Well I used to be keen on us getting Gattuso, but after watching him get owned against Barcelona changed my image of him. He constantly gave the ball away, and that's exactly what we DONT need atm. He's the defenition of 'destroyer' though, he takes people out and wins the ball but he's not so good at keeping it.
I think Giuly would get murdered in the EPL. He's too fragile and lacks stamina. If he was built like Overmaars, he'd be an interesting player to look at, but I don't think his style of play would do well in this league, he doesn't have the bottle of a SWP or A.Lennon or the little guys we have over here and it'd be a big problem for him, imo. Deco is a premier player, he's just the player that immediately springs to mind as a direct Scholesy replacement if our ginger prince has to retire. He'd be a major coup a major expenditure (£20m+ bracket) but he'd be worth it. It's a 'just in case' name thrown in. I pray Scholesy is fine and this isn't even an issue, but if Scholesly is not fine and Barca do get Henry a quick enquiry to the player wouldn't hurt. If Spurs don't qualify for the CL, it could be a problem for them to hold onto him if we do enquire. They aren't a selling club, but they do struggle to keep their top notch players once they're established.. all the rumours around King show that yet again they may lose a world class player to a team higher up the league. . I think if we pressed the issue we could entice Carrick. As for Newcastle, we're very comfy with them... A player plus cash for Parker would be an interesting gambit. Parker is ambitious.. a bit treacherous in fact... I think he'd be off in a flash if we went in for him. I'm 100% against the likes of Duscher and Ambrosini. Duscher is rubbish and Ambrosini would not do the job we need. As for Mokoun or Vogel, maybe. But neither fills me with any enthusiasm. I'd rather not use a stop-gap, tbh. We need a settled xi now, one that will grow and be ready fro a CL in 2 or 3yrs time. Where does that leave us? Saha has proven his worth to us this season and I think he's a very important piece in our armoury now. The only way I'd be comfortable with that deal is if we'd lined up Yakubu as his replacement. Outside of that, I think it'd be incredibly risky to gamble on getting a striker in who can perform like Saha who is an unproven entity in the league. If any top club is stupid enough to take in Silvestre... go for it. lol.
What johno said. DS: I don't see why you don't think Makoun could be molded into a CL player in two or three years, he is still very young and raw yet. He was the skillset though I believe. I don't see how you can put him and Vogel in the same category as stopgaps.
Perhaps, can't really tell until he's here can you? I don't think he'd be expensive, but perhaps you are right - I'm sure before any such move Fergie and the docs would go over him and take these things into consideration. Fair enough I don't know, he wouldn't say Hell No I'm not leaving, but its not like Spurs aren't on the up and up. He wouldn't lower the price at all, the United tax plus him being English and young = 20M I can understand Duscher, but don't lump Abrosini in with his kind. Ambrosini is quite skilled. A good passer and reader of the game, he's physical too, which is something we need. Saha has "proven" himself in less than 6 months? How many months has he spent in re-hab? He's not proven he can stay healthy though. Like I said, I'd jump if I were Ferguson and we could get Parker for Saha. Its not like we were rubbish w/ Ruud/Rooney combination and its about time Rossi gets blooded. In any case, strikers are decidedly easier to find than defense first CMs. Exactly
You dont have to see it, before you know a dog cant do my homework! (something along the lines of that. You used that line against me.)
So we'd have the same reaction, except that I may laugh right in their faces if they really think that I may agree to it I'd rather have a very good striker who's had injury problems in the past, but who's played very well when healthy than midfielder who was only able to play up to expectations for Charlton, who's done nothing for the last big club he's been in, and who doesn't usually play against good clubs.
I personally don't think Diarra is a 'must have' guy although he is amongst the best we could get imo, but he is the one talked about most on these boards os I used him as a template more than anything (esp. since I still had cash to spare). Just for the record.
£20m, eh? Plan A: IN: Mahamadou Diarra - max. £20m (Lyon) Franck Ribery - £8m (Marseille) George Boateng - Bosman (Middlesborough) Ben Alnwick - £1m (Sunderland) Total In: £29m Approx. increase in wage budget (/wk): £130,000 OUT Quinton Fortune - released David Bellion - £500K? (Nice) Liam Miller - £2m (Leeds/Aston Villa/Rangers) Chris Eagles - £500K (Watford) Kieran Richardson - £2.5m (Man City/Newcastle/Bolton/Spurs) Mikael Silvestre - £4m (Lyon/PSG/Valencia) Luke Steele - released Total Out: £9.5 Approx. decrease in wage budget (/wk): £100,000 Net Expenditure: £19.5m Plan B: IN: Michael Carrick - £12m+Richardson (Spurs) Vicente - £15m (Valencia) Total In: £27m Approx. increase in wage budget (/wk): £110,000 OUT Quinton Fortune - released David Bellion - £500K? (Nice) Liam Miller - £2m (Leeds/Aston Villa/Rangers) Chris Eagles - £500K (Watford) Kieran Richardson - p/ex (Spurs) Mikael Silvestre - £4m (Lyon/PSG/Valencia) Luke Steele - released Total Out: £7 Approx. decrease in wage budget (/wk): £100,000 Net Expenditure: £20m
what solid margin is that? I'd also remind you that Parker was stuck on the bench at Chelsea which prevented him from playing often. I was quite impressed with Carrick today, he had that one run that was splendiferoustic. I'd be happy if we were to sign him and one other CM or DM tbh.
and when he was fit he didn't get to play. Saha was barely fit for more than 2 club matches for a season and a half. one big injury vs several shorter injuries.
I like l_u_f's ideas. Except for signing a 31 year old Boateng. No Diarra. Silvestre out? Yes. Either O'Shea and/or Saha out to fund a Carrick move. ( would bring in a total of £12MM together) So that's 16.3MM. Or one could keep Silvestre at LB, sell Richardson if you believe KR would get more than £5million of relieve. ( I don't) However, Silvestre leaves. Evra gets converted to LW, full-time. Park becomes a CM. Smith returns to Striker. Entertain Spurs wth talk of Lennon for Richardson. Then offer £20m for Carrick.
Saha played 10 more games over the past couple of seasons. Over the past 3seasons they played the same number of games.
Thanks... I don't think that's really significant... I'm sure most of Saha's appearances have been off the bench.
If I were Alex Ferguson, I would buy one prominant center midfielder (like Mascherano or Carrick) and one other young midfielder who I could mold into the type of player we need. That way, if Mascherano or Carrick were to become a big hit, when they left the club, we would have a player ready to step up for the mean time until we found another long term option. Then I would buy a winger, someone that is atleast 25, that way, when his time is up, we would have Martin, or another youth product learning and being an understudy to that player. Similar to the relationship Rafinha, and Cafu have.
If I were Sir Alex Ferguson, I would go 4-3-3 for the rest of the season. Also, like teso said in the match thread. It still shows we have a long way to go.
O'Shea: OUT £2m Fortune:OUT £1m Miller:OUT £500,000 Silvestre:OUT £1m Kieran Richardson: In tha first Team permanently Pique: In tha first Team permanently Ronaldinho
If I were Sir Alex Ferguson, I would work on set pieces during training a lot more. They come in handy when teams with solid defenses come along. Indirect freekicks, cornerkicks, direct free kicks...etc.
If I were Sir Alex Ferguson, I'd try to learn English so I could communicate with the players. Most people don't speak Scottish.