Summer Transfer Gossip

DubPerryman

I've just noticed that we've scored one more goal than City going in to the last match. Not bad for a team desperately in need of a striker. They've only got Tevez, Aguero and Dzeko.

Could this mean our problems lie else where? #justsayin

Admittedly we'd need to shore up our defence and score 15 more goals if we want to compete for the top two next season.

noker

I think we are badly missing a player that can give a killer pass. Aaron Lennon has highest number of assists this season with six. Man Utd, City , Chelsea and Arsenal all have two players that have made more assists than Lennon.

Kiith

We have been missing that killer pass all season. Modric and VDV were the two who would generally make those passes. I want a new striker, a new left winger and another CM (or maybe Holtby will step up). We'll probably need a new left back as well, if Benny leaves.

Hopefully Kaboul can get back to 2011 levels of fitness, and between himself, Vert and Daws, we should have a fairly solid back line.

mickman

DubPerryman wrote: »

I've just noticed that we've scored one more goal than City going in to the last match. Not bad for a team desperately in need of a striker. They've only got Tevez, Aguero and Dzeko.

Could this mean our problems lie else where? #justsayin

Admittedly we'd need to shore up our defence and score 15 more goals if we want to compete for the top two next season.

Exactly , everyone keeps going on about a striker when we have scored plenty of goals

The problems are clearly at the back.

nipps

mickman wrote: »

Exactly , everyone keeps going on about a striker when we have scored plenty of goals

The problems are clearly at the back.

i dont think the problem is neccessarily at the back. yes our defense has been dodgy at times but there are reasons for that. 1. avb introducing the high line. 2. losing kaboul our best cb in first game. 3. benny and walker inconsistency and lack of form compared to last year. 4. although avbs squd rotation has been decent enough a proper cb partnership wasnt really formed until the second half of the season.

i still think we were unlucky with kaboul. a lot of work needs to be done on defensive set pieces. an we need another left back. also once sandro is back he will contribute to the defense. i really believe that if these issues are addressed, next season our defense will improve considerably.

now to the issues of goals and a striker. this season we hav had to rely on bale, a winger turned attacking mid for the majority of our league goals this season.(20 in league) the closest to that is defoe on 11 and dempsey on 7. our main striker ade follows them joint wit verts on 5 goals each. if we want to be a top 4 team we need a top striker. a top striker would be my no. 1 priority if i was avb this summer.

i completely agree that we are missing that killer pass that modric and vdv provided. because of this we have looked very flat/lacklustre for many games. had we had someone we prob would have beaten wigan, fulham, qpr and norwich( games off the top of my head where we were quite poor).

just a few thoughts....

Devo from Dublin

nipps wrote: »

i dont think the problem is neccessarily at the back. yes our defense has been dodgy at times but there are reasons for that. 1. avb introducing the high line. 2. losing kaboul our best cb in first game. 3. benny and walker inconsistency and lack of form compared to last year. 4. although avbs squd rotation has been decent enough a proper cb partnership wasnt really formed until the second half of the season.

i still think we were unlucky with kaboul. a lot of work needs to be done on defensive set pieces. an we need another left back. also once sandro is back he will contribute to the defense. i really believe that if these issues are addressed, next season our defense will improve considerably.

now to the issues of goals and a striker. this season we hav had to rely on bale, a winger turned attacking mid for the majority of our league goals this season.(20 in league) the closest to that is defoe on 11 and dempsey on 7. our main striker ade follows them joint wit verts on 5 goals each. if we want to be a top 4 team we need a top striker. a top striker would be my no. 1 priority if i was avb this summer.

i completely agree that we are missing that killer pass that modric and vdv provided. because of this we have looked very flat/lacklustre for many games. had we had someone we prob would have beaten wigan, fulham, qpr and norwich( games off the top of my head where we were quite poor).

just a few thoughts....

I disagree....
When we had them we still didnt create all these chances people are talking about....
The bottom line is a 20 goal striker...
Look at the difference Bales 20 goals have made!!

2nd Row Donkey

I don't think anyone would argue that we need both.

But I think we need to move for a striker (or 2) immediately. no point leaving that until last and then getting caught with our pants down.

