Manchester United Talk/Gossip/Rumours Thread 11/12

Delboy5

Am i right saying that since this time last year Uniteds central midfield have lost:

Gibson, Park, Fletcher, Pogba, Morrison

And all we have is:
Carrick, Scholes, Giggs, Anderson, Cleverly

Am i missing anyone ?

Mitch Connor wrote: »

Fergie will be infront of the media today at the presser - dreading him saying our business is done. Will struggle for 4th if we don't invest in midfield.

Patsy fyre

Mitch Connor wrote: »

homerjay2005 wrote: »

transfers rumours seem to have completely died down....it is both a good and bad thing as we dont have to listen to false hope and mostly rumours, but at the same time, we still have signed 5 players in the past year and all of them were predicted by some papers well in advance.

maybe united are going about their business totally away from the media, but its very rare *hernandez and smalling being exceptions that we sign somebody totally out of the blue....

the silence is defeaning

Fergie will be infront of the media today at the presser - dreading him saying our business is done. Will struggle for 4th if we don't invest in midfield.

The same way we struggled for 4th last season?

TheTownie

Copper_pipe wrote: »

Kagawa and Powell being unveiled today at 12:30

homerjay2005

Patsy fyre wrote: »

The same way we struggled for 4th last season?

can you honestly see us getting 16 points off spurs, arsenal and chelsea this season?

can you honestly see us repeating our great away form?

can you honestly expect Chelsea to be that bad again, after winning 2 cups and now having a "settled" manager...or should i say respected?

City will be better this year.

Liverpool will be better this year, so will arsenal, arsenal were in turmoil for the first month of the season, spurs were poor also and then faded away.

other teams will buy, if we dont buy in MF, its going to be another depressing season cos last season was depressing for most of it. finishing second flattered us to be honest, City were 10 points better all things considered (beating us 7-1 on aggregate for instance, better football, more goals scored, less conceeded, less bad defeats) than us and deserved to win the league.

even the games City lost, they were the better team in most of them and just couldnt take their chances. we came second last year, which had more to do with the quality around us than us being good.

PhlegmyMoses

Struggle for 4th? Mother of God. Whoever makes claims like that should be forced into access bets because it's uber-negative, doom and gloom at best and trolling at worst.

Nothing in the past year suggests that we won't be challenging for first again.

The_Kew_Tour

homerjay2005 wrote: »

can you honestly see us getting 16 points off spurs, arsenal and chelsea this season?

can you honestly see us repeating our great away form?

can you honestly expect Chelsea to be that bad again, after winning 2 cups and now having a "settled" manager...or should i say respected?

City will be better this year.

Liverpool will be better this year, so will arsenal, arsenal were in turmoil for the first month of the season, spurs were poor also and then faded away.

other teams will buy, if we dont buy in MF, its going to be another depressing season cos last season was depressing for most of it. finishing second flattered us to be honest, City were 10 points better all things considered (beating us 7-1 on aggregate for instance, better football, more goals scored, less conceeded, less bad defeats) than us and deserved to win the league.

even the games City lost, they were the better team in most of them and just couldnt take their chances. we came second last year, which had more to do with the quality around us than us being good.

This post is spot on. Hate to admit it, but its spot on.

Mitch Connor

Patsy fyre wrote: »

The same way we struggled for 4th last season?

No, we didn't struggle for 4th last season.

Chelsea are looking to improve their team - they will be a threat.
Spurs are doing very good business - they will be a threat.
Arsenal have done so very decent business so far - they will be a threat.

If you think the current United side will get the same type of results as last season, fair play to you. I think our midfield will be our undoing.

Felexicon

Mitch Connor wrote: »

No, we didn't struggle for 4th last season.

Chelsea are looking to improve their team - they will be a threat.
Spurs are doing very good business - they will be a threat.
Arsenal have done so very decent business so far - they will be a threat.

If you think the current United side will get the same type of results as last season, fair play to you. I think our midfield will be our undoing.

Being realistic about things our squad is far superior to these sides. Our midfield issue won't see us finishing behind Spurs or Arsenal(especially if RVP goes).
Don't get me wrong we do need to make signings in this area in order to be successful this year but if we don't Chelsea are the only team I see beating us to second spot.

The_Kew_Tour

PhlegmyMoses wrote: »

Struggle for 4th? Mother of God. Whoever makes claims like that should be forced into access bets because it's uber-negative, doom and gloom at best and trolling at worst.

