Transfer Rumours | Tactics | Who to buy/sell etc

You know... if Benz or Higuain missed the chances that Lewa missed the past 2 seasons or the first 1/3 of this season, they'd be burned to the stake.

Looking at those covers you'd swear we were in July not May lol

Anyway like sport said we can't be sure of anything just yet. Once the season ends proper we'll get a muuuuuuuuch clearer picture of what will happen.

sportsczy wrote:You know... if Benz or Higuain missed the chances that Lewa missed the past 2 seasons or the first 1/3 of this season, they'd be burned to the stake.

I know, and I don't know if Lewa would be a fit in our system, he is not a RVN kind of player as people say he is.

I really hope we keep Benz and Higuain cause I don't see another alternative where we buy a World Class striker and rotate with either Higuain or Benzema for a whole season.

Ibra is offering to join Madrid with Carlo according to EC, would take a pay cut

Ibra is the only guy that would make selling Higuain OK for me. IMO the only true upgrade out there.

BTW That Marca potential team picture fcking sucks. Why would we sell Higuain but not buy any world class replacement?

Here is what I would do this summer (BTW I'm assuming that a CF has to leave, I'd prefer to keep both but that's football sadly but hopefully I'm wrong)

IN: Carvajal, Garay, Nacho, Gundogan, Isco, Jese, Kun
OUT: Carvalho, Albiol, Coentrao, Essien, Kaka, Callejon, Benzema




Carvajal 6m €
Garay 10m €
Gundogan 35m €
Isco 35m €
Kun 45m €

= 131m €

Albiol 8m €
Coentrao 20m €
Kaka 9m €
Callejon 5m €
Benzema 35m €

= 77m €

Zealous would sign Kun

I would lol but only because I know he's proven in La Liga and he'd be cheaper than Falcao. Plus I think he secretly wants to play for Madrid

No Kun please. That guy isn't better than Benzema + he is from Atletico ffs. We need a presence in the box, a player who can make the difference from any position, Cavani. If we take Isco + Gundogan, alongside Ozil we won't lack creativity/final pass to put Cavani and Ronaldo in the best positions.

I agree that he isn't better, as far as I can see it's a sideways move. But the general feeling is that one CF will leave and I made my team based on that assumption. I chose Benzema because he is on the bigger contract and imo Higuain represents more value for money in addition to being proven in the league with the possibility of him developing his game in Europe. Benzema's best interests probably lie somewhere where he is undisputed starter. Higuain has shown that he's always willing to compete for a starting spot.

Kun's Atletico history doesn't concern me tbh. Not when we've signed Hugo Sanchez (a club legend) from them. Besides we'd be signing him from City not Atleti so it's all good. Aguero is La Liga proven and would feel comfortable right away plus the added bonus that he'll be much "cheaper" than Falcao.

I'm not sold on Cavani. He's a great player but he might find trouble adjusting (most players who move from Italy to Spain struggle) and I don't think he'll provide what we need up front.

wish we could buy Essien, the guy was a great backup for us

Ibra with zero respect to his previous clubs, joining Madrid after playing for Barca

Potential of Ibra trolling Barca on a weekly basis

Mind you if we can get Ibra on a short term contract (two years or something like that) we should absolutely go for him.

agreed there zealous

Mr Nick09 wrote:Zealous would sign Kun

Nick what do you think of my potential team? Does it tick all the boxes?

Zealous wrote:

Mr Nick09 wrote:Zealous would sign Kun

Nick what do you think of my potential team? Does it tick all the boxes?

It's close
1) i think your back up fullbacks are not good, if one of your starter is out, you are basically without a quality player at either position.
2) you are missing a CM.
3) pick between Morata and Jese for first team, not both
4) you know my opinion of Higuain

I think the issue with the Benz/Higuain duo is battle fatigue more than anything else... i think they were both tired of the whole thing at the end of last year and it showed this year.

still find it crazy how much we underestimate how important fullbacks are in modern footy. arbeloa shouldnt even be at the club imo.

Yeah I'd have to agree there. It seems to have drained them a lot but I'd like to say that I respect both guys so much for being professionals about it and not complaining. Top marks for both in that department.

@ Nick

I believe Nacho can be a decent LB, I know him and I know he has a great mentality and can easily develop into a good La Liga option. Not sure he can play at an elite level but I think you have to at least give him a try. Marcelo for me is 100% starter and 100% good enough at the elite level because of what he brings to the table. He's most dynamic attacking fullback in the game right now.

Caravajal deserves to get a shot at RB seeing how well he has done in Germany. Kid is good (I've been saying this before he went to Germany but it's nice to be proven correct ) and he'll have Arbeloa as a solid backup and supervisor. Also i think Arbeloa can cover at LB/RB for one more season but hey signing another back up wouldn't hurt I guess.

As for CM I think that's more than enough. 4 midifielders for 2 positions with Jose Rodriguez waiting in the wings just in case is enough. Plus I think there is a nice diversity in that midfield. Adding anyone else wouldn't really bring anything new to the table, nothing we don't already have or that a Castilla player couldn't do.

