I was under the impression that Sven was the better of the two Benders. I admittedly don't watch a ton of Bundesliga games anymore, but I thought the general consensus was Sven > Lars.
Nah, Lars have always been the better talent for me, Sven plays for a better team. He is a very complete midfielder more so than his brother imo can play the dlp/dm role easily. Would be a very good purchase but it will take him atleast two years to really come into his own and would be cheaper to obtain than getting Sven from Dortmund. To summarize Lars is more a playmaker DM and Sven more a conventional DM. Cant see it happening.
Brede Hangeland in January if he doesn't sign a new contract before then keeps popping up as a rumour.
True, but Smalling and Evans can play fullback. Given that we're competing on nearly 3 fronts every season, probably best to have 3 quality CBs and 2 more back ups for them.
Evans is pretty poor at fullback though. Essentially, what would have been nice is if we would have got Varane - a CB who could develop into a starter in 3-4 seasons and provides good backup for now.
Yeah. We could also experiment with Carrick in the Busquets role with 3 CBs behind him, one of which has freedom to surge forward. But that of course wont happen.
I think Bender would be a perfect addition. A great professional who got better every season and who could easily start at an elite team the way he slotted in during the Euros. As you mentioned, Sven is more of a DM, cleans up and Lars is more of a Ballack-esque box to box midfielder. Similar to Khedira as well. Higher ceiling than Sven because of versatility.
Anderson plays very much a box to box role. I think the two would get in each other's way. IF Anderson pushes up further maybe. Also not sure about Cleverly's role yet? Is he meant to replace either Carrick or Scholes. If so, a better midfield would be Bender, Cleverly, and Kagawa as much as the latter is probably best in teh creative role of a 4-2-3-1.
You cannot base any signing or ideas around Anderson as a starter. Not until he has shown consistency, played a season where he has started most of our matches and an ability to play 90 mins.
Talk about potential, anyway Carrick would be a starter for atleast 2 more seasons so it will be Carrick/Cleverley Bender (in 2 man) and many combinations can be made of 3 man midfield including Powell Kagawa Anderson. We are talking about signing a midfielder though, will never happen.
Cleverley is not meant to replace either, his style of player is different. And Anderson I would not consider him a box to box midfielder, his defensive capabilities are not admired, he has a physical presence and carry a ball through the ball but he is not good enough with his finishing or defensively to be considered a box to box. Cleverley and Anderson complement each other, one is more conservative and has good tactical postioning while the other is the more risky and can hit a deadly balls, however they both need cover defensively and that's where Lars comes I think to shield both of them .
Apparently he wasn't keen on joining you as you'd signed Phil Jones in that position. http://www1.skysports.com/football/...asons-behind-his-decision-to-join-Real-Madrid
Then I don't think you'd want Lars as he is definitely very attack minded. Maybe Sven Bender would be a better option then. Think of using Khedira as DM or defensive cover. Didn't work as well or didn't get best out of him.
We dont do DMs or conventional DMs, wont see SAF signing one ever and that is something I agree with him 100%
It's a shame there wasn't this much hostility between De Rossi and his previous managers over the last few years...he's getting a bit old for us to pursue (even if he was a realistic target).
we're being linked with victor wanyama in january for L12-15. this pleases me. brain, brawn, guile, ball skills... he'd be the perfect box to box for us next to carrick.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/fo...ester-United-keen-Celtics-Victor-Wanyama.html Yeah, the mail saying Sir Alex was watching him against Barca. Interesting if true, as he had a big game.