The Skipper

Oh, I'm in the same camp as you, it definitely wasn't pure luck against Barca. It was sheer determination more than anything. Ramires works as a right winger against Barcelona. He doesn't work against the likes of Stoke. Sturridge would be effective there if he actually wanted to play there but he doesn't. That leaves us with no recognised right sided forward. That's why someone like Hulk is needed.

Hazard-esque signing of Modric waiting in the wings for us? Does Luka have twitter?

You know what, I don't think we're signing Hulk to play as your classic winger. I think it's pretty clear we're after Hulk so he can almost play as a second striker who provides width. I wouldn't really call Hulk a right winger exclusively. I would call him a explosive goal scoring assist machine who operates the right instead of the centre. Sort of how Sturridge operated earlier in the season. Imagine a more experienced Sturridge from earlier last season, who makes better decisions and is natural to the position and wants to play there. That's Hulk. Sturridge played in that position for us last season and was very effective there due to his explosiveness. Hulk would work even better if you think about it. Basically the players responsible for getting our goals in a formation like this: Torres Hazard - Mata - Hulk Mikel - Ramires Would be Hulk and Torres, with Hazard and Mata being creators, Ramires being our ball winning midfielder and Mikel sitting deep to shield the back four. This would be the basic shape of the side. Defensive rigidity, pace, power and creativity. In attacking situations, the shape of the side would basically change to: Torres - Hulk Hazard - Mata - Ramires Mikel Pace and power all over the pitch, the problem we have of breaking down banks of 8/9 would automatically disappear. This is why I think Hulk would fit in like a glove. There's no other player in world football available that would have such impact on our side. No ones's said Hulk is a world class player, but to me he's close being there. Who knows, maybe with better players around Hulk will step his game up even further.

Which is natural, of course Porto are going to want a lot of money for their best player. You can't be average when you're the best player in Portugal, when you're a Brazil starter, when your club has put a €100m release clause on your head. Hulk is a good player, why can't you appreciate that? If Hulk was bought for £25m, would you say he's average still? He doesn't need to. He's already a quality player, who would improve our side a lot. The same inferior league where we signed Ramires and David Luiz from just last season? They're really terrible players aren't they. Your cons are lame.

Tell me, what does Rondon offer that Sturridge doesn't? £20m would be a waste.

No, it really isn't. It isn't acceptable to play Ramires and Sturridge out of position. You can't go into the season without a proper right sided attacker when you've had the chance to obtain one. We need to stop putting square pegs in round holes.

I'm glad people are seeing the pros of signing Hulk now. As I've said, guy fits in like a glove.

Hope you aren't serious.

XL mate.

And then we purchase him for £50m.

Hope this is sarcasm/bad joke?

Not luck, just sheer determination. We wanted it more and that's what pulled us through. Messi missing a penalty is not luck, Messi missing a penalty is down to Messi not having enough composure at that specific moment to score. If anything we were more unlucky in the second leg as we were 2-0 down with a red card, in the Camp Nou. Barca have no excuses. We didn't finish the game 2-2 because we were lucky. We finished it 2-2 because we wanted it more. Cech saving shots left right centre isn't luck, it's Cech at its best. Drogba scoring that goal in SB wasn't luck, it was a well constructed move. The win wasn't luck in my opinion, we just took our chances and defended for our lives, whilst Barca didn't. Granted we didn't play the stereotypical "good" football that fans all over the world worship, but it doesn't matter, no one does against Barcelona. We put a shift in and got what we deserved after hard work. That's it. Sorry for going off topic but it does really annoy me when people (not you per se) say we were lucky.

He has a valid point, I don't think it's pathetic at all.

Can you please explain and elaborate how Modric is a defensive liability?

He's decent but he wouldn't improve our team whatsoever IMO.

I would cut myself if we signed Tiote. Don't know why anyone would even want him here, I die a little more inside whenever his name is mentioned.

Ball wanker. I like that word hahahahaha.

Nah, I think Todd should stay here for another two years minimum before going out on loan. Don't like seeing youngsters that are too young go out on loan.

Nani over Jovetic and Hulk? It's not April Fool's day mate...

Ash has done it, so I don't see why Bertrand couldn't.

Not necessarily lightweight but more to do with how much "power" they've got in their play. I wouldn't call Messi or Aguero lightweight as they both have power in their play, which works better in the PL. Hulk's more of a power player than Lavezzi, that's what I'm trying to say. So is Moses.

If I remember correctly Lavezzi prefers the left side? Possible explanation. I think Hulk is exactly what we need, we can't be too lightweight in attack and Hulk offers more physicality than Lavezzi. That's why I wouldn't mind Moses as a back up here either. He's got power.

I think Oriol is still here with us ain't he? Not seen anything official regarding him leaving to Hamburg? Or am I not getting what you're trying to say?

Cheers guys. Edited.

Couldn't find a thread on this so I thought I'd start one. I think this is the status for the current squad regarding PL eligibility: Home grown (7/8): Turnbull, Terry, Cahill, Cole, Bertrand, Moses, Lampard. Foreign (12/17): Cech, Hilario, Ivanovic, Ferreira, Luiz, Mikel, Ramires, Malouda, Mata, Marin, Torres, Azpilicueta, Ba U-21: Hazard, Oscar, Romeu (21 in September), Piazon (18), Bamford (homegrown), Kane etc. etc. etc. That leaves us with (first team squad): GK: Cech, Hilario, Turnbull DF: Azpilicueta, Ivanovic, Paulo Ferreira, Luiz, Cahill, Terry, A. Cole, Bertrand. MF: Ramires, Lampard, Mikel, Romeu, Malouda, Oscar. FW: Ba, Torres, Mata, Marin, Moses, Hazard. Will try to update as often as I can.