Are we really any stronger or should I be worried?

[Guest]

Thanks anyway Craig. I don't need any flowers, especially not from any of you poofs.

[Reece]

No you dont.

Dont make me post the PM you sent me

It's okay, I actually sent Fredo that PM anyway

[Reece]

Anyway, I'm looking forward to watching us with Johnson at RB next season, especially at home. Like some I'm a little concerned over his defensive frailties, but perhaps it is a risk we need to take to win those games that we should have done last season but didn't. And as others have said, maybe he can improve his defensive ability anyway. I remember Ashley Cole was pretty poor defensively at first, but has turned into one of the best LB's around IMO - both defensively and offensively.

[Craig_H]

That might be why he's calling us poofs.

[Reece]

I also think Lucas will continue to improve, and I'm looking forward to seeing Aquillani

[Exiled_red]

That Patrick Barclay article makes no sense the best we can hope for is to finish 2nd because we don't have the strength to compete with Chelsea or Man Utd. If that's the case surely the best we can hope for is to finish 3rd

[DannyMan2006]

Glen Johnson still has a lot to learn when it comes to defending, that much is clear. But he is no worse a defender than Arbeloa. If he was asked to do Arbeloas role I'm sure he'd do it better than him, on the evidence I've seen.

But he is not being brought in to do what Arbeloa did. He is being brought in because he is very skilled at going forward and because his ability will create extra chances. There is no doubt that Rafa will ask him to get forward more than Arbeloa did.

Because of this I fully expect to see some teething problems, be it Johnson being too gung ho or the players expected to cover not switching on and doing so. It takes time to get this right. Luckily all pre season we have played in exactly the same style. Be it the manic Degen going forward or Martin Kelly. Both made forward runs and when they got caught out Rafa would have been able to show this to the whole team and explain why it went wrong.

We'll get it right soon enough. In the mean time, we have to hope that Johnson brings more to the attack than he takes away from the back.

[ronniedrew]

in answer to the original question, personally i dont believe we are stronger at the moment. but i frimly believe we are going to sign 1 more attacking player which will make us stronger

having said that , we didnt need to get an awful lot stronger, as long as injuries are kind to us. manu are def weaker and chelsea have another new manager. so heres hoping

[DannyMan2006]

That Patrick Barclay article makes no sense the best we can hope for is to finish 2nd because we don't have the strength to compete with Chelsea or Man Utd. If that's the case surely the best we can hope for is to finish 3rd

He's just playing the guessing game mate, just like we all do. No one knows how any team will do. He's going on the basis that a loss of Alonso will hinder us, though he is basing that argument on Lucas not being up to scratch, whilst he is also going on the assumption that Torres and Gerrard will suffer similar injuries to last year. And due to lacking quality replacements we will struggle.

He also takes into account that there are two teams with deeper squads and thinks it's likely at least one of them will have things go this way. Really he's taking a gamble. But as he is a journalist he has to make them to make reading the piece worthwhile. If he put down every team could finish 1-20 it would be a worthless analysis of the new season.

I disagree with what he says, but accept he is hindered by the fact he has done this article prior to the transfer market closing.

[Exiled_red]

in answer to the original question, personally i dont believe we are stronger at the moment. but i frimly believe we are going to sign 1 more attacking player which will make us stronger

having said that , we didnt need to get an awful lot stronger, as long as injuries are kind to us. manu are def weaker and chelsea have another new manager. so heres hoping

I hope so, I also feel that at the moment on paper we are weaker than last year. I think Johnson is an improvement on Arbeloa but that Aquilani isn't at Xabi's level. I am a little worried that we might take a little time to get the defensive side of the team to gel, because of the changes at the back and in the holding role in midfield.

However last season we missed Torres for large parts of the season, if him and Gerrard can stay fit I think we can go all the way

Although I would still like to see us add another attacking player and centre back to give our squad extra strength just in case!

[flyboy]

benayoun and agger are the only ones good enough on the bench..the rest babel,ngog nabil elzhar ,dosenna ,voronin can be summarized in one word-****.

we havent got a capable back-up for torres,lucas in alonsos role and aquilani injured.

to answer your question ---be worried

[Mattshark]

benayoun and agger are the only ones good enough on the bench..the rest babel,ngog nabil elzhar ,dosenna ,voronin can be summarized in one word-****.

we havent got a capable back-up for torres,lucas in alonsos role and aquilani injured.

to answer your question ---be worried

See Craig, this is what I was talking about.

[red g]

benayoun and agger are the only ones good enough on the bench..the rest babel,ngog nabil elzhar ,dosenna ,voronin can be summarized in one word-****.

we havent got a capable back-up for torres,lucas in alonsos role and aquilani injured.

to answer your question ---be worried

constructive

[paulg]

I'm most bothered by losing Alonso, he was excellent last year and a huge part of us doing so well in the league. I rate Aquilani but he's not available for a good while and we need a good start and to keep any momentum we can gain.
Fingers will be white with having them so firmly crossed.

[St.Anger]

I think we are a bit weaker atleast until Aquliani settles in to the team. I have never watched him closely in any game so cant pass judgment yet, but Alonso is the one that made our team tick. He collects the ball from defence and distributes it around the field.

I dont think Lucas or masch can do the same thing. If Aquliani cant do that either we will have to change our game plan. Its gonna be exciting to see how Rafa sets the team up, I dont think we will collect many points if Lucas is suppose to do the Alonso job until Aquliani is ready.

One thing that irritates me is how all the pundits keep saying we need Gerrard and Torres to win the PL. I mean yes of course we need them fit and healthy, but chelsea would struggle without Anelka and Drogba. Scum would suffer without rooney and berbatov.. Rant over=)