Rafs buys

[AJ The Red]

I think overall Rafa has done well considering that he has had to wheel and deal but it seems that any player we buy is just a steady player for the price played.Its hard to put into words what im trying to say but if you look at all our signings we have got exactly what we have expected.

 

How many of our players bought have turned out better than we expected for the amount payed.Not one of our signings in the last 3 yrs has done anything or turned into anything above what is expected for the price we have payed.I just wonder what our scouts actually do because they havent uneathed any talent for the first team yet.

 

Its difficult what im trying to put down in words but who out of our so called first team squad has suprised you?

[Guest GrandpaSimpson]

You wonder what kind of player Ronaldo would be now if we would have signed him, you wonder what kind of player Babel could be under Wegner/Fergie.

[Hassony]

You wonder what kind of player Ronaldo would be now if we would have signed him, you wonder what kind of player Babel could be under Wegner/Fergie.

Walcott has really progressed under wenger!

 

babel has probably done better than Nani so far this season

[Guest newfavouriteplayer]

Its difficult what im trying to put down in words but who out of our so called first team squad has suprised you?

 

 

I'll put it into words.

 

Rafa buys good players, players we all generallly agree are good signings, then he puts them through his million-option tactics team selection calculator, and they become slightly less good, and the club buys some more and Rafa does precislely the same all over again.

[Falconhoof]

Thats fair comment AJ.

Reina is special and we got a bargain with him but you struggle to think of many signings that have exceeded expectations. For 4 years wheeling and dealing you'd expect a few more top players and a style of playing that you have confidence in.

[alias75]

For me the problem is more that we're not even getting what we pay for, if Riise, Kewell, Kuyt, Crouch etc.. were playing close to their maximum that would be fine, it still may not ultimately be good enough for where we want to be but it would be acceptable as a supporter, the problem is we have players that aren't good enough to start with that are then playing so far below that level.

 

Rafa does pick our best players most weeks Reina, Agger, Mascherano, Gerrard, Alonso, Torres these players dont get rotated much when fully fit, the key is adding 2 or 3 more players of that quality, and then i think team selection would be much more consistent.

 

Sometimes i think Rafa rotates because the players we have in certain positions arent playing well enough to be undroppable.

[BG]

Agger.

 

Torres - everyone in Spain is amazed at him this season.

 

Garcia was a good buy at the money.

[Guest GrandpaSimpson]

Walcott has really progressed under wenger!

 

babel has probably done better than Nani so far this season

 

 

The exception to the rule though isnt it?

 

English players have never really done well under Wegner, not recently anyway.

 

Not having a go at Babel either, think he's done ok, but I just think he could be so MUCH better than Nani or even as good as the TOP players if Rafa let him get on with it. There seems to be too much restriction on him by the manager.

[Woodsyla]

I've learned that Rafa is f***ing ace at buying holding midfielders and defenders, he's f***ing woeful at selecting flair players. Garcia aside not one of the cheap options that Rafa has bought in have consistently delivered (Too early for Babel and Benayoun to judge). His choice of strikers is f***ing abysmal when he can't splash the cash. However, you could level that at all managers except Harry Redknapp and even he bought David Nugent this summer !!!!

 

High profile striker flops are as common as muck so I can't feel to angry at Rafa for Kuyt, Voronin, Crouch, Morientes, Bellamy etc. At least he's got a good 'un in Torres.

[Gomez]

Crouch.

 

Just because he's not Torres does not mean he hasn't been a success. Most people on here, including me didn't want him at any price, but he's improved dramatically, established himself as a top international striker and unless his contract winds down, we'll get a lot more than the £7m we paid for him. Other names bandied about at the time, Johnson, Bent, Defoe have not been as successful and gone for more money over the same time.

 

And assuming we are not getting £100m to spend in the summer to buy 2 Torres standard strikers and 2 similar level wingers, I'd keep him.

 

Oh, and Torres. £18m was a steal.

[Stevie H]

rafa can pick value for money defensive players but not value for money attacking players? there could be some truth in that.

[MFletcher]

rafa can pick value for money defensive players but not value for money attacking players? there could be some truth in that.

 

It's hard to argue that his record with defensive buys is excellent.

 

Reina, Arbeloa, Agger, Skrtel (early days obviously), Alonso, Mascherano.

 

A wee bit more hit and miss in the attacking department, but he's tried signing pace in the last couple of summers in the form of Gonzalez, Pennant, Bellamy, Torres and Babel - so we'll see what happens this summer if he's allowed sufficient funds to compete in the top echelons of the market.

[Stevie H]

It's hard to argue that his record with defensive buys is excellent.

 

Reina, Arbeloa, Agger, Skrtel (early days obviously), Alonso, Mascherano.

 

A wee bit more hit and miss in the attacking department, but he's tried signing pace in the last couple of summers in the form of Gonzalez, Pennant, Bellamy, Torres and Babel - so we'll see what happens this summer if he's allowed sufficient funds to compete in the top echelons of the market.

it's not a 'wee bit more' though is it? it's largely rubbish. you can give him torres 'cos he had the budget to buy proven quality and garcia who did a good job for the money. the rest of his attacking signings have been almost entirely disappointing.

[Guest redtalisker]

It seems so easy to forget the days when we bought big only to realize that they were dross and would be lucky to get a packet of crisps and some peanuts when we got shot of them. Not something you can accuse this manager of. Most of his buys retain a significant valve involving a small loss or gain either way.

 

This summer he has, aside from Voronin, done well. There were doubts or rather questions about Torres ability to fit into the league and he wouldnt be the first big name signing that flopped. Where the manager failed was in the previous summer. None of the players he bought in during that transfer window improved our starting 11. They improved the squad but too many were either gambles that did not pay off, stop gap signings or squad fillers. Despite getting third again and CL final think we lost ground on the leaders in terms of team progression and are paying for it now.

[Dule]

All these attacking players you talk about should have scored last night, i mean the whole midfield, strikers and so on, it would have been a different story if we had of taken a 2-0 lead, a riot in fact.

[surf]

Rafa's buys have been pretty decent.

 

Reina, Agger, Torres, Alonso are all top quality

Benny is good value for the money spent

Babel looks promising, but perhaps a bit expensive

Skrtel is too early to tell

Pennant, Kuyt, Crouch i wish he hadn't bought and sent all that money on one attacking player

Most of the others were average, but overall we recouped our money

[Jim D]

rafa can pick value for money defensive players but not value for money attacking players? there could be some truth in that.

 

Just like GH, some of GH's best buys were defensive players but came short in the attacking department.....Diouf, Cheyrou.

[Stevie H]

Just like GH, some of GH's best buys were defensive players but came short in the attacking department.....Diouf, Cheyrou.

it's not rocket science like, defensive players are generally steadier eddies and as a result less of a gamble than attacking players. but over the past what, seven or eight years, we've had some f***ing stinkers.