Fabian Schar

[Mr Pink]

Remy/Welbeck, Fazio, Schneiderlin and Schar.



Yeah no chance

Its looking like that's how we're lining up the final line of ducks. Whether we'll grab them all is unlikely but you never know.

Interesting about Townsend now and his dad's possible hint of something happening there, well that's how I interpret it...so you never know about MS now.

They were dull today so perhaps they need a little adrenalin up top and are now prepared to do business.

We'll definitely be doing some business though...just glad things have finally picked up.

 

[Snarfalicious]

Its looking like that's how we're lining up the final line of ducks. Whether we'll grab them all is unlikely but you never know.

Interesting about Townsend now and his dad's possible hint of something happening there, well that's how I interpret it...so you never know about MS now.

They were dull today so perhaps they need a little adrenalin up top and are now prepared to do business.

We'll definitely be doing some business though...just glad things have finally picked up.

I'd argue that Southampton could use Townsend on the right, opposite of Tadic, more than they need Schneiderlin anymore. They could easily go with a 4-3-3 with JWP, Taider and Wanyama in midfield to keep things moving.

 

[SpurSince57]

Yeah, I'd like to think we could unload Kaboul, but I'm not sure if there would be any takers at this point. Also, it's difficult to run the risk of hoping Fazio, Schar and Dier can all be consistent enough in their first seasons in a new league to partner Vertonghen effectively. And, with Vertonghen missing some time here and there through injury, throwing 2 of that group out there could spell disaster if things don't go as planned.

According to Stobart, Kaboul's as reluctant to go as Dawson.

I've got to say, my main concern is Vertonghen. Despite his being our most accident-prone defender last season, he got a free pass from most of SC because of his excellent debut season. There seems to be an assumption that this season he'll be back to his 2012-13 level. I hope this isn't going to be unfounded.

 

[Yid]

Click on his name in the article and his stories regarding transfers doesn't fill me with confidence that this is true. He hasn't got a single 1 right.

To be fair, he did get the Ashley Cole to Roma and Andre Wisdom to West Brom transfers correctly.
But you do have a point though.

 

[Snarfalicious]

According to Stobart, Kaboul's as reluctant to go as Dawson.

I've got to say, my main concern is Vertonghen. Despite his being our most accident-prone defender last season, he got a free pass from most of SC because of his excellent debut season. There seems to be an assumption that this season he'll be back to his 2012-13 level. I hope this isn't going to be unfounded.

I'm incredibly worried about him too and his performance against Limassol took it to a new level for me. He just doesn't look like the player from Ajax and 2012/13 like you mentioned. I think if we want to have any chance of exceeding expectations, he needs to play at a high level over the course of the season. I think at this point it's a big ask of him.

 

[mpickard2087]

According to Stobart, Kaboul's as reluctant to go as Dawson.

I've got to say, my main concern is Vertonghen. Despite his being our most accident-prone defender last season, he got a free pass from most of SC because of his excellent debut season. There seems to be an assumption that this season he'll be back to his 2012-13 level. I hope this isn't going to be unfounded.

As I have said quite a few times though, he didn't even have a consistently good first season... He had an impressive first 8-10 games, was then very average over the winter before finding some form again at the back end of the season. His selection for the team of the year was a bit generous.

The guy has a great reputation yet hasn't really consistently shown it. He has been shifted out to left back a bit, and had a few injuries, but I too expect more from him. I also find the continued suggestions that he gets given the captaincy amazing, to me watching him play he has no presence and is in no way captaincy material.

 

[Yid]

I'm incredibly worried about him too and his performance against Limassol took it to a new level for me. He just doesn't look like the player from Ajax and 2012/13 like you mentioned. I think if we want to have any chance of exceeding expectations, he needs to play at a high level over the course of the season. I think at this point it's a big ask of him.

Exactly, which is why we must get a "security blanket" for our back four. One more CB is an absolute necessity IMHO, but two more are preferable (especially if Daws and Vlad both go).

