Strike

i am still skeptical about the transformation. won't believe it till it happens. as of now, we have added only Hazard and Marin...

respect Arsenal's style of play and usually when Arsenal face Spurs i end up supporting arsenal.although that may change now that van Persie is (almost) out

why am i not surprised...

there is a story running on their main site about Oscar deal. maybe that was it

scored in an FA Cup final as well. beautiful penalty at that. Luiz-esqueBut he approaches the ball at an angle and it it is a give away to the keeper because if he goes to the keeper's left, he should wrap the foot around the ball and to the keeper's right, he should slide it away. players who come straight are better imo

Stupid deal this. Hope its not true.

fully agree (and surprised that you didn't mention Afonso Alves )

its not 60 mil for Cavani alone mate. its 35-25 on Cavani and Oscar

the problem is his consistent ability to run out of space and yet not pass

not really sure why we are after cavani when he is an out and out striker. i would rather go for a converted striker who plays on the wings. the squad is inflated as it is.

welcome to tc mate if you think hulk is not the man we should sign, who should it be? there are so few quality wingers available in the market and to get Hulk we have to pay.

Sweet stuff. (but de Rossi? seriously?)

price-wise he is only a mil expensive than Debuchy. maybe he will need more wages but you have to look at the bigger picture here. debuchy maybe better but i think the board is lookin at maicon as a stop-gap (like belletti) to brood Billy Clifford or Todd Kane. but if he is lookin for a 4-year contract, GTFO

yep. 4 years for him is mental. would look at - Debuchy - seems to have fee agreed with Newcastle (7mil) - Azpilicueta - Pisczcek that's pretty much it, really in terms of right backs. if we dont get any of them, then stick to Fereira and Todd Kane

we are gettin oscar for 25. fuck yeah

Lampard, Sturridge, Hazard, Luiz Sturridge was a good PK taker at City. Good-ish atleast. Lampard is the first choice for a reason. He is the most experienced and has a sound penalty technique i.e he comes in straight to kick the ball. not at an angle like Olic or Cole.And I would take Power over placement anyday simply because placement alone may not be enough for a penalty to get through but Power alone- as we saw Lampard's pen in the CL Final - maybe enough. Neuer knew where Lampard was gonna put it and yet he couldn't stop it. Lampard's penalty misses over the years have come when he hasn't gone for power - Portsmouth 10', Newcastle 11', Fulham 11'.

i see you haven't lost your touch. really good read

not necessarily given how deep we were playing last season. it's time we took the midfield forward. United's DM Carrick joins the attack at times, Arsenal's Song usually picks out the final ball, no reason why we shouldn't move the midfield to a bit more advanced proper Midfield position instead of CDM

@SeB The thing is when we are trying to break down QPR, Norwich etc, Mikel is not of much use as Ramires or a deep lying playmaker can offer more going forward. Mikel just propels possession, he doesn't chip the final ball through like Song does or go forward to attack as much as Carrick does. We need to play dynamic mids when we face weaker opposition to free up space for our creative mids to prosper - Oscar(?), Mata. I agree with your assessment of Mikel though. He has developed into a proper cultured midfielder and I would want him to be in the team when we face vibrant counter attacking teams

common sense and a sense of realism dictates we have hit a snag with the 3rd party regulations

Very Optimistic imo. We had confirmed bids for Moses and Andre Schurrle last week which shows that the board are getting back up plans ready. I don't think the Hulk deal is done yet. Maybe the third party regulations are hindering the deal

Disagree. While I agree with your analysis that we need a power player in the middle, i think shelling out 20million for Fellaini is a waste - maybe if we sell Essien and Meireles, it makes sense but as of now it is illogical to sign Fellaini. Firstly, we are trying to make us a better attacking unit and secondly Fellaini racks up a huge foul count. Last season we were the worst team in terms of discipline and adding Fellaini is ill advised. Also, we have Ramires who I feel can be our new Essien/Yaya Toure in the middle as a Box to Box. The real problem lies in the fact that Lampard will be picked regardless of what fans think and that is one midfield position locked. With Oscar/New Creative Mid , Mikel, Ramires, KDB, Romeu, Essien, Meireles to chose from for the other CM position, Creative Mid is a MUST and when we sign the Creative mid, Fellaini will only be a luxury

Probably. but i don't think di matteo will have the courage to play Lampard and Oscar in a Big game.. also, Hulk deal looks like its being complicated by thirdparty crap? maybe another modric

Really don't think we need Oscar unless the board is getting him in as a CM. that would make a lot of sense because he is quick and creative - something like Mesut Ozil. Not really sure how the midfield will line up if Oscar is signed. Whom will di Matteo drop? My bet is on Mikel being dropped in favour of Oscar to presser smaller teams. Also, if we sign Oscar, do we sign Hulk as well? He adds a certain directness to our attacks and like BlueLyon mentioned, his power and strength will be useful to bully teams. But if i don't think the board will go on to sign both Hulk and Oscar.