Zero

Complete package, but not Viduka's type. Instead of excellent at holding up ball, he is better at running into space and score. I would say instead of Viduka, Gomez is an all-around version of Torres. A right footed pacy striker but not a traditional holding-up type striker. Of course he is not currently better than Torres but he could be. Do have little problems on injury though.

Shit, his quote is exactly what Modric made before.

I finally found the magazine which shown the comparison: Kicker. A strange rating system, which 1 is the best, while 6 is the worst. Gomez Toni Teachnique 2.5 2.5 Future 1 2 Experience 2.5 2 Scoring Instinct 1.5 1 Teamwork 2.5 1.5 Importance 1.5 1.5 Professionalism 1.5 2 Pace 1 2.5 Heading 2 2 Fitness 2.5 3 Overall 18.5 20 I can see there is over hyping though.

When Raul is in his prime, which is before his injury, he is a lot faster. A combination of both imo. You have to have a great acceleration before you can dribble fast.

1. Bundesliga is a mediocore league, which I agree, but that doesn't prevent their national team from being one of the best national team in the world. This is different. For example, I would believe "Berbatov will join Newcastle from Leverkusen after a few brilliant seasons" but not "Gomez, currently the best striker for Germany, will join Newcastle from Stuggart". Can you get the difference? And to be honest, Gomez will not be sold before Euro08. At that time, unless he is injured, he will be a proven striker in Europe and the chance will be even slimmer. Of course I do hope he performs bad and we get a chance to sneak him but...sounds strange right? 2. I am also sick of those statements before but unfortunately it is right for this summer. We have no UEFA spot, we seems to have not much financial backing from the chairman which I hope not, we have a tight wage bill, we have a bad reputation for changing managers frequently (Sam is shit doesn't mean players will appreciate frequent changes). We do have a reputable manager now but it is not enough. Next summer probably we can restore our attraction again, but not this summer I reckon.

Owen is an exceptional case. He is simply brilliant. His scoring instinct is still probably the best in EPL. You are right on this. Eduardo and Torres are outstanding imo. Yes they don't have the pace of Bellamy or Martins but I can bet you that they both dribbles faster than Bellamy and Martins. This is especially true for Torres. I have watched over 30 matches for Real Madrid this season and to be honest Raul scored a lot because of Guti. Without Guti Raul will never bounce back, and that's the strongest argument why Raul shouldn't be picked.

Bundesliga player of the year last year --- and you never heard of him. Come on, I couldn't imagine a better prospect than Modric will choose a club who even cannot play in UEFA cup. Counter this statement please.

Certainly, but for a striker or a forward nowadays, you need to be physically outstanding in order to make it in the highest level. A good example is Eto'o, who has lost his exploding pace after injury and has been extremely shit. If Spurs sign him for 24m it will be a heaven like news for us --- a even worse signing then Bent. Gomez is great in finishing. I wouldn't say he is technically better than Klose but he is a lot more consistent. To be fair I rate him same as Klose as a goal threat, but he is only 22 years old and is already doing wonders. He also has the physique to make it and that's the reason why he has a very promising future, unlike Podolski.

How is he compared with Carroll then?

I have read tons of reports praising him from Germany's media. Certainly there is over hyping but the fact that he has been performing marvelously for 2 seasons and scored a lot did explain why he is the best striker in Germany now. I agree that he is not proven yet in Europe competition, but why people rate him so high is because he has the physical strength and pace that Podolski and Huntelaar don't have. Podolski cannot make it because he is not fast enough but the same reason will not apply to Gomez, who is taller, stronger, and faster.

Ballack is the captain so he is the definite starter. Klose's form has been very inconsistent and people has lost faith --- to be fair he hasn't score much in the 2nd half of the season. Toni and Ribery did most of the work and claim back the Champ for Bayern, but generally the German players in Bayern were all performing quite bad. Podolski is a regular bench warmer in Bayern. He's still in the national squad is because he did perform well every time he play for the national team but he is no longer a definite starter. Similar reason applies to Schweinsteiger. He is s*** this season, simply s***.

He doesn't need that. He has already done this in Stuggart and his next step is definitely going to choose a club that can win Champions League. Put it in this way: he is classified by the top clubs as the best striker in the world under 23 years old. He has already gain the hype similar to Berbatov. Those watching EPL may not know this but the fact that he is the definite starter for Germany speaks all. Now it's Klose and Podolski who wish the get a place alongside Mario Gomez. No other player except Ballack has similar status in Germany. Of coz I hope our club can sign some great players, but it's really pointless to have expectations for such kinda player.

The point is Mario Gomez is the least likely target so far we have had in this summer. Even worse than Modric. He is labelled as the younger and faster version of Luca Toni and has proved that he is currently the best striker for Germany. I really can't see any possibilities of getting him.

Fuck no, he hasn't gone yet? Jesus wept.

seconded, but seems like Newcastle didn't fancy Italians?

8m + Emre is a good business, and if that's the end of Duff it's even better. However I wonder how expected to sign within 2 weeks=almost done.

Nah, I think it is intentional. With Everton and Aston Villa rising as their major contenders for the UEFA spot as well as potential top 4 teams, it is a good strategy to strengthen the squad by preventing other team from getting these promising stars, so that, say, Newcastle, would not threaten them in the next season. Wouldn't surprise me if Arda Turan is also being watched by Spurs. A very disgusting strategy though, I wonder how Ashley feel now.

Mario Gomez is even harder to sign then Veloso/Modric. One of the hottest prospect in the world and would easily cost over 25m. I don't think this will happen, or I don't want to. We couldn't afford to gamble so many money on just 1 star...and who is a bit injury prone.

Any possible acquisition from the Parma squad? Dessena?

Too good to be true.

Exactly, and that's the only worriness I have for Kazenga at this moment. This boy, even in the worst case, will be another Chopra, which in my opinion isn't quite bad as a youth product. Not fast enough to be a winger, better than Milner though. Personally I would like him to replace Emre in the first team and save us 60k ppw.

Technically very good which seems like his brother taught him something before, good vision and teamworking, I would have no problem to blood him next season because he is really excellent as a 17 years old player. However he probably couldn't make it because of lack of physical strength --- even worse than his brother. He isn't that fast too.

I think the reason why so many youngsters failed is because our first team coaches are too shit. It seems like they all progress well in reserves but they couldn't step over to the next level and make contributions in the first team. Together with the lack of improvement on some of our so called young prospects before (Dyer, Bramble), I do think it's the coaches that should be blamed, not the boys.

unless they bid 12m for Milner, which is impossible.

Top 4....should be Liverpool then.