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Getting there surely - Two players for every position...?
Posted:
Tue Apr 11, 2006 8:28 pmby kalos
Just got to thinking how close we are to having two GOOD (or better than "good")) players for every position next season.
G-Reina/Carson
RB- Finnan/Kromkamp
CB- JC/Paletta
CB- Hyypia/Agger
LB- Riise/Warnock (Fabio Aurelio?)
LW- Speedy/Kewell
CM- Momo/Didi
CM- Xabi/Stevie/Zenden
RM-Stevie/? (Simao/SWP??)
CF- Robbie/? (Kuyt/Owen/Villa)
CF- Crouch/?
It seems that we are only 2/3 players away from having an excellent squad of 22....roll on the new signings!
If Rafa can get two quality strikers and a RW we are going to be real contenders again.
Bearing in mind youngsters coming through the future looks bright indeed...
YNWA 
Posted:
Tue Apr 11, 2006 8:42 pmby Salvi Torres
i def agree with that post- if we can get Aguero , Kuyt and maybe Berthahov is that how you spell it ? we def could play anyside off the park.
Reina
Riise Hypia( or Agger) Carra Finann
Speedy Gerrard Alonso Aguero
Kuyt Berthahov
subs
Carson
Sissoko
Kewell
crouch
Agger
bring it on chelsea............
we def could be seeing the premiership title come home on 2007
Posted:
Tue Apr 11, 2006 8:46 pmby dawson99
You say bring it on chelsea but if in the summer they buy ballack, etoo and a few others we are in trouble again. we cant compete with them with a squad, its impossible im sorry to say. but when it comes to passion and desire we beat them every time. thats why we have to be so careful with who we buy. they have to want to play for the club, not just pick up a paycheque
Posted:
Tue Apr 11, 2006 8:57 pmby Salvi Torres
good point. but i think aguero is dying to play for us , okay maybe kuyt or berthatov arent but im talking about tha kind, rafa knows, look at sissoko - i know i havent him in the team but believe me its very very difficult to leave him out and prob some thing out-sissoko looks like he will do anything for the club.
We ll beat chelsea if we have players who are prepared to listen to rafa's idea- rafa proved that great trainin and plans can win anything ie Champ league with crappy enough players.
Posted:
Tue Apr 11, 2006 9:09 pmby Fowler_ The _Prowler
David Villa just signed a extension with Valencia that keeps him there till 2011.... so no chance of getting him now, Simao is a great player, seen him play quite a few times now.
Eto'o wont be going to Chelsea, no chance...
Posted:
Tue Apr 11, 2006 9:12 pmby dawson99
Fowler_ The _Prowler wrote:David Villa just signed a extension with Valencia that keeps him there till 2011.... so no chance of getting him now, Simao is a great player, seen him play quite a few times now.
Eto'o wont be going to Chelsea, no chance...
well if the racist abuse keeps going which it is then he'll leave, and who else can afford him?
anyways id rather concentrate on us than the cheatski. we ned a few more signings, and if they are the right ones then we'll be doing fine
Posted:
Tue Apr 11, 2006 9:25 pmby Bad Bob
Good post which has got me thinking about the depth of some of our competitors next season...
As I see it, we'll be battling it out with the usual suspects: Chelsea, the Mancs and Arsenal.
No question, Chelsea has tremendous depth in all areas of the park, with perhaps the exception of CF at the moment. Plus, they will surely strengthen again this summer in several areas (deadweight, like Maniche, out and hired guns, like Ballack, in). They'll be tough to beat again but it is by no means impossible.
We also need to look at Man U and Arsenal, who will surely be up amongst the league leaders again next year. Here's where I think our squad starts to stack up quite favourably on the depth charts.
Man U, at the moment, looks like this:
GK VDS/Howard
RB Neville
CB Ferdinand/Brown
CB Vidic/Sylvestre
LB Heinze/Evra
CM Scholes/Giggs/Fletcher
CM Smith/O'Shea/Fortune
LM Park/Richardson
RM Ronaldo
ST Rooney
ST RVN/Saha
Clearly, they have some significant holes in their squad--particularly at CM and down the right. They will strengthen this summer but Fergie's transfer dealings have been rather hit or miss of late so they might still find themselves quite thin next year--a problem for them unless they plan to only "focus" on the league and Carling Cup again next season! 
