alias75

Agree hes better than what we have, im not sure where the criticism of him comes from as i cant imagine many here have seen Blackburn for 90 minutes very often. Man Utd were linked with him last season so i dont think its fair to say other top teams wouldnt go for him. As i said in my first post, we know left midfield is a position that needs improving but coming up with possible signings isnt easy.

I do think some posters have got the wrong idea about him as this scorer of great goals but not much else, as you say hes great at set pieces and from what i read from hughes last week hes one of their hardest workers which i didnt realise.

Havent watched him closely except the highlight goals he scores but Hughes was commenting only last week i how much hard work he does for the side, so i think the criticism that he scores great goals but not much else isnt fair. Try thinking of left sided players we could sign and not many names spring immediately to mind.

He wont play Gerrard a lot in the middle while we have Sissoko and Mascherano here. We have to accept he wants 2 defensive central midfielders which is fine if your wide players are contributing with goals thats where we need to focus. Gerrard should play on the right, he got 20+ goals there last season plus won player of the year so i dont buy that he isnt effective there. Get a similar player on the other side and a world class striker and that would make a difference to our goal threat.

We know its a squad game and Rafa more than most coaches uses all of his squad so its pretty pointless sticking up 11 players because Rafa doesnt work that way. Bringing in someone like Alves wouldn't mean the end for Finnan it would just mean we have another option that could play right back at home against some teams, wing back in a 3-5-2 or 3-4-3, or right midfield. I think everyone knows the areas of the team that need improving if we're going to go with 2 defensive central midfielders that arent going to be spending time in the opposition penalty area we need wide players that will contribute with goals and at least 1 striker that will give us consistent goals. So not putting up any formations but i think adding the following players to the squad would improve us... Alves - covers 3 positions in the squad Eto - the timing could be perfect as he seems to be on his way out of Barce he really could be the world class striker we need. Still only 25 scores plenty of goals and works hard for the team too which Rafa wants. Wide left player, no single name springs to mind but someone that can commit defenders and contribute with goals too. Left back is another maybe position Riise has had a poor year but my thinking is now im not sure we should be spending 10 million on someone like Bale. The start Insua has made has been encouraging so maybe hes the left back we need. I dont think Riise can have another poor season like this and i thought he played pretty well yesterday and he is a great squad option, maybe Insua arriving will get him going.

What about Alves and Gerrard down the right side good luck stopping those 2. (By the way that isnt a slight on Finnan whos still one of our key players, but i really think Alves would add a different dimension to our attack)

I dont think he had that bad a game, yes his passing was poor but he broke the play up well which is primarily what hes there for. You had to pick him for this game because you couldnt expect Utd to be so average but had we known we'd be getting the run of the midfield maybe we would have gone for a better passing option or play Gerrard there and Pennant starting wide right. But anyone knocking him should understand hes probably our most important player for the game in midweek.

Just think he needs to prove himself among his team mates and once he does that his confidence will improve. Ive played a bit of footie in my time and whenever you sign for a new team with players you dont know and dont know you its always nervy until you've shown them what you can do and they start to trust you. I still think Gonzalez is in the stage of proving himself among our players and because of that his confidence isnt high. From what i saw of him in La Liga the ability is there and im confident hes going to get better and better.

Eto would make a difference, he a different level to any player we have up front at the moment.

Didnt say they played well today did I but Ronaldo's contribution from midfield this season is a huge factor Utd are where they are in the league, we badly need a player like him that scores goals and commits defenders. As for Alonso i think hes been one of our most consistent players this season i think we just expect our central midfielders to be more box to box but that isnt the way Rafa sets his teams up. If we had the wide players contributing goals there wouldn't be this type of criticism of Alonso. The way our central midfield sets up is a huge factor behind the way we defend, what we need is the goals from midfield to come from the "wide players" even if those players aren't actually traditional wingers. Gerrards goal contribution for example is below what we're used too which isnt helping.

Spot on, its bringing in 5 or 6 new faces thats the main reason why we've started the seasons slowly, not only that but these absolutely no need of it at the moment. The core of the squad is very strong. Defensively the stats speak for themselves, central midfield everyone agrees we're as strong as anyone in Europe, the problem area is attacking midfielders and getting that 1 blue chip striker.

