Summer Transfer Speculation and Shit.

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Originally Posted by Power_n_Glory

That's Suarez! Saurez, dude. It's not some bum player we're talking about.

Merts is a World Cup winner and we've had our most successful and stable period in defence for a long time under Merts. Kos was blundering all the time before Merts arrived. It's a good partnership and I think people are a little too obsessed with the sight of his slow movement. He reads the game very well and that's an important part of being a defender. I remember Kolo and Verms having pace but both were stupid defenders. They'd charge in before thinking and Kos has that same tendency.

Merts is the least of our worries. Tell your German colleague to eat a sausage. He doesn't know what he's talking about :lol:

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Unbelievable....I completely agree with you.

whadoyaknow! :lol: We were bound to agree on something.

I don't mind Mertesacker, he works very well with Kos. Emphasis on partnerships at CB is more important than individual performances. But if we're looking to take things up a notch, he would be a player that we could improve on. His lack of ability on the ball is a problem. The game has changed a lot in the last 10-15 years. Defenders need to be comfortable on the ball and attackers need to be put in a shift defensively. If CBs are able to get the ball directly to Ozil and other attackers, it really hurts the opposition. Noises from Wenger that Paulista's supposed to be a good ball-playing CB. He'll need to step up.

Has that ever changed? Wenger has always gone for that type of CB but we got ourselves into problems with guys like Kolo and Verm.

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Originally Posted by Herbert_Chapman's_Zombie

Your German work colleague?....because he has the same nationality as Mertesacker he's automatically an authority
But that's why you have a squad, Mertesacker not just for his height is our best player at defending set pieces....Koscielny is no midget and yet it's definitely the weakest part of his game.
Would you play Mertesacker against teams that are going to send surging strikers that could run rings round him? No but would you play him against the Stokes of this world yes

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No, because he's seen him play hundreds of times more for club & country than you have.
From memory, didn't fair too well with him against Stoke last year. I actually don't rate him in the air, never in the right place from set pieces & gets beaten in the air by smaller men, he can't jump

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Originally Posted by Power_n_Glory

Has that ever changed? Wenger has always gone for that type of CB but we got ourselves into problems with guys like Kolo and Verm.

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I think the best centre back partnership we've had in the 21st century was Kolo Toure and Campbell, both had different attributes. Campbell strong, aerially competitive....and wasn't afraid to be assertive vocally with those around him. Kolo Toure quick, good ball player might make mistakes but had the pace and timing to atone for his errors.

Unbeaten season central defensive partnership, nothing else to say.

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Originally Posted by Power_n_Glory

That's Suarez! Saurez, dude. It's not some bum player we're talking about.

Merts is a World Cup winner and we've had our most successful and stable period in defence for a long time under Merts. Kos was blundering all the time before Merts arrived. It's a good partnership and I think people are a little too obsessed with the sight of his slow movement. He reads the game very well and that's an important part of being a defender. I remember Kolo and Verms having pace but both were stupid defenders. They'd charge in before thinking and Kos has that same tendency.

Merts is the least of our worries. Tell your German colleague to eat a sausage. He doesn't know what he's talking about :lol:

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Maybe Suarez Dude! but he's not the fastest man on the planet. Possibly Barca & Madrid's slowest forward. These are the teams I hope you want us to start competing against. If you don't, Merts is fine but if you want to compete stop thinking we can do it with players that arent good enough to play for the teams we're competing against. Its the mistake Wenger has made for years & continues to do so.

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Originally Posted by Herbert_Chapman's_Zombie

I think the best centre back partnership we've had in the 21st century was Kolo Toure and Campbell, both had different attributes. Campbell strong, aerially competitive....and wasn't afraid to be assertive vocally with those around him. Kolo Toure quick, good ball player might make mistakes but had the pace and timing to atone for his errors.

Unbeaten season central defensive partnership, nothing else to say.

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Fuck me Herbie - just when I thought you couldn't sink any lower - Kolo - good ball player!!! - I need a lay down.

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Originally Posted by Herbert_Chapman's_Zombie

How many of those yellow cards were picked up as a result of the midfield in front of him not tracking back and covering. Doubtless there is an impetuous side to him which at twenty he has plenty of time to get out of his game, but again you make a giant leap to state that because of this this makes him only good enough to be a squad player for a mid table side.

I think there are plenty of midfielders who don't have the legs to run around the pitch making tackles, but it doesn't relegate them to being pub players. If your saying he shouldn't be playing as a DM absolutely no argument from me but to state that he's closer to playing for the Dog and Duck than maybe producing the odd bit of midfield passing quality to open up a tired defence in a game than I'm not buying it. Do we have plenty of players that can do that and apart from being captain he is surplus to requirements absolutely, but the chasm between that and pub player is a yawning one.

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Sorry Herbie, missed this one earlier. Now you want to blame the other midfielders for Arteta's inadequacies - aren't they the same players that have played infront of Coq?

Sorry meant Chambers!!

