goodrobotusses

Government scheme to get vagrants in gainful employment.

Oh no, I wouldn't have described him as hidden, though Middlesbrough could aptly be referred to as "the rough". Remember seeing him initially for the Turkish U21s and he was great. Massive star at Fenerbache and for the national team too. But maybe his good performances at an unfashionable club in the PL have sometimes slipped under the radar a little. It'd probably help him if he were a better finisher - I've seen him do brilliantly to fashion chances, only to fluff his lines at the defining moment countless times. He'd be frustrating to watch at times, I daresay.

Touché, sir. Well called.

He is? Oh, well that's that, then.

Plenty of great players became great managers, just as plenty of mediocre players did also. The common mistake made is to assume that ability with a ball at your feet, or leadership qualities on the pitch, will equate to being a good tactician, coach, or man-manager. Completely different skillsets. Some good players have it (Guardiola seems thus far to be a good recent example), others don't (Bryan Robson). But there's a world of difference between charging around and being 'Captain Marvel' and actually understanding the tactical and psychological nuances of the sport, not to mention identifying and utilising the correct attributes within players to implement your ideas.

Maxi Rodriguez is a decent shout, though not sure if he'd leave Atleti - he's a bit of an idol there, isn't he? The other two can feck off.

As a slightly left-field suggestion, but a player I like, what about Tuncay at Middlesbrough? Definitely hard-working enough for Rafa, good technically, can play as a support forward or wide-right (though better through the middle admittedly). His biggest weakness (and something many of our forwards have shared in recent years) is that he's not particularly clinical - but I think that he'd be more likely to challenge for a first-team place than, say, Benayoun. Just throwing that one out there.

If this were to happen, then I'd hope we didn't sign someone else who'd expect to be first choice up front at a cost of moving Gerrard from supporting Torres, and therefore displacing one of Mascherano/Alonso. 4-2-3-1 is our best formation and shouldn't be messed with unless we need to change something tactically during a match. We'd ideally need someone who can compete with Kuyt, Riera, Babel and Benayoun, and a back-up #9 forward who's likely to be more effective short term than N'gog (the Heskey deal would actually make sense in this respect). In terms of our first choice team, we're fine down the centre of the pitch (Masch, Alonso, Gerrard, Torres), we just need a player to add quality and consistancy down the flanks... as ever.

Football pundits who plied their trade as players between the 70s and early 90s, when 90% of football tactics in this country amounted to "GET IT IN THE BOX". More strikers in said box, more chances of scoring goals goes the theory to these highly enlightened minds. Maybe teams should start fielding 10 strikers and a goalkeeper to just whack it forward all game. Bloody brilliant, this tactics lark.

Aye. I really do worry about Babel's decision making ability, or lack of. He has all the raw attributes to be brilliant, but always seems to take an age to decide what to do, by which point he's invariably lost the ball.

Yeah, it's a real worry. The treatment he receives from opponants combined with those repetitive hamstring injuries are a real threat to his future. The hamstring thing in particular could be a problem for him long term. Like Michael Owen he's a slight fella who plays in a stop-start, twisty-turny way, where a lot of his explosiveness is over the first few steps. That means if the muscle is naturally weaker (which is likely given his size), and he's likely to be playing 2 games a week throughout his career (which started at 18 years old too), he's probably more likely to suffer regular problems. And while Messi is technically on another planet to Owen (who's primary weapon was always acceleration, hence the reason he's only been an Inzaghi-level poacher for the last 7-8 years, once that acceleration was taken away by injuries/weight work), and isn't solely reliant on acceleration, if Barca don't find a way to protect him he may end up only being this explosive a player for a short spell.

Glad Messi scored. Didn't have a great game by his standards, though the poor guy must have been pretty sore after getting booted all over the park in the 1st half. But given the treatment he received, that goal will have been all the sweeter.

Fair play to the lad. Very good attitude.

This content is not viewable to guests.

This content is not viewable to guests.

Well, following on from his time at Spurs, at least Ramos isn't walking into a club with the same kind of haphazard transfer policy and fundamentally unbalanced squad...

Already the best in the world - just hope injuries don't become too much of a problem throughout his career.

Every Arsenal fan I've ever met hates Eboue as much as opposition fans do. Partly because he's crap, but mostly because he's an a******. I personally can't stand him - he has that wonderful combination of s***house, dangerous tackles on opponants, coupled with the ridiculous ability to fling himself around in mock-pain whenever someone so much as breathes on him. He's like an Ivorian Robbie Savage on crack. And while the Arsenal fans' behaviour was pretty sub-standard from a 'supporter' point of view (though, are you surprised?), it couldn't have happened to a more deserving player - bloody brilliant watching that c*** cry as he trudged off. I think my favourite part of his performance was when Toure was bombing out of defence and yelling at him to make a run down the wing, only for Eboue to run toward him, tackle him, then pass the ball straight to a Wigan player.

This. Lad had a decent, unspectacular game, and looked more assured than Dossena has done thus far, but it wasn't exactly Roberto Carlos at his peak by any means.

Aye, get Michael Owen to solve our creativity problems. Well known for his guile and creativity, is Owen.

This content is not viewable to guests.

Him getting pelted in the face with the ball was at least some form of justice.

Right then. At a wild guess, I reckon... Diego - £10million Karim Benzema - £20million+ (knowing Lyon's ability to drive a hard bargain) Hatem Ben-Arfa - £6-7million (just went for more this summer, but I think his value will go down, not up) Kader Keita - I only just realised this is the Lyon guy, not Barca, so no idea Rafinha - £5million Luis Fabiano - £8-10million Naldo - no idea Bastian Schweinsteiger - £8-10million (if he ever leaves Bayern it will be through their choosing, not his) You can't really make sound judgements on these though. I mean, I'm valuing Schweinsteiger at essentially the same level as Diego there, despite Diego being a far more talented player. But the fact is Bayern are richer and more prestigious than Bremen, meaning they can fend off other clubs a lot better.

This content is not viewable to guests.

Retrospectively though, that could just be seen as toeing the party line. Shame though - it would be nice not to have this split between Rafa's 'Melwood Academy' and the Academy-Academy. Must be horrible for the young lads, and it might well set us back a good 5-10 years in terms of developing another decent youth crop, as well as the failure to bring through/develop any decent lads from the current crop.