Do we now have a 'Big 5'? Or are one of Arsenal or Liverpool going to be replaced in the 'Big 4'? This would appear to be Man City's intention, because you don't spend £33m on a player to guarantee yourself Intertoto football, that's for sure.
When writing about the transfer deadline day, I can only really start with City. Being taken over by Arabs certainly had an immediate impact for the lesser Manchester club. City were reportedly putting in bids for all kinds of big names - Villa, Gomez, Berbatov, Robinho. With the exception of Gomez -- whom nobody else seemed to want -- they were competing with Real Madrid, Man Utd and Chelsea in the transfer market. That's just crazy talk. City? In bidding wars with the Madrids of this world? Surely not.
And what's even crazier is that Man City actually managed to out-bid Chelsea and land Robinho for a cool £33m. In other words, they out-Chelsea'd Chelsea! The question is, was it a wise thing to do?
On paper, I don't think it was. People are calling Robinho 'one of the best in the world', but he's not. He's got unquestionable ability no doubt, but he has yet to produce a very lengthy run of form to suggest that he's up there with players like Messi, Fabregas, Deco, Kaka etc. Ask yourself these questions - why would a player move from Madrid to Man City? Why would a club like Madrid sell 'one of the best players in the world'?
One of the possible answers to the first question is that he knew he wouldn't be getting games for Madrid. He knew they didn't want him. An answer to the second question is that Madrid simply wouldn't sell one of the best players in the world. They'd pay him whatever he wanted in order to keep him in a white shirt. It's perfectly obvious that Madrid are in the habit of pursuing the players considered 'the best in the world' when you look at their shenanignas throughout the summer and down the years. So if in fact they already possessed one, why would they let him go? Again I say they wouldn't, which is why I (nor Madrid) don't consider Robinho to be one of the best, and therefore he's not worth anything close to £33m.
I would say paying that kind of money is a massive risk, but that would be the equivalent of me saying that buying a choclate bar I've never before tasted would make me a risk lover. I can afford to splash 80c on some unproven confectionary, and this Arab group can easily afford £33m on some unproven players. While that makes me a little nauseus, it's nevertheless a fact of life.
Robinho could turn out to be a real star of course. I'm not saying he definitely won't. All I'm saying is that he's not yet the finished article, so expectations need to be kept down a touch.
A reliable source of mine says 'Man City to fall to pieces...you heard it here first'. I find that to be a little premature, because City were a pretty decent side before Robinho signed, so there's no reason to suggest they'll suddenly collapse. They can't buy anybody else until January, but maybe that's the best thing for them. It will give them a chance to properly examine the squad and see where the need to strengthen things up a bit. I mean could you imagine what would have happened if City had more time to spend this summer than a day? Merely adding Robinho to the mix is a much easier task than adding 5 or 6 big names (duh), so this will give City a chance to get their feet wet in terms of dealing with the big names of world football, and not be overwhelmed.
Will they crash and burn? Will they become a real footballing force? Their next game (against Chelsea, which is just perfect) will shed a little more light on those questions, that's for sure.
And if City turn out to be only an average team this season, then as Barry Glendenning said on Football Weekly, we'll be reading in the papers that they're 'No Great Sheikhs'. Heh...Sheikhs.
As for the big 4, Liverpool didn't really do anything special. Just the usual business of securing yet another deal for a winger who costs between 6 and 10 million, and in all likelihood will be a major disappointment, just as the preceeding several dozen were.
Chelsea didn't really do anything either, except not sign Robinho, which may turn out to be a blessing for them. The last thing they needed to do was to spend another collosal amount of money on someone who isn't worth it, so they've at least avoided the potantial of that happening anyway. And if any of the big 4 are adaquetly supplied in the midfield department, it's Chelsea, so the non-capture of Robinho isn't really a blow to their title credentials me thinks.
United signed Berbatov for something like £30m, which is again crazy money. I've made some of my feelings known on Berbatov already in this blog, but what I will say is that if it was between Berbatov and no one at all, then they had to get The Moody One. He's a nice player to watch, and he could do very well for United, but I would have serious question marks over his attitude and his big game temperment. I've seen him give up on too many occasions not to be concerned about it.
Also, what will this mean for Rooney and Tevez, and even Ronaldo for that matter? Will Ronaldo finally start crossing the ball again? Will Tevez or Rooney play on the left, or will one of them be benched? Can Tevez or Rooney play on the left to good effect? We shall wait and see.
As for Arsenal, well they did sod all on the deadline day, which is not especially surprising given that, unlike me, Wenger probably wouldn't spend 80c on a chocolate bar, not to mention a few million on a player.
