No doubting Agger's class , but he is injury prone. And we would never get 18M for him again and will he sign an extension or new contract this summer?
The one thing I liked about Rafa when he built his LFC team was he built a strong spine and worked around this. The current team has no spine to it or was one constructed during the summer.
I wonder have we over trained Carroll physically when we put him on that training schedule to lose weight and be more mobile ...he really looks weak physically for such a big fella plus when he was with Newcastle..He looks almost drained of energy. I think he is one of these players that has to carry excess weight and resulting in limited movement up front..prefect player for likes of Sunderland/ NUFC / Stoke but for the tempo we play or wish to play at like a fish out of water.
I hope we dont buy any more British players for this transfer window...the value for money is not there..Look at Cabaye for NUFC versus say Henderson what he cost us . Not a like for like comparison but the tax on home based is too high
Why do I feel that what Mancini did to us is what we used to do under Rafa to other teams? Tell teams Pass away in front of Mach & Alonso or Lucas and we would easily keep them at bay..then when an opportunity comes up, their defence would lose concentration and we punish them. Modern football tactics versus slightly dated tactics. Kenny got his arsed kicked tonight tactically. Of course having some players with pace and balls would help.
One of the best possible ways to get rid of Carroll is to open talks with Villa bout Bent and thrown in Carroll as part of the deal. He is after all a McLeish type of player. Not particular keen on Bent but its going to be hard to move Carroll on and deals like the above are the best way.
Have to sign players too improve the squad / team..we have a serious amount of catching up to do and we need to use every transfer window to its max. Agree dont sign for sake of it but we cant stand still either.
Tevez to us would suit MCFC , especially if it helps us get 4th spot, then Arsenal or Spurs been outside CL for next season would be in a weaker position to resist MCFC offers for their star players, especially any home based players.
The most worrying concern i would have is that we havent kept a clean sheet in most of our games...this with our increasing inability to score at the other end lately is not good for the blood pressure. Seriously coming home to roast that we didnt get a first choice CB in during the summer. Team starts to panic if they cant score or concedes..plus also.lack of football intelligence bit worrying.
I see Lawro has said we wont make 4th, Spurs are a way better team and we are over reliant on Suarez. Its only mid October and he has decided our league position already...amazing.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7egfObpLEWM Clip above shows Evra dive ..its 1.17 in... Looking at above clip and Evra theatrics and then his statements accusing Suarez ...think Suarez in for tough season of this type of rubbish in trying to destabilise him.
Proper wake up call this...squad and players still not strong enough. Kenny completely fooked up today but also the players he trusted to do what he asked really let him down today. As long as we learn from this and improve we can still get 4th.