 

[Bus-Conductor]

According to Stobart, Kaboul's as reluctant to go as Dawson.

I've got to say, my main concern is Vertonghen. Despite his being our most accident-prone defender last season, he got a free pass from most of SC because of his excellent debut season. There seems to be an assumption that this season he'll be back to his 2012-13 level. I hope this isn't going to be unfounded.

I don't think that's entirely true. I don't think he got a free pass and I don't think he was our most accident prone defender. And I don't think the leeway he does get is because of his first season.

I think what leeway he gets he gets because although he makes mistakes - like every single one of our defenders did last season - most can see he has qualities that our other defenders don't, namely a brain and some composure and the ability to do more than just lump the ball.

He also spent way too much time playing LB, a position he has said he does not like much and if stories are to be believed he chose us over Arsenal to avoid playing.

For me, CB's will always make mistakes, especially when continually exposed by poor tactical play in other areas. Often it's about luck which mistakes get punished and which don't. But the important thing is what they are doing the majority of the time. Their general all round qualities and game. And this is universal. Even Kompany cost City goals occasionally last season. People were slagging off Demichelis because they saw the odd blooper on MOTD and completely missing the way his reading of the game snuffed out 7 chances a game before they even got going.

On this basis, though clearly not foot perfect, Vertonghen is by a country mile our best CB and I think we'd be hard pushed to find a CB with a better all round package of skills.

 

[ButchCassidy]

Can't find anything about this on fcbforum, they are all worrying about whether they should go for Cech and Xhaka, so they might be an optimistic lot... Did find this though:

"wenn ein verein 6 millione für schäär bietet, den anäh... meh bekunnsch nie wider"

my German is awful but I think its something like "if a team offers 6m for Schäär, we would not resist"

 

[Syn_13]

Can't find anything about this on fcbforum, they are all worrying about whether they should go for Cech and Xhaka, so they might be an optimistic lot... Did find this though:

"wenn ein verein 6 millione für schäär bietet, den anäh... meh bekunnsch nie wider"

my German is awful but I think its something like "if a team offers 6m for Schäär, we would not resist"

Schaar is a great young player, a real prospect. I'd bite their hand off at 6m.

 

[Strikeb4ck]

I'd love Schaer. Followed him since he was at Wil. I've said all along Schaer and Rodriguez will end up being two of the best defenders in the world (another Swiss talent is Ricardo's younger brother, Francisco, who is tearing it up at Zurich right now - someone email Broomfield) and that's looking like happening. Just a really good player, he'd fit in well with the system and league too in my opinion.

I've posted many times that Basel are terrible at getting good money for their players. We could get Schaer for 8-10m in my opinion.

That being said, I already posted in this threat that Swiss news outlets are very good with transfer rumours on Swiss players - there is nothing about Schaer leaving anywhere.

 

[Barry Mead]

Not sure how much it makes sense, to be honest. I would love to have Schar as I think he's a really promising young CB, but how do you get enough match minutes to each if we were to have Vertonghen, Dier, Schar, Fazio and Kaboul. Granted, we will be playing a lot of matches, I'm just not sure if we could make it all work, even accounting for some injuries.

Would Kaboul be around? sad to say he still looks a long way off getting back to his pre injury form of two years ago. We may not even be trying to sell if we believe he can't pass a medical.
As for Dier it's still possible we might look at the RB role and sell Naughton the nearer Walker gets back to fitness knowing that Dier can cover and get game time in that role at times if he isn't getting too much playing time at CB
I really like the look of Dier but it's important not to overburden a developing talent though granted finding the right balance of enough game time without excessive demands is tricky

 

[St José Dominguez]

Don't really understand this link. What also puzzles me is how the mirror release a Fazio story at same time as this but not mention Fazio in the Schar link. It's likely click based journalism but hasn't stopped me thinking what if the combined fee for both isn't much more than Musacchio. To buy 3 new CBs, a LB and a RB (albeit January) in one window is a bit mental though.

