bombayblue™

Pastore is slow in general and in the PL it would be an Epic Fail to play him on the wing.

Lampard as a DM is bold but Josh over Ramires isn't? The 2 infront of the defensive 4 aren't necessarily DM's. It is how the team is set out. If it is set out to keep a clean sheet a la Mancini, then yes both are DMs what the people down South America fondly call double pivot, while if you set them out to keep possession and exploit the channels, then its more like the middle 2 of a flat 4-4-2 a la Fergie.

We'll sign and sell players every year. In my opinion an approximate way to approach the speculation would be to assume that 2 players are signed from here on every summer and one of these signed players from the previous seasons would leave. We'll have to again assume the one player left behind makes it to the starting 11 on a regular basis and one that doesn't leaves over the next season or two. Also players from current squad would also leave in a phased manner to maintain the squad size. So for this summer 2011-2012 - 1 addition, 2012-13 - 1 addition, 2013-14 - 1 addition, 2014-15 - 1 addition So total number of additions to first XI would be 4. So picking the top 7-8 players from the current lot who will be around in 2014-15 and at a prime age would be the best bet for the 2014-15 squad. We'd need to pick from Josh McEachran, Daniel Sturridge, David Luiz, Ramires, Mikel, Kakuta, Kalou, Bertrand, Van Aanholt, Cech, Ivanovic (31) It would be fair to assume one of Bertrand and PVA would leave and also one of Mikel and Ramires would leave Cech RB - David Luiz - Ivanovic - Bertrand/PVA CM-Ramires/Mikel - Josh Sturridge - CF - Winger Assuming we sign Lukaku, Modric, VDW and Neymar It would become 7-8 From Cech VDW - David Luiz - Ivanovic - Bertrand/PVA Modric - Ramires/Mikel - Josh Sturridge - Lukaku - Neymar

Voted for 6th, but was surprised to see so many vote for it too. One of the reasons I didn't go for the half of them was of white background.

You're making the same mistake the Neymar dissers made when the Real Madrid angle appeared. Jump on the chance to make a point. For all we know these news pop-ups might be the usual media fuelled bollocks before a transfer and Lukaku would be in the Chelsea blue before Stoke. Hell, we might even see Neymar in the blue at Stoke with the Neymar dissers raving about him post match.

The thing with kids is you can never be sure, about the sustained level of performances. That is why they had both of them(Asenjo and De Gea) for 2009-10. Only when De Gea emerged as the sure shot replacement for Roberto (Franco in the long term), did they loan out Asenjo. They did the same two GK module with Franco and Coupet.

Not really, they have tied down most of their highly rated youth talents like Thiago Alacantra(90m release clause signed this summer), Dongou. While the players they are letting go of are the ones who showed early high promise but jaded a bit last season, like Bojan, Etock, Jeffren and Romeu.

Well Said. People seem to form their opinions about everything the moment a rumour pops up.

Remember Robben? Wasn't too bad for a one footed player was he? Then there's always Giggs amongst a host of one footed players who have made it to the top.

To add, Homegrown doesn't necessarily have to be British, according to the UEFA and FA guidelines, and we and Arsenal seem to have set ourselves to exploit this rule by buying players from abroad around the 18 year mark, like Lukaku.

Hahaha.. My thoughts exactly..

That is one way of interpreting one's complete true love. I believe the term is 'Possessive'. Which is fine with me. +1

Beer, is the question and the answer is Yes! Sadly all I can see from Yossi is a glorified squad player, who we'll be glad to run the contract down.

The very fact that he won't be joining us in Asia, even if he completes the transfer on time is an indication that we have lined up a loan move for him.

Lampard, Terry, Ashley Cole.

Always wanted to go there, now its lost forever..

De Rossi has faded away just like Essien. He is not what he was a couple of years ago. I'd rather not go for anyone at all if Modric is coming. We have enough back up for 6 months.

15m Euros seems a fair bit of business, if true. 13m pounds for an 18 year old, who'll qualify as home grown when older. Seems like a better deal than the 13m(including add ons) Sunderland paid for Wickham.

Welcome and wish him well..

With the kind of players they are buying, the objective seems to be to TRY for a CL spot, not the league. If that makes them happy, I'm sure all the opposite numbers will be even happier.

Can you please leave the text speak for facebook. Cheers.

Won't make CL with these players. 'Nuff said.

No denying that. Other clubs have inquired about him but have balked at his price. With Henderson and Downing going for 20 million, you can't fault Spammers for putting a 12-15million price tag, even if he is 30 years old.

Valid point mate but you've completely ignored the point I'm trying to make. Obviously IF we want him, the manager must think he has something to offer to the team and the squad. But the number one priority for Scott Parker, as of now, is to make the England squad for the Euro 2012, for which he needs guaranteed starting place. Don't think he'd fall for the same trick twice.

Was watching the Copa America games for him. He looked so slow but brilliant at playing off the last defender, made few amazing runs, reminded me a lot of Crespo. With him signing a new contract and a bigger release clause, it's quite clear we aren't interested in him and that should be the end of it.