I said before that they needed to buy a central midfielder. They didn't, and they will most likely pay for that against the big teams. Out of all the candidates for the position, I think Song might be the best equipped, but Wenger seems content to start him on the bench every game. Right now Denilson is the starting midfield partner for Fabregas, but he has yet to prove himself worthy of the position. He's promising, but he's not there yet.
Eboue has been good so far this season, but you can't ignore the fact that Arsenal have played 5 very easy games. When Eboue comes up against the big guns, his incompetence is plain for all to see.
Because of the lack of a steady, reliable partner for Cesc, I think Arsenal will struggle to make a title challenge this season. They may prove me wrong, like they did many last year, but Wenger is gambling with his teams chances. There is of course the possibility that someone will step up to the plate, much like Flamini last year. I mean if you had told me a year ago that Flamini would be an integral part of the Arsenal midfield I'd have burned you at the stake for heresy. Maybe someone like Song, Denilson or Diaby will prove the doubters and the sceptics wrong. But that's what Arsenal are relying on - maybe's.
When writing about the transfer deadline day, I can only really start with City. Being taken over by Arabs certainly had an immediate impact for the lesser Manchester club. City were reportedly putting in bids for all kinds of big names - Villa, Gomez, Berbatov, Robinho. With the exception of Gomez -- whom nobody else seemed to want -- they were competing with Real Madrid, Man Utd and Chelsea in the transfer market. That's just crazy talk. City? In bidding wars with the Madrids of this world? Surely not.
And what's even crazier is that Man City actually managed to out-bid Chelsea and land Robinho for a cool £33m. In other words, they out-Chelsea'd Chelsea! The question is, was it a wise thing to do?
On paper, I don't think it was. People are calling Robinho 'one of the best in the world', but he's not. He's got unquestionable ability no doubt, but he has yet to produce a very lengthy run of form to suggest that he's up there with players like Messi, Fabregas, Deco, Kaka etc. Ask yourself these questions - why would a player move from Madrid to Man City? Why would a club like Madrid sell 'one of the best players in the world'?
One of the possible answers to the first question is that he knew he wouldn't be getting games for Madrid. He knew they didn't want him. An answer to the second question is that Madrid simply wouldn't sell one of the best players in the world. They'd pay him whatever he wanted in order to keep him in a white shirt. It's perfectly obvious that Madrid are in the habit of pursuing the players considered 'the best in the world' when you look at their shenanignas throughout the summer and down the years. So if in fact they already possessed one, why would they let him go? Again I say they wouldn't, which is why I (nor Madrid) don't consider Robinho to be one of the best, and therefore he's not worth anything close to £33m.
I would say paying that kind of money is a massive risk, but that would be the equivalent of me saying that buying a choclate bar I've never before tasted would make me a risk lover. I can afford to splash 80c on some unproven confectionary, and this Arab group can easily afford £33m on some unproven players. While that makes me a little nauseus, it's nevertheless a fact of life.
Robinho could turn out to be a real star of course. I'm not saying he definitely won't. All I'm saying is that he's not yet the finished article, so expectations need to be kept down a touch.
A reliable source of mine says 'Man City to fall to pieces...you heard it here first'. I find that to be a little premature, because City were a pretty decent side before Robinho signed, so there's no reason to suggest they'll suddenly collapse. They can't buy anybody else until January, but maybe that's the best thing for them. It will give them a chance to properly examine the squad and see where the need to strengthen things up a bit. I mean could you imagine what would have happened if City had more time to spend this summer than a day? Merely adding Robinho to the mix is a much easier task than adding 5 or 6 big names (duh), so this will give City a chance to get their feet wet in terms of dealing with the big names of world football, and not be overwhelmed.
Will they crash and burn? Will they become a real footballing force? Their next game (against Chelsea, which is just perfect) will shed a little more light on those questions, that's for sure.
And if City turn out to be only an average team this season, then as Barry Glendenning said on Football Weekly, we'll be reading in the papers that they're 'No Great Sheikhs'. Heh...Sheikhs.
As for the big 4, Liverpool didn't really do anything special. Just the usual business of securing yet another deal for a winger who costs between 6 and 10 million, and in all likelihood will be a major disappointment, just as the preceeding several dozen were.
Chelsea didn't really do anything either, except not sign Robinho, which may turn out to be a blessing for them. The last thing they needed to do was to spend another collosal amount of money on someone who isn't worth it, so they've at least avoided the potantial of that happening anyway. And if any of the big 4 are adaquetly supplied in the midfield department, it's Chelsea, so the non-capture of Robinho isn't really a blow to their title credentials me thinks.
