Reports say Sevilla are offering £15m - which means we'd technically make a profit on him, as we only paid £13m up front with the rest in goal-related add-ons. Okay, he's gone from being Kevin Keegan to being Ossie Ardiles. Pass the popcorn, this implosion is going to be amazing.
"Sheesh! What formation is Brenda thinking of playing? 3-2-5!" It worked in 2013-14 did it not (GA similar to Spurs, but GD in the 50s) .
Benteke ain't Suarez. Not even close....and Sturridge will probably play two games and then be injured for the next six months.
I wonder if Liverpool will change their style of play. As it stands, there’s no team where Bentecke’s talents seem less useful. As I remember, Kaboul was Jekyll and Hyde last season, mixing in some shockers with at least one, and I believe two, outstanding performances. So there’s probably still a top player in there somewhere. At his best for us, he was fabulous, as good as anyone in the league, IMO. Part of our DM problem, I think, is that Pochettino seems to want his DMs to play less like DMs and more like combative CAMs. He wants them to push up and make the offside trap difficult and dangerous to get through. It’s great when it works, but when it doesn’t, the most useful quality a defender can have may be speed, because he’ll have some catching up to do. Dier and Rose were particularly useful for that reason. It does make me wonder why he doesn’t seem to like Yedlin, whose signature moment came when he caught an attacker five yards ahead of him. His Southampton team let in quite a few as well (50, maybe), and he had Schneiderlin. Last year, he started Mason, who is indeed an extra CAM. We should have extra CAMs this year, and I’ve seen Eriksen shine in a deeper role for Denmark, but he and the other attacking mids, with the exception of Lamela, are lightweight. The prospect of Lamela in a deeper role gives me *pause* pause. I just don’t want McCarthy for 20 million when I don’t think he’s any better than Stambouli. It would be scary to trust our academy players, I grant you. I’d be more inclined to worry if we were within touching distance of the top four. We’re not, I don’t think, so I wouldn’t necessarily mind gambling on them plus Dembélé. Alderweireld can also play DM, and I would think Dier would be good there as well.
The Kaboul deal is rumoured to go through tonight. If I hear that he's failed his medical then I fear I may end up like this
Corrected the front page due to players being in the wrong place Also added Kaboul to the outs. His fee is rumoured to be £4m
Kaboul leaving is a mark of time passing as much as anything else - its truly odd to think of him in 2010 in his second spell with us, putting in that cross for Crouch at the Ethiad, or scoring that goal against Arsenal. A lot of time has passed since then I guess. Shame he tarnished so many good memories we have of his time with us by ending it as a bit of a twat really. On the DM situation, I would hate to see us shoehorning players like Dier or Adlerweireld into that position because we have to, so we need to add a player for the starting XI there. And rwaeb, I don't think Poch doesn't trust Yedlin, I think its a combination of him being pretty worn out since he joined us (is it just me by the way or do the US players seem to play an awful lot more international football than anyone else) and his lack of experience at this level that saw Dier, and Vlad to a lesser extent, gain yet more game time at RB. Yedlin might get loaned this season but the MLS step up is big for him lets not forget, and there is significant competition in that position. Walker is on his last chance too sadly I think. Dier isn't a serious long term option there for me - his ability to play RB in an emergency is very useful but he is noticeably a CB playing out of position at RB to me. I agree with you on Mason, he needs to be further forwards competing with Eriksen, but I disagree with you a bit on McCarthy. Yes £20 million seems steep for him, but if he's the make or break player for this coming season...who knows I guess. It could prove to be a masterstroke, or really it could be the opposite. I think we need to trust Mitchell, Pochettino et. al. though, or we're never going to get anywhere. There is always a risk, but not backing the manager is a guarantee for failure.
Personally, I like McCarthy. I think he's the sort of all action type midfielder we need. This is probably going to sound daft, but in context, is £20mill a lot of money nowadays?
Lennon plus cash being mooted for McCarthy in various gossip columns. I'd prefer the more cash and keep Lennon option tbh, or cash plus Townsend. But neither of those looks like an option. If true, that'd be around £10m to reinforce a key position while moving on a player who MP clearly doesn't rate to at least a decent club that isn't beneath his level. I guess everyone wins.
Barcelona are considering loaning out Arda Turan for the first 6 months of the season due to their transfer ban, which means he is not eligible to play for them until January. They would only loan him out to a team not in the Champions league. I think we would have a great chance of getting him. We are the next tier down from the Champions league 'regulars' and we play in a high intensity league. Perfect from Barca's point of view to get their man in top condition and absolutely perfect for young Bentaleb and Mason to learn from a beast of a player. Not to mention an experienced player for the whole team who could by the time he leaves have our young guns settled and confident due to His impact on and off the pitch.
Villa boss Tim Sherwood will target Tottenham striker Emanuel Adebayor, 31, to replace Benteke. (Source: Birmingham Mail) Oh, please, God, let this happen!
I am in Madrid at the moment and the talk from some Atleti fans last night was of Mario Suarez coming to WHL they also said we should be looking at Arda Turan.
**** that! They can keep the cannibal! Yes, I know it's a different Suarez, but I think we should play it on the safe side, just in case
I bet Mario Suarez ends up at a club in the CL. But from what little I know, he’s class and I’d love to have him.
You are probably right but there seems to be a hold up in the touted move to Inter and there was something the guys were saying about the Poch-Simeone relationship. It would be great if it happened.
