Rafa's summer signings

[Red Chilli]

i still think he could be good so i've renamed him "bossena".

and when he gallops up the touchline i like to call him "hossena"

Bad piggy

[Laz]

That's rich coming from the biggest joke on an internet forum

Finnan has faded....not as badly as Degen. The guy gets injured without even playing a game. I'm sure Finnan would have done a better job than what he has done so far. Or do you disagree with that as well? Inhibits our style of play? Don't make me laugh

Yeah I've forgotten the good crosses Dossena has put in. You can probably name them they've been so few

You're right. I doubt if Finnan would have played for us yet this season either. Fit or not.

[blacky]

According to Rashid, Finnan is the new Cafu.

Think Rash is smoking some stash. He also reckined Pennant would have destroyed stoke single handedly yesterday

[Parm]

I think this thread is important given that game after game we have issues out wide and with creativity - I know Rafa favours a defence first Italian brand of football but we need more pace on the wing and better creativity around Torres. Overall, the summer spending was poor by Rafa.

you cannot make such a statement after only 5 games of the season. Come May then we will know if you were right or wrong.

[Parm]

The reason why I used the Cafu example was to prove that age means **** all especially at full back - Finnan is better than both Arbeloa and Degen.

As for Riera, he has always been slow and skillful and nobody has said any different.

yes but in the Italian league where the pace is so much slower and not as many games played, allows older players to carry on for longer. Look at the Milan side that Cafu was recently part of and see how old some of those boys are. None of them would cut it at their age in the prem league.

[Rashid]

yes but in the Italian league where the pace is so much slower and not as many games played, allows older players to carry on for longer. Look at the Milan side that Cafu was recently part of and see how old some of those boys are. None of them would cut it at their age in the prem league.

Was it me or is Cafu renouned for his gallops forward, pace and endless stamina even at 38?

[nbryan1764]

Was it me or is Cafu renouned for his gallops forward, pace and endless stamina even at 38?

Cafu may have been but Finnan definitely isn't/wasn't, even at 28...probably not even at 18 in fact. Simply cannot use Cafu as an example to big up Finnan, it doesn't work.

[the rev leeroy brown]

Keane £20m - superb player but is he what we needed at that price?
Dossenna £8m - I can't say he is any better than Aurelio
Rieira £9m - Looks decent, lacks pace, needs games
Degen - Free - Injury prone, probably won't play much

I can't say I have been swept off my feet with any of them to be honest

It's weird, but I think Pennant would have torn Stoke a new one today.

keane - for a player who is experienced in the EPL, who has consistently scored 20 goals or thereabouts a season and who wouldn't have to settle toi the english lifestyle.....yes he is what we needed ( badly )
dossena - defo not better than aurelio but none-the-less still a good squad player. although at 8 million got a long way to go to justify his price.
riera - looks a real good buy. proper winger, bit of pace to him, bit of skill, decent distribution. need to wait and see but i'm confident he'll be a good buy. better option than barry would have been.
degen - no opinion. never seen him play due to injuries. good move seeing as finnan was looking pretty poor last year and getting on a bit too.

as for the pennant statement. when in the last 2 years has pennant EVER given you the impression he would have ripped stoke? he is officially crap.

[Laz]

Was it me or is Cafu renouned for his gallops forward, pace and endless stamina even at 38?

Maybe, but I noticed you didn't mention defending there. And besides, exceptions do not prove the rule.

[Robbie-9-Fowler]

Keane £20m - superb player but is he what we needed at that price?
Dossenna £8m - I can't say he is any better than Aurelio
Rieira £9m - Looks decent, lacks pace, needs games
Degen - Free - Injury prone, probably won't play much

Fair points about Keane and Dossena but ...

How can you make a claim the Degen is "injury prone" he hasn't been with us long enough for us to judge.

Also correct me if i am wrong but didn't Riera come for a cut fee of £5.5million ?

[JohnDoe]

Dossena cost us £6m with another £1m based on clauses.

[Sebastian Rooks]

Ah it's all fickleness. Last week Reira wasn't slow at all and showed good pace and blah blah, this week he is skillfull but slow. We may as well right off Keane, Dossena and Degan (even though he is yet to play for us).
We will see what the moods like next week, will Dossena be the new Carlos? Will Reira be quick enough again? Will Keane be the new Torres?

Bunch of

HAHAHAHAHAHA!!!

[wiw]

The reason why I used the Cafu example was to prove that age means **** all especially at full back - Finnan is better than both Arbeloa and Degen.

As for Riera, he has always been slow and skillful and nobody has said any different.

Cafu is still playing thanks to Milans fitness centre, silly comparison really

[Slinky Skills]

Degen is a ridiculous signing and we got rid of a decent right back and replaced him with someone who isn't even going to play.

Joke

Dossena...at the moment can't cross to save his life

How do you know he's not going to play??

What a daft thing to say.

He'll be playing soon, he was on the bench the other night and will probably feature on Tuesday. Why would Rafa buy someone and not even give them a chance to play???

As for Dossena, his crosses are actually very good. He some bad ones the other day but he's still getting the feel of playing for a new team.

God these posts are ****e and are starting to get tedious now.

[calvoboy]

Yes I know IN RAFA WE TRUST but putting away the condoms for a second can we have an honest debate about this summers signings so far?

Keane £20m - superb player but is he what we needed at that price?
Dossenna £8m - I can't say he is any better than Aurelio
Rieira £9m - Looks decent, lacks pace, needs games
Degen - Free - Injury prone, probably won't play much

I can't say I have been swept off my feet with any of them to be honest and I didn't think the Torres / Gerrard partnership needed breaking up. IMO we should have got Riera and my God we need a replacement for Dirk Kuyt. If Gerrad is to play in CM, I'd have played Babel next to Torres and still had a winger on the right.

It's weird, but I think Pennant would have torn Stoke a new one today.

OK - my two-penn'orth

Keane - class. Wouldn't have paid £20m for him myself, probably more like £15m, but he will come good. No risk, a good purchase. He's already playing well for the team, and tends to score in bunches like Owen used to.

Dossena - to me he looks like he could be a decent signing. He might not be any better than Aurelio, but given the fact that Aurelio is more injury prone than the ******* lovechild of Darren Anderton and Bryan Robson, he is a useful addition to the squad at under £10m

Riera - I don't want to over-hype him, but I've been very, very impressed with him so far. He could be a fantastic signing if he lives up to his early promise

Degen - I think he's just someone who is probably worth £3-4m and was available for nothing. It's a no risk gamble. Too early to tell whether he'll be any good, but even if he isn't we are OK at right-back and will get a few million if we ship him on next summer.

So I'm pretty happy at the moment, all things considered. Hope Riera keeps up the good work, that Dossena builds on an OK start, and that Keane gets one sooner rather than later.