No new striker No top four

[parklane yid]

With defoes departure it's vital we sign a striker in January, we can't rely on two strikers with our injury record, it's simple like before if we fail to sigma forward then we won't make top four yet again, come on balding earn your money, the rest of our squad is fine, what do u guys think

 

[DaSpurs]

With defoes departure it's vital we sign a striker in January, we can't rely on two strikers with our injury record, it's simple like before if we fail to sigma forward then we won't make top four yet again, come on balding earn your money, the rest of our squad is fine, what do u guys think

Not sure if this is the right place, but I agree with you regardless. I'm happy to see Timmy blood some younguns, but with a 4-4-2 it's too risky with what we have on hand, especially given how deep we are at CM.

 

[WalkerboyUK]

JD scored ONE PL goal in all of 2013...... I would imagine even Harry Kane could manage that if needed.
However, I have a niggling suspicion that DL doesn't really want CL for us. I suspect there could be lots of players with clauses requiring bonuses & wage increases if we qualified, and Levy is too tight-fisted to allow that to happen.
He's happy to let us look like we're making a challenge....

 

[DaSpurs]

JD scored ONE PL goal in all of 2013...... I would imagine even Harry Kane could manage that if needed.
However, I have a niggling suspicion that DL doesn't really want CL for us. I suspect there could be lots of players with clauses requiring bonuses & wage increases if we qualified, and Levy is too tight-fisted to allow that to happen.
He's happy to let us look like we're making a challenge....

I believe all players are promised some sort of reward if you make the CL. Gives an additional incentive beyond "playing at the top level."

 

[chrissivad]

I would say we need a LB before we need a striker

LB's: Rose, Fryers, Verts
Strikers: Soldado, Ade, Defoe (for a month and a half), Kane

Defoe has had limited game time in the league so not sure he will be missed that much anyway, and we can always play Lamela just off one of the strikers like many are saying is his best position.

 

[Barry Mead]

I think Lamela could very easily slot into a second striker role but it would be nice to get a quality striker in to boost our options, especially if we are likely to play two strikers more frequently. I'm actually kind of hoping that there is something in the Pjanic link and that we will boost a bit of creativity in the midfield with him and leave Lamela to play a more striker focused role than am/winger role. What I really don't want us doing is getting a striker that we don't really want long term just to add an extra striker to the mix

 

[rawhide]

come on balding earn your money

I think she does a fair job on BT Sport...




(I honestly have no idea what she does, or whether it's any good)

 

[WalkerboyUK]

I think Lamela could very easily slot into a second striker role but it would be nice to get a quality striker in to boost our options, especially if we are likely to play two strikers more frequently. I'm actually kind of hoping that there is something in the Pjanic link and that we will boost a bit of creativity in the midfield with him and leave Lamela to play a more striker focused role than am/winger role. What I really don't want us doing is getting a striker that we don't really want long term just to add an extra striker to the mix

Wasn't Soldado a quality striker???
Yes, better all-round game recently, but still not scoring.
We could bring in someone who has bagged 15-20 per season in Holland, Germany, Italy, Spain etc. and them not do anything here - more wasted money.

If we get anyone it will be short-term, who is happy to be a back-up/sub and is near end of career...... Could this be Berba???

 

[Barry Mead]

Wasn't Soldado a quality striker???
Yes, better all-round game recently, but still not scoring.
We could bring in someone who has bagged 15-20 per season in Holland, Germany, Italy, Spain etc. and them not do anything here - more wasted money.

If we get anyone it will be short-term, who is happy to be a back-up/sub and is near end of career...... Could this be Berba???

I seem to recall a few years back we brought in Bent and Bentley for huge money, both lots of PL experience, some players take time to adjust to a new team some to a new league, other players can adapt very quickly, you say Berba but he was new to the league when he arrived and quickly started to show quality, Aguero looked great at City from day 1. Dzeko struggled in his first six months so did Tevez but then started to really deliver. That's the point, even if a new player doesn't deliver short term if you get a player for the longer term you can get the dividend later. I like Berba but at his age he's not a long term option and he will be joining a team that is unfamiliar to him with just Daws, Lennon and a short term JD

 

[WalkerboyUK]

That's what I mean - Levy will at best look at the short-term/cheaper option now, and then (hopefully) look longer term in summer. Hence a move for someone like Berbatov/Long.

 

[luptic]

All we need to do is get Soldado scoring hopefully.

 

[thinktank]

CB, LB.

 

[Gedson100]

So conversely if Defoe stayed we'd get top 4?

Nah.

Honestly, we sell a back up striker who has played 369 minutes in the league this year and scored ZERO goals and it's neglecting the squad if we don't sign a replacement?

If we go out and sign another striker they are likely to end up, er... sitting on the bench all year like Jermain did.
Can't see the point. We have plenty of forwards, if not actual strikers, and unless Adebayor and Soldado get injured together we have plenty of cover.

 

[TaoistMonkey]

Don't worry, Berbatov is coming home

 

[voxy28]

I still want one more establish striker that strike some fears in defenders.... I also don't think Ade can last 75 min.

 

[JUSTINSIGNAL]

Simple. We don't play 4-4-2 every match. In fact, if you read the official website Tim says this..

""We have several attacking options within our squad for the remaining dozen or so games of the season after Jermain departs and we shall keep our options under review. We also have a goal threat from players in other areas of the pitch including having wide players and attacking midfielders who will enable us to vary our shape when required."

As someone who is not a 442 fan this is music to my ears.

 

[DaSpurs]

I still want one more establish striker that strike some fears in defenders.... I also don't think Ade can last 75 min.

To be fair, Ade's return did come in the congested holiday schedule with zero match fitness. He can do better as the games thin out. But, I agree that it's risky to carry on with the two senior strikers in a 4-4-2. Very risky.

 

[DaSpurs]

Simple. We don't play 4-4-2 every match. In fact, if you read the official website Tim says this..

""We have several attacking options within our squad for the remaining dozen or so games of the season after Jermain departs and we shall keep our options under review. We also have a goal threat from players in other areas of the pitch including having wide players and attacking midfielders who will enable us to vary our shape when required."

As someone who is not a 442 fan this is music to my ears.

I'm glad I wasn't the only one who got a bit riled up reading that. Tim does seem to be adapting quickly, so I'm hoping the loss at the Emirates has taught him that the 4-4-2 won't work every time. It's even more of a crime given the talent at our disposal in the central midfield.

 

[CJMurray]

JD scored ONE PL goal in all of 2013...... I would imagine even Harry Kane could manage that if needed.
However, I have a niggling suspicion that DL doesn't really want CL for us. I suspect there could be lots of players with clauses requiring bonuses & wage increases if we qualified, and Levy is too tight-fisted to allow that to happen.
He's happy to let us look like we're making a challenge....

Yeah, I'm sure Levy would be happy missing out on the 30 or so million pound windfall of the CL so that he doesn't have to pay a few million in bonuses.

 

[voxy28]

To be fair, Ade's return did come in the congested holiday schedule with zero match fitness. He can do better as the games thin out. But, I agree that it's risky to carry on with the two senior strikers in a 4-4-2. Very risky.

I agree on the congested schedule but still would you want Remy or Kane to come on for Ade when we play Shitty?

Just some thoughts....