How about Abate? If we want a ballon dor candidate we shud go for him.

Brazilian footballers tend to fall fast and hard when they do fall

hrealmadrid wrote:Brazilian footballers tend to fall fast and hard when they do fall

Let's hope Marcelo proves an exception.

omarish wrote:30m is good for him. No sarcasm, Maicon is still worlds best he just doesnt have a good team. Alves was better this season though.

It's surprising how people are rating him so low when people were calling him god last season. 1 season affects the players overall quality I suppose then?

The two seasons passed have been such a contrast, I struggle to agree with you. While a lot will think we are judging him solely off the performances against Spurs, his season overall was quite the drop. His peak has come and gone, we will be signing him below his best. We also can't be sure Mou will bring him back to that higher level.

At 30M, it's not a smart move at all.

adnyana179 wrote:

hrealmadrid wrote:Brazilian footballers tend to fall fast and hard when they do fall

Let's hope Marcelo proves an exception.

Afro-mighty is still young and has many prosperous years left with us

Maybe he just had no motivation last year ? This might be a new challenge.

St_Nick09_of_Goal wrote:@omar, i guess you missed the countless of times Maicon got raped on his side of the defense in a league without quality wingers.

the guy has fallen off so badly it's not even funny.

He just came back from an injury, that's why Gareth Berry raped him. I think he can get his form back, as long as he has the right coach. But he has been good the rest of the season (post-injury)

maybe, i hope for him he does well at Inter, but i dont want that overpriced oldie anywhere near me club

I love watching both Maicon and Essien when they're on form, but neither of them have been that impressive lately and it's not unlikely that age is starting to take it's toll on them. In my opinion, Mourinho hit the nail on the head with the acquisition of Özil this season and I'd rather see him gamble on someone younger who are significantly cheaper and don't necessarily demand a starting place on the team.

Would you trust a youngster in such a sensible role?

If we got him cheap, Mou could rejuvenate him and bring him back into form, and he would accept being heavily rotated, I would agree to buying Maicon. But why do we need Maicon or Coentrao? Isnt Arbeloa enough on the right, with Ramos and possibly Lass/Altintop backing up? I dont really see any positions where we are lacking, yet alone RB. Godbeloa is fine.

We are signing Coentrao anyway

St_Nick09_of_Goal wrote:Would you trust a youngster in such a sensible role?

Well, at RB we always have Arbeloa in case the youngster fails to live up to expectations. At DM.. well, I don't think we should be using more than one DM and there's no guarantee that a physical player such as Essien would succeed in La Liga and RM, either. Especially not considering his recent drop in form. I'd rather "gamble" with and up and coming youngster than pay huge amounts for a veteran, proven player that is out of form.

Chelsea bought Fernando Torres. I'm not impressed

-No offence to Chelsea.

Well, i didnt follow chelsea as closely as as real, so i would be unable to explain his drop in form, but it seems to me that he is still an excellent, powerful athlete.

My main concern with young players is playing time, it's something they are all sensitive about. I can give you a list of a couple of young talent i would love us to get, but will they be happy in a heavy rotation system?

That's why the advantage players like Essien present, is beig experienced, in the last chapter of their career, with nothing else to prove while being ok with contributing to the overall success.

Yeah, like I said i love watching Essien play and I wouldn't mind having him at the club, but he's going to cost a fortune, seems to have lost his edge and will most likely not get any better. What I fear most is the day when Mourinho leaves and we might be stuck with a bunch of senior citizens demanding a starting spot

Mourinho won't buy him if he can't get him back to his best...And Maicon on his day leaves Alves and Ramos in dust.

But now he's just annoying...20 is a realistic sale.

St_Nick09_of_Goal wrote:will they be happy in a heavy rotation system?
They should be informed about that before they sign the contract. Mourinho knows how to deal with egos, and if they aren't good enough to deserve a starting spot, then the answer is simple.

That's why the advantage players like Essien present, is beig experienced, in the last chapter of their career, with nothing else to prove while being ok with contributing to the overall success.

I completely agree, but at the same time, I don't want us to end up as one of "Mourinho's past projects", nor does the idea of throwing diamonds at an aging player for the next few years give me a raging boner

:lol!:

you edited my post

you make a good point tho, you have someone in mind?

We could get Maicon for a really cheap. Of course his price depends a lot on how badly Inter wants to get rid of him and if they have an alternative ready to replace him (Santon?), but his contract ends 2013 (AFAIK) so this is going to be their last chance to cash on him if they ever will. With a little bit of luck we could pull another Carvalho-esque deal.

If we do sign Essien we still have players like Khedira or Sahin which means when Mourinho leaves we weren't have a 'past project' type squad.

I'm not sure. There really aren't that many young defensive midfielders that really stand out from the rest these days, nor are there fullbacks that aren't already tied to their respective clubs. There are a few potential ones, but I'm not sure if they're ready to come here. Anyway, we have players like Xabi, Khedira, Sahin and Pepe who are capable of playing as DMs. La Liga isn't an overly physical league, so yeah.. I believe even a player like Sahin would cope in that position, in a worst case scenario. We have the capacity to gamble more than most other top clubs, due to our squad width, but Mourinho usually prefers to play it safe.

I know you're a fan of M'Vila, and I've honestly only watched him play once or twice. I think he might be a bit too inexperienced at this point in time, but I wouldn't mind giving him a chance. I'm sure Benzema would love to have another French speaker on the team, as well.

I wasnt gonna mention M'vila because he plays too deep, and never goes up. Mourinho seems to show a preference for B2B midfielders.

I was thinking about the likes of Fellaini for ex.

mtfootball wrote:If we do sign Essien we still have players like Khedira or Sahin which means when Mourinho leaves we weren't have a 'past project' type squad.

Mourinho might stay for another couple of years, and changes will be made during that time. The only reason we're looking for a DM in the first place is because Khedira hasn't proven to be an exceptional player, yet. And exceptional players are what we're looking for.

tbh, if we are looking for an exceptional DM, it has to be M'vila, he is awesome.

there is only prescription on the fact that he doesnt go up.

if we need something else, a better rounded player, there are other avenues to go towards, like i mentioned, Fellaini as example.

As long as Sahin and Ozil play together than I don't see why the DM has to go up.

Well, im just discussing of a trend mourinho seems to be following.

we are signing all around complete footballers, im not disagreeing with that tbh. As long as they are comfortable technically, i dont mind.