alias75

Having 2 holding type midfielders also allows our full backs to get forward more knowing theres 2 players there (Alonso and Mascherano) that are great at covering the spaces they leave. Momo is a different type of defensive midfielder in that he presses the ball a lot even when its in the oppositions defensive half. Playing Mascherano gives someone like Gerrard much more freedom and the width is given from the full backs.

Watch out!

Not necessarily, you can spread the goals around. Tevez i think has proven himself and is attitude which could have understandably been poor has been superb. Better delivery from out wide will bring more goals as we saw from Crouch on Saturday id still like another striker but it doesnt follow that we need a 20 goal a season player. Better attacking midfielders should mean more goals from midfield and more chances for our strikers.

40 million thats chump change... http://www.sportinglife.com/football/news/...Lyon_Aulas.html

looks a very confident player 3 games so far 2 against Barcelona and 1 against Arsenal and hes looked very good every time. Still only 24 looks excellent business right now.

Think Veronin is more of a Garcia type player so if Robbie goes there is room for 1 more striker, but certainly Crouch's performance yesterday made a strong case for him being our most important striker and if the service is as good as yesterday he will score goals and is pretty unplayable. Would still like to see Eto come and let the other 3 battle it out But Rafa has proven to be cut throat so i think no ones position is safe if he thinks he can bring in better.

I like Crouch in Europe cos while you do get big target men in the PL you dont find many throughout the rest of Europe and most teams have never played anyone like Crouch before. The downside is he does seem to get harshly treated by referees in Europe more. Its a tough one but if the service is as good as it was yesterday Crouch will get goals.

Anyone that saw him in La Liga last season knows he can play, we haven't seen the best of him here but it would be a mistake to get rid now. Lets judge him after a full pre-season and a run of games, i get the impression hes still trying to prove himself to his team mates and once he does that and starts to contribute his confidence will grow. lets not forget he scored a pretty important goal in the CL qualifiers for us.

Someone like Simao may not be the fast, dribbling winger we're all wanting but he would certainly be an improvement on what we have in that position and is a player that can produce great skill and moments of magic when nothing looks on. I think we need to stop looking for the next Ronaldo, theres more than 1 way to skin a cat, we lack invention and creativity in attacking midfield but that doesnt mean we have to limit ourselves to looking for the next Ronaldo. someone like Simao offers something different to a Ronaldo type but he could still offer us something different.

We were linked with him last summer if i remember correctly. Heard lots of good stuff about him.

I think our nearly signing him last year will hold some sway. Alves seems a decent guy from what ive read from him and hopefully if he does want to leave Spain he shows some loyalty to us as the club that were very interested in him last season. We didnt sign him because Del nido was being an idiot over the fee but hopefully Alves thinks he owes us some loyalty if he decides to come to the PL. I also think a lot of players will be having 2nd thoughts about signing for Chelsea after seeing what has happened to numerous players that have gone there.

It has to be horses for courses Sissoko has been MOM in some of the games hes played since coming back so he isnt playing poorly but for certain games we dont need him and another defensive midfielder. Barcelona yes play Sissoko but against a Villa side playing very defensively he isnt needed. After seeing how Villa were playing we probably should have gone with Pennant wide right and Gerrard in the middle sooner. Its a difficult one because Momo does offer lots away from home in terms of getting the ball back and winning the midfield battle but he offers so little going forward in these types of games. Maybe the solution is playing Alonso more advanced in this type of game. Hopefully Momo's overall game improves and this becomes less of a problem.

A lack of goals from midfield is obviously 1 problem losing Garcia meant we lost our biggest goal threat from midfield but i also feel we lack that striker than can make something out of nothing. Our 3 main strikers are all hard working and do a job for the team but we dont have someone that can make his own chances or create something out of nothing like an Henry. Someone like Eto as an example would be the type of striker that would score lots of goals with good service but is also capable of making and taking his own chances.

