Revista de la Liga - Edmilson in January/Benitez Rumour

[Karjala]

Edmilson would be a terrible signing. Isnt what we need, and hasnt done anything to prove we should sign him.

[ohmelads]

If you check his injury record it is shocking and goes all the way back to his young days in Brazil. He has always struggled to play more than one in two, his record is not too dissimilar to that of Babayaro. He's 31 now and coming back from a 6-month injury. This is his third knee operation in three years.

[SUPERTOON]

If you check his injury record it is shocking and goes all the way back to his young days in Brazil. He has always struggled to play more than one in two, his record is not too dissimilar to that of Babayaro. He's 31 now and coming back from a 6-month injury. This is his third knee operation in three years.

 

My point exactly

[ChezGiven]

If you check his injury record it is shocking and goes all the way back to his young days in Brazil. He has always struggled to play more than one in two, his record is not too dissimilar to that of Babayaro. He's 31 now and coming back from a 6-month injury. This is his third knee operation in three years.

 

My point exactly

 

Not entirely, you were saying that he couldnt pass, create or score too. His injury record is a worry though.

[ohmelads]

Players who move leagues at that age usually have it difficult. Shevchenko has struggled at Chelsea and Henry is struggling at Barca, but they're strikers. Sam has shown it can be done with Hierro and others, but I think this would be a massive gamble and not really one worth taking.

 

He's competition for Butt fair enough, but come the start of next season we'd have two 32-year old DM's competing for the same spot, and both on big salaries. Surely it'd be better to get someone younger to come in who will provide competition and has a longer term future at the club. A more motivated player with time on his side to establish himself in the team and get used to the English game if coming from abroad. We also have Faye who was apparently always a DM until he joined Bolton.

 

I'd also say that the last thing we need right now is a player with no Premier League experience who possibly speaks no English. Time would not be on his side to pick up the English game and with the sheer number of injuries he's had, I don't see him playing on well into his thirties. The cons outweigh the pros IMO.

[Dave]

Been said before by others but I'd like to see Roz given a game in central midfield. His lightweight nature and decent footballing skills might be better suited there.

[Mr. Snrub]

It's not his job to create or score, he's a DM/CB.  I don't know of anyone who would buy a defensive player on those attributes.

 

The reason we shouldn't sign him is because he wouldn't play very much and he wouldn't improve our team at all.  Would be no different than the signings of Smith and Geremi.  We need to stop signing players who people will think "might improve the squad a bit and give us more depth" and sign good players who will actually make a difference on the pitch on a regular basis.

[Keefaz]

I may as well say it in here too so Madras can get angry again:

 

The one thing we need is another centre-back, like.

[Parky]

It's not his job to create or score, he's a DM/CB.  I don't know of anyone who would buy a defensive player on those attributes.

 

The reason we shouldn't sign him is because he wouldn't play very much and he wouldn't improve our team at all.  Would be no different than the signings of Smith and Geremi.  We need to stop signing players who people will think "might improve the squad a bit and give us more depth" and sign good players who will actually make a difference on the pitch on a regular basis.

 

 

For once I'm with you scotass.

[Disco]

It's not his job to create or score, he's a DM/CB.  I don't know of anyone who would buy a defensive player on those attributes.

 

The reason we shouldn't sign him is because he wouldn't play very much and he wouldn't improve our team at all.  Would be no different than the signings of Smith and Geremi.  We need to stop signing players who people will think "might improve the squad a bit and give us more depth" and sign good players who will actually make a difference on the pitch on a regular basis.

 

 

For once I'm with you scotass.

 

me too, its clear we need players who are going to improve our first team not make us squad deeper, we have already done that by buying players all of a similar standard to ones we had/still have. Man United being a good example of this.

[Lotus]

I privately thought that we bought Cacapa because Edmilson wasn't going to pass a medical in the Summer. Would be surprised if we ended up with both.

[ohmelads]

 

Although its going back 5 years, he was arguably Brazil's best centreback in their WC2002 win, one of the best in the tournament, which naturally gets overlooked because hes Brazilian. It might not mean as much today with regards to his current performance levels, but quite clearly he knows how to defend and is pretty good at it.

 

I doubt hed be used by Big Sam as a centreback since his mobility/pace may have reduced somewhat in recent years meaning it may not be wise to have him in the last line of defence on a constant basis, which is probably why if he does play for Barca its in the anchor role only, but hes sharp enough defensively to do a good job for us in front of the defence, and should at the very least provide strong competition for Butt, who at the moment is virtually guaranteed a place in the side due to being the only experienced anchorman we have.

 

Look forward to him joining us next month, and with little to no transfer fee, its a worthwhile gamble.

