January Transfer Window 2013/2014 Season Rumours/Signings/KonoplyankOFF:(
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Caporegime
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Cabella? Newcastle aren't hoping their supporters won't notice the sale of Cabaye if they get a player with a similar sounding name are they?
Canal+: €26M deal agreed to sell Yohan Cabaye to PSG (dependent on Cabella deal)
Well that's our season over then.
For less than Fellaini went for too.
It's not true it's not true it's not true
What's even better is his first name is Remy, just incase Loic doesn't sign for us...
Lee Ryder insightful as always:
It's not true it's not true it's not true
Maybe I jumped the gun a little, but it's everywhere.
Definite interest. I'm scared.
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Kelly's back from injury so I don't know why we don't just play him at RB and Johnson at LB until Flanagan or Enrique are back. Johnson certainly needs the change to regain his form again.
Soldato
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Kelly back from injury....Its a recurring phrase I keep hearing many times. Would be unwise to trust him to remain fit. Pity as he could have been a great for us.
Jan window needs to bring in a replacement for lucas and sissoko.
Jan window needs to bring in a replacement for lucas and sissoko.
Something's not right with Kelly. Supposedly he wasn't injured in these last few weeks, even earlier in the season Rodgers said something about Kelly not feeling right rather than being injured. I think the previous injuries have ruined him.
It sounds like Lucas is facing anywhere from 6 weeks to 3 months out too. We needed a DM before this but if he's out for a significant period and we don't at least try to bring a DM in, I'd be seriously worried.
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How's Wisdom doing at Derby? Not seen him play or heard him mentioned on RAWK much. Bit worrying we've gone from having Johnson in his prime and two potentially excellent deputies to arguably having the same problem as we've got on the left side now.
I can't say I've seen much of Derby but I remember reading something about him just before Xmas and McClaren spoke very positively about him.
In the next 6 months we need to sign a first choice LB and somebody in the Arbeloa mould that can provide decent cover/competition for both fullbacks, and then have Wisdom, Kelly & Flanagan for emergencies.
In the next 6 months we need to sign a first choice LB and somebody in the Arbeloa mould that can provide decent cover/competition for both fullbacks, and then have Wisdom, Kelly & Flanagan for emergencies.
^Not convinced Rogers definitely wants to play with a 'pure' DM all the time - the other day he was making noises about Gerrard being deployed in a much deeper role as he sees out his career, and (if I've interpreted what I've read correctly) they didn't really have one in the first half on Saturday either(?).
Toure has played there before, might be a backup option if necessary but I imagine he'd rather use the likes of Allen first (not what I would call a DM i.e. ball-winner, but he tends to occupy similar positions).
If it was me then yes I'd buy a DM but who knows.
Toure has played there before, might be a backup option if necessary but I imagine he'd rather use the likes of Allen first (not what I would call a DM i.e. ball-winner, but he tends to occupy similar positions).
If it was me then yes I'd buy a DM but who knows.
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Caporegime
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Allen was useless in that position. Gets brushed off the ball far too easily although has the better passing game for that role. Gerrard has the game to play there but not the intelligence/discipline unfortunately.
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It might seem strange considering the season we're having compared to last but I had more faith in Rodgers last season than I do now.
I'm not convinced Rodgers knows what he wants or at least how to achieve it. He's just juggling things around to shoehorn certain players into the side. We play a different formation ever week, we have a different CB pairing ever week and over half way through the season he's decided that Gerrard's going to play as a single deep lying play maker.
The biggest concern is that he doesn't learn from his mistakes. Last season we tried an attacking 4-4-2/4-2-4 at home to Spurs, it didn't work, we got overrun in midfield and had to change before we got back into the match and went onto win. The very next game he tries it again against Southampton - arguably the best pressing team in the League - and predictably we got overrun in midfield and lost.
I feared the worst yesterday as soon as I saw the starting 11. Coming up against another side that press in midfield and look to play on the break, and another side that convincingly beat us playing that way last season, Rodgers decides to field arguably the most attacking side and experimental midfield he's picked since becoming our manager.
Everybody we have is a compromise. You might be able to get away playing Gerrard there against sides that will sit off us, with Henderson & Allen doing his running. Against better sides/stronger midfields it's a huge risk though. The answer is swapping Gerrard for Lucas but then you lack the range of passing Gerrard provides which can be crucial to our attacking game.
I'd be gutted for him if he's out for a while but a semi-serious injury to Lucas might be the end of him and I don't think it would be the worst thing in the world for us. At the very least we need 1 powerful midfielder but realistically we need 1 + an upgrade on Lucas. We need a young Mascherano & Alonso with Gerrard, Henderson and Allen supplementing them.
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Do we need his range of passing anymore? Since his return we've gone from playing quick one touch passing and moving forward as a unit to bypassing half the team and looking for one single ball over the defence. It worked two or three times yesterday but the amount of possession we gave away when we could've built attacks was ridiculous.
If we look to bring in a player to babysit Gerrard so we can get the best out of him it'll be to the detriment of the team imo. We should be looking forward and buying a player who'll help get the best out of the entire team as a unit but whether that's M'Vila or someone else I'm not sure. Whoever it is just needs to be able to read the game, play it simple and be quick over 5 yards although that's not even essential.
Edit: Hamann would be ideal.
If we look to bring in a player to babysit Gerrard so we can get the best out of him it'll be to the detriment of the team imo. We should be looking forward and buying a player who'll help get the best out of the entire team as a unit but whether that's M'Vila or someone else I'm not sure. Whoever it is just needs to be able to read the game, play it simple and be quick over 5 yards although that's not even essential.
Edit: Hamann would be ideal.
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It's not a case of signing somebody to babysit Gerrard. We need at least one powerful midfielder regardless of Gerrard. Like I've said before, Gerrard wouldn't be a nailed on starter every week for me. I'd pick and choose which games where he'd be an asset to the side.
There are games where his passing and ability to dictate play would be useful and to throw that away when we have nobody else capable of doing that job would be criminal.
FWIW, Gerrard's pass completion percentage is practically the same as Henderson's (and Allen's) despite playing more passes per game and crucially more key passes per game.
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So.. am I the only one wondering why we haven't bought 5 players and a new manager yet? How many loses does it take to necessitate a change?
The players we want, I'd love to know who they are, have been deemed completely unavailable this month. That's why.
The way is see it is that players that you could get Vidal, Pjanic, Marcheeseio etc etc their clubs know United want players which allows them to bump up the asking some more, then there is the January factor, then there is the fact United could possibly not even make European football next season. So in a way it makes sense that it's difficult.
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