Four Strikers.

[Ted Hughes]

For those of you who can't get your heads round the idea of us having four strikers, just imagine we were playing the rags in the community sheild on Saturday: Balotelli, made of glass, Tevez (let's imagine he was injured rather than a twat) Ade gone, Bellamy gone, we would have a choice up front : Dzeko. That's it.

Now stretch that imagination a bit further, we're playing Barcelona in the Champions Lg on the Wednesday & the rags away on the Sunday. We have just Dzeko available for both games.

WE NEED FOUR STRIKERS.

[the_georgian_genius]

I agree we need four strikers but not four top strikers.

Balotelli, Dzeko, Ibrahimovich/Eto'o and Guidetti would do me. If we lose Balotelli and Dzeko then that's life.

[dazby]

I'm pretty sure Guidetti has left the club mate.

[the_georgian_genius]

I'm pretty sure Guidetti has left the club mate.

apparently he has not turned up for pre-season training at twente after signing a pre-contract and the rumour is staying.

[Ted Hughes]

Guidetti is a 5th striker at the moment, not a 4th.

[Buffalo Soldier]

We need someone who we know can do it on a weekly basis in the Premier League. We already have someone on our books who fits what we need perfectly but Mancini needs to do some arse kissing and bring Adebayor back into the fold.

Even if we manage to bring Aguero in as a replacement for Tevez, we would still be left with three strikers with hardly any premiership experience between them. Ade has Prem and Chumps League experience in abundance.

If that's not an option then I would say a bid for Bent (maybe chucking in Given as a makeweight) or at a push a bid for Defoe at the £10m quoted, even though I think he's an overrated twat.

[Niall Quinns Discopants]

We need someone who we know can do it on a weekly basis in the Premier League. We already have someone on our books who fits what we need perfectly but Mancini needs to do some arse kissing and bring Adebayor back into the fold.

Myth.
When Adebayor is good, he is REALLY good. However he has lots and lots of really bad games where he simply doesn't turn up. We need consistent player like Tevez. Adebayor would be ideal player to come off the bench but he doesn't want that so fair play, we should sell him.

I'd hate Adebayor starting every game for us. And I think Dzeko will be better anyway once he gets used to his surroundings. Not as good to watch but will score more goals.

[Ted Hughes]

We need someone who we know can do it on a weekly basis in the Premier League. We already have someone on our books who fits what we need perfectly but Mancini needs to do some arse kissing and bring Adebayor back into the fold.

Myth.
When Adebayor is good, he is REALLY good. However he has lots and lots of really bad games where he simply doesn't turn up. We need consistent player like Tevez. Adebayor would be ideal player to come off the bench but he doesn't want that so fair play, we should sell him.

I'd hate Adebayor starting every game for us. And I think Dzeko will be better anyway once he gets used to his surroundings. Not as good to watch but will score more goals.

By the fact that we don't do crosses of any kind, we're making Dzeko's job twice as hard. Even then he's not the most clinical of finishers so he'll miss a fair few. He's a good striker to have in the group & could be fantastic in the future but we can't base our future on him & Balotelli at this stage. Both have talent but equally may fail completely & spectacularly. We saw how City looked v Chelsea with Dzeko up front. I've seen him play like that on more than one occasion for Wolfsberg & miss a couple of golden opprtunities to boot. He has that kind of performance in him.

We really need more options than those two.

[guv111]

Our lack depth when it comes to consistent strikers wouldn't matter so much If we scored more goals from midfield. Last season, Silva often did all the hard work, but would then ruin it by dithering or blasting a shot high and wide. It's not all his responsibility, of course, but if he could improve this area of his game it would certainly help the team. Oh, and back to Tevez - if we were to acquire someone who actually passed to his fellow attacking players, that would surely improve our ratio, too, as would having someone over 5' 5" to cross the ball to. Tevez's departure, if handled properly, could improve the team. We wouldn't need a 25 goals per season striker if, say, four others chipped in with a regular 10-15.

[Niall Quinns Discopants]

We need someone who we know can do it on a weekly basis in the Premier League. We already have someone on our books who fits what we need perfectly but Mancini needs to do some arse kissing and bring Adebayor back into the fold.