 

That's the same World Cup which saw Nicky Butt widely praised and voted player of the tournament by Pele. That too could be used to say Butt knows how to defend.

 

Don't get me wrong, Edmilson is a good defender (by our standards) and in his prime he might have done very well here, but signing him now doesn't make much sense to me.

 

This is the sort of signing that would only fuel suspicions that Allardyce just can't get out of his Bolton mentality.

[ChezGiven]

If he bought Diouf and SWP at the same time for £20m+ or whatever, then he'd be a good addition.

[tmonkey]

We need to stop signing players who people will think "might improve the squad a bit and give us more depth" and sign good players who will actually make a difference on the pitch on a regular basis.

 

Or better yet, do both.

 

If Big Sam is going into the next transfer window targetting the likes of Edmilson alone, then he may as well be sacked.

 

But if Edmilson is going to be a cheap squad addition alongside one or two bigger money first team signings, then its surely a different matter. His injury problems are naturally a worry, but thats mostly what makes him a gamble otherwise hed be a 3-4 mill player and would be signing for a CL competitor to Barca, and since were talking about a low fee and probably a short term contract, given his ability level and attributes, its a gamble thats worth taking imo - providing we intend to play 4-3-3 and have him in front of the defence.

 

I think this is the type of signing that Big Sam has made a career out of, and if it turns out as well as the likes of Hierro and Campo did for Bolton, itll be a good short term addition that will improve the squad/team.

 

And although this'll almost certainly never materialise and isnt a reason in itself to sign Edmilson, maybe theres a tiny chance in this being the first step to attracting a few talented Brazilians for the first team? Wouldnt mind seeing us sign the likes of Naldo and Diego for example, players who would cost a bomb and would need a lot of persuading to come here, so a friendly environment with a well respected compatriot or two already at our club would be a pretty handy bargaining tool for us. As it is though, irrespective of this line of thought, Edmilson would still be a decent addition if there was a good chance of him remaining fit, with the low transfer fee offsetting that gamble of him getting crocked yet again, whilst I doubt hes anything like the mercenary Babayaro is.

[Slugsy]

Poor injury record and untested in the Premiership and clearly towards the end of his career - not definite but its difficult to see him being the same player as he was 5 years ago.

 

None of which should automatically discount him and he clearly has god technical ability and has played at the highest level, however, very much a 'jury is out' signing. 

 

That being said - given the people whom we have at the moment, if fit and can adapt would probably add to our squad.  Not a player I would get excited about but I can't remember the last time I did get excited about a signing - maybe Beye as it meant the end of Carr!

[tmonkey]

 

Although its going back 5 years, he was arguably Brazil's best centreback in their WC2002 win, one of the best in the tournament, which naturally gets overlooked because hes Brazilian. It might not mean as much today with regards to his current performance levels, but quite clearly he knows how to defend and is pretty good at it.

 

I doubt hed be used by Big Sam as a centreback since his mobility/pace may have reduced somewhat in recent years meaning it may not be wise to have him in the last line of defence on a constant basis, which is probably why if he does play for Barca its in the anchor role only, but hes sharp enough defensively to do a good job for us in front of the defence, and should at the very least provide strong competition for Butt, who at the moment is virtually guaranteed a place in the side due to being the only experienced anchorman we have.

 

Look forward to him joining us next month, and with little to no transfer fee, its a worthwhile gamble.

 

That's the same World Cup which saw Nicky Butt widely praised and voted player of the tournament by Pele. That too could be used to say Butt knows how to defend.

 

Don't get me wrong, Edmilson is a good defender (by our standards) and in his prime he might have done very well here, but signing him now doesn't make much sense to me.

 

This is the sort of signing that would only fuel suspicions that Allardyce just can't get out of his Bolton mentality.

 

I knew a comparison to Butt would come up, especially Pele being a good diplomat (Butt had a good tournament, but best player? Rubbish).

 

The 2002 WC was a bit of a farce - too many of the better sides were woeful at the tournament, knocked out early, etc. So someone like Edmilson or Butt having a good tournament is no indication of whether theyre top class or not. However, I think that its quite acceptable to conclude that they can do certain things based on that tournament - Nicky Butt can play an anchor/destroyer role well if hes on form in a team that doesnt know the meaning of possession, whilst Edmilson can defend.

 

As mentioned, that form back then means little today since it was 5 years ago, but we're not talking about a Bramble or Boumsong type player here, someone whos never proven themselves at the higher levels as a good defender. To say Edmilson simply cant defend is a tad extreme for me, given how good and composed he looked at the back at the time.

