ponsaelius

Look at this guy. [/Mike]

Lets persue other players now and come back to this as a very last resort please.

Probably not. They're playing Ivory Coast in a play-off.

Can't De Jong play wider though? That's what people like Mole would have you believe, but in reality he really is a central forward iyam. The Twente fan I asked said he can and has played wide of their front 3 frequently. That doesn't make him a wide player still. It is quite usual for young forwards trying to break into the team to first play wide of a front 3. It's how Van Persie started at Feyenoord for example. He may be able to play there yes, but it's certainly not his best or natural position. But it means we can accomodate him in the team either in that position or as a the middle player game to game etc. You couldn't do that with Carroll.

Good.

Can't De Jong play wider though? Dunno mate, as I said I don't know owt about him. Think someone on here said that, but on the video I watched he was a #9 and looked like one. Isn't this what we do as English team supporters. Think of players in only one way. The reason players in Holland say can play in a 3 up front despite what they appear to be, is they are comfortable taking up each others roles. Surely Ba, Cisse and Carroll if they did start together can rotate all the positions between them.....love a bit of movement me like. Exactly bimp. We think in straight lines and inflexible systems. De Jong looks like a big centre forward; must play through the middle. But when I asked the Twente fan and a journalist who watched him they both said he is perfect for any position in a flexible front 3. A big #9 playing wide left doesn't have to always stay there and it shouldn't limit his ability to score and create so long as he has the awareness and ability to play there. That's for me the main reason that Rodgers doesn't like Carroll. His touch and control isn't that bad and he can move when he gets going - but his natural movement, anticipation, awareness etc is very poor for a top level striker as has been proven over the last 18 months.

Can't De Jong play wider though? That's what people like Mole would have you believe, but in reality he really is a central forward iyam. The Twente fan I asked said he can and has played wide of their front 3 frequently. He certainly sounded far more flexible than Carroll. Carroll we would be obliged to always play through the middle.

Uh oh jumbo. Cash has ran out at Malaga then. Isco and Cazorla up for sale.

http://www.mirrorfootball.co.uk/news/Liverpool-striker-Andy-Carroll-worth-f-all-claims-Newcastle-MD-Derek-Llambias-article829815.html Whoops. With that last line I've got an image in my head of Elmo Blatch in the Shawshank with his manic, uncontrollable laugh telling Tommy that they pinned it on the hot shot banker.

People were calling for something resembling a 4-3-3 as far back as last summer. There were threads on here asking whether we should shift permanently. We finally made the shift to a more fluid system (something between a 4-3-3 and a 4-2-3-1) late on in the season and we had a stretch of 6 or 7 games where we played some great stuff, finally fulfilling what many thought our players were capable of throughout the season. It was brief but it shows that the potential IS there with this squad of players and even more so when we add more players. That was my main and only real criticism of Pardew. Nobody could argue with our results all season long, but the poor standard of football and underuse of our most talented player was a real sticking point. I'm certainly not saying we played better football on the whole since Carroll has gone, quite the opposite in fact, I think we've played some rank awful stuff that has been to the misuse of our best players. That's why I'm so indifferent and worried about this move, it suggests that any long-term progress to a better style of football could be marginalised. If we want to be a top club in the long term we need to be more flexible tactically, we need more movement off the ball, we need to be able to keep possession better both home and away. All of these things the very best sides can do and I think we're very close to doing it or having the potential to do it. Some people say it's possible to play football and use Carroll as the focal point too. I'm not convinced. Liverpool have spent close to 18 months trying it only for it never to work or click. They've regressed as a team since he went there while we have gone forward. He's not the only culprit in that mob but he's one of the main ones and it doesn't surprise me one bit that they want rid. He has lacked the two most important attributes for a forward in a fluid team and that is touch and movement. The more I think about it the more I'd rather we just stayed away personally. But lets see what happens.

I hope somebody is watching Debuchy. He might get lost and wander off in all this fuss.

They did that two (?) years ago? Just signed him mate.

Moussa Dembele, they've signed him.

Fulham have signed Moussa Dembele.

I know it seems daft but I'd like to think Pardew had consulted the squad about this signing to get a general consensus. Maybe I'm looking into it too much but I think him coming back in on his 70k (regardless of how much we're contributing) - which is far above any of our players except maybe Colo are on - might be devisive in the dressing room.

The point is our best spell of football all season long was when we finally STOPPED punting it forward. I was hopeful we'd see more progress this season, signing Carroll just about guarentees that we won't see any progress in the style of play. The only thing I can see is as him as a 3rd choice option, a plan B. Why would he come back to do that when he is doing it at Liverpool?

Had a feeling this would happen. Indifferent.

He been much Adu about nothing since he signed?

Yeah but weren't 2 of their goals scored by their DP? As fat and useless as he is renders the point a bit moot.

Hadn't realised Nani and Duxbury were involved, the set up with Zola at West Ham was a failure so that is interesting. From a recruitment level though the playing staff should improve without risking anything financially. Pozzo is a shrewd operator. Like you say it's how much of your identity is sacrificed in the process, you might get relative success while also knowing you're just a pawn in Pozzo's empire. It's an experiment that will face more difficulty in the English game than it has done in Italy and Spain.

You should be excited. The methods and philosophy are often criticised at Udinese but you can't argue with the success for a provincial club. It has worked to Granada's advantage too.

Getting rid of Eto'o was one of the best things Barca ever did, unfortunately they replaced him with a no mark in Zlatan. on both points Naturally. Two obscenely overrated strikers.

Getting rid of Eto'o was one of the best things Barca ever did, unfortunately they replaced him with a no mark in Zlatan. on both points

a. Bojan was poor last season and I'm not sure he's all he's made out to be. b. I rate Santon higher than Cissokho, certainly in terms of potential anyway