Torres' goal today...

[dom9]

Speaking to a utd mate of mine, he said that veron was as good as everyone made out, the only problem was that he was too good, he was well ahead of any other utd player on that pitch and struggled to play with people on his "superior" wavelength...my mate states if veron had of been in todays utd squad, they would be untouchable.

That's a bit strange.

My view is that if you are a superior player, you should be able to play with any old gimps.

[dom9]

Is there a clip of the goal or highlights anywhere, guys?

Try the match day experience forum.

[The_weatherman]

The problem as I see it is that no one has identified players who are undoubtedly of the class to justify a £20m outlay. I would include the likes of United and Chelsea in that as well as ourselves as a club and people here on the internet. I haven't seen mention of one £20m player that has received concerted attention from the big clubs and is genuinely available and wanting t come to the PL.

I don't think anyone is arguing that they want worse players but the fact is that if there is no obvious choice we can afford in terms of wages plus transfer fee that inspires people to believe that an all our eggs in one basket gamble is the way to go.

I think we need to add pace and dynamism to the team in a number of areas and if we can't find one obviously supremely talented attacking player with the physical attributes to shine in the PL then I would accept a general upgrade across the team which involved taking some gambles in the style of Babel where we pay reasonably big money for players who might develop into £20m+ type players.

I also think Rafa gets a bad press about not being willing to play young players. Maybe he is just a better judge of when they are ready than we are. look at Agger, Skrtel and Lucas (and even Sissoko) all played when young. He paid big money to bring them in as he knew they were ready. I don't believe that he has put so much attention into the reserves/youth to let them rot but I think we have to assume he has a better read on where they need to be before they play than we do. It looks like he is beginning to feel that Plessis and Insua might be ready but despite his mentioning him in interviews it is clear that Rafa's views on Nemeth's readiness differ from most internet commentators from the fact he hasn't made the match day squads.

I would be satisfied with Bentley or Barry but I am pretty sure that Alves would improve our team considerably, he is the 20m. player I would like us to go after.

[The_weatherman]

Speaking to a utd mate of mine, he said that veron was as good as everyone made out, the only problem was that he was too good, he was well ahead of any other utd player on that pitch and struggled to play with people on his "superior" wavelength...my mate states if veron had of been in todays utd squad, they would be untouchable.

The same was said of De La Pena when he was at Lazio I think, he was simply too clever for his teammates.

[dww]

I would be satisfied with Bentley or Barry but I am pretty sure that Alves would improve our team considerably, he is the 20m. player I would like us to go after.

I think my point would be that while either Bentley or Barry would not improve us as much as Alves (or some other superstar) it is possible that the right combination of players who are not in the top talent bracket might overall benefit the team more than a single one who is.

At the minute I think that we are at a stage where for my money we should look to have only about 4 changes in the squad but I think Rafa has lost faith in a number of players which means we might have to see a higher turn over.

Personally I would be tempted to say that we could afford for example to allow Insua the chance to prove himself at LB with Aurelio and have Arbeloa cover if it allowed us to have a top signing elsewhere when we sell Riise. However I think there is as much of a danger of this policy resulting in another transition season with us having to wait for players to adapt as a policy of buying in upgrades in many different positions but with those players being PL (or other top league) proven.

[Sean_LFC_1892]

who is also a deadball specialist, while still providing the work ethic of Kuyt

Barry..?
Arguably not "World Class" but still quality on the ball and got himself on the edge of the area to smack in a rebound yesterday - something we lack is numbers in the box providing support and looking for the ball to drop.

[Guest]

Buying a player for 6m doesn't mean the player is average.

By the same token, buying a player for 20m doesn't mean he'll adapt and be world class. There was an element of risk when we bought Torres. He didn't show as consistently the class he's shown here when he was in Spain.

Most of Rafa's 'squaddies' aren't average players anyway. It's just that they're not as good as Chelsea's or Manure's .... And buying 1 world class player every year , FFS Syd, by the time we'll have 4 in our squad, the others would be buying them exponentially more than us !

And Rafa's not the one who'll buy himself to the title the way Manure of Chelsea does.

[Tee]

Simply world class, off the planet. I really dont know how people can watch that and tell me we'd be better off spreading £20m over 3 players instead of one.

That's what £20m gets you and with our current squad, i'd rather have one more of that type of player per year (and sign nobody else) than 3 £7m make-weights.

Amen brother.

Lets pray that Rafa is given enough funds to trade this way.

[Manofthebog]

Amen brother.

Lets pray that Rafa is given enough funds to trade this way.

And that's the point he keeps missing, give Rafa serious wedge, and he'll move away from buying cheap squad players - until that point happens, nothing will change.

[Jennings]

Try the match day experience forum.

Cheers dom9. I didn't even know that place was there.

[Craig_H]

Buying a player for 6m doesn't mean the player is average.

By the same token, buying a player for 20m doesn't mean he'll adapt and be world class. There was an element of risk when we bought Torres. He didn't show as consistently the class he's shown here when he was in Spain.

Most of Rafa's 'squaddies' aren't average players anyway. It's just that they're not as good as Chelsea's or Manure's .... And buying 1 world class player every year , FFS Syd, by the time we'll have 4 in our squad, the others would be buying them exponentially more than us !

And Rafa's not the one who'll buy himself to the title the way Manure of Chelsea does.

Rafa wont win the title full stop...whether he 'buys' the it or otherwise.

As for prices, it's generally factual that the top players cost the most money and the cheaper players generally arent the top players.

[Craig_H]

And that's the point he keeps missing, give Rafa serious wedge, and he'll move away from buying cheap squad players - until that point happens, nothing will change.

If he's given £20m, he can buy a top player. When has he had less than £20m to spend?

[Skillz]

Simply world class, off the planet. I really dont know how people can watch that and tell me we'd be better off spreading £20m over 3 players instead of one.

That's what £20m gets you and with our current squad, i'd rather have one more of that type of player per year (and sign nobody else) than 3 £7m make-weights.

I am not going to say you are wrong, because if we did buy another 20M player and he was as big a success as Torres it would probably work out. However, I feel Rafa knows that Riise is ****ed and Finnan is on the way out. So if he decides to replace them fair enough.

I read this thread as preparation for an onslaught of Rafa's purchases if he does go ahead and spread the cash where he see's fit. I will defend Rafa because I am adament he deserves next season (at least) and therefore I will back his judgement.

Personally I think Xabi is going () and Barry will replace him. We should finish 3-6M in front on that deal, IMO, and I think Barry could prove to be a shrewd buy. So we might buy a few no-names but I suspect we will buy a 20M GBP player as well, possibly Silva or Alves.

[Guest]

Rafa wont win the title full stop...whether he 'buys' the it or otherwise.

As for prices, it's generally factual that the top players cost the most money and the cheaper players generally arent the top players.

You're still being rationally irrational as I see !

How do you know he won't win the title !? Is this you on another of your wind ups !?

[Craig_H]

You're still being rationally irrational as I see !

How do you know he won't win the title !? Is this you on another of your wind ups !?

I'm assuming he's been TRYING to win it thus far...and his methods have failed every season.

So call it a prediction, a premonition or whatever you like. He will never win the PL.