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Originally Posted by Dein-machine

Maybe Suarez Dude! but he's not the fastest man on the planet. Possibly Barca & Madrid's slowest forward. These are the teams I hope you want us to start competing against. If you don't, Merts is fine but if you want to compete stop thinking we can do it with players that arent good enough to play for the teams we're competing against. Its the mistake Wenger has made for years & continues to do so.

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Merts ain't perfect but he's a World Cup winner. It doesn't get higher than that.

Strange one. Suarez doesn't have outright sprint speed, but his dribbling speed and burst of pace on the ball is frighteningly fast, not to mention his general movement and close control.

Anyway, go for Stones. If only to piss off Mourinho.

Stones? At that price?

Who do you think we are? Liverpool?

Also, Suarez is a genuine worldie. Using him as an example is moronic.

Agreed Suarez could run rings about any CB alive or retired.
But Merts is SLOOOW. Doesnt win headers in his area or the oppositions. He should be phased out slowly, ideally replaced next season

Chuck a load at Dortmund for Hummels or did he sign a new contract? He covers CB and DCM.

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Originally Posted by Herbert_Chapman's_Zombie

I think the best centre back partnership we've had in the 21st century was Kolo Toure and Campbell, both had different attributes. Campbell strong, aerially competitive....and wasn't afraid to be assertive vocally with those around him. Kolo Toure quick, good ball player might make mistakes but had the pace and timing to atone for his errors.

Unbeaten season central defensive partnership, nothing else to say.

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Yeah, I agree. The Campbell Toure partnership worked. Sol was no slouch and quick off the mark but he wasn't the one charging into tackles and nipping ahead of attackers to steal the ball. That was Kolo's job. He was the more aggressive one line Kos is now. We got ourselves into trouble when we had two overly aggressive cb's. Galas and Toure were bad so were Kos and Verm. Once Merts stepped in, Kos looked a million miles better and I think Verm looked a little better too. You need someone to cover. You need that organiser and I think we found that in Merts. I

Never rated Mertersacker very highly, he's as slow as an overloaded barge and doesn't have the football brain or anticipation to make up for it, he's also useless on the ball, we've got Paulista but should consider another CB to replace him (Hummels is a good shout).

Liverpool sign Benteke for £32.5 million.

Mentalists.

http://www.liverpoolfc.com/news/late...enteke-signing

Great player.

Always been a fan. Probably.

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Originally Posted by McNamara That Ghost...

Liverpool sign Benteke for £32.5 million.

Mentalists.

http://www.liverpoolfc.com/news/late...enteke-signing

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If he gets them 25-30 goals next season he'll be worth it, there's no reason why he won't he got 49 in 101 for Villa and Liverpool are a better team.

He's not at that level, that's my reason.

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Originally Posted by McNamara That Ghost...

He's not at that level, that's my reason.

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People might have said that about Suarez before they signed him.

They didn't buy him for £32.5 million and at least he had a history of high goalscoring seasons.

Come on Zim, you are reaching by just plucking Suarez out of the air as an example.

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Originally Posted by McNamara That Ghost...

They didn't buy him for £32.5 million and at least he had a history of high goalscoring seasons.

Come on Zim, you are reaching by just plucking Suarez out of the air as an example.

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They paid 23 million 5 years ago (prices have been going up so it's not far off) and Suarez goals were in the Dutch league which is a lower standard than the PL, Benteke has 49 goals in 100 games, that's a great record whichever you look at it, you might not like him but he's a goalscorer that's without question and in a better team he may well score more.

32 million is a lot, but these days that's the going rate for someone who scores goals.

He's make or break for Rodgers, that's for sure.

In other news, City are seemingly in negotiation for De Bruyne :wacko:

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Originally Posted by Özim

They paid 23 million 5 years ago (prices have been going up so it's not far off) and Suarez goals were in the Dutch league which is a lower standard than the PL, Benteke has 49 goals in 100 games, that's a great record whichever you look at it, you might not like him but he's a goalscorer that's without question and in a better team he may well score more.

32 million is a lot, but these days that's the going rate for someone who scores goals.

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The going rate for a guy that has scored 15 and 11 in his last two seasons. :wacko:

I can't quite fathom how you can seriously suggest Benteke has anywhere near the capabilities that Suarez (has reached); he has nowhere near the same skillset and it does him a disservice to even mention him really. Suarez is a guy with great talent, he is mental but he works his arse off in every game. Benteke doesn't and doesn't.

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Originally Posted by McNamara That Ghost...

The going rate for a guy that has scored 15 and 11 in his last two seasons. :wacko:

I can't quite fathom how you can seriously suggest Benteke has anywhere near the capabilities that Suarez (has reached); he has nowhere near the same skillset and it does him a disservice to even mention him really. Suarez is a guy with great talent, he is mental but he works his arse off in every game. Benteke doesn't and doesn't.

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I'm not suggesting he's anywhere near as good as Suarez, just that he scores goals, he got 23 in his 1st season for Villa and the following season was hampered by injuries, he also spent a long time on the sidelines last season so that takes time to come back from. He's got potential to score a fair few goals in the right team.

