improve ? ok then .... where ?

[Red Yoda]

we are half way there , things are good , its now the january transfer window .

 

do we improve or tinker with the squad ?

 

 

...................................... reina

...................................... cava

 

arbeloa .......... carra ........................ agger ........... insua

deggen .......... skrtel ....................... hyypia ......... aurelio

.......................................................................... dossena

 

................... mascherano ................ alonso

...................... lucas

 

kuyt ............................... gerrard .......................... riera

el zhar .......................... benayoun ........................ babel

pennant

 

....................................... torres

....................................... keane

....................................... ngog

 

we need another right back { if darby isn't up to the task } to compete with arbeloa as deggen , god love him , hes more injury prone than aurelio .

 

it looks like there might be offers from italy for dossena and it would def not be a surprise if we cashed in on him .

 

right side of midfield is a bit of a quandry . kuyt works so incredibly hard for the team , over the season he will pitch in with an amount of goals , unless rafa can get a word class right sided midfielder , i imagine he will be happy with kuyt as our starting right sided player for the forseable future . back up to kuyt is a different question , it is very transparent that liverpool are trying to ship pennant , so then are el zhar or benayoun good enough for the option as a squad player on that side ?

 

i honestly cant see rafa bringing another player in to compete or back up for the AMC or AML roles and after that you just have the forward line .

 

torres and keane are quality , ngog shows glimpses of promise , there is the opening there for a player , but its def going to have to be a player who is going to be willing to spend long spells on the bench .

 

my opinion is that we def need a right back and i would have thought an experienced forward , who can still do it ok , but who understand his position within the squad .

 

would you change any other players or do you think that we dont need any changes ?

[Gunga Din]

we need a right winger and we need another striker and possibly a full back for either side

[Chili Palmer]

we need a right winger and we need another striker and possibly a full back for either side

 

 

I think we are covered at left back, right side is where we need back up

[MFletcher]

A replacement for Pennant, an extra striker and a right back to replace Degen.

 

Insua has been superb since coming into the side, and should now be considered a fixture in the first team squad.

[Earl Hafler]

I think we are covered at left back, right side is where we need back up

 

I think the right side is where we need to improve.

[Sion]

LB position is fine. Even if we sell Dossena we have Aurelio, Insua and Arbeloa who can play there

RB all we have is Arbeloa and Degen (who)

[Toni]

right side

[Rory Fitzgerald]

What Wayne said - the right side of midfield the priority area.

[Ste M]

Aye, the right of midfield could do with some attention (although ideally Benayoun will continue to step in and play well, with Babel also able to play there if required), and up front. We need height up top. And more cover for right back.

 

Saying that, Hammil is back from loan and could cover the right wing, and then there's Darby and even Kelly for right back.

[Farmer's Tan]

sell pennant,degen and dossena buy even one player of quality,a right winger preferably,having torres,keane kuyt and ngog even babel could do a job up front if we need,i would actually stick him in ahead of ngog.we really are very lite on the right though,i suppose at a push carra can go right back if we lose arby and have still a choice of 3 centerbacks,aurelio an insua at left back is a little light because of aurelio's continued injury problems.so yeah i would defo go with a right winger/fullback

[New York Red]

If we had no injuries, I'd be delighted with our squad. I wouldn't change a thing. We have a lot of players who can play in multiple roles.

 

But, with our best chance of winning the league in so long, we can't take any chances.

 

So, I'd have to say we need a right back, a right midfielder, and a forward.

 

Do we have any guesses of who?

[allawee]

Selling Pennant, having Skertel and Torres back is strengthening the team in my opinion and we may not need to buy anyone as we have a very good squad.

 

But if we have to buy 1 or 2 players, I would go with Glen Johnson and Valencia

[Toni]

Selling Pennant, having Skertel and Torres back is strengthening the team in my opinion and we may not need to buy anyone as we have a very good squad.

 

But if we have to buy 1 or 2 players, I would go with Glen Johnson and Valencia

 

Valenica and Johnson would certainly increase the pace in our team. Valenicia in particular would be a good addition. he s pacey and strong but may not come cheap. a swap + cash deal with pennant could be the most probable possibility.

[SkippyjonJones]

we need a right winger and we need another striker and possibly a full back for either side

 

what he said.

 

a right winger though means dirk can be the extra striker.

