Weebull and Gilly, yup, agreed, thats what I've been saying. Next year(more likely the year after) if/when they establish as a top 6 side they can start offering big money for top 4 players and actually have a chance to get them. If they got Villa now, when bellamy would do, to get him they'd have to outspend Barca/Real and offer him higher wages, which will equate to probably 3-4 mil a year higher than the cost of getting your Bellamy's and Parkers to tide you over a few years.
Chelsea were a top 4 side before the buyout, Ranieri bought some great players and almost took the title with a very very good spine at the squad then Moaninho spunked hundreds of millions to win the titles for a few years basically. But they ended up paying £150k a week to a bunch of players who basically won them titles and so on, spending that same money, and losing 100mil a year to grow into a top 4 side would have been Ridiculous tbh.
City need some reliable proven players to make sure they don't crumble this year. Frankly just replacing Zabaleta and Hamann will go a huge way to that, a winger would help a lot and having Petrov back(soonish is it?) and probably a centre back and they'll have the trouble spots sorted and a little versatility in the squad in case of injuries, Kompany central mid/def, Richards cen/right, parker central midfield.
I reckon buying one huge player a year will mean in 3 years they have 7-8 fantastic players, a squad of good players and some decent cover and could well be looking at a title capable squad. But buying all those players now would be a big mistake.
As for Liverpool, damn, I really will be irritated if they win, not because they are Liverpool but because they aren't very good this year. Just the whole premiership just feels crap this year. Arsenal are a joke and not hugely lagging, Chelsea have had an awful run lately and are still right there. Man U have scored 4 goals in 6 games, one a dying seconds goal from a centre back and are still right there. ANy other year a team playing fantastically would be 10-15 points clear by now tbh. The bottom 12 teams are so absurdly close this year its insane. Partially its even the bad teams are better defensively(in general, Fulham, etc) and the best teams are having trouble scoring far more often than past years.
In all honesty I'd prefer to see a Villa, Everton, Chelsea or City game this year than Arsenal, Man U or certainly Liverpool(like any year
). They are just dull and have had some incredible luck(like the boro game and a bunch of others), totally outplayed and still get the result due not to good football or great play by Torres, but ludicrous mistakes that literally throw the game away. Bizarre year to say the least.
More on topic, Wenger has again stated another long term DM target he's been interested won't be coming, Imler. I said before, I'm seriously starting to think firstly he thinks we don't have a problem there, and that he doesn't actually want DM's anymore, which is killing us so badly.