Myth.
When Adebayor is good, he is REALLY good. However he has lots and lots of really bad games where he simply doesn't turn up. We need consistent player like Tevez. Adebayor would be ideal player to come off the bench but he doesn't want that so fair play, we should sell him.

I'd hate Adebayor starting every game for us. And I think Dzeko will be better anyway once he gets used to his surroundings. Not as good to watch but will score more goals.

By the fact that we don't do crosses of any kind, we're making Dzeko's job twice as hard. Even then he's not the most clinical of finishers so he'll miss a fair few. He's a good striker to have in the group & could be fantastic in the future but we can't base our future on him & Balotelli at this stage. Both have talent but equally may fail completely & spectacularly. We saw how City looked v Chelsea with Dzeko up front. I've seen him play like that on more than one occasion for Wolfsberg & miss a couple of golden opprtunities to boot. He has that kind of performance in him.

We really need more options than those two.

I'm not arguing with that. I just said I wouldn't trust Adebayor as solution.

Anyway, it seems Bobby wants to play 4-3-3 with only centerforward as out and out attacking player and two fellers alongside/behind him in free roles. Obviously Silva will take one of those spots and Tevez was supposed to take another. AJ would be back up option. Personally I think we need one player there and then someone to fight with Dzeko as centerforward role + some youngster as back up. I don't think we need four centerforwards though.

That system is also why I don't agree with people who keep talking about pacy winger who hugs the touchline and puts the crosses in. Personally I LOVE watching tricky wingers BUT I don't think we are going to use them any time soon.

As far as Dzeko goes, and we disagreed about this when he was playing for Wolfsburg (!) and hadn't been linked to us, I think he is kind of Goateresque finisher. Not the best striker in world to watch but clinical nevertheless. He does have off games but I'd argue less than Adebayor.

[guv111]

We need someone who we know can do it on a weekly basis in the Premier League. We already have someone on our books who fits what we need perfectly but Mancini needs to do some arse kissing and bring Adebayor back into the fold.

I have a lot of sympathy with this, and I wonder how bad things had to be for him to be shipped out. I also wonder why Mancini will tolerate certain types of bad behaviour and not others, and how he could leave us - last season - with Jo as our only attacking option when Adebayor was playing (at our expense) for Real Madrid. A lot of people criticise Adebayor for being lazy and getting caught offside too often, but his scoring ratio in the Premier League is excellent, and that's what we want from a striker - as opposed to blundering around like a headless chicken. No matter how nice Jo and Dzeko are as people, being nice is no substitute for goals. Mancini needs to utilise his best players, not pack them off elsewhere because of personal dislikes.

[Ted Hughes]

We need someone who we know can do it on a weekly basis in the Premier League. We already have someone on our books who fits what we need perfectly but Mancini needs to do some arse kissing and bring Adebayor back into the fold.

Myth.
When Adebayor is good, he is REALLY good. However he has lots and lots of really bad games where he simply doesn't turn up. We need consistent player like Tevez. Adebayor would be ideal player to come off the bench but he doesn't want that so fair play, we should sell him.

I'd hate Adebayor starting every game for us. And I think Dzeko will be better anyway once he gets used to his surroundings. Not as good to watch but will score more goals.

By the fact that we don't do crosses of any kind, we're making Dzeko's job twice as hard. Even then he's not the most clinical of finishers so he'll miss a fair few. He's a good striker to have in the group & could be fantastic in the future but we can't base our future on him & Balotelli at this stage. Both have talent but equally may fail completely & spectacularly. We saw how City looked v Chelsea with Dzeko up front. I've seen him play like that on more than one occasion for Wolfsberg & miss a couple of golden opprtunities to boot. He has that kind of performance in him.

We really need more options than those two.

I'm not arguing with that. I just said I wouldn't trust Adebayor as solution.

Anyway, it seems Bobby wants to play 4-3-3 with only centerforward as out and out attacking player and two fellers alongside/behind him in free roles. Obviously Silva will take one of those spots and Tevez was supposed to take another. AJ would be back up option. Personally I think we need one player there and then someone to fight with Dzeko as centerforward role + some youngster as back up. I don't think we need four centerforwards though.

