by account deleted by request » Tue May 20, 2008 6:09 pm
Tbh I think Rafa has shown that given the money he can no-doubt bring in top quality players, but I also think that without splashing the cash his record is about at the level you would expect ..... cr@p. You can't buy top class players for free or next to nothing. (I suppose Babbel under Houllier was our exception to the rule) If they are quality and run down their contract they expect a huge salary that seems to take us out of the running straight away, if they are poor or injury prone we can get them for free or "cheap", but we then spend half the season integrating them into the team only to realise they are never going to make it, and then start looking for the next cheap option.
Josemy, Kromkamp, Aurelio, Arbeloa..... all can play to a reasonable level but either through injurys, mindset or just plain lack of quality, none of them have really grabbed a place and held it.
Its the same with the wings, a succession of cheap buys and we still havent solved our long lasting problems out wide.
Hopefully like last close season its just a slow start before we bring in the top quality players we need. It just seems a pity that so many top players seem available this year, when last season they seemed at a premium.
Real Madrid have just signed Garay for 10m Euros, when we wanted him last season I think it was around the £12million mark.