I think most people think Rafas the best manager we could have at the moment, the problem is more with a lack of real creative players for exactly this type of game. Its been said for a while now but this game illustrated it again, we need attacking players that can beat a man and create something out of nothing hopefully that will be addressed in the summer. We need attacking players with that bit of unpredictability who can produce something out of nothing. At the moment we have a group of players that work hard as a unit and all know their jobs but we only have maybe 1 or 2 capable of that real bit of skill to change a game like today. Someone like Eto and a wide player like Quaresmo or Alves that will commit defenders is what we're lacking.

I dont think it would be a matter of starting over again although if Rafa did leave you'd have to worry about maybe Reina and Alonso sticking around. Hopefully he thinks he has some unfinished business here and the new owners give him the assurances he wants. Certainly the way we've been planning suggests his future is here with all these young players being signed, im sure his heart is at Madrid but he also knows the problems at that club and they dont exactly have a reputation of being patient with managers even though theres clearly lots of work that needs to be done there i doubt they'll give their managers that time. With the new stadium and new owners these are exciting times and providing he gets the answers he wants i think he'll be here for the foreseeable future so he can win that league title.

Didn't David Martin also play for Stanley? how did he do?

A few months ago i wouldnt even have contemplated selling Xabi but with Mascherano here and if the offer is a very big one then i think we'd have to consider it especially if the player is stalling on a new contract we dont want to lose him for next to nothing in a few years. If we can get Eto as part of any deal that would certainly soften the blow of losing a great player. But central midfield is the one position we could lose a player of Alonso's quality and not feel the effects too much, but we should wait and see how Mascherano copes because hes the obvious replacement.

Hes played 2 or 3 games for the ressies hasnt scored yet, but you have to give these young players coming from different countries time to settle. We also have to be aware that if 1 or 2 of all the youngsters we've brought in make it to the first team squad thats a good return, hopefully those that don't make it can be sold for something, lower down the leagues.

Its not that they've agreed to sign him, more that they bought him from Brazil and gave him to PSV with a deal in place that they can buy him, he cant play in the PL yet but qualifies next season i think. Stinks a bit but apparently everythings above board.

Think we'll play 3 at the back a fair bit and with him and the other 3 CBs we have thats a very strong 4 to choose from.

Its hard to criticise today because we did hit the bar a few times which is hardly bad finishing and the keeper made a couple of good saves. Against Utd the same really we didnt really miss that many clear cut chances maybe Bellamy's when he was put through by Kuyt and his first touch was bad. My main problem against Utd was more to do with the position of our strikers we dominated the game and got into numerous good crossing positions but often there'd be 1 or sometimes 0 players in the danger area and thats what we need. We need a top striker that will be in those positions to finish chances and wide midfielders that will provide extra bodies in the box.

Its hard to criticise today because we did hit the bar a few times which is hardly bad finishing and the keeper made a couple of good saves. Against Utd the same really we didnt really miss that many clear cut chances maybe Bellamy's when he was put through by Kuyt and his first touch was bad. My main problem against Utd was more to do with the position of our strikers we dominated the game and got into numerous good crossing positions but often there'd be 1 or sometimes 0 players in the danger area and thats what we need. We need a top striker that will be in those positions to finish chances and wide midfielders that will provide extra bodies in the box.

think 3-5-2 could be the way to go for a lot of games, our strength is certainly in the central of midfield. ....................Reina.................... ....Arbeloa?....Carragher....Agger..... Alves........................................Riise? ..........Mascherano......Alonso............. .................... Gerrard...................... ...........Bellamy........Kujt................... Now we could play Sissoko in there too of course and Hyppia can certainly come in for some games and hopefully we have someone like Eto to play up front but i think thats certainly a formation that gets the most out of our central midfielders. Theres also the possibility of 3-4-3 for some games and of course 4-4-2.

Agree it could allow him to play further up the pitch, not only his shooting but his passing ability could be used much better in the final third.

who? maybe Garcia but Garcia isnt naturally left sided. I agree he isnt the ball carrying left winger everyone seems to want but id say his style of play on the left is similar to how Gerrard plays on the right (ok maybe not as good). He doesnt need to beat his man because his delivery is very good he works very hard and scores and creates a fair number of goals. If Kewell is going to play again we dont need him but if Kewell is finished which is possible he wouldn't be a bad replacement.