If we had lost.....

[Red_Al_77]

Morph, that striking line-up still doesn't look strong enough in terms of top quality to me you see.

Let's say we get Villa in. So we have Villa, Kuyt, Crouch & Voronin. What happens if Villa gets a bad injury? Then we're effectively left in the state we're in up front this season - no consistent proven Prem goalscorer.

That's why I hate to say it, but i think there's only room for Crouch or Kuyt if the Voronin deal is definitely going through. We need 2 out and out goalscorers in case of injuries.

Today makes the Voronin signing all the more surprising IMO. I think Lecter suggested Fowler and AN Other would be leaving. IMO that seems to be Bellamy on current form and what he adds to the team.

[Shaggy]

Today makes the Voronin signing all the more surprising IMO. I think Lecter suggested Fowler and AN Other would be leaving. IMO that seems to be Bellamy on current form and what he adds to the team.

It certainly won't be Crouch, I know that much. And Rafa seems to love Kuyt, so I'd suggest if one does go (as well as Fowler) it'll be Bellamy.

[Red_Al_77]

Rocket will be heart-broken

[Xabi_is_God]

Lets keep Fowler too. He'll be doing us no harm in the squad. If he wants to stay and hang around, lets keep him. He probably wont play but sure if he's happy who cares. he'd probably do it for free.
Or if they do get rid of him, he could just hang around at training and interfere like one of those guys in your local club that doesnt play anymore but still watches training sessions and likes to think he is involved.
He could be water boy at matches and run on with the physio

[alunevans]

Al, He still doesn't convince me totally. Of all of our strikers RIGHT NOW I agree Crouch is the best in terms of output (which is how I measure a striker), but I think there's so much more to come from Kuyt.

So going forward I still think we need 2 more top, top quality forwards. If we hadn't have got Voronin, I'd say keep Crouch as 3rd / 4th Striker, with Kuyt and get 2 more in - but we have already got Voronin (apparently). Unless Rafa is going to surpise us and have 5 1st team squad strikers. We need players who can score in tight games,a nd create something out of nothing. Crouch has done this business in spells this season, but has had some awful misses too (e.g. BBUrn when we were on a real roll) which have cost us. We need a real sniffer type - 1 chance, bang! 1 goal. Crouch isn't that player (and I'm not convinced Kuyt is yet).

So we need to up the standard considerably.

i agree he's not that type of player but he does score goals and his all round contribution is excellent. he's also got a great touch, but people don't see that because he's 6ft 7, but he has.

he's not your one chance one goal striker. but he scores goals and the rest of his contribution is a real asset to the side and the squad

[Morph]

Morph, that striking line-up still doesn't look strong enough in terms of top quality to me you see.

Let's say we get Villa in. So we have Villa, Kuyt, Crouch & Voronin. What happens if Villa gets a bad injury? Then we're effectively left in the state we're in up front this season - no consistent proven Prem goalscorer.

That's why I hate to say it, but i think there's only room for Crouch or Kuyt if the Voronin deal is definitely going through. We need 2 out and out goalscorers in case of injuries.

Well how does it compare to say Man U?

(lets assume Villa), Kuyt, Crouch, Voronin vs Rooney, Saha, Solskjaer, Smith

To be honest mate what's the difference?

Now Man U do have Ronaldo, but that's a different matter for a different position, I see nothing wrong with those 4 strikers (although don't know much about Voronin)

[Neil Young]

Gonzalez did OK today. You're too harsh on him.

And on Kuyt.

They're both in their first season yet apparently it's perfectly reasonable to air all these doubts about them.

[Kopite_Colin]

If we had a wide player like Ronaldo then it would make all the difference, becuase we would create so many more clear chances. TBH, I've never though Man U had a better striker force then ours (I don't rate theirs either), but our CM pisses all over theirs in terms of ability, but our CM (SG aside) and our wide MFers don't have any output in terms of goals (which Utd's do).

That imho is the difference. If we get 2 decent wingers in who settle, we'll see how good Utd are compared to us.

[Kopite_Colin]

Well how does it compare to say Man U?

(lets assume Villa), Kuyt, Crouch, Voronin - I see nothing wrong with those 4 strikers (although don't know much about Voronin)

I see everything wrong with that line up mate (Villa, Kuyt, Crouch, Voronin) becuase if Villa gets injured we're likely to be back to approx 20-25 league goals output from the other 3 put together, which isn't good enough. It's a risk we can't afford next year,a s we need to be putting in a REAL title shot next year.

We need to have a solid contingency in place and not rely on people doing things they've not done before.

[Howard_lfc]

TBH, I've never though Man U had a better striker force then ours (I don't rate theirs either), but our CM pisses all over theirs in terms of ability, but our CM (SG aside) and our wide MFers don't have any output in terms of goals (which Utd's do).

The philosophy of the respective managers cannot be ignored either Col.

[Kopite_Colin]

Agree. Which is where I think Rafa needs to have are-think too.

[Howard_lfc]

Agree. Which is where I think Rafa needs to have are-think too.

Maybe once we get the players Rafa (feels he) needs then our play will evolve to be more attacking.

[Kopite_Colin]

Do you think so? I can't ever see Rafa letting us off the reins so to speak - he's too disciplined for that......

[Howard_lfc]

Do you think so? I can't ever see Rafa letting us off the reins so to speak - he's too disciplined for that......

I hope so Col.
If we buy top class attacking talent - then it'd be criminal not to use them to the best of their ability. That's not to say I want us to go gung-ho every week, but rather put the lesser teams to the sword when we get the opportunity. The games against the big teams will always be tight.

[kurtangle01]

.........Rafa would have been panned for his team selection

There were people sat behind me today having a whinge about team selection before the match but I think that any criticism was unfounded. The spine of the team was the strognest that it possibly could be with only the wide positions being the weaker positions.

Anyone who would have criticised todays team selection has no clue IMHO.