Silly Season January 2014

[Goat]

Would only cost about 4m as well. Surely we have that in reserve even with a big summer spend planned?

Hes a risk injury wise tho mate.

 

[bluemangroup]

Hes a risk injury wise tho mate.

I think we have to take the plunge at a still 22 year old Spanish prodigy for 4m.

 

[Goat]

I think we have to take the plunge at a still 22 year old Spanish prodigy for 4m.

Would rather we signed a non injured player for once really mate.

 

[bluemangroup]

Would rather we signed a non injured player for once really mate.

I'd rather we bought more than one non-injured player. But I'm not in charge. As you know.

 

[The_La]

Think Canales would be a very astute buy.

Me too (if we are actually in for him)
Has the hallmarks of what we did with arteta. Highly rated player who has lost confidence and stalled, but with huge natural potential and ability if under the right guidance...

 

[AndyZ]

Would only cost about 4m as well. Surely we have that in reserve even with a big summer spend planned?

Valencia spent £6.2m buying him from Real Madrid, so it would be a decent buy. Better option than Osman and he's still only 22.

 

[Goat]

Valencia spent £6.2 buying him from Real Madrid, so it would be a decent buy. Better option than Osman and he's still only 22.

My cat is a better option than Osman.





Hi Leon.

 

[bluemangroup]

Me too (if we are actually in for him)
Has the hallmarks of what we did with arteta. Highly rated player who has lost confidence and stalled, but with huge natural potential and ability if under the right guidance...

We desperately need a lock picker, in a passing sense, in the side. We look remarkably toothless without Barkley on the pitch.

 

[BlueLlama]

My cat is a better option than Osman.





Hi Leon.

Is your cat called Leon?

 

[AndyZ]

Me too (if we are actually in for him)
Has the hallmarks of what we did with arteta. Highly rated player who has lost confidence and stalled, but with huge natural potential and ability if under the right guidance...

that's not a bad comparison really. cheers mate.

 

[bluemangroup]

that's not a bad comparison really. cheers mate.

Think Canales is *potentially* a better player than Mikel was. I stress potentially like.

 

[billycopper]

We aren't using Gueye, so that's a bit of a non-sequitur.

Please don't compare our squad's strength to Chelsea's. Please.

The point is that our squad was already thinner than both Chelsea's and Spurs', and it's been further tested with all of these injuries.

I don't expect them to go out and spend 30 million in January, that's foolish. But there are gaping holes in this squad (attacking midfielder, center midfield, fullbacks) that need to be addressed.

Maybe we weren't using Gueye because he's not good enough? Now we have another option in McGeady, so how can that not be an improvement?

Coleman, Distin, Alcaraz, Barkley, Deulofeu and Pienaar will all be back within the next fortnight or so. It makes no sense buying someone to cover for their absence who would be a squad man at best when they return. We don't need to carry as large a squad as Chelsea or Spurs anyway because we're not in European competition.

When Barkley is fit how often would another attacking midfielder get to play? And we'll have three centre midfielders competing for two places when Gibson returns. We have three right backs and ordinarily two left backs. If we hadn't already used our full allocation of loans I think that Martinez would probably have brought players in to offer us a bit more protection but, in the longer term, our squad looks quite healthy.

 

[Goat]

Think Canales is *potentially* a better player than Mikel was. I stress potentially like.

My god, my utter god..............

Mikel was AMAZING, this Sergio can only hope to half as talented.

 

[bluemangroup]

My god, my utter god..............

Mikel was AMAZING, this Sergio can only hope to half as talented.

I did say potentially. The lad could be very very good in a side that is screaming out for his sort of player like we are.

 

[billycopper]

Ho can you care Chelsea squad strength with Everton's?

To date their squad has fared 7 points better than ours. I would argue that replacing Mata with Sala (a £37m player for one worth £11m) makes them weaker. And I would argue that we're stronger on our dealings. The only thing that matters is the amount of points that each side is capable of picking up between now and the end of the season.