More media hack sensationalism, trying to put us in a bad light yet again, afraid we will break into the top four dominated by the Skyopoly. Tevez's agent has already called the claims outrageous, City should file legal action against that rag newspaper for false claims.
It's so far from January and the transfer rumors have already started. http://www.soccerway.com/news/2009/October/08/arsenal-and-city-chase-carles-puyol/ any credibility to this source?
http://www.soccerway.com/news/2009/October/13/city-targets-bayern-back-philipp-lahm/ how about this rumor? any credibility?
Is Lahm much of a defender? When I take note of him, it's usually because he is getting forward, not for his defending.
Well, if Robinho's rumors turn out true, we're gonna have to replace him. I am satisfied with Bellamy, Tevez, and Ade. I just hope we are in 3rd place or so in January so that players from other team will more likely accept coming here.
Abit optimistic eh? I guess you've finally earned it though Idk mate, i guess what you're saying is that you Hope your club is ahead of man U, chelsea, arsenal, liverpool by january. Thats a tough call, but we'll see!
I was reading Barca doesn't have the Cash for him, but are more then willing to give up the capital. This could be a good move for both of us. I don't see the real value of a left sided midfielder that gives you no defense in Hughes' 4-4-2, It makes more sense for Robbie to play in that Barca 4-3-3 that they have been using for what seems to be a hundred years. Plus if we can get Kolo's brother off of them, could be a good deal for everybody.
honestly, aside from Messi and Ibra, who they won't deal, there's really not that many players on that team who interest me. They are either past their prime like Henry and Puyol, or they haven't been tested, or they are not as good as what we have. things are different for us from what they were 2 years ago. Our current starting lineup isn't second to a lot of teams. It's difficult for Barca to offer us something that's better than what we have.
Xavi and Iniesta are the midfield that won the Euros (with Senna), you can't get them. You can't get Yaya either, or Dani Alves, I would imagine. Probably not Pique or Chygrynskiy either. Abidal and Keita are still very good, I'd like to see how they did at Man City.
I looked at the stats on those players before I made my statement. My conclusion remains the same. Only Messi and Ibra attracts me. If Henry was 5 years younger, he's be on top of my wish list. Hughes most likely will have another 50 - 80 million pounds to spend this winter. I said it before and I'll say it again. If we are top 3 by January, a lot of players better than the names you are mentioning will want to come. We will not be held hostage by Robinho and Barca because we already have a good team.
I don't really know if we should add anyone in the winter unless we really need to. If (and thats a big if) the Robinho rumors are true then I'd say that we should wait until the start of the winter window to see how he performs on and off the field. If he shows signs of being unhappy then I think that maybe we should seriously consider selling him. So far we've done well without him, but I still think he'd give our attack something extra.
Wow. Seriously, Wow. Your saying that Barcelona, the team that just dominated the entire of last season winning the La Liga, Champions League and Copa Del Rey, has nothing to offer us. There are a number of players within Barcelona's lineup (apart from Messi/Ibra) that i would bite their hand off if they offered because they are good as, or far better than what we have. Dani Alves, Andres Iniesta, Xavi, Yaya Toure, Gerard Pique. They have a super, super team. If you are looking purely at statistics to garner the worth of their players, they obviously aren't telling the full story because (IMO) you could not be more wrong.
Could you imagine all the rags if we get Pique, every time Rio Ferginand makes an error they rue the day they let him go. I would do Busquets, str8 up for Robinho, I'd doubt they'd go for it. But you know what... it's not like they have many bargaining chips. Monsour has the cash to let Robby sit on the bench if they tap him up to a Berbatov (unable to play at all) level. We're in the driver seat here, not Barca.
Hear me out, I am not saying Barca don't have good players besides Messi and Ibra. The players you've mentioned are all worthy of respect, but are they that much better than what we currently have? We got Barry, SWP, and Ireland who are not only worthy of respect but also pledged their absolute loyalty to the team and fans. You mentioned Xavi and Iniesta, they are good but I am satisfied with what we have. Defense wise, you mentioned Alves, who they will not deal for sure. Who do we have at the back? Bridge and Lescott, who are on the English squad. Toure, who was part of Arsenal's invincible season. Hughes may have lost confidence in Richards but we still got Onuoha who's young and up and coming. Puyol is worthy of mentioning but at age 31, he's almost past his prime. The same could be said about Abidal, who's 30. I think Pique is still too young, it would be a gamble to take him but he would be more of an option I guess. Yaya would be great, but he's playing at a position that is already stacked. I mean, Petrov is benched and Elano left because he doesn't want to be benched. Do you think Yaya is that much better that them? Here is another point I want to make. Our team chemistry, aside from Robinho and Petrov, is great. God forbid, but if we collapse in November and December, I would say make some changes. But if we find ourselves in 3rd place or anywhere top 4, why tweak what is working? My main point is that our team is not the same as 2 years ago, where any player from the likes of Barca or big clubs is better than what we have. Let me know what you guys think about what I am saying.
I can kind of see what your getting at; but theres plenty of players at Barca who i would be interested if i had the chance. We too, have some players that they would bite our hands off if they thought they could get (Robinho for one, alledgedly Kompany) but there is a marked difference between Barcelona and us. If you did a best XI between the two teams, their players would still dominate over ours, even though the gap isn't as big as it once was. We have a lot of potential, and we have the ability to do great thigns in the future. The difference is that every player on that squad of theres has delivered on that potential, whereas we are still waiting. By no means am i saying that we're no good, i love the squad .. but there can still be some improvements. Just trying to make a composite team, i'm most likely thinking .. - Given - - Alves - Toure - Pique - Abidal - De Jong - Xavi - Iniesta - Messi - - - Robinho - Ibrahimovic (purely just thinking out loud. Bellamy could replace Robinho on LW, Lescott/Bridge are at least comparable to Abidal .. but still. their players are just that teeny bit better at the moment, IMO)
I would love to off load Robinho. This isn't last year where he was the best player we had. The kid bitches the locker room and has a bad attitude. He is very distracting and attracts bad media. To give up Robinho, Barca has to give me something in return that will make us scream "wow." Otherwise, I urge Hughes to be patient.
If you want to talk about loyalty, chemistry, being happy with what you have, etc., that's fine. But in terms of quality, you've got to be kidding. Don't you think your owners would gladly buy the entire Barca team? Yes, Yaya is way better than Petrov and Elano and De Jong. Xavi would also be a massive upgrade for you. Xavi's not going to be allowed to leave, though. If you manage to get Yaya though, you'll have owned Barca on the deal.