I know I have said this a million times before but why wait until the end of July/August to start making serious moves for players, we should be sowing up deals now so that they can sign on July 1st.

irishmover

@SkyNewsBreak: QPR striker Loic Remy arrested on suspicion of rape

I guess relevant to this thread as some people were saying we might move for him.

nipps

Devo from Dublin wrote: »

I disagree....
When we had them we still didnt create all these chances people are talking about....
The bottom line is a 20 goal striker...
Look at the difference Bales 20 goals have made!!

ok for this season the assist stats in the league from our midfield are as follows: lennon(7), bale(6), gylfi(4), dembele(4), dempsey and hudd(3). our strikers: defoe(4), ade(2). total 33.

compare this to the previous season with modric and vdv in the squad. midfield: bale(12), vdv(7), lennon(6), modric(4), parker(2). strikers: ade(10) defoe(2). total 43.

i know modric's assist are low. but what modric brought was his ability to start the attacking moves, move the ball forward and up the pitch, pick out clever passes to the wingers or vdv who would then provide the assist. i would love to see how many goals were scored from a move he started/involved in.

how many times this season have we seen the ball being passed around and then ending up with walker or benny who hav to launch a long ball forward again.

Ormus

Devo from Dublin wrote: »

I disagree....
When we had them we still didnt create all these chances people are talking about....
The bottom line is a 20 goal striker...
Look at the difference Bales 20 goals have made!!

Well said sir, we often had trouble breaking teams down last season, even with VdV and Luka.

We have scored an ok amount of goals this season, but that doesn't mean we don't need a striker. Our goals have mostly come from Bale, which is all well and good, but it would be great to have a target man / finisher.

People can forget about us signing 2 top class strikers though, the chances are we won't get anyone who is established top class.

Ormus

nipps wrote: »

ok for this season the assist stats in the league from our midfield are as follows: lennon(7), bale(6), gylfi(4), dembele(4), dempsey and hudd(3). our strikers: defoe(4), ade(2). total 33.

compare this to the previous season with modric and vdv in the squad. midfield: bale(12), vdv(7), lennon(6), modric(4), parker(2). strikers: ade(10) defoe(2). total 43.

i know modric's assist are low. but what modric brought was his ability to start the attacking moves, move the ball forward and up the pitch, pick out clever passes to the wingers or vdv who would then provide the assist. i would love to see how many goals were scored from a move he started/involved in.

how many times this season have we seen the ball being passed around and then ending up with walker or benny who hav to launch a long ball forward again.

I'd love to see those stats too but I think they would be underwhelming. It's easy to be involved at the start of a move with a sideways pass, I'm sure even Parker has been involved in lots of our goals. I'd say Carrick is involved in a high percentage of United's goals, but that is not to say he is particularly creative.

I'd imagine Dembele's direct style has resulted in at least as many goals as Modric indirectly created. I could be wrong though, would be interesting to see.

2nd Row Donkey

irishmover wrote: »

@SkyNewsBreak: QPR striker Loic Remy arrested on suspicion of rape

I guess relevant to this thread as some people were saying we might move for him.

Gang rape no less.

Don't think he's the answer in any case.

golfball37

2nd Row Donkey wrote: »

Gang rape no less.

Don't think he's the answer in any case.

For a second I thought you said " a case to answer" :eek:

DubPerryman

nipps wrote: »

i dont think the problem is neccessarily at the back. yes our defense has been dodgy at times but there are reasons for that. 1. avb introducing the high line. 2. losing kaboul our best cb in first game. 3. benny and walker inconsistency and lack of form compared to last year. 4. although avbs squd rotation has been decent enough a proper cb partnership wasnt really formed until the second half of the season.

Wait a second, so you don't agree that we have an issue with a leaky defence..... but yet you go on to make 4 points supporting the fact we had a leaky defence. I'm confused.

My original point was fact based.

We've scored 65, City have scored 64.

We've conceded 46, City have conceded 31.

We're fifth, City are 2nd.


I'm not slagging AVB or his style of play, I'd argue that I'm his biggest fan. I just think our issue might not necessarily be with our strikers.

It is most likely a defence/midfield issue. The midfield not good enough to ease pressure on the defence and the defence being caught out of position.

One stat constantly argued is the number of shots we've had. This is often confused with actual goal attempts. If there's no creativity in midfield, our players will be forced to shoot from distance. This action has created a shot, but not necessarily a goal scoring attempt.

I agree that our attacking would have been far more efficient with Modric/VDV in the team i.e. we would have created more actual goal scoring attempts.

Thus, our focus should be on improving the defensive element of midfield (get Sandro fit) and improving creativity in central midfield (Moutinho maybe?). We'll also need to secure a decent replacement for Sandro.

2nd Row Donkey

Your point is a valid one but I think citeh fans would argue that lack of goals has been a problem for them this year, partly due to Mancini's negative tactics.

If you take away the sloppy goals we have been conceding from set pieces in the 2nd half of the season and a few of the goals shipped in the early games as the team adjusted to the high line etc then I think our defense isn't too bad. Not good enough to challenge the the EPL but not too far off either.