Nothing in the past year suggests that we won't be challenging for first again.

Is it though? I mean we struggled to beat lot teams last season.

Arsenal had dreadful start. Spurs have gotten stronger in summer.

I think some people are missing the bigger picture. If we can come 3rd in group that contained Benfica and Basle we can finish lower in the league.

Teams are not having the fear they used to have with United anymore.

Its all well and good saying we only lost the league on GD, but next season is a brand new season. Brand new(mostly stronger) squads.

United have been sitting idle on the biggest problem they have on the team for past couple of seasons.

What is more annoying and stupid is for United fans to just think we have divine right to be challenging for the title and that cause we are Manchester United we somehow are going be fine.

Patsy fyre

Liverpool will improve next season, not by much though unless they sign alot more players. Arsenal won't improve, if anything they will go into further decline.
Spurs will struggle big time imo with Harry gone. Looks like modric will leave along with adebayor. Still wouldn't be surprised to see Bale leave when modric walks out.
Chelsea still have an ageing team, not to mention the loss of Drogba. Sturridge looks to be long term and torres does not come good this season they will be struggling again for top 4.
Meanwhile, we have signed what looks like a world class am. Added the best 18yo in the country. Cleared out the deadwood and most importantly VIDIC is back. Not to mention our injury list was unreal last season.

I don't really see any reason why we won't be challenging for top honours again next season

Felexicon

The_Kew_Tour wrote: »

Is it though? I mean we struggled to beat lot teams last season.

Arsenal had dreadful start. Spurs have gotten stronger in summer.

I think some people are missing the bigger picture. If we can come 3rd in group that contained Benfica and Basle we can finish lower in the league.

Teams are not having the fear they used to have with United anymore.

Its all well and good saying we only lost the league on GD, but next season is a brand new season. Brand new(mostly stronger) squads.

United have been sitting idle on the biggest problem they have on the team for past couple of seasons.

What is more annoying and stupid is for United fans to just think we have divine right to be challenging for the title and that cause we are Manchester United we somehow are going be fine.

It's not that we have a divine right to be there it's that we have a much better team and squad to all but one maybe two teams in the league

PhlegmyMoses

How is it spot on? We are weak in midfield. That's it. Every other team in the league, bar City, has more areas that are weaker than ours.

Just to have a look at the teams mentioned in Homer's post:

Spurs haven't got a decent striker, have a far weaker defence and a goalkeeper who has to be ready to die at this stage.

Arsenal are in ribbons. They'll most likely lose RVP or have a massively demotivated player running out his contract. They have very few consistent options on the flanks and are massively injury prone.

Liverpool are weak up front with Suarez not being prolific and Carroll looking average. They also have nothing on the flanks. They came 7th last year anyway. No point in talking about them until they have shown some semblance of good form.

Chelsea have strengthened but losing Drogba is huge. He was so important to them come the end of the season when it was apparent that Torres wasn't playing himself into form. Lampard, Terry and Cole are a year older and Cech looks as dodgy as ever. They also have Di Matteo as a manager, which will inevitably end in tears.

Basically, I can't believe the doom and gloom from United fans when we are in a far better position than any of those teams. And we have Vidic back.:D

Just like to point out that I want a new midfielder too. I just don't think that it's the end of the world if we don't get one.

Felexicon

Ok. This arguement is fine, but can we please stop saying Liverpool are a possible threat to us this season. It's like we're starting to believe the horseshít of "next year" that they spout at the end of every season. They have done nothing to improve a squad that struggled for the whole of last season

homerjay2005

all eyes on this press conference then at 12.30.

all i want to hear is " we are working on a few things and hope to have them tied up soon, but these things take time".

The_Kew_Tour

Felexicon wrote: »

It's not that we have a divine right to be there it's that we have a much better team and squad to all but one maybe two teams in the league

I think we have better squads as we speak, but not far superior

PhlegmyMoses wrote: »

How is it spot on? We are weak in midfield. That's it. Every other team in the league, bar City, has more areas that are weaker than ours.

Just to have a look at the teams mentioned in Homer's post:

Spurs haven't got a decent striker, a far weaker defence and a goalkeeper who has to be ready to die at this stage.

Arensel are in ribbons. They'll most likely lose RVP or have a massively demotivated player running out his contract. They have very few consistent options on the flanks and are massively injury prone.

