The Invisible Man

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Deschamps? Quique Sánchez Flores? Unai Emery? No better than the other three mind.

I wanted in the summer, and still do, this guy

Good goal as well http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Emcy-ELSL6E&feature=player_embedded#!

Problem is, we're not in a situation where we can give him time and never were. We sold Alonso who was integral and needed someone to come striaght in.

Zoob I wasn't having a go at any signing in particular but that when we sign squad players for a couple of million it doesn't matter so much. The problem is that we've signed 2 big name buys for £20 million each and in our current financial state we can't afford for them to not work. It's fine for United or City to buy the likes of Anderson/Nani and give them years to settle or City to write off Robinho but we can't. At the start of last season we had Keane and Alonso, we've sold both, not replaced Keane and Aquilani has hardly made up for the loss of Alonso. You take Fabregas and Van Persie from Arsenal and don't replace them, they'd be in serious trouble or Agbonlahor and Young from Villa. In my opinion I think it was a huge error on our behalf signing a player who was injured at the start of the season and missing for several months and not perhaps buying some of Real's cast offs.

I would say that Serie A is just as physical as La Liga

Well it has happened with a lot of players Degen, Voronin, Keane, Dossena, Mark Gonzalez, Josemi, Kromkamp, Leto over several years. I think it is really under the microscope because of the high profile mistakes of Doss, Keane and now Aquilani over the last 2 summers but he has made mistakes since he first arrived.

But how is Aquilani going to get used to the physical side of it, he's not gonna get used to it on the bench. And anyway nearly all Premiership games are physical now. You can't afford to spend £20 million on a player and then leave him out because the other team might be a bit too physical for him.

Well Maxi is hardly the biggest and strongest guy, but he plays against the physical sides even though there are plenty of other players that could start ahead of him and have been here longer. Why does he not need time to get used to the league?

It says a lot that Maxi has started as many domestic games as Aquilani.

If he was so unfit why would they keep putting him on the bench?

This isn't a young kid, Aquilani is a 20 million, Italian international. If he can't take a bit of pressure or needs to make his debut in a settled side then that's a bit worrying. If he comes on and is s*** then we'll give him a break, because of maybe not being match fit or in a game like today when we're going for the win but now with Rafa continuing to hold him back I don't think he'll get as much leeway.

Didn't Rafa say he would bring him into a game when we were several goals up or searching for the win? Either way if he ain't fit enough he shouldn't be on the bench, and considering he has now been on the bench for 4/5? times now he should be playing

I thought we had bought 3 £20 million players in the last two years? We have no net spend over the past two years, but then neither do Arsenal, United or Everton and they have managed to sustain the level they are at, albeit a lower one for Everton. Benitez's poor signings last year didn't help. £27million on Keane and Dossena and then this year failing to buy a back up striker and buying a midfielder who has been injured for the first 3 1/2 months of the season.