That system is also why I don't agree with people who keep talking about pacy winger who hugs the touchline and puts the crosses in. Personally I LOVE watching tricky wingers BUT I don't think we are going to use them any time soon.

As far as Dzeko goes, and we disagreed about this when he was playing for Wolfsburg (!) and hadn't been linked to us, I think he is kind of Goateresque finisher. Not the best striker in world to watch but clinical nevertheless. He does have off games but I'd argue less than Adebayor.

Dzeko to me can finish sublimely, but then just hit's the next one straight to the keeper like a backpass. If he's scored 2 already, that goes unnoticed but if it's in the last minute of a nil-nil or nil-one it's a shitter. I think he'll get better in that regard but this is his 1st full season so he should be bedding in, not the main man. If he becomes the main man because of his deeds then wonderful.

The kind of players I envisage signing are not neccessarily no 9s but No 10s, which Tevez is really, who can play upfront & be goalscorers but also adapt & play a bit deeper or wider. Aguero is one but Nasri for instance isn't imo. He's someone who plays with them. Re wingers, I'm not arsed about that, just that some fucker when they get in a wide or diagonal position actually puts a decent ball in occasionally. Currently we are one of the worst in the country at it.

[Buffalo Soldier]

We need someone who we know can do it on a weekly basis in the Premier League. We already have someone on our books who fits what we need perfectly but Mancini needs to do some arse kissing and bring Adebayor back into the fold.

Myth.
When Adebayor is good, he is REALLY good. However he has lots and lots of really bad games where he simply doesn't turn up. We need consistent player like Tevez. Adebayor would be ideal player to come off the bench but he doesn't want that so fair play, we should sell him.

I'd hate Adebayor starting every game for us. And I think Dzeko will be better anyway once he gets used to his surroundings. Not as good to watch but will score more goals.

I'm not arguing for Adebayor starting all our games but we need someone in the squad who has the experience needed over the course of a season.

Balo and Dzeko are extremely talented and assuming we are intending on bringing in a top of the line striker to replace Tevez then it may be enough, they may hit the ground running and there will be no need for anyone else, they certainly have the talent but it would be a big risk.

Adebayor, while inconsistent, has a very good games to goals ratio, has already played in this team and knows the league and champions league well. Looking at who might be available from other teams in the league, I can't see many options for someone who could bring that. Bent and maybe Defoe. Drogba would be another possibility for a season while the other strikers get more experienced but I can't see Chelsea selling anyone to us. The only other player I could think of would be Van Persie but hes a massive massive cunt and I can't see Arsenal doing business given all the players they are likely to lose.

[Ted Hughes]

I never thought I'd ever ever say this because I don't rate him or like him but now that Tevez has fucked up our transfer plans & we suddenly need 2 players in that area rather than the one Bob was hoping for, DeFoe as 4th striker is a very good shout. The fact he only has occasional bouts of goalscoring isn't a problem because that's all we'd need him to do.

If the choice was having no 4th striker or signing DeFoe, I'd take DeFoe.

[Bridge'srightfoot]

Dzeko hasn't looked clinical at all- missed several good chances so far. If we're not gonna play with wingers I really don't see why we signed him.

[Mark Garrett]

For those of you who can't get your heads round the idea of us having four strikers, just imagine we were playing the rags in the community sheild on Saturday: Balotelli, made of glass, Tevez (let's imagine he was injured rather than a twat) Ade gone, Bellamy gone, we would have a choice up front : Dzeko. That's it.

Tevez is not available for the Community Shield and was never going to be due to the Copa America. Put take your point, we do need at least 1 more striker and probably 2 if Tevez is sold

[Rag_hater]

Nobody has mentioned Jo & Rocky.

[Niall Quinns Discopants]

Nobody has mentioned Jo & Rocky.

Nobody has mentioned Rocky & Bullwinkle either.

[avoidconfusion]

Is Vassell available?

[bobby brows]

4th stiker is a tough sell when you play one up front and Mancini has to trust Gudietti (stayed or gone) or Nimely.

I would personally would love to see Caicedo stay