Please, yes. If you look on some of the other threads from early in the season, I have been a big booster for signing Boumsong. I just wish it had been done this year. Henchoz and Hyppia are solid, but are aging and increasingly their injury-proneness and lack of athleticism (respectively) is making us vulnerable at this key position - especially to counterattacks. While many center halfs don't peak until their early thirties (Southgate and Uhiogo being examples) I don't think that Hyppia and Henchoz are going to have the shelf-life as a pairing that the typical EPL center-half has. In order to compensate for their relative lack of pace, we tie up our anchor midfielder too much, at the expense of our link-up play. However, an athletic and imperious center-half like Boumsong would make a perfect foil for either of our existing center-halfs. He also possesses the distribution skills and savvy to help link-up with the midfield. He has been a fearless marker for Auxerre and acquitted himself very well - even in Champions League. He may not be Rio Ferdinand or have the upside of Jonathan Woodgate, but he is young, experienced, hungry and athletic (and a heck of a lot less expensive as well). I can't wait to see the day when our center midfielders play flatter and you don't have one having to shade back deep all the time. They both need to be ballwinners, but more importantly, they both need to be playing in a more advanced position (simultaneously) if we want our scoring to be distributed more evenly and our offense to have all of weapons befitting a title challenger. Currently, our 'anchor' midfielder is not consistantly in a position to exert enough influence on the attack (either by being in position to make the final pass or to put the long shot on frame). And let's face it, as much as we rely on Jamie Carragher as a fullback, we need better cover at the center half position than Djimi Toure and Igor Biscan. Biscan has played well and may yet be a late-blooming success a la Hyppia. But as Henchoz and Hyppia wear out, we need more depth at the position. At least until Zak Whitbred establishes himself . I would rather have Jean-Alain Boumsong in January than Djibril Cisse next season (or at all frankly).
I think so as well, especially after today's debacle 2nd half against Arse. For whatever reason, Hyypia is having some trouble (no Henchoz? Can't work with Biscan as well? Getting burnt out? Doesn't like Houllier anymore?), have no idea what it is exactly. I hope he can turn it back around. Biscan, although he's trying to hold his own, is NOT the answer obviously. Henchoz was a step slower before the injury this season. Ready for a Boumsong to step in. And after watching a few matches this season, I want nothing to do with Cisse.