Liverpool are weak up front with Suarez not being prolific and Carroll looking average. They also have nothing on the flanks. They came 7th last year anyway. No point in talking about them until they have shown some semblance of good form.

Chelsea have strengthened but losing Drogba is huge. He was so improtant to them come the end of the season when it was apparent that Torres wasn't playing himself into form. Lampard, Terry and Cole are a year older and Cech looks as dodgy as ever. They also have Di Matteo as a manager, which will inevitably end in tears.

Basically, I can't believe the doom and gloom from United fans when we are in a far better position than any of those teams. And we have Vidic back.:D

Just like to point out that I want a new midfielder too. I just don't think that it's the end of the world if we don't get one.

Even if you are right in this its still not good enough for Europe.

We are still miles behind Barca, Real and Munich. I like to think that United would be looking at winning the double next season like they always should.

Like you have pointed out City have better squad then us. If things go accordingly to plan as we stand City will win the league. united at best will come 2nd. It will end up exactly like last season where we end up doing sweet FA in Europe and in PL.

We should be looking to be the best team in England at very least, not the 2nd.

The problem could stem long term if CM position is not sorted now.

Im not saying for second that its all doom and gloom, but if you dont invest in areas where you are in serious trouble then don't expect and you don't deserve silverware the coming season.

bullvine

Honestly can't believe this doom crap, have you not learnt anything over the last 20 years, nothing compares to the summer of 1995 and 2006 when we looked totally f**ked and we were proved completely wrong.

Yes they need a midfielder but getting one seems to be a problem for whatever reason but the rest of the squad and first 11 is very strong with the exception of Center midfield. De Gea will improve, as will Jones, Rafael, Welbeck, Young etc

and we have Kagawa who will offer a threat from the center which we've lacked for a long time I believe.

v3ttel

Struggle for fourth? Seriously? I enjoy reading most the regular posters stuff on this thread, but the occasional meltdown is ridiculous.

We've not even kicked a ball yet, not even in pre-season. There's about 7 weeks until the transfer window closes.

Why the negativity lads?

Mitch Connor wrote: »

Will struggle for 4th if we don't invest in midfield.

Yes, we will struggle for fourth, much like we did last season when we were about 30 seconds away from winning the league, only losing it on goal difference.

We'll struggle for fourth, because the team to beat us hasn't strengthened (but City should be a bit stronger overall).

We'll struggle for fourth, because we've signed a high quality attacking midfielder to add some creativity, and also a potential star in Nick Powell.

We'll struggle for fourth, because Nemanja Vidic will (hopefully), not be missing for more than half the season.

We'll struggle for fourth, because De Gea is more settled and has a season of EPL experience, Smalling, Jones, Rafael, Cleverley, Chicharito, Welbeck are a year older and hopefully wiser.

We'll struggle for fourth, because Nani (25), Rooney (26) are important players and coming into their prime.

homerjay2005 wrote: »

can you honestly see us getting 16 points off spurs, arsenal and chelsea this season?

Devils advocate. Can you honestly see us losing at home to Blackburn for instance (or one of the newly promoted teams who have taken their place?).

homerjay2005 wrote: »

can you honestly see us repeating our great away form?

Why not?

homerjay2005 wrote: »

can you honestly expect Chelsea to be that bad again, after winning 2 cups and now having a "settled" manager...or should i say respected?

A Drogba-less Chelsea, it's a time of upheaval there, so who knows how it is going to go. They were 25 points behind us last season.

homerjay2005 wrote: »

City will be better this year.

So will we, because of the reasons I outlined above.

homerjay2005 wrote: »

Liverpool will be better this year, so will arsenal, arsenal were in turmoil for the first month of the season, spurs were poor also and then faded away.

Perspective needed here.

Liverpool? Liverpool were 37 points behind us last season, ffs.

Arsenal were 19 points behind us and may lose their outstanding player in RVP.

Spurs were 20 points behind us, may lose one of their best players in Modric, and have lost one of their most successful manager in recent teams (in terms of league performance - no one has ever guided them to 2 top 4 finishes before).

homerjay2005 wrote: »

City were 10 points better all things considered

Your opinion says City were 10 points better. The facts say that we we're on the same number of points.

We actually picked up 6 more points than they did against the rest of the league.

There is no reason for us to be so incredibly negative in July. Jesus.

v3ttel

homerjay2005 wrote: »

all eyes on this press conference then at 12.30.

all i want to hear is " we are working on a few things and hope to have them tied up soon, but these things take time".

