Crouch and the forward reshuffle

[Molby]

my assumption is that Crouch is on the way out anyway, mentally if you will

 

he's not often playing, he's not playing too well when he gets on and his value will soon drop, as will his head

 

we sell him - Juventus would really suit him and I think he'd go to Italy

 

we reinvest the money in wingers/wide players who hold their position, beat their man and are a genuine goal threat

 

we start project 'Babel becomes the new Henry' by playing him as an inside forward, thus also sorting out the problem of an extra option of blistering pace in attack (Torres has pace but he'll also find himself doing a lot of dropping deep and hold up play)

[Kite]

If they hold their position out on the wing, how can they get into the centre to be a goal threat?

[Molby]

If they hold their position out on the wing, how can they get into the centre to be a goal threat?

[/quote

 

stop it I'll split my sides

[Alonso]

my assumption is that Crouch is on the way out anyway, mentally if you will

 

he's not often playing, he's not playing too well when he gets on and his value will soon drop, as will his head

 

we sell him - Juventus would really suit him and I think he'd go to Italy

 

we reinvest the money in wingers/wide players who hold their position, beat their man and are a genuine goal threat

we start project 'Babel becomes the new Henry' by playing him as an inside forward, thus also sorting out the problem of an extra option of blistering pace in attack (Torres has pace but he'll also find himself doing a lot of dropping deep and hold up play)

Who are those players and for the left or right or one of each?

[_00_deathscar]

If they hold their position out on the wing, how can they get into the centre to be a goal threat?

 

By doing the little "outside of the boot" thing Quaresma-2ndbestestplayerintheworldafterBerbatov does.

[Molby]

Who are those players and for the left or right or one of each?

 

 

plenty around

 

thing is you need to pay for them - s'what happens when you want to win the league and everyone elses squad is a lot more expensive

 

still, you can't have everything

[Alonso]

plenty around

 

thing is you need to pay for them - s'what happens when you want to win the league and everyone elses squad is a lot more expensive

 

still, you can't have everything

Any names tho? Are we talking the likes of Quaresma, Mancini, Joaquin, Vicente, Silva or are there others that around that are better? Are these the guys that week in week out will improve us?

 

Oh and I agree with the possibility of shifting Babel to play as our other pacy forward if Crouch were to go!

[MickeyDocs]

Babel and Torres as the new Bergkamp and Henry. I hope we get to see both of them up front together (maybe on Saturday).

[_00_deathscar]

Babel and Torres as the new Bergkamp and Henry. I hope we get to see both of them up front together (maybe on Saturday).

 

That's them two fecked then...

[The_Adder]

I like two of Queresma, Mancini and Silva. That would be nice.

[Molby]

Any names tho? Are we talking the likes of Quaresma, Mancini, Joaquin, Vicente, Silva or are there others that around that are better? Are these the guys that week in week out will improve us?

 

Oh and I agree with the possibility of shifting Babel to play as our other pacy forward if Crouch were to go!

 

 

no I don't have any surprise gems to throw in, what with sorting out the tactical and commercial side of things, I didn't have time to scout out any new players

 

the usual suspects, as you listed above but not just wingers

 

perhaps different types of full back, if you count Alves for eg - we had attacking full backs for years and years and all our competitors have them

[McBain]

I dont see Rafa ever playing Torres and Babel as a pair. He's a firm believer in having at least one, preferably two players who can hold it up/drop deep/become the extra midfielder. Torres is a break from the mould of all the strikers he's bought but he still likes either Kuyt or Voronin every game

[beejay]

We have not seen yet if Babel can hold the ball up as a striker so it's a bit early to go overboard on the Henry comparison. He can go past players and is great with the ball to run onto so for me, Rafa's right to keep him on the wing while he learns more about positioning, awareness & going looking for the ball.

 

Can't argue about Crouch leaving though it's still up to him - he has 3 months to shape up or be shipped out.

