Havent started a thread in here for a while so here goes.
Based on this season...
Neville out?
Hibbo out?
Carsley out?
Anichebe out?
Cahill over the hill and injury prone or massively key player?
Arteta unsettled and slump in form down to this?
Jageilka now awesome but when we bought him was totally crap?
Yobo now totally crap when before was awesome?
Lescott awesome full stop?
Gravesen and Gardner? WTF?
Good riddance to McFadden or should have had another 5 years?
Yak better than AJ? Or is this a kneejerk frustration thing?
Vaughn to do something next year or out?
Manny in?
Pienaar in?
and do you think we are way too hard on our team?
Do you think weve put together some great unbeaten runs this year, and we are only now just feeling the reverse? Whereas in seasons gone we eroded our form much earlier from the end?
5th place, decent runs, no silverware but getting ever closer?
Not good enough?
Over all the fickle fan opinions about who great and whos not?
Next years expectations?
Over to you.
So many questions McBain! I would not get rid of Neville, Carsley, Hibbert or Anichebe. Only if a very good offer came in I would. They IMO would be good squad players and should get somewhere between 10-20 games each as back-up to a first 11. They would each have some osrt of niche to perform for the team - like Anichebe coming on in Europe and hitting the opposition with something they had not expected. For Hibbert, Neville and Carsley the would take the field whenever we expect a dogfight with a tough team.
Cahill IMO is a key member of our squad, but I think he will continue to struggle with injuries - or that injury - for the rest of his career. We therefore need someone who can replace him without the team suffering. For me that person is Osman, who I believe is not good enough for a starting place. He has skill yes, but his time on the ball is too slow and you get the feeling that the play slows down when he does not pass it at the first chance. Otherwise a move for Kevin Nolan at Bolton would allow us to have a box-to-box midfielder to rely upon when Cahill is injured and put pressure on him.
As I have said in another thread we need to put Jags in the RB position, meaning that we can field Jags - Yobo - Lescott - Baines as our backline. All comfortable on the ball, pacey and able to take part in the attacking. Yobo is still our best CB IMO, but I love Jags' all action style.
Hopefully Vaughan will be ready for an assault on the Premiership from the beginning of next season, he is a super talent and only needs to stay injury-free. Yak and him would be awesome, each with pace and a predator instinct for goals.
Gravesen and Gardner are a joke. The Chelsea match showed me why Moyes has been relunctant to play Gravesen - he just can't hack it anymore. Gardner has been injured all the while his loan to us.
At the start of the season we had Stubbs and McFadden as squad players and neither has been replaced. Add to that Gravesen, Gardner and van der Meyde and you're looking at Moyes getting at least five new players just to fill up the spaces within the squad with players actually able to do a job. For me those reserve positions would be taken up by Hibbert, Neville, Carsley, Anichebe, Gosling and Rodwell. This would leave Moyes with the task of finding 5 new players who would be able to challenge for a starting place week-in-week-out. I would sell AJ if we could recoup the 8.6 m. we paid for him. Add the 5.5 for McFadden and Kenwright putting in another £20 m. would leave us with roughly £35 m..
Around £10 m. would be used to get Fernandes and Piennar. Both will be vital for a sustained fight for 4th place. Fernandes is class and will become a world-beater not doubt about it.
We don't need a new RB as some think. If Jags plays there, we would have cover for that position in Neville, Hibbert, Gosling and even Yobo.
Get two of either Jimmy Bullard, Steven Reid, Paul Scharner or Kevin Nolan in so that even when Cahill is out, there will be someone with drive and determination to bring the ball forward. Each would probrably cost £3-4 m. Leaving us with the task of buying another creative midfielder and striker. Kallstrom would fit the bill of a creative midfielder, usable either central or on the left. If we can get him for £5-6 m. it would be a snip. Getting a striker capable of challenging Yak and Vaughan for a starting place will be diffcult, but with £10-15 m. it should be possible, and Crouch and Ebanks-Blake is not what we're looking for. One player I mentioned years ago is the Egyptian Mohammed Zidan, who used to play in Denmark. He is the best dribbler I have ever seen, faster than AJ even with the ball and an eye for goal. He is currently playing in Germany and would add a total new dimension to our team around £6 m. would be enough to get him. The rest I would use to try and get Guti or Deco from Real Madrid and Barcelona, to add that extra dimension in attack.
So to sum up:
Out:
van der Meyde
Gravesen
Gardner
AJ
In:
Jimmy Bullard or Kevin Nolan or Steven Reid or Paul Scharner
Kallstrom
Zidan
Guti or Deco
That should leave us with cover in midfield, defense and attack. There will be competion for places in both a 4-4-1-1 or 4-4-2 formation. The less changing of the backline the better, but there will be cover in Valente, Hibbert, Neville, Gosling and Scharner(if we get him).