He has more or less already said that word for word.

When asked if he is hoping to make further additions, Sir Alex replied: "Yes, there's a possibility. We’re working on one or two things but there’s nothing really to tell you to be honest."

Source: http://www.manutd.com/en/News-And-Features/Football-News/2012/Jul/sir-alex-ferguson-says-more-signings-possible-mutv-exclusive-interview.aspx

We've got to trust that, after more than 25 years at Manchester United, this lad knows what he is doing.

PhlegmyMoses

The_Kew_Tour wrote: »

I think we have better squads as we speak, but not far superior



Even if you are right in this its still not good enough for Europe.

We are still miles behind Barca, Real and Munich. I like to think that United would be looking at winning the double next season like they always should.

Like you have pointed out City have better squad then us. If things go accordingly to plan as we stand City will win the league. united at best will come 2nd. It will end up exactly like last season where we end up doing sweet FA in Europe and in PL.

We should be looking to be the best team in England at very least, not the 2nd.

The problem could stem long term if CM position is not sorted now.

Im not saying for second that its all doom and gloom, but if you dont invest in areas where you are in serious trouble then don't expect and you don't deserve silverware the coming season.

It doesn't work like this. City's squad is highly combustible. When you have players like Balotelli, Tevez, Nasri etc, in-fighting WILL happen. And United's squad isn't far off City's. Midfield needs investment but every other area is more than good enough.

Barcelona are the only club in the world that I would genuinely fear for us against because our midfield is simply not good enough to compete with theirs.

Al Capwned

Mitch Connor wrote: »

Fergie will be infront of the media today at the presser - dreading him saying our business is done. Will struggle for 4th if we don't invest in midfield.

Dont agree at all - practically for all the reasons given in Rooney10's post above.

Also , my main reasons to be positive about the coming season:-

• Nemanja Vidic - hopefully he can be somewhere near as good for us as he was before his injury - we are a completely different team with him in it.
  
• David de Gea - this guy has learned so much, and will be starting this season at a much higher level, confidence-wise especially, that he did last season. If he continues the form he showed after christmas, and continues to improve, we'll have no concerns there.
  
• Injuries - We were decimated by injuries last season, and should expect not to have problems on the same scale this season.
  
• Wayne Rooney - a mountain of goals last season, and England summer form aside, I'd hope he'd be doing something similar for us this season.
  
• Shinji Kagawa - Hopefully this fella can be as influential for us as he was in Germany. From the limited amount I've seen of him, he looks like a serious player.
  
• Nani / Valencia - Is there a better or more effective pair of wingers in the league?
  
• Sir Alex Ferguson - The best manager there has ever been. Surely he realises and understands the need for improvement in a number of areas, and I hope we'll be sitting here in 4/5 weeks time wondering how some of us on here were doubting him.
  

Ulysses Gaze

Struggle for fourth? Seriously? I enjoy reading most the regular posters stuff on this thread, but the occasional meltdown is ridiculous.

We've not even kicked a ball yet, not even in pre-season. There's about 7 weeks until the transfer window closes.

Why the negativity lads?

I don't understand it. I'm not a Utd fan but people tend to forget the single most important fact that sets you lot apart from the rest of the pack. The 'Fergie Effect'.

Don't underestimate him. The media, other fans and clubs have done that in the past - to their peril. A decent CM and Utd should be sorted.

homerjay2005

Rooney10 wrote: »

We've got to trust that, after more than 25 years at Manchester United, this lad knows what he is doing.

well thats it, after an 18 month period of where he has made more mistakes than he has made in the previoud 5 or 6 years, i have lost some trust in him.

likewise, i am willing to wager €20 quid with you that we will have a poor season (and last season was an awful season IMO) if we do not add at least one CM player to our team.

we can deny it all we want, but last season overall was just awful. apart from De gea and a few more things like valencia, Evans and scholes coming back, the rest of it was by and large muck.

my opinion, you dont have to accept it. the money is there to be spent, fergie has to spend it or accept another year of crap performances and struggling to beat mediocre teams.

dont forget, we dropped an 8 point lead, when we had very few players missing, not cos we were unlucky or whatever, it is cos we were not good enough. City bossed us, Wigan bossed us and to be honest, Everton were full value for the 4-4 also. 3 teams, in a one on one match, that took 8 points off us in the space of a couple of weeks.

bullvine

Also, on City, major rumours they are gonna lose Silva to Real as hes not meant to be gonna sign a new contract.