United signed Berbatov for something like £30m, which is again crazy money. I've made some of my feelings known on Berbatov already in this blog, but what I will say is that if it was between Berbatov and no one at all, then they had to get The Moody One. He's a nice player to watch, and he could do very well for United, but I would have serious question marks over his attitude and his big game temperment. I've seen him give up on too many occasions not to be concerned about it.
Also, what will this mean for Rooney and Tevez, and even Ronaldo for that matter? Will Ronaldo finally start crossing the ball again? Will Tevez or Rooney play on the left, or will one of them be benched? Can Tevez or Rooney play on the left to good effect? We shall wait and see.
As for Arsenal, well they did sod all on the deadline day, which is not especially surprising given that, unlike me, Wenger probably wouldn't spend 80c on a chocolate bar, not to mention a few million on a player.
I said before that they needed to buy a central midfielder. They didn't, and they will most likely pay for that against the big teams. Out of all the candidates for the position, I think Song might be the best equipped, but Wenger seems content to start him on the bench every game. Right now Denilson is the starting midfield partner for Fabregas, but he has yet to prove himself worthy of the position. He's promising, but he's not there yet.
Eboue has been good so far this season, but you can't ignore the fact that Arsenal have played 5 very easy games. When Eboue comes up against the big guns, his incompetence is plain for all to see.
Because of the lack of a steady, reliable partner for Cesc, I think Arsenal will struggle to make a title challenge this season. They may prove me wrong, like they did many last year, but Wenger is gambling with his teams chances. There is of course the possibility that someone will step up to the plate, much like Flamini last year. I mean if you had told me a year ago that Flamini would be an integral part of the Arsenal midfield I'd have burned you at the stake for heresy. Maybe someone like Song, Denilson or Diaby will prove the doubters and the sceptics wrong. But that's what Arsenal are relying on - maybe's.
4 comments:
Come on now... 'crash and burn' was meant in a wider, much longer term sense. That is to say I am supremely confident they will never sustain a consistent challenge on the top 3 (Liverpool just don't count) and that Hughes will be out of a job within a year to be followed by a string of overpaid, underachieving foreigners.
They don't have it in them to be within touching distance by Christmas and buying in January is a risk for a plethora of reasons. Not least, no one wants to sell their best players mid-season, prices are hugely inflated in January and throwing someone in mid season, not to mention throwing in a large number of starters (which is what they may well do), will end in tears.
Man City's success could very well depend on how Arsenal and Liverpool fare but ask yourself this, where are the strikers? How good is Shaun Wright-Phillips? Can Elano perform as well again as he did early on last season? With 3 other very good centre halves, is Richards going to have to play full back for the rest of the season? Why sell Corluka? Is there any reason to believe Hughes can cope with this kind of pressure? And just how dodgy is Kasper should Joe Hart get injured?
That's not even questioning Robinho, a man who if even a fraction of the tales are to be believed, is not of particularly sound mental health.
I believe 'fall to pieces' was the direct quote, and who's to say you were my reliable source?
Seriously though, I do see your point, but i guess it depends on expectations. Buying a player for £33m is clearly some form of statement of intent, but are their intentions to actually go and win the league this year? I hope not. Do they want to break into the top 4 this year? Maybe, but things shouldnt be considered a failure if they don't Provided they give Mark Hughes 1 year to get the players HE wants and then a year to challenge the top 4 with those players then City should be OK.
However, if owners start buying players, Denis Wise-like characters are introduced behind the scenes, and Hughes becomes merely a spectator, then fall to pieces they most certainly will.
As I said, it all depends on what City's version of 'success' is. For me, success would be coming 5th, and beating a couple of the big 4 along the way.
They do have Jo up front, but not much else. They will also be a bit too reliant on potentially flimsy Brazilians, so it does remain to be seen just how serious we can take them. Interesting times ahead though...
Fair point. It depends on expectations. 5th this year and CL next year would be reasonable if they let Hughes do it his way and fund him. The question really is are these the expectations we are to expect from The Abou Diaby Group? It wasn't what Shinawanka expected. That man was nuts, no doubt but here we have a group of men almost entirely used to getting their own way. It remains to be seen how they, the owners, cope with the Premiership. That may prove to be more important than the players themselves coping.
And you're right, I did say 'fall to pieces'. And who knows, perhaps your other source did too.
Im glad Im not the only one calling them the Abou Diaby group (thats what ive been calling them in my head). Its like when we had Bushwhacker Sergi and Bushwacker Zenden because their damn first names were too weird.
I just thought Id inform you also that the Premiership is now the Premier League, and as a result RTE's program formerly called 'The Premiership' is now called 'Premier Soccer Saturday'. Worst football show name ever? It sounds like a league of Ireland round-up show or something.
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