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Originally Posted by Firmino Is Boss

Great player.

Always been a fan. Probably.

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He's fine, but £32m good? Well, in a world where Sterling is 'worth' £49m then maybe, but it's all very silly.

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Originally Posted by Letters

He's fine, but £32m good? Well, in a world where Sterling is 'worth' £49m then maybe, but it's all very silly.

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Originally Posted by Firmino Is Boss

£32.5 MILLION POUNDS for Benteke!

::crying:: :faint:

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Fair to say I'm... on the fence.

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Originally Posted by Dein-machine

Sorry Herbie, missed this one earlier. Now you want to blame the other midfielders for Arteta's inadequacies - aren't they the same players that have played infront of Coq?

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Even though Coquelin and chambers never really played together?. Coquelin came into the team when Chambers came
Out of it.

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Originally Posted by Power_n_Glory

Yeah, I agree. The Campbell Toure partnership worked. Sol was no slouch and quick off the mark but he wasn't the one charging into tackles and nipping ahead of attackers to steal the ball. That was Kolo's job. He was the more aggressive one line Kos is now. We got ourselves into trouble when we had two overly aggressive cb's. Galas and Toure were bad so were Kos and Verm. Once Merts stepped in, Kos looked a million miles better and I think Verm looked a little better too. You need someone to cover. You need that organiser and I think we found that in Merts. I

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Precisely

Benteke may get then goals but does anyone think 'pool may have a few strikers Sturridge, Ricky, Firm, Ings and the Belgien they bought last year.......and Mario but it's doubtable if he is anything but a liability

Firminho is more a replacement for Sterling and Lambert and Balotelli will most likely leave either on loan or permanent deals.

Sturridge and Benteke would be the obvious first choice pairing but they are both crocks who will probably spend more time on the treatment table than on the pitch. I think Firmino will play more as a number 10 than as a striker, leaving Ings and Lambert as the back ups.

I hope Balotelli fucks off back to Italy tbh. Cant stand him.

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Originally Posted by Dein-machine

Sorry Herbie, missed this one earlier. Now you want to blame the other midfielders for Arteta's inadequacies - aren't they the same players that have played infront of Coq?

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Funny enough, I partly blame the guys playing with Arteta. I think I've said this a few times in the past. The way our midfield can sometimes look so lifeless and flat has always bothered me. We had the tip tappy phase with Cesc and co where we held possession and did nothing with it but since he's left we've struggled to even do that. We're only just starting to get that fluency back and at first I blamed Arteta for really slowing down our play. The side ways passing, the way he panic passes when under pressure or avoids collecting the ball all together if under the slightest bit of pressure. That bothered me a lot and you could see us struggling to get the ball over the half way line.

But a few seasons back, I noticed the big difference Rosicky would make when playing alongside Arteta in that CM role. It's a world of difference and the fluency just came right back. Rosicky did that for a couple of seasons and I started to see that Wilshere and Ramsey were also a big part of the problem. Not just Arteta. That core trio of Arteta, Wilshere and Ramsey should never ever play together. Arteta has his flaws and weakness but it really doesn't help when Pinky and Perky are in the mix. They don't track back, they don't come back to play deep and collect the ball, they have no partnership at all when playing together and that needs to be sorted. It puts extra pressure on an already flawed player so I agree with Herb's on this one. I think if we played Arteta alongside Cazorla he'd be fine. He hasn't played next to Cazorla in that role and I think the pressure would be eased off Arteta slightly if we had to play him.

But I also see the point you made earlier about that Barca kid. If Wenger decides to sign a young inexperienced DM whilst passing up on players that can provide something for us now, I'll be pissed. For starters, we just bought that young Polish DM last season and although it's a small fee, it's a waste. Wenger has a habit of collecting youngsters and the majority of young players amount to nothing. Look at that situation where we had Dick Law fly out to Costa Rica to sign Campbell who wasn't even eligible for a passport. We also had Vela waiting on the bench to get game time, who was supposed to be a superstar and we had also just signed Ryo and Wellington Silva, two other players ineligible for British passports, a year before and we also just signed Ox. There is no way we could accommodate all those wingers, develop them or monitor their progress and it seems like we have a potluck system going on. Just look at Coquelin's emergence as an example. We seemed totally unaware of what he could offer the team and was just shipping him out of the squad on loan so he could run down his contract and then leave the club. He would have suffered the same fate as Vela and Campbell if it weren't for that injury crisis. It's frustrating to watch especially whilst we pass up on established players. I just don't get the obsession of collecting young players and not actually developing them. We're just casting a wide net and hoping something special will emerge from the pack and be distinct enough for us to notice.

Anyway - back to the thread - Have we bought anyone yet!!!!

Diaby close to signing for West Brom. :lol:

Pulis to turn him into a world beater?

Watch him stay fit the entire season..

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Originally Posted by fakeyank

Watch him stay fit the entire season..

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In sha Allah he will!