alias75

very talented but i dont think hes what we need.

Not if one of those forwards can also play as an attacking midfielder or even an attacking wide striker, also it isnt too many if your thinking of playing 4-3-3 or 3-4-3 in some games. It could mean one of Crouch and Bellamy are sacrificed to sign a top quality striker, we know how ruthless Rafa is so if he thinks thats necessary thats what he'll do. I think his comments about needing to be more clinical in front of goal suggests he knows we need a top quality finisher, i dont see this signing (if it happens) doing anything to change that.

Dont think its either or, Veronin will take the 4th striker spot and also cover a couple of other positions in the squad, we have played 3 forwards in a few games this season so maybe Rafa wants 5 strikers.

Think he'll cover 2 or 3 positions in the squad and he may be one of those guys thats not going to make waves if hes coming off the bench most weeks. Remember him a little from the world cup and like most players from that part of the world hes technically very good and tactically pretty intelligent too. On a Bosman and i imagine his wages wont be huge, will take that 4th striker position and also covers a couple of other positions.

True but i dont see that superstar forward among Bellamy, Crouch and Kuyt, all 3 are more than useful but i think we need someone really special. There are a few possibles at the moment especially with the new owners, Torres, Villa even Eto after the events of the last week.

Hasnt been mentioned but he would be a Bosman which may explain it, if there is any truth behind this story though it could mean one of the 3 strikers being sold if we want to bring in a real top class player. This guy may take Robbies place as 4th choice but its clear we need someone a little bit special, could mean Crouch or Bellamy will be moved on to make that happen?

I really hope we dont go down the route of signing another 5 or 6 players this season, i think thats been a huge reason for our slow start this year. It was needed to improve the squad but now we're in a much stronger position. Id like us to sign a right sided player (Alves) a real top quality striker (Torres or Eto would be nice) and a left sided player Central midfield is fine as is central defence assuming the new guy settles in we have 4 good CBs we have 3 very good strikers but we do need that 1 blue chip striker. The developments with Eto over the last week are interesting id love to see someone like that here. Left side is still a problem but i still think Gonzalez will come good and the early signs of Insua are promising too, maybe we could sign 1 left sided player but not too many names spring to mind at the moment.

Torres and Alves, thats close to 50 million for 2 players.

Andriy Voronin?

Think Torres is the guy we should go for, young very quick leads the line well and will score goals, he also has the size and physique for the PL. Think Kuyt and Torres would be excellent together.

Think thats right the way the Spanish system works they cant offer professional contracts to players under a certain age whereas in the UK i think its 16 so there is a gap of 2 years i think between the UK and Spain, therefore it is possible that you can come in with offers of much more money than they'd be getting for those 2 years. I guess it depends on each player but the player in question is very highly regarded so id be surprised if this happened as in a few years he will be pushing the Barcelona first team. Maybe Rafa has told him his progress into the first team will be much quicker here and theres also the financial rewards.

what if the player had played left back several times before? In fact his position could be Def R,L

Nice and constructive there... The problem isnt with Finnan its with the guy on the opposite side of the pitch to him. Riise has had a very poor season and most people are coming to the conclusion that currently left back is the weak link in our team. (I also get the impression Rafas had enough of Riise too by the way) now there arent many top notch left backs out there, maybe Bale but hes going to cost a lot, but there is a very real possibility that Alves will be available in the summer, now do we ... a. not sign Alves cos we already have Finnan? b. try and sign Alves and rotate him with Finnan and right midfield? c. play Alves at right back and try Finnan at left back (where hes played several times before) All those comments you made about Finnan were correct, why is there this assumption that as soon as he plays on the other side of the field hes going to turn from one of our best and most consistent players into some idiot that cant play? I dont understand that thinking. If hes such a good player then surely hes able to play left back, hes done it for Ireland numerous times. All those positive attributes arent all of a sudden going to disappear cos hes lined up on the left instead of the right!

A few differences... 1. McAteer is no Alves, i only suggested this if we signed Alves as i think hes a player we have to go for if hes available but that shouldnt necessarily mean its either him or Finnan. 2. Rob Jones as far as im aware had never played left back before, Finnan has numerous times. Anyone that watches him knows hes very capable with his left foot. 3. Im not sure who Jones replaced at left back (Bjornebye? Harkness?) but at the moment Riise isnt playng well yet it seems hes got to play every week, if we had a left back that was playing well i wouldnt even consider this, but at the moment left back is the problem position in the team.

