maguskwt » Wed May 29, 2013 6:35 pm wrote:aCe' » Wed May 29, 2013 1:15 pm wrote:I have been agreeing with Benny a lot lately, which I find a little unsettling. Regardless, I am not quite sure what Kolo Toure is expected to add to the side at his age. I certainly wouldnt want him to be a starter, he quite simply is not good enough for that. I also wouldn't want him to be a replacement for Skrtel; a younger player who has performed at a higher standard than Toure over the past 3 or so seasons.
Any way you look at it, this move represents a step in the wrong direction as far as I'm concerned. As things stand, we have Skrtel, Agger, Coates and Toure as our main options at centerback. I think many of us were/are? hoping that a top quality players comes in to partner Agger and add a little more quality following Carra's retirement. If we do bring that player in, then new signing Toure automatically becomes 4th choice CB for us, which for me is a role best served by a young player with potential (Coates, Kelly ?)
Like I said, if we bring in Toure and subsequently lose Skrtel, that for me would be a bad move. But it seems that things are moving in that direction.
The concern shouldn't be his age though... because 32 is not that old for a central defender. The concern should be on the number of games he has played and his motivation...
I agree with that. He has started 18 league games for a side who have a very limited number of 1st team CBs over the last 2 seasons, and that's not good enough. I also have concerns about his fitness and his motivation, but both are aspects that could be argued or worked on.
The reason I emphasized his age is because (at 32) the signing goes against the club's strategy of signing young players with potential who could one day become starters if they develop fast enough.
The key point that I keep coming back to though is this,we have a limited number of scenarios that could take place with this signing being finalized. And every way you look at it, it doesn't look good.
A) We take it as a given (and I know it's too early to suggest this) that the club will sign a top quality CB to partner Agger, then it comes down to a choice between Skrtel and Toure for that backup spot. Do people genuinely feel that selling Skrtel and replacing him with Toure would be a good move ?
B) In the unlikely scenario that Skrtel does stay, we add a top CB, and end up with NEW SIGNING, Skrtel, Agger, Toure, Coates. Would signing a player at the end of his career who is reportedly on 70K a week to become 4th choice CB ahead of a promising youngster (Coates, Kelly, Wisdom...take your pick) when we have a limited number of games next season be seen as a good move ?
C) We decide to keep things as they are today. Not signing any other CBs and relying mainly on Skrtel and Agger as a CB pairing with Toure and a youngster as backup. Would that be an improvement on what we had this year ? Especially considering the fact that most fans think that reinforcing the position should be the club's top priority.
Personally, I'd keep Skrtel at the club even if we offered 15mill for him. I think he'd be very hard to replace and I worry about how our defense would look without Carra and Skrtel being there next season given the players we've been linked with.
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