Striker for next season

[red g]

Chances could be higher if we worked Xabi in to the deal?

why would we wanna do that?

[WILF]

I was arguing with my mate about this yesterday, because now we've clearly settled on that formation there's one main issue with it - we're ****ed without Fernando up top. So, we could do with a top striker in case he ever got injured etc, but what top striker will be happy on the bench? If we did get someone like Eto'o or Villa, they'd have to be playing every game as well, or would Rafa just play one of them where Kuyt is now?? It's a catch 22 situation. One undeniable fact is we could do with another striker, because our backups at the moment aren't good enough and Kuyt looks far better in his new RW/RS hybrid role

You raise a valid point . Without buying another striker , Babel would be our best option up front if Torres got injured. This is obviously not ideal as he is not yet ready to take this much responsibility imo and it could be very detrimental to his development as well as being negative for the team.

I think that the lone striker in this system must have real pace which rules out Kuyt/Crouch and although Kuyt is finding some kind of form recently I think we need to bring in a top class player , such as Ronaldinho, to provide much more of a goal threat.

Torres/Babel/Gerrard/Ronaldinho would provide 50+ league goals imo

As you said it would be difficult to buy Eto'o/Villa etc and put them on the bench. Therefore we have to find a quality striker who is prepared to wait patiently for his opportunity, any suggestions ???

Personally I would prefer us to play 442 but Rafa likes 4231 and has been successful with it in the past and so presumably will buy players to fit this system during the summer.

[El Jefecito]

You raise a valid point . Without buying another striker , Babel would be our best option up front if Torres got injured. This is obviously not ideal as he is not yet ready to take this much responsibility imo and it could be very detrimental to his development as well as being negative for the team.

I think that the lone striker in this system must have real pace which rules out Kuyt/Crouch and although Kuyt is finding some kind of form recently I think we need to bring in a top class player , such as Ronaldinho, to provide much more of a goal threat.

Torres/Babel/Gerrard/Ronaldinho would provide 50+ league goals imo

As you said it would be difficult to buy Eto'o/Villa etc and put them on the bench. Therefore we have to find a quality striker who is prepared to wait patiently for his opportunity, any suggestions ???
Personally I would prefer us to play 442 but Rafa likes 4231 and has been successful with it in the past and so presumably will buy players to fit this system during the summer.

Or you find someone who can play all across the front 4.

[WILF]

Or you find someone who can play all across the front 4.

Such as ??

I don't follow world football as closely as some on here so I don't know who would be a possibility.

[Harv]

dont think we need to splash out on a striker unless he is top top class (like Eto'o)

we need to get a better right winger, and upgrade on Kuyt. I would be focusing on this position for our target.

[Zapater]

Amauri, Amauri. I know you guys will look at his Cheivo record and say he's not good. But truth be he is. He doesn't have exceptional pace but he doesn't really need it. Other than that he has all the tools needed to be a top Premiership player. Or a top player anywhere else.

He's the best realistic target we have. Him next to Torres would be very impressive imo. If we were looking to play 4-4-2. If we were looking to play one uptop he'd be a great alternative to Torres who'd offer us a completely different kind of attack.

When I think of players I want goals, different kinds of goals, skill and either strength or speed. Amauri ticks those boxes. Although there are quite a few other strikers that'd be appropriate.

[Harv]

Amauri plays for Palermo though doesn't he

[peekay]

Amauri plays for Palermo though doesn't he

Before that he played for chievo and scored 17 goals in 90 matches

wikipedia

[Harv]

right...**** record that

i'd rather sign a young player than a 28 year old personally.

Our first priority in the summer has to be a world class winger.

[Zapater]

If we were playing with wingers and 2 strikers Amauri would give a really powerful aerial threat. I'm still convinced if we're signing a striker it should be him.

I think our first priority should be wingers/attacking midfielders but seeing this thread is "striker for next season" I said which striker I'd like to see here.

I'm not worried about that age. If he's 28 when we sign him we can easily get 4 - 6 good seasons out of him it'll be money well spent.

[peekay]

If we were playing with wingers and 2 strikers Amauri would give a really powerful aerial threat. I'm still convinced if we're signing a striker it should be him.

I think our first priority should be wingers/attacking midfielders but seeing this thread is "striker for next season" I said which striker I'd like to see here.

I'm not worried about that age. If he's 28 when we sign him we can easily get 4 - 6 good seasons out of him it'll be money well spent.

The president of Palermo has apparently invited big clubs to bid for Amauri with the quoted price beginning at 17 million euros. Do you think he is worth that, Zapater?

Also what about that Sampdoria striker which ManU were linked in the past
Fabio Quaglarella ?

[Zapater]

The president of Palermo has apparently invited big clubs to bid for Amauri with the quoted price beginning at 17 million euros. Do you think he is worth that, Zapater?

Also what about that Sampdoria striker which ManU were linked in the past
Fabio Quaglarella ?

Amauri is one heck of a player from what he's shown at Palermo. 17m I don't know could be a bit much. But if he can cause a constant threat and he can score goals/create a threat I'd take him. We have a lot of younger players that can play at a good level now that we expect to improve so maybe some older heads would also help our cause. I think he may get Italian citizenship for EURO 08. So if he has a good competition (assuming he goes) that price would probably increase some bit. But seeing that they named a price they're always going to get bargained down.

I don't know much about Quaglierella. I've only seen highlights. He plays for Udineisi now. I've only seen highlights and around 2 games for Sampdoria last season. But jeez that guy has some shot on him doesn't he haha. I think I've seen him play on the left wing before and I think I heard someone say that he can play on either. So if he's good enough he'd be a good signing for the formation we've been using lately. A player who can fill 3 attacking spots (provided they good enough) would be good enough for me

[AFII]

Mario Gomez would be a better signing if you want a good striker in the air.

[flyboy]

I don't think buying another out and out striker is necessary with the 4231 formation.

If available , I would like us to sign Ronaldinho , and then play the following formation.


----------------Torres---------------

Babel-------- Gerrard-------Ronnie

-------Masher---------Xabi---------

With Babel, Gerrard and Ronaldinho having the freedom to interchange as they need during the game it would be difficult for defences to mark/contain them.

With some of Crouch, Kuyt, Lucas, Benayoun, Nemeth, Hammil , Anderson to choose from as squad players we would have enough strength in depth.

we definitely do need a striker.we looked toothless upfront without torres. kuyt and crouch dont have it them to change outcome of games single handedly...especially kuyt.It shows glaringly when torres is down injured.we need another in the likes of etoo ,villa and so forth. With what we have right now 4231 is our best formation ...but with another lethal striker means options options options.Regarding ronnie in your line up..i dont think he can be counted on when it comes to defending...plus with that extra weight he is carrying on right now...well i just think he will be as productive..plus if you look at rafas buys most of them are between 21-23 .dont think ronnie comes close to that bracket.

To sum ...we need a right winger ,striker(i'm talking about sheer quality no more basement bargain buys)...these 2 are a must. the are 2 positions -a new leftback and a rightback.

[carlton]

Rafa's had his eye on Villa for a while so maybe he comes into contention now that we might have a few $ to spend but as DJS said luring another top class striker who will want to play all the time might be hard. Villa and Silva would be ideal.