 

[Snarfalicious]

Don't really understand this link. What also puzzles me is how the mirror release a Fazio story at same time as this but not mention Fazio in the Schar link. It's likely click based journalism but hasn't stopped me thinking what if the combined fee for both isn't much more than Musacchio. To buy 3 new CBs, a LB and a RB (albeit January) in one window is a bit mental though.

And after our last season, it may be necessary.

It's really unfortunate that when looking over all of our positions in the backline (RB, RCB, LCB, LB) with the holdovers from last season we really have no one who I would say "We can rely on him to perform at a high level." That includes Vertonghen which seems crazy after his 2012/13 season. Walker has this ongoing pelvic injury, Naughton is okay but he's a backup RB that can do a job in a pinch, not necessarily for a long period of time. Rose's shortcomings are well documented. Dawson, Kaboul have injury/performance concerns and Vlad has that shit-your-pants factor along with injury problems.

I think a lot of what is being done this transfer window is trying to find guys that can bring solidity in terms of defending. Fazio is by all accounts a very solid defender. He may not be the flashiest athlete but he appears to be able to get the most out of his monstrous frame and football intelligence. I also love the idea of on certain occasions, should he not be starting, bringing Fazio in at the dying embers of a match to win those valuable headers in and around the box.

Schar would really be a great addition as I view him as a player that could really become a Mateo Musacchio type of defender. Having a player like that in the RCB position could be incredibly valuable with clubs like Arsenal and Liverpool that have quick interchanging forwards that can really lose their CB, despite their experience/intelligence. I view Schar as an athletic alternative to the defensive unit that is Fazio.

 

[St José Dominguez]

And after our last season, it may be necessary.

It's really unfortunate that when looking over all of our positions in the backline (RB, RCB, LCB, LB) with the holdovers from last season we really have no one who I would say "We can rely on him to perform at a high level." That includes Vertonghen which seems crazy after his 2012/13 season. Walker has this ongoing pelvic injury, Naughton is okay but he's a backup RB that can do a job in a pinch, not necessarily for a long period of time. Rose's shortcomings are well documented. Dawson, Kaboul have injury/performance concerns and Vlad has that shit-your-pants factor along with injury problems.

I think a lot of what is being done this transfer window is trying to find guys that can bring solidity in terms of defending. Fazio is by all accounts a very solid defender. He may not be the flashiest athlete but he appears to be able to get the most out of his monstrous frame and football intelligence. I also love the idea of on certain occasions, should he not be starting, bringing Fazio in at the dying embers of a match to win those valuable headers in and around the box.

Schar would really be a great addition as I view him as a player that could really become a Mateo Musacchio type of defender. Having a player like that in the RCB position could be incredibly valuable with clubs like Arsenal and Liverpool that have quick interchanging forwards that can really lose their CB, despite their experience/intelligence. I view Schar as an athletic alternative to the defensive unit that is Fazio.

Yes absolutely. Prior to window I thought there was serious scope for improvements in both midfield and attack with existing players. The defence for one reason or another I felt needed serious change. It's just hard to imagine it happening. The way the defence performed and the amount of changes I'm not sure keeping it stable matters and I would love if we ended window with Vertonghen, Fazio, Schar and Dier as options. I still can't see it mainly due to not imagining both Daws and Kaboul leaving this window.

 

[yankspurs]

Oh please, please, please, please, please!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[ButchCassidy]

Verts - Schar - Fazio - Dier - Veljkovic would be a nice rounded corps of center backs, but I doubt we are looking for that much change in one window.

 

[Snarfalicious]

Verts - Schar - Fazio - Dier - Veljkovic would be a nice rounded corps of center backs, but I doubt we are looking for that much change in one window.

I think we would likely just keep Kaboul around just to add some veteran experience in the event the 'New 3' couldn't cope. Also, Dier as a 5th choice would be smart as he can get match minutes at RB and DM in additional to CB (he's also the youngest/most inexperienced).

 

[Spurger King]

I'll believe this one when I see it!

 

[Ghost Hardware]

Please be true, please be true, please be true.....