I dont think Kaboul will be the answer to all our prayers but it will be a big step in the right direction.

Also, we desperately need an appropriate back up to Sandro. I have a feeling he's the sort of player that we will miss (injury/suspension) for extended periods every season.

Kold

I wish we'd sold Walker last season. Value prob gone down 7 or 8 mil this season.

He'd be a decent player if he learned to kick a ball.

nipps

DubPerryman wrote: »

Wait a second, so you don't agree that we have an issue with a leaky defence..... but yet you go on to make 4 points supporting the fact we had a leaky defence. I'm confused.

my point was that yes our defense has been "leaky" at times and i gave the reasons for that, but i dont think we need to bring in new players for defense bar a left back.

i think that next season our defense will be alot better than it was this season. the players will be more familiar with the high line system. we will also have kaboul back. hopefully walker and benny will be more consistent (if not, then avb should look at new signings). and if key players stay injury free and defensive set peices are worked on, i would be confident with the current crop of players.

mushykeogh

@barcastuff saying Villa done deal, personally convinced by AVB, probably utter rubbish but sure i said id throw it up here.

2nd Row Donkey

Think that @barcastuff fella is suppose to be full of it. I wouldnt mind as long as he's not on silly wage or too long a contract. Could do a similar role for us like that time United signed Henrik Larsson.

Left Back on the Bench

2nd Row Donkey wrote: »

Think that @barcastuff fella is suppose to be full of it. I wouldnt mind as long as he's not on silly wage or too long a contract. Could do a similar role for us like that time United signed Henrik Larsson.

cannot see villa signing for us. he'll want champions league. id be lookin at perrera,moutinho,ramirez. possibly hulk or mandudzic but they might be out of our league.i can see avb playing 3-5-2 at times next season

Kold

irishmover wrote: »

@SkyNewsBreak: QPR striker Loic Remy arrested on suspicion of rape

I guess relevant to this thread as some people were saying we might move for him.

RVP II?

Sugarlumps

http://www.mirror.co.uk/sport/football/transfer-news/tottenham-confident-gareth-bales-staying-1893610

irishmover

AVB in press conference now.

@BenPearceSpurs: #thfc AVB on David Villa:
“Hes one of the world’s best strikers. What comes out of speculation at this time at Tottenham is very surreal.."

@BenPearceSpurs: #thfc AVB on Luke Shaw: "Any player who makes a breakthrough at the age that he has is absolutely unbelievable..."

@BenPearceSpurs: #thfc AVB on Shaw: "...but it doesn’t mean there is direct interest from Tottenham in the player. But he’s a wonderful footballer for sure.”

@BenPearceSpurs: #thfc AVB says Assou-Ekotto has trained with the team this week and is back in contention. That's the only major change in the squad.

@BenPearceSpurs: #thfc AVB also reiterated (a few times) that he expects Bale to be at Spurs next season

@BenPearceSpurs: #thfc AVB on Ante Rebic: "I have no idea who this player is, Im sorry. I don’t know where this has come from. Hes not someone Im looking at”

irishmover

Basically: I have no idea who Rebic is. Villa deal is unlikely (could be playing the media) and Shaw is a very good player with alot of potential.

Alot of media thought we were set to sign Rebic for £5m.

And also remember AVB has had a tough time with the media since coming to England so I wouldn't be surprised if he's just playing his cars close to his hand.

Ormus

irishmover wrote: »

Basically: I have no idea who Rebic is. Villa deal is unlikely (could be playing the media) and Shaw is a very good player with alot of potential.

Alot of media thought we were set to sign Rebic for £5m.

And also remember AVB has had a tough time with the media since coming to England so I wouldn't be surprised if he's just playing his cars close to his hand.

Definitely the best way to play cars.

Sugarlumps

Top trumps?

irishmover

Ormus wrote: »

Definitely the best way to play cars.

It's hard to proof check everything I type on my iPhone. Autocorrect is a pain in my neck...

irishmover

@GuillemBalague: About David Villa and Spurs: Barcelona are selling, around 12m euros would take him. He wants PL football, but has not decided club yet.

12m euro isn't bad for Spanish all time goal scorer.

@GuillemBalague: Spurs, Arsenal, Liverpool all interested in him. So is Atletico Madrid. It's still waiting time for Villa

Devo from Dublin

No thanks on David Villa.

jobeenfitz

Yes please, David Villa. He is worth taking a chance on. Even if he is only performing at 70% he would score more than our current stirke force imo. Class is permanent even at 32, he could also be a great teacher to our other strikers.