else we've got in the squad. Wages might be a barrier though and we'd need to make space in the squad.
Note to self: don't have gaming sessions until 3am two nights in a row, or I confuse Jackson Martinez and Jay Rodriguez... However, the point stands: Rodriguez won't be going anywhere for £12m - he's English for one, and Southampton have no need to sell after fleecing Arsenal, Liverpool and Man Utd in the summer so that's going to inflate the fee, even though he's got 18 months left on his contract. Add to that the not inconsiderable fact he's not played a minute of competitive football since April 5th of last year, it's a hefty gamble to pay for someone who it can't be guaranteed will be back to the form he had before his injury, plus he won't be fully match fit until late March at the earliest. As for the other two, the reports are saying we're looking at them as summer buys rather than transfers for this window. While that makes sense for Laporte it makes sense, given we need to balance the books before spending £32m, it's odd we're waiting on Cabaye given he's getting less game time plus has Premier League experience. On top of that, PSG have played silly buggers to scupper any move for Rabiot in this window, so why give them £16m in the summer - barring the rumours that PSG's owners know someone interested in buying Spurs?