 

Again, I dont think hed make a good centreback at all in the Premiership today, but in an anchor role, I think hed be a strong short term addition, because hes a very composed and intelligent defender in the games ive seen, good positional sense, and has that lanky aspect of his game where he seems to be able to make up ground easier than other players and has a longer reach. When hes played in the past year or two for Barca, hes still looked a good defender in front of the defence, and hence thats why im all for having him here and taking that risk on his fitness, especially since were talking about a nominal fee.

[Yorkie]

Injury prone, inevitably huge wages, untested in the league (whilst completely out of shape recovering from a bad injury), no creative threat, no real improvement to the first team, and yet another defensive midfielder when there's already atleast two in the squad. Can't say i'm massively excited about Edmilson.

[ohmelads]

I knew a comparison to Butt would come up, especially Pele being a good diplomat (Butt had a good tournament, but best player? Rubbish).

 

The 2002 WC was a bit of a farce - too many of the better sides were woeful at the tournament, knocked out early, etc. So someone like Edmilson or Butt having a good tournament is no indication of whether theyre top class or not. However, I think that its quite acceptable to conclude that they can do certain things based on that tournament - Nicky Butt can play an anchor/destroyer role well if hes on form in a team that doesnt know the meaning of possession, whilst Edmilson can defend.

 

As mentioned, that form back then means little today since it was 5 years ago, but we're not talking about a Bramble or Boumsong type player here, someone whos never proven themselves at the higher levels as a good defender. To say Edmilson simply cant defend is a tad extreme for me, given how good and composed he looked at the back at the time.

 

Again, I dont think hed make a good centreback at all in the Premiership today, but in an anchor role, I think hed be a strong short term addition, because hes a very composed and intelligent defender in the games ive seen, good positional sense, and has that lanky aspect of his game where he seems to be able to make up ground easier than other players and has a longer reach. When hes played in the past year or two for Barca, hes still looked a good defender in front of the defence, and hence thats why im all for having him here and taking that risk on his fitness, especially since were talking about a nominal fee.

 

Your argument holds some weight if we're skint or need to save transfer funds for other positions, but if money is there we should be looking at a longer term signing for a position already manned by a 31-year old. Once we hand him a sign-on fee and hefty wages (I suspect he'll want a 2 or 3 year contract as well) the position is filled and we won't be seeing another DM for quite some time, so it's about the opportunity cost as well.

 

I guess we'll have to agree to disagree on whether the gamble is worth taking. There are just too many question marks over him for me. His injury record has been consistently poor for way too long, it seems a bit naive to expect him to suddenly play more than 25 games a season for us when he's seldom managed it in the past. On the back of such a serious injury as well, there are major question marks over what sort of player we'll be getting. Some might argue a bit-part role would be fine but I'd say players coming in and out of the side in key positions has been one of our major problems in recent seasons. The last time we had a settled team we were competing among the top 4, albeit with arguably better players/manager. You can almost put your money on him missing one in two games here given his track record and I'm sick of us bankrolling those types of players.

[Parky]

He has semi-crock written all over him. I see no good reason to sign him.

[johnnypd]

thing is we already have the squad fillers in central midfield with butt, geremi, smith (cough), emre, barton, rozehnal, faye, so adding yet another one in that category isn't going to transform the team. if we must sign another player in this position it should be someone who will make an impact - a veloso or muntari for imposing midfielders and someone like pandev or modric for the more creative slot. not saying those players specifically as it is not likely they'd want to come here but someone who is a significant upgrade on what we have, not just another middling and/or aged worker, we've enough of those.

[fredbob]

maybe SA is hopin he'll be a better ore consistent version of Butt, our defence has been offered very little protection from the midfield and he might be the person we need. I personally have been thinking we needed a better defensive midfielder. Ive thought that the protection offered to our defence has been pretty abominable. 

[Guest Pie]

I think i should be aloud injury prone because surely that is a reason two 6 months absences due to knee injuries is a reason.

 

However 3 other reasons

 

Cant pass

Cant create

Cant Score

 

The three things we need

Sounds like our right winger 

[Keefaz]

I think i should be aloud injury prone because surely that is a reason two 6 months absences due to knee injuries is a reason.

 

However 3 other reasons

 

Cant pass

Cant create

Cant Score

 

The three things we need

Sounds like our right winger

 

http://img84.imageshack.us/img84/5338/recordvu0.jpg

[EthiGeordie]

    Be it Edmilson or some one else I am pretty sure Ashely have some one line up next summer.

[Thespence]

Edmilson would be a terrible signing. Isnt what we need, and hasnt done anything to prove we should sign him.

 

He may not be what we need but we need someone like him, a CB who has the footballing ability to play DM. Butt is stopping fuck all in midfield, Alan Smith is no DM, Emre is a enigma & Barton may be fully match fit come March.