I just think its all about starting the league strong, in the last 2 seasons Rafa's brought in a lot of new faces and they take time to settle, if you start slowly its very hard to make up that ground. Hopefully we dont make wholesale changes to the team but bring in 2 or 3 top quality players. We then need to be switched on from game 1 in the league and if we start well that will make the league a priority and hopefully that momentum will carry through.

Simply cant agree with that today at Anfield we saw the team thats 9 points in front of 2nd place are you seriously suggesting we're 5 players off them? The only difference i see between Utd and us at the moment is they started the season well and we didnt and they have probably the best player in the world at the moment in Ronaldo and we lack that real top quality attacking player. I reckon the core of the side is very solid, add 1 top quality striker and 1 top quality attacking midfielder and that could be the difference. We need to start the season stronger bringing in 5 new players every season makes that unlikely and it isn't necessary, today the team you say is a long way from the title completely outclassed the team thats going to most likely win it this season.

Thought Kuyt played well today, Bellamy should have scored when he played him in with a great pass and his work rate i such an important part of how the team functions. I think the problem is all our strikers are quite similar if we had a 20 goal a season striker Kuyt wouldnt get this criticism but because we dont people are expecting too much from him. I think Kujt playing with a more selfish poacher type striker would work very well.

Not sure which game you were watching but Utd were far from "very comfortable" you had Bellamy's dissalowed goal, plus when he was put through by Kujt and his first touch was poor, then theres the shot from Riise, the shot from Crouch we created more than enough to get 2 goals today. I agree though that its a real top quality striker we need, to compliment what we have as well as 1 top class attacking midfielder. But its tough to criticise the players today I thought we completely outplayed the team that will probably now win the title we are not far off Utd but they do have those 1 or 2 real world class attacking players that we dont.

you wont find better to replace him, didnt even think he was at fault for the goal it was a tough ball in to defend and if anyone was to blame it was the defender that didnt follow the ball in, although there was luck involved as it went straight to a Utd player when it could easily have gone to one of our players in a crowded area.

Eto is the closest player out there to a young Henry, still only 25 ffs! I remember him saying nice things about the club a while back. Id be made up if this happened hes exactly the type of blue chip striker we need to compliment the other 3 who are all very hard working but maybe lack that bit of magic (Bellamy has it but Eto is at a different level)

Eto is still only 25 so his best years could be ahead of him, if we had the chance to sign someone like Eto i think we'd have to take it, hes exactly the type of striker we need to compliment what we already have.

Rafa: "You need a regular supply of goals from someone and if Robbie is not with us next season we will have to look for another like him. It will not be easy, but it is clear we would need someone with the same qualities." Those were the comments that excited me most, this is exactly what we need and its great that Rafa knows this too. We have 3 very good hard working team strikers capable of maybe 10-15 goals a season. What we need now is a Robbie Folwer aged 20 type player, someone that will get the 20+ goals a season.

Definately improving, but id still go with Gerrard wide right against Barcelona because i think we need Alonso and Sissoko in the middle. I think hes taken time to almost convince himself he belongs here but as he contributes more and more to the team he'll hopefully get better and better. Think Gonzalez is in the same boat the more he plays and contributes the more confident he'll become.

doesnt make sense, does this mean he can leave on a bosman in 18 months time? Why would we pay 10 million for a player on an 18 month contract, theoretically next January he can negotiate with other clubs about a move for no fee?

Think thats a good point teams know we have more money to spend but if we name numerous possibles its gives off the impression that if we're messed around over the fee we have other options. Its also pretty smart to let the players know we're interested and that could cause them to push for a move away.

Thats it we're signing Villa, Alves and Luisao!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Think its Insua

He'll be more useful than Robbie is currently plus if we get another injury to Garcia theres someone that can do a similar job, at the moment we dont really have another Garcia type player. On a Bosman and you get the feeling he wont expect to start every week and will be a good team man. look at some of the fringe players at Utd they arent all world beaters but they can come in and do a job for maybe 10-15 games a season