[theredfella]

my assumption is that Crouch is on the way out anyway, mentally if you will

 

he's not often playing, he's not playing too well when he gets on and his value will soon drop, as will his head

 

we sell him - Juventus would really suit him and I think he'd go to Italy

 

we reinvest the money in wingers/wide players who hold their position, beat their man and are a genuine goal threat

 

we start project 'Babel becomes the new Henry' by playing him as an inside forward, thus also sorting out the problem of an extra option of blistering pace in attack (Torres has pace but he'll also find himself doing a lot of dropping deep and hold up play)

 

Great post, we're crying out for a player who can beat a man, attack space and pose a goal threat.

 

Although not a massive goal threat, we should have broken the bank to have brought Ribery in this summer. Just the sort of player we need.

[Rimbeux]

I can't help thinking that if these players were out there, we'd at least have been linked with them. There is frankly a lack of Cristiano Ronaldos out there. There are a few of the level of Wright-Phillips perhaps, the sort of four good games in ten type, but on the Torres or Gerrard level of matchwinner? Not so sure, best you could do is chuck it on a kid and bring him through, dont see a lot of ready made value out there.

[Molby]

I dont see Rafa ever playing Torres and Babel as a pair. He's a firm believer in having at least one, preferably two players who can hold it up/drop deep/become the extra midfielder. Torres is a break from the mould of all the strikers he's bought but he still likes either Kuyt or Voronin every game

 

 

Torres can do it and he's played more or less alone for Atletico for a long time - Babel is kind of ideal for him really

[Molby]

I can't help thinking that if these players were out there, we'd at least have been linked with them. There is frankly a lack of Cristiano Ronaldos out there. There are a few of the level of Wright-Phillips perhaps, the sort of four good games in ten type, but on the Torres or Gerrard level of matchwinner? Not so sure, best you could do is chuck it on a kid and bring him through, dont see a lot of ready made value out there.

 

 

we've been linked with loads of them

 

and forget ready made value - are you familiar with the term 'marriage value?' sorry to sound patronizing - don't mean to but I only know the expression in property terms

 

basically the last pieces in the jigsaw are often the dearest - you overpay in absolute terms but not in relative terms

 

eg you overpay for Alves by £7m in terms of fair value but you win the league because you get your flying right winger who can also compete with Finnan and you get guaranteed goals from wide right

[Guest Kaizer]

I agree, sell Crouch, move Babel into his best position and buy a top class winger that can play both on the left and the right.

[Eskimo]

I can't help thinking that if these players were out there, we'd at least have been linked with them. There is frankly a lack of Cristiano Ronaldos out there. There are a few of the level of Wright-Phillips perhaps, the sort of four good games in ten type, but on the Torres or Gerrard level of matchwinner? Not so sure, best you could do is chuck it on a kid and bring him through, dont see a lot of ready made value out there.

 

Agree with that. Given the choice I'd rather spend £20-25m on two/three young prosepcts instead of buying the likes of Quaresma.

[Gilps]

Without wanting to do a Roadesque everything is rosy after this week thing, can we not at least wait until we've lost a game before calling for another squad revamp? We might actually be a bit closer to the transfer window opening again that way too.

[Molby]

Agree with that. Given the choice I'd rather spend £20-25m on two/three young prosepcts instead of buying the likes of Quaresma.

 

 

fine, lets do it Wenger style but let's make them fit the profile: fast, skillful, wide men, can cross/pick out player - score

[Eskimo]

fine, lets do it Wenger style but let's make them fit the profile: fast, skillful, wide men, can cross/pick out player - score

 

If they could do all that week in week out they wouldn't be prospects

[cymrococh]

I'm having a forward reshuffle while typing this.

[Eskimo]

I'm having a forward reshuffle while typing this.

 

trousers to tight?

[Molby]

If they could do all that week in week out they wouldn't be prospects

 

 

I mean at their particular level - and obviously a little vision will help

 

like when Ray Kennedy got moved back to midfield, or Henry got moved to the middle