 

extra right back instead of using JC there would be good.

 

 

its left back that concerns me...

[Magic8Ball]

Valenica and Johnson would certainly increase the pace in our team. Valenicia in particular would be a good addition. he s pacey and strong but may not come cheap. a swap + cash deal with pennant could be the most probable possibility.

They would be excellent additions, but once again Real Madrid are likely to 'steal' Valencia from us - he'd cost 15m

and just to compare Ribery is rated as 50m these days

[New York Red]

what he said.

 

a right winger though means dirk can be the extra striker.

 

extra right back instead of using JC there would be good.

its left back that concerns me...

 

I think Insua/Arbeloa/Auerilio will cover us easily. Agger can play there too.

[growler]

rw for me. happy with up front. especially if nemeth continues his progress

[New York Red]

Would we have any chance or need for Roque Santa Cruz? He would seem to be a great understudy to Nando.

[cymrococh]

Would we have any chance or need for Roque Santa Cruz? He would seem to be a great understudy to Nando.

Why would he go anywhere to be somebody's understudy?

[McBain]

If we buy a proper right sided midfielder we would solve both that position and at the same time improve our options upfront as we can shift Dirk back to his better position. I'd say as well we need a better rb as i dont think Arbeloa is great but he's not helped by having a square peg in a round hole infront of him. So getting a proper rm would help in that respect as well

 

If we have money that's how i'd spend it

[Stevie H]

the better rafa makes us the tougher it becomes to improve the squad as there is only a finite number of really top players out there. would aaron lennon improve us for example? i'm not sure. would the lad kuba from dortmund? again, dunno. would ribery? s*** year but he'll cost about 30m quid which we don't have.

 

i'd be happy to see us not sign anyone in january to be honest. riera and keane are still bedding in, torres and skrtel will be like new signings. for what's available and what it'd cost it's probably best to wait until the summer. get agger bloody signed up on a new contract should be the immediate priority.

[Case]

You could argue that with Skrtl fit again, Right back is as covered as left back now is. (Carra, Arbeloa, Darby for Right side v Insua, Dossena, Fabio, even Carra for Left side). we also have Sami, Skrtl, Agger, Carra and even Arbeloa for the CB's, so again, we're ok, I think. I wouldn't change the defence.

 

I would add an option for right side of midfield. It'll be interesting to see if Hamill gets a game against Preston on Satdee. He'd had a good lot of time to play at a reasonable level with Blackpool (none of our other loanees have been this high up the 'ladder' I don't think), so if he doesn't play tomorrow then why have him back in January? - It's not as if he's going to play against Everton if he doesn't play against preston.

 

Even then, I don't know if he can be considered as cover for Dirk, Benni and Babel for that side. We'd really need experience in the 2nd half of the season, and I don't think there is anyone out there that fits - so, no signings for me either.

[The walters step over]

If we buy a proper right sided midfielder we would solve both that position and at the same time improve our options upfront as we can shift Dirk back to his better position. I'd say as well we need a better rb as i dont think Arbeloa is great but he's not helped by having a square peg in a round hole infront of him. So getting a proper rm would help in that respect as well

 

If we have money that's how i'd spend it

 

By all accounts, the reason Rafa wants Heskey so much is because he believes that he can fill both the right hand mid spot and play upfront, ie he loves Kuyt so much that he wants a clone (That's what the football Echo reckon anyway).

 

Imo, although I can see exactly why Emile is Rafas type of player - works hard, etc it'll be a big, big mistake to bring him back and the pressure on Gerrard (and Torres, when he's fit/on form) to deliver the goals every single game will intensify.

 

I guess we'll see but any players that come in will have to have more of an immediate impact than the summer signings have had and it really worries me that Heskey is apparently nailed on as the player that will improve our attacking play, his goalscoring record is woeful and his technique is only marginally better than Dirks. Fingers crossed that Rafa gets it right but I do worry that he's about to blow our best chance of the title for 11 years.

[John am Rhein]

Why would he go anywhere to be somebody's understudy?

 

we should offer him money

[John am Rhein]

By all accounts, the reason Rafa wants Heskey so much is because he believes that he can fill both the right hand mid spot and play upfront, ie he loves Kuyt so much that he wants a clone (That's what the football Echo reckon anyway).

 

he's no fool, that rafa!