Premier League 2010/11 general thread

[C']

Tevez has put in a transfer request at City

Blood hell, is it Tuesday again already?

[nakamura]

Bendtner may have amazing positional sense but his finishing is appalling. That could be the difference between victory or defeat in a major competition. Oh wait, it was the difference.

Van Persie shows him up completed. That man stays fit and he will top the charts easily.


Prin, some great signings at your club so far this summer. Really impressed but let us hope that the players are put to good use and they don't turn out to be flops like so many of Bruce's signings.

[toythatkills]

Bendtner may have amazing positional sense but his finishing is appalling. That could be the difference between victory or defeat in a major competition. Oh wait, it was the difference.

Van Persie shows him up completed. That man stays fit and he will top the charts easily.

Van Persie's not an out and out forward, though. Van Persie playing just behind Bendtner would be an amazing frontline. Yeah, Bendtner misses a lot of chances but these are chances that he makes for himself by being in the right place at the right time. If Bendtner wasn't there to miss it, the next nearest Arsenal player would be outside the box somewhere waiting for a sideways pass.

With enough chances, he'll score loads of goals. And he always makes chances. When he comes off the bench and he's got ten minutes to make a difference (from the right wing) he looks poor. Play him in position for 90 minutes week-in, week-out and he'll score in every other game.

[nakamura]

Agreed VP is not but he scores far more goals and always will. Yes it is nice to have a player with that positional sense but in a tight game where you get one chance it simply isn't good enough. Arsenal create enough chances anyway, put Bendtner in a weaker team and he will fade.

[prinnysquad]

If BEND-TNER is that bloody good, you should loan him to us for the year. He'll play alongside Gyan, with balls fed to him by Gardner, Larsson, Malbranque and Sessegnon. Wickham will be sniffing at his heels, so his game will have to be sharp. That is, if Bruce remembers what confident, attacking football is.

Although, Brucey will probably play him at right back.

Have to say, on paper Fatty has spent the Henderson money well. At least two of the signings are better players than him (at this stage).

[toythatkills]

Agreed VP is not but he scores far more goals and always will. Yes it is nice to have a player with that positional sense but in a tight game where you get one chance it simply isn't good enough. Arsenal create enough chances anyway, put Bendtner in a weaker team and he will fade.

I guess we'll see, since he'll probably be in a weaker team next season whether he stays at Arsenal or not.

[abigsmurf]

Liverpool look certain to sign Downing. They could pay a steep price for him though, ?20mill looks likely. At least it's for an experienced player rather than splashing out on a high risk kid though.

[EJG1980]

Seems they've all but signed Charlie Adam now too, it's on their official web site. ?9 million is the price being bandied about. They're certainly splashing the cash at the moment!

[Flabio]

With Adam in, I'd say the rumours that Joe Cole might be on the way to QPR could have some substance to them...

[Adrock]

Meireles, Aquilani, Spearing, Lucas, Gerrard, Adam and Henderson. That is a crazy amount of central midfield options. Clearly they're gonna need to thin that area of the squad out.

Aquilani looks certain to be on his way and Meireles has been touted in a few areas to be available. That'd still leave a busy center midfield and arguably weaker too. Meireles, in my opinion needs to stay, he had the passing quality that no other player possesses at the club right now. Adam's long passing is superb but I'm not too sure about his short passing game, should have watched more of him last season.

It still leaves massive gaps out wide and also left back needs addressing, urgently. Liverpool could of course play a narrower system, which would be fine if the personnel are of suitable quality. But it'd definitely mean not getting rid of Meireles in my opinion. I have faith that Dalglish will manage to get the club into a position to challenge for a Champions League spot. Which is all that can be realistically hoped for.

[EJG1980]

Just saw Daniel Levy being interviewed on SSN after he met with Luka Modric today (I say interviewed, they accosted him in his car as he was leaving WHL) and he's reitterated Spurs stance that Modric is going nowhere. There's a write up of it here.

From Levy's responses I would guess that Luka isn't too thrilled with it but hopefully he's accepted the situation and will get on with things like a professional. With a bit of luck we can bring in some decent additions to the squad, get back in the top four and give him the CL football he wants with Spurs.

I definitely think it's the right stance for Levy to take. If we constantly give in when a wealthier club comes calling it'll be so much harder for us to progress.

[merf]

Dont get the charlie adam deal at all, a slow player who gives it away far more often than the odd hollywood pass that connects.

Him and gerrard in the same team would see the ballboys behind the goals getting overworked.

[C']

Glad that Adams signing for Liverpool has gone through. With each passing day that United failed to sign a midfielder, I dreaded we'd make a bid from him.

[Adrock]

Dont get the charlie adam deal at all, a slow player who gives it away far more often than the odd hollywood pass that connects.

Him and gerrard in the same team would see the ballboys behind the goals getting overworked.

I cant say I've watched enough of him to be an authority on his style of play but surely the passing could be easily toned down to a point where Adam would become the lynch pin of a midfield to keep the ball moving with neat short/long passing with the odd hollywood ball thrown in for good measure?

Also, his speed isn't much of an issue either. Alonso isn't the quickest player but at Liverpool he dictated the play to such a level that his lack of pace meant nothing. Now, not even for one second am I suggesting Adam is near the level of Alonso but I am just highlighting how a lack of pace is not a problem, especially in central midfield. Fabregas, Lucas and Lampard are examples of players not blessed with pace that can still do a job and I imagine there are loads more if we dug around.

If Adam is capable of adapting to a different style of football and his skills are transferable to the role that Dalglish wants him to play I don't see a problem with the signing.

[Baseley09]

I'm not wild on him but for sure he has some range when it works and strong shooting ability. I don't think anyone was picking up on his faults before the transfer window fiasco, jury's out I guess.