Why do I have to pick between Morata and Jese? There is no quota for youth players lol. Jese can take Callejon's role and Morata can have the role he currently has. Both have potential to develop into really solid players for this club. If you think it needs re-enforcement then that is fair but keep in mind we have Christian Benevente who should be in Castilla next season. He gets the Zealous seal of approval and I haven't been wrong when judging youth players yet lol

Mr Nick09 wrote:still find it crazy how much we underestimate how important fullbacks are in modern footy. arbeloa shouldnt even be at the club imo.

Carvajal/Marcelo/Nacho/Arbeloa sounds fine to me. If your issue is with back ups then that is fair. Who would you sign though?

For fullbacks, i think you need people that can go both ways, attack defense, arbleoa, cant, nacho cant. "fine" is not enough. keeping cacktraw one more year wouldnt be that bad. i personally havent been scouting fullbacks much this year but i have heard of couple of players like Oczipka, Jung that are doing well in bundi, Aurier in France, Siqueira in la liga, there are people.

at CM, i think you add someone like Kondogbia, or at least another holding mid. what you posted was too lightweight. Alonso needs to be phased out asap, so say you sign Gundogan, you make him the new n1, with Alonso and Modric around. modric cant also play n10 in back up of Ozil, while you have Isco/Di Maria/Ozil for the 2 positions next to CR. Jese backs up CR, and you have your two forwards.

Nacho has potential to be better than fine though because in defence he is very solid. I've always been a believer in having guys like Arbeloa in a squad, guys that are no nonsense and keep the squad grounded. Basically guys who know what they can and can't do. I'm not saying we should sell them but keeping them around is worthwhile. You can't have 22 elite guys in a squad lol

As for CM I said it already, it's 4 guys competing for 2 positions with a 5th guy in J. Rod playing in the matches that don't really matter to make sure everyone is rested. Xabi is more than good enough for one more year with us and we can then sign another midfielder after next season. Xabi/Gundogan/Khedira/Modric/J Rod sounds very good to me and I think the focus of the team will be on the attack anyway so the midfield will hopefully not have to do the heavy lifting.

Attack would be CF/CF/Ronaldo/Ozil/Isco/Morata/Jese/Di Maria. 8 players for 4 positions and seeing as how most of these guys play multiple positions I think the attack will look very strong next season if we stick to something like this.

I think it would be unfair to sell Coentrao. He's been impressive this year and solid. Apparently he was going to be sold, however after his performances apparently we're keeping him.

If Marcelo hasn't improved defensively, then Coentrao should continue to start. For a fullback defense should be the priority, then secondly it should be attack. However having someone who does both is obviously better.

Well, we're going to buy one or two of Kondogbia, Pogba or Gundogan. Kondogbia seems fairly certain. I have to think we'd go for Gundogan because he's more complementary to Kondogbia. Pogba and Kondogbia would be like buying the same thing almost lol.

Alonso looks like he's gone btw. There are rumors from reputable peeps that are starting with him either going to Chelsea with Mou or returning to his home region.

So you'd have Gundogan, Kondogbia, Khedira and Modric. To me, that's an almost perfect foursome because Kondogbia at least has no problem being a sub and learning his first year.

Zealous wrote:Nacho has potential to be better than fine though because in defence he is very solid. I've always been a believer in having guys like Arbeloa in a squad, guys that are no nonsense and keep the squad grounded. Basically guys who know what they can and can't do. I'm not saying we should sell them but keeping them around is worthwhile. You can't have 22 elite guys in a squad lol

Sure, nacho can get better, but he is a defender by nature. he has a long way to go to become a two way fullback. i dont see how it would hurt not having Arbeloa around honestly. If by keeping Nacho around you mean with Castilla, then no worries. Arbeloa high spirit wont help the team when he is unable to put one decent cross in. It's not about getting superstars, just finding players who have abilities. If you could sign Hugo Mallo at RB with Carv, and say Coentrao with marcelo at LB, i think you have better fullbacks already.

As for CM I said it already, it's 4 guys competing for 2 positions with a 5th guy in J. Rod playing in the matches that don't really matter to make sure everyone is rested. Xabi is more than good enough for one more year with us and we can then sign another midfielder after next season. Xabi/Gundogan/Khedira/Modric/J Rod sounds very good to me and I think the focus of the team will be on the attack anyway so the midfield will hopefully not have to do the heavy lifting.

it's a year too early for JRod, he can focus on Castilla and could be around when Alonso moves on. My feeling is simply that, if Khedira is out, you dont have a physical presence in the midfield anymore. that's how i look at it. and someone should seriously be put in contention with Khedira, it's not normal he gets to start "unchallenged" for a fourth year running. Bring another 8, maybe kondogbia, a lot more skilled, physical, willing to learn and compete, and we have a better midfield with proper depth. That's the one area of the squad we shouldnt f*ck with. We need quality and depth. Gundi starts, Khedira competes with kondogbia/newCM, Alonso is the chaperon, and Modric is there for tactical surprises or 3 man mid. Modric can also back up Ozil at n10 as i said earlier.

Attack would be CF/CF/Ronaldo/Ozil/Isco/Morata/Jese/Di Maria. 8 players for 4 positions and seeing as how most of these guys play multiple positions I think the attack will look very strong next season if we stick to something like this.

I just think introducing 2 cantera boys in attack is too much. Maybe one per line, but not two in the same line. That's why i said chose between both. i know Morata has been around this year already, but still, even for back up, it's a bit much.

@Sports, Gundogan and Pogba, good god, let me wank