Please Rafa....

[Red Chilli]

No point in selling Crouch unless we have someone better lined up.

Can we afford Villa? I think you're looking at greater than 15 million.

[Kopite_Colin]

To be honest Dan, I'm not sure. The obvious answers (if we DO genuinely have real money to spend right now) would be a cheeky bid for Henry, Eto'o or maybe even Shevchenko (i.e. proven class strikers), Villa, Huntelaar, Klose, Podolski, Torres, Ronaldo, Raul, Tevez, or even RVN. I'd even rather play Garcia as a central striker than out on the wing.

[Kopite_Colin]

Even John Carew offers as much if not more than Crouch.

[AFII]

Huntelaar and Klose is much better strikers than Crouch/Fowler/Bellamy.

Klose is one of the most complete strikers out there and he is available for £6m-£8m. Crouch may score on one of ten headers in the box and Klose on one of three or four. That's a huge difference.

[Red Chilli]

Doubt we'd get Klose for 6 milion,seems unlikely if you ask me.

[AFII]

He only have 18 months left on his contract.

[The Barber]

i think pablo aimar would have had been a great buy in the summer ...if only ....

[AFII]

i think pablo aimar would have had been a great buy in the summer ...if only ....

Rafa decided to sign Pennant instead for more money. Aimar costed £6m and Pennant £7m. Sometimes I don't understand Rafa at all.

[Kopite_Colin]

I can see why Rafa did that - because he wanted (and likes) genuine width and we didn't have any. Aimar would have been too similar to Garcia, and not able to play out wide.

[einar]

I agree that we need to look at better players but that was not the problem this time.

The concept is pass and move.

How many times did we watch the winger or fullbacks get the ball out on the wing and the only options where taking the defender on or passing the ball back.
Pennant and Kuyt did this beautifully against Bolton, They ran into space around each other and opened them up again and again.

How many times did we see a Liverpool player on the ball and his teammates just stood and watched him.

Valencia did this almost to perfection under Rafa, why not us.

WHY!!!!!

[Red_Polo]

Been shouting for flair for ages, supply & service to our front men is garbage, utter, utter garbage, we have no-one that jinks a man and lays it on a plate for the strikers, they always have to work hard to create goals, which can't be done match in - match out.

Is the right answer.

We need some flair, someone who can get opposition defenders back-tracking and our lot running forward into space, someone who can get beyond the back line and make clear chances for us.

[ningnangnong]

Podolski would be my pick. with investment i'd think we'd be able to have a bid for him accepted, but i'm not so sure he'd want to leave Bayern.

[kopdan]

We need a partner for Kuyt. So far not one springs out as a fast paced striker like Owen which is essentially what we need to get behind defences.

Unless I missed a post somewhere.

cough couch Bent

[Joe Le Toff]

Podolski would be my pick. with investment i'd think we'd be able to have a bid for him accepted, but i'm not so sure he'd want to leave Bayern.

I may be wrong but i think Podolski only signed for Bayern at the start of the season so i cant see that one happening.

Signing Bent would be more of the same IMO, which is the level below the top class that we need. A la Bellamy and Crouch.

Said it many times on here but its Defoe for me all the way. Play him with Kuyt where he can be a target for Gerrard and Alonso to hit and I believe he's a 20-25 goal a season striker.

[Shaggy]

Been shouting for flair for ages, supply & service to our front men is garbage, utter, utter garbage, we have no-one that jinks a man and lays it on a plate for the strikers, they always have to work hard to create goals, which can't be done match in - match out.

Is the right answer.

We need some flair, someone who can get opposition defenders back-tracking and our lot running forward into space, someone who can get beyond the back line and make clear chances for us.

Agreed. We need an 'advanced playmaker' type. Some people reckon Luis is that sort of player but I don't see it that way. Yes he can play the odd neat ball 'round the corner', but generally his passing isn't consistently incisive enough. He's more effective at other things.

Alonso is a playmaker but a deep-lying, 'pivot' sort of player. We need an advanced string-puller, a creative player to prompt, probe and thread little balls through - someone in the mould of Aimar, though not specifically him.

Any suggestions for that kind of player?