Dont worry buddy, most forward thinkers are under appreciated in their own life time

I only put this forward as 1 option but i seriously dont see the problem. If there arent any decent left backs out there what do we do? Stick with Riise cos theres nobody out there, and lets not sign Alves cos we already have a very good right back. Do you honestly think playing Finnan on the other side of the defence will all of a sudden turn him into a bad player? could he be any worse than Riise's been virtually the whole season? Finnan has played a lot of football at left back, its not an alien position to him he did it for Ireland cos they had Carr at right back, our problem has probably been the reverse 3 or 4 players that can play left back but really only Finnan at right back so the suggestion of playing him there hasnt needed to be brought up. BUT left back is now turning into a problem position, if there arent many good left backs out there do we just stick by a player thats been poor all season cos theres no one better? I ask the question again, theoretically which team is stronger... Alves at right back Finnan at left back? Finnan right back Riise left back?

1. Ok but what if Alves is a possible signing for next season do we not get him because we have Finnan? 2. True but i dont see why he couldnt be one of the most reliable left backs 3. Finnan has played left back a lot, it hasnt happened here, but hes played there a fair few times for ireland and fulham, hes good with both feet and an intelligent player i see absolutely no reason why he couldnt play left back. Finnan isnt a left back in the same way Gerrard isnt a right winger.

Guess im in the minority on this one, but what if a quality left back isnt available? Do we make do with Riise or hope that Insua is going to be a player? Do we not sign Alves because we have Finnan? Its all about the relevant strength of the startng 11, just as i feel the overall team is stronger with Gerrard wide right as opposed to Pennant, with Alonso and Sissoko (or Mascherano) in the middle. So the overall team would be stronger with Finnan at left back and Alves at right back as opposed to Riise left back and Finnan right back.

Because there is a lack of top quality left backs out there, but there could be 1 very good right back available in the summer. Its not as if Finnans never played there before, from memory msot of his caps for Ireland have been left back and right midfield cos Carr seemed to get picked at right back.

My point is if Riise is a weakness (which he is at the moment) but there arent any credible left backs to sign, yet there are a couple of good right backs including Alves we could possibly sign, why not sign the right back and move Finnan to left back where hes played numerous times before. Answer me this question is a defence with Alves right back and Finnan left back better than a defence with Finnan right back and Riise left back?

Made this point in a couple of threads but maybe it deserves its own topic. Riise has been very poor this season so bad that many people think that left back is the position that needs changing the most. But there arent that many great left backs out there. We've been linked with Alves and many people have suggested that we dont need to replace Finnan which is true, but how about playing Finnan left back? Hes played there before for Ireland and he is a very solid 2 footed player so i dont see that being a problem for him, if there is a chance to sign Alves in the summer we have to take it, if we wait someone else will get him. The problem if we did sign him would be would he replace Finnan whose one of our most consistent players, playing left back could be the solution, he couldnt be any worse than Riise's been this season could he?

Finnan has played left back before for Ireland and Fulham, whenever someone like Alves is mentioned its always assumed it would be at the expense of finnan who is obviously one of our most consistent players, but maybe Finnan could be the left back we need, if we get Alves.

Taking nothing away from Finnan because its obvious to anyone with eyes thats hes one of our best and most consistent performers BUT... Alves is a very special player and if the chance is there to sign him next season i think we have to take it. Finnan wont be at this level forever and going forward he doesnt offer as much as Alves. I certainly think for the forseable future and for most away games Finnan should be right back but if we really want to take the game to sides someone like Alves would add another dimension to the team, him and Gerrard down the right hand side would be a scary proposition for teams. Right back is not a priority at the moment but if we wait Alves will sign for someone else and then in 2 or 3 years time Finnan wont be the same player he is now. One other thought, Finnan has played left back for Rep Ireland so maybe hes the answer to our left back problems?

first leg is away

what about Torres? we have the perfect 2nd striker in Kuyt someone that will do a lot of chasing and tracking back allowing some like Torres or Villa to stay centrally and concentrate on putting the ball in the net. Wide left is a tough one to solve because i cant think of many great wide left players, Vicente hasnt been playing much at Valencia recently maybe hes a possible. Wide right id love us to sign Alves and use him as a full back primarily with Stevie wide right (assuming we sign Mascherano we have good options centrally) i think Alves and Gerrard down the right would be awesome.