You just never know how things will pan out before Aug 31st.

Mourinhos Chelsea are the only team to win back to back titles apart from United, what does that tell you.

RVD420

The returns of Anderson and T-Clev will be monumental. If we don't sign a CM, all eyes will be on them to boss the midfield.

DM_7

Vidic coming back - means stronger team
Kagawa signing should mean a stronger team
The way the title was lost last season should make a stronger/determined squad

Jones, Rafael, Smalling, Welbeck, De Gea will all improve next season

Good defence with good options, strong forward line, quality wingers and on paper good midfield options.

I am optimistic for next season as I think Vidic and Kagawa improve the side. Hopefully a midfielder comes in to give real depth but I don't think 5th place is on the cards without signing one.

EDIT: I do think the recurring injury problems in midfield and the aging legs could impact on a real title challenge. So thats why I would like another midfield player. But with Powell signed, Tunnicliffe and some of the other young lads i'm not convinced SAF will sign anyone that will get in their way.

homerjay2005

so as things stand (i.e. our current squad remains as it is) and other clubs likely to spend, honestly what do ye expect from next season?

will be interesting to then come back to this page around march or april, though all changes if we sign the right players in the next few weeks.

people keep talking about last season, so i am interested to see how they feel about next season. personally, our season panned out as i expected last year so i cant see how this year will be any different.

KH25

DM-ICE wrote: »

Vidic coming back - means stronger team
Kagawa signing should mean a stronger team
The way the title was lost last season should make a stronger/determined squad

Jones, Rafael, Smalling, Welbeck, De Gea will all improve next season

Good defence with good options, strong forward line, quality wingers and on paper good midfield options.

I am optimistic for next season as I think Vidic and Kagawa improve the side. Hopefully a midfielder comes in to give real depth but I don't think 5th place is on the cards without signing one.

EDIT: I do think the recurring injury problems in midfield and the aging legs could impact on a real title challenge. So thats why I would like another midfield player. But with Powell signed, Tunnicliffe and some of the other young lads i'm not convinced SAF will sign anyone that will get in their way.

As I've said before in this thread, if Fergie decides that he won't sign a CM and instead says he wants to give the younger players a run, then I hope they actually get a run out. Pogba was on the bench for quite a few games last season and saw very little action. Granted, there are some games when you can't risk an untried player but there were surely some games where it was ok to try, especially before Scholes came back.

Quandary

If it hadn't been for Scholes coming back, last season would have finished a whole lot worse. Don't get me wrong, it was brilliant that he did come back but to have had to rely on a 37 year old to drag us along was poor.

Next year scholes will be that bit older again and his legs will start to go even more noticeably in games IMO. He should at the very very most be a luxury player.

Let's face it, Giggs should have hung up his boots last summer. At the end of next season He will be closer to 40 than 39.

To think we might have to rely on the old guard again next season is seriously depressing!

If we end up signing Baines for the figures mentioned I.e. 15m, and then not add to the midfield it will be infuriating.

Let's hope Fergie gets it right this summer.

Patsy fyre

Is the press conference live on tv?

Kerrydude1981

Patsy fyre wrote: »

Is the press conference live on tv?

Dont think so,probably have to wait till 1,SSN will surely have something about it then

Donnielighto

anyone else expecting a huge amount of goals from united next season after the way they lost last time out?

seriousfizz

http://www.manutd.com/en/News-And-Features/Football-News/2012/Jul/sir-alex-ferguson-shinji-kagawa-nick-powell-press-conference-at-old-trafford.aspx

"Speaking at an Old Trafford press conference to unveil the pair of new signings so far, the United manager admitted: "We could possibly bring one or two more in. When there's a major international tournament on, there's a delay in the transfer market. But now the European Championships are over, we're trying to bring one more player in."

EDIT: "As for Kagawa's role, the boss said: "He'll play further forward [than Powell]. We shouldn't be looking at one player changing the way we play but he could make a difference. He can give us that extra in the final third of the field. If his goalscoring record continues he could be a very good player for us."

God, I hope he's not having us on there!

FutureGuy

SAF said just there that he expects Powell to be a CM.

On Kagawa...
"He'll play further forward [than Powell]. We shouldn't be looking at one player changing the way we play but he could make a difference. He can give us that extra in the final third of the field. If his goalscoring record continues he could be a very good player for us."

