Summer transfer rumours, speculation and out-and-out b*ll*cks.

[TonyD]

I am trying to work out how many sucessfull teams play a right footed centre forward on the left wing, a left footed winger on the right wing and another winger as an attacking midfield player at the same time.

When you have worked it out could you let me know please.

i think we both know the answer

I can certainly see why we do it, it's just that at the moment we don't do it very well.

Messi, Robben and Ronaldo all play on the 'wrong' side and in the past Pires, Overmars and Waddle all did the same.

It's a very sensible tactic when used properly.

in totaly different situations, none of them played in teams with 3 players playing out of position.

Which is the point. They're not playing 'out of position'.

I am trying to work out how many sucessfull teams play a right footed centre forward on the left wing, a left footed winger on the right wing and another winger as an attacking midfield player at the same time.

When you have worked it out could you let me know please.

i think we both know the answer

I can certainly see why we do it, it's just that at the moment we don't do it very well.

Messi, Robben and Ronaldo all play on the 'wrong' side and in the past Pires, Overmars and Waddle all did the same.

It's a very sensible tactic when used properly.

It's a very sensible tactic if used properly.

It's a very sensible tactic if it worked and we are banging in the goals and not in danger of going down.

[eamonn]

Christ that quotathon looks fugly.

[Chris Smith]

I don't think our league position is anything to do with players supposedly playing out of position. We create chances, we just don't convert enough of them. It's individual failings, at both ends of the pitch, rather than a problem with the system that is letting us down at the moment. If we'd taken the chances we created and not conceded goals to mistakes over the last 2 games then we'd be comfortable in the top half.

I know that "if onys" don't get you any points but those draws were not the fault of where Downinga and Young were playing.

[WikiVilla]

Mods, is there anyway we can shake things up a bit & put posters details / stats / info on the right side rather than the left ??

[Shrek]

The problem is we are not actually creating enough chances with the way we are playing.

We have pace but don't use it, we run then stop and cut back meaning we lose all benefits gained from pace.
We need to get the defenders facing the wrong way, not give them time to get into position by cutting back inside.

[hawkeye]

I dont think we are creating lots of chances, we get lots of posession out wide and both wide players then cut inside, so no quick ball into Bent, or Ash gets it deep, takes a few touches and gets snuffed out.

[hawkeye]

If we had Messi Ronaldo and Overmars it would work great, we have Young flatters to decive Downing either shoots wide or gives it to the oposition and Gabby who wants to run in straight lines.

[willywombat]

Mods, is there anyway we can shake things up a bit & put posters details / stats / info on the right side rather than the left ??

THE LEFT SIDE clap clap clap

[eastie]

Rumours in press linking beye with loan move to ipswich.

[Dante Lavelli]

This is depressingly familiar - selling our best midfielder each summer. No wonder were in the bottom half.

I suppose it is easy to see it that way, logical even, but I get a perverse pleassure out if seeing our better players going to man u, Chelsea, arsenal and nowadays man city. The transfer business is very much that, a business, it's about investment and speculation.

In the instances of Barry, Milner and Young is where we have got it spectacularly right, turning an investment of hmmm max £15m into something like £50m.

Besides, in order to comply with these fair play rules we're going to have to get used to this as our turnover excluding transfer income would see us struggle.

[villa `cross the mersey]

Rumours in press linking beye with loan move to ipswich.

Bye Beye, you weren`t such a great buy

[lukey27]

If we'd taken the chances we created and not conceded goals to mistakes over the last 2 games then we'd be comfortable in the top half.

To be fair, I can't remember too many chances we've actually created in our recent games. The last four league home matches against Spurs, Sunderland, Man City and Fulham produced four goals and not many more actual chances.

I don't necessarily disagree with the formation, but a few players look a little lost within it at the moment.

[adrenachrome]

Rumours in press linking beye with loan move to ipswich.

Bye Beye, you weren`t such a great buy

If Beye goes out on loan, will we have a Beye Watch thread or will it be subsumed under the Loan Watch topic?

[MoetVillan]

Sunday Monday Habib Beye.  Great song for a thoroughly mediocre player.  I will not miss that waste of wages

[Monty]

This is depressingly familiar - selling our best midfielder each summer. No wonder were in the bottom half.

I suppose it is easy to see it that way, logical even, but I get a perverse pleassure out if seeing our better players going to man u, Chelsea, arsenal and nowadays man city. The transfer business is very much that, a business, it's about investment and speculation.

In the instances of Barry, Milner and Young is where we have got it spectacularly right, turning an investment of hmmm max £15m into something like £50m.

Besides, in order to comply with these fair play rules we're going to have to get used to this as our turnover excluding transfer income would see us struggle.

You haven't read "Why England Lose" by Stefan Szymanski and Simon Kuper, by any chance? There's a chapter about transfers where it spells out how Lyon built up and up through canny playing of the transfer market. There's lots of very interesting stuff about certain pieces of received wisdom which are total rubbish and rules which the chairman, Aulas, has applied without variation. One of them is "always sell any player if you're offered more than his maximum value". We have the chance to do this with Young this summer, and rebuild from there.