As for Arsenal, they line up like this:
GK Lehman/Almunia
RB Lauren/Eboue
CB Campbell/Senderos
CB Toure/Cygan
LB Cole/Clichy
CM Gilberto/Diaby
CM Fabregas/Flamini
LM Pires
RM Ljungberg/Hleb
ST Henry/RVP/Bergkamp
ST Reyes/Adebayor/Walcott
Like the Mancs, they have quality up front (we'll see if Henry stays, though) but are light through central midfield. And, while their CBs have been immense of late (last Sunday aside), their central defense looks somewhat shaky. Of our principal competitors, they will also likely have the lowest transfer kitty this summer. Now, who knows what other teenagers 'Monsieur Bean' has been grooming for greatness behind the scenes, but barring another prodigy, I think their team will look similar to that above--minus, perhaps, a couple of marquis players. It should be interesting to see how they fair next year.
So, in sum, I think that--once sorted--our first choice 11 will be capable of beating anyone in the league. Beyond that, I think that Rafa's assembling a squad that will offer quality up and down the bench. The pieces are definitely falling into place and I already can't wait for next season! 
Posted:
Tue Apr 11, 2006 11:38 pmby anti-hero
What I was hoping to see in the squad are the addition of little known players who perform very consistently. Not the kind of players that can win games single handedly, but more like role players who can be counted on to do their job day in day out.
Rafa seems to have this gifted ability to spot talents and unearth hidden gems and bring the best out of most players. Bearing that ability in mind, I think he might sign more than a few little known but very dependable players on the cheap rather than spend a considerable amount of the transfer budget on a single player that most people would rate highly.
Every football fan knows that for a team to succeed it has to have a pretty strong starting eleven and an equally strong bench. This season, I would think that Rafa has a pretty big transfer budget and I know he has his own plans on how to spend it but I would think that if he got 3 or 4 players who can be relied to perform week in week out we may have a squad capable of competing with the best on a regular basis.
Players like Finnan, Riise, Hyypia, Carragher, Sissoko and even Hamann, if we had 4 more players that perform as well as them every time they take to the field we would be kicking the cra'p out of every team we play. With Rafa rotating the squad for every game we would have fresh legs to kick the cra'p out of the next team we play.
Anyways cant wait for the new season to start and to see who's coming and going in the summer. 
Posted:
Wed Apr 12, 2006 2:57 pmby AussieKopite
In our goalkeeping we actually have 3 very decent: Reina/Carson/Dudek (you remember him? he won some kind of European trophy recently)
Posted:
Wed Apr 12, 2006 9:32 pmby kalos
Dudek...yes I'm sure I've heard of him!
I only included players that will definitely staying 
Fair point about Chelski buying as well but I think what will count above all is the belief that it can be done. Winning the league has been an albatross for so long it's going to take more than just skill on the pitch and tactics from the Manager.
Chelski won it as much for Moaning-ho' making them BELIEVE they could do it as through buying big name players.
Posted:
Wed Apr 12, 2006 9:40 pmby RAFABENITEZ
Salvi Torres wrote:we def could be seeing the premiership title come home on 2007
Really? This 2007 you speak of, any chance of being specific?
Posted:
Thu Apr 13, 2006 9:45 amby AussieKopite
kalos wrote:Dudek...yes I'm sure I've heard of him!
I only included players that will definitely staying
Fair point about Chelski buying as well but I think what will count above all is the belief that it can be done. Winning the league has been an albatross for so long it's going to take more than just skill on the pitch and tactics from the Manager.
Chelski won it as much for Moaning-ho' making them BELIEVE they could do it as through buying big name players.
Could we sell Traore to Chelski???
Posted:
Fri Apr 14, 2006 7:42 pmby kalos
Just a quick thought- I haven't included on loan players in the list . Pongo could be back but I'm not confident about ALT at all.
Anyone I've missed that could still fight to be in the squad??
Posted:
Sat Apr 15, 2006 6:16 amby AussieKopite
I know that Kromkamp is listed in RB but he plays alright in RM.