SlickRic

who will those 1 or 2 be?

i really didn't think he'd neglect midfield this summer, but i'm starting to believe he will.

is he just testing himself? has he got bored?

it's really weird to me.

Utd will still challenge, but one good CM signing and it could make all the difference. 2 and you'd be laughing. you're stocked everywhere else now.

unless Powell is that good he's going straight into the first team.

Jax Teller

He see Powell as a Cm player apparently

kryogen

I would not subscribe to the theory that we will struggle to get 4th this season, if that is to be our finishing position (which I don't think it will be) it will not be a struggle to achieve it imo, but we do not have a serious chance of actually winning the league without some strengthening in the middle of the park. A quality centre midfielder or two and we become realistic challengers for Europe and the league again, without a good addition or two I don't see how this United squad will manage to overhaul an even better then last years City squad.

DM_7

Final third - YES!

powell in a central midfield area? I have a feeling he will be part of the the first team squad so. Maybe taking Gibsons spot.

J. Marston

"We're trying to bring one more player in."

If that's Baines, I'll lose my shìt. Not that Baines isn't a good player but we need a bloody midfielder, possibly two.

seriousfizz

Nothing surpising about Powell in CM, but I just feel so relieved to hear that he isn't planning on using Kagawa as a CM. Feeling excited about things again!

redalan

Do you think Fergie means one particular player or does he mean just one more player?

Mitch Connor

so likely no Central Midfielder signed then.

I honestly can't see how signing a central midfielder hasn't been the absolutely highest priority for the club over the last 12months.

FutureGuy

I think another player is all but signed and we are in for a second. My guy says Baines is as good as done and we are in for another CM.

KH25

redalan wrote: »

Do you think Fergie means one particular player or does he mean just one more player?

If he only wants one more then Im sure he knows who. The one or two might be reference to two players for the same position. Hopefully it means there's one player he really wants and possibly another if we can land them.

SlickRic

Mitch Connor wrote: »

I honestly can't see how signing a central midfielder hasn't been the absolutely highest priority for the club over the last 12months.

because Fergie's obviously lost it after losing on goal difference last year.

he's all about the goals this coming season - screw solidity

either that or he's made Scholes' legs 10 years younger somehow.

Jax Teller

Fergie on Powell :
"I asked Dario if Nick could be a central midfielder. Dario thinks that's his position and Nick does too so we're all in accord. We hope he'll be a central midfield player and that's where we'll develop."

kryogen

SlickRic wrote: »

who will those 1 or 2 be?

i really didn't think he'd neglect midfield this summer, but i'm starting to believe he will.

is he just testing himself? has he got bored?

it's really weird to me.

Utd will still challenge, but one good CM signing and it could make all the difference. 2 and you'd be laughing. you're stocked everywhere else now.

unless Powell is that good he's going straight into the first team.

It is quite possible he is trollin us tbh

I have no great knowledge of Powell, but anything I have seen of him he has looked attack minded, I can't see him adding the bit of steel and leadership that is needed in the middle of the field. Be great if I was wrong naturally.

I still think he is going to sign a midfielder, a quality one, the amount of bodies lost in that department the last 12 months means he has to really

KH25

kryogen wrote: »

It is quite possible he is trollin us tbh

I have no great knowledge of Powell, but anything I have seen of him he has looked attack minded, I can't see him adding the bit of steel and leadership that is needed in the middle of the field. Be great if I was wrong naturally.

I still think he is going to sign a midfielder, a quality one, the amount of bodies lost in that department the last 12 months means he has to really

The thing is Powell is still young. He could develop into a great CM. Only time will tell I guess. Tbh I had a feeling he'd be played in CM when we bought him.

homerjay2005

Coletrickle88 wrote: »

Fergie on Powell :
"I asked Dario if Nick could be a central midfielder. Dario thinks that's his position and Nick does too so we're all in accord. We hope he'll be a central midfield player and that's where we'll develop."

thats another nail in the buying a midfielder coffin so perhaps.

if an unproven 18 year old for 3 million is going to be our only CM signing this summer, god bless us?

Baines will be the 3rd and thats it then, unless there is a shock signing up his sleeve.

Jax Teller

its on ssn now

SK1979

I'd feel a little more optimistic reading SAF's quotes there. To me it appears he's hinting at a European player who was involved in the Euro's so hopefully that would be a CM of some sort. Hopefully anyway!