Silly Season Starts - Llorente

[Swales4ever]

Lllorente is Bilbao's frontman & perfectly suited to our style of play as he plays, scores & assists in a more complicated system of it every single game.

He also plays for Spain.

Spot on.
while we had to revert to option B, re. the acquisition of the LB (AK i.o. DL) and the wide pacey attacking man (SN i.o. AS), on the contrary, for the sole case it would have been worth being forced to option B (Edin/Llorente) it went straight... :-)

more seriously, in an ideal world, it would be huge to raid the Bilbao shop and get Javi Martinez, LLorente and Munain. unfortunately, as Alioune pointed out several times, Athletic is flagship of the proud Basque nation and they only sell when they need to.
a good idea would be, perhaps, for the sake of cementing friendly relations, to offer them a long term loan of our very promising Suarez. It might also turn to be of mutual benefit, as Bielsa is a great coach who can develop him greatly by offering more occasions for playing first team footy than City might do.

[Ted Hughes]

Hi Ted,

I was being unfair with the 'carthorse' reference so I'll retract that comment, if I may, but it's just that I absolutely loathe and despise the longball style of play and I always have, even when I was young.

Back in the 1971/72 season when we got Wyn Davies, I wasn't very happy at the prospect of City utilising his aerial skills 'ad nauseam' and, because he was so effective at it, we did play to his strengths a lot which greatly upset me.

I remember in the Spring of 1972, we played at Bramall Lane and earned a 3-3 draw and all the Sunday newspapers were waxing lyrical about what a fine game it was and how Sheff Utd and City were 'the great entertainers'. I couldn't believe all the praise being showered on us because, watching the game, City had played the longball down the middle all afternoon and, apart from only drawing, I came away from the game totally disenchanted because we'd played in such a mindless and unskilful manner.

I was as happy as anything when, the following season, we palmed off Davies (who was then 31 and pushing 32) onto the Scum for the same fee we'd paid for him twelve months previously; the Rodney Marsh saga notwithstanding.

All in all, it's just my own personal phobia which gives me a distaste for large, potentially lumbering centre forwards. I prefer a Messi to a Drogba, but then who wouldn't ??

I thought we played plenty of decent football with Wyn Davies personally although I much preferred watching Rodney Marsh. I hated the 'lump it to Quinn' football we played under Reid but I loved watching Horton's team with Uwe & Quinn & Book's team with Joe Royle & then Kiddo.

I see proper centre forward play as a fantastic skill but very few have that skill today. Joe Royle was a lump but he had as much skill with his head as many have with their feet, plus the ability to time a jump & the bravery to chuck himself in anywhere.

I wouldn't put Joe in a pass & move team but Lllorente has proved he can do it & imo, he's more likely to scrape out a goal or create one at WBA or everton than Dzeko, as he'll go in where it hurts & attract defenders in with him.

One of our best pass & move performances of the season had Dzeko playing up front though (at Spurs).

[CityGer]

This is no doubt pure speculation but he's not in the same class as Cavani.

If we are going to be shelling out big on a new front man then we should go all out for Cavani. No question.

[DoomMerchant]

This is no doubt pure speculation but he's not in the same class as Cavani.

If we are going to be shelling out big on a new front man then we should go all out for Cavani. No question.

i agree...i hope Dzeko out, Cavani in is our main striker move in the summer.

if Tevez leaves, which i really don't want, then i'd like Lavezzi in to replace him. Not exactly like for like, but as close as i can see. He won't score the goals Tevez scores, but he'll make our forwards better imho.

Dunno what to think about Balotelli...i honestly don't think he has a future at a top flight club and should piss off back to Italy where he'll have 2 unassuming seasons at Milan and then find him languishing in mid-table obscurity the rest of his career. Can he change that potential result? of course, he's young, but...this season's shown us 0% progress in him waking up to the task at hand as far as i can tell.

dunno about the Bilbao striker because honestly i've seen him twice ever in my life. And those were in matches his team treated like World Cup Finals, so...

[Ted Hughes]

Llorente not in the same class as Cavani ? At what ?

I can understand people saying they prefer a Cavani style player to a Lllorente style player, but not in the same class ?

Steaming horseshit.

[CityGer]

Llorente not in the same class as Cavani ? At what ?

I can understand people saying they prefer a Cavani style player to a Lllorente style player, but not in the same class ?

Steaming horseshit.

Ted, I know, without asking how much football you watch, that I have seen far more of this pair than you. Cavani is in a different league. Let's just take that as fact, shall we?

Stick to posting about sky four/rags/rag media/motd pundit scum/bent refs/bent fa, as media scrutiny and the critique of various footballing authorities is clearly your niche, not football.

[Sideshow Bob]

i'd prefer cavani just for his pace and intelligent runs off the ball. from what (little) i have seen of llorente, i have the impression his touch tends to let him down?

[phips]

Jesus, £30m and £200,000/week....that'd better be a joke.
If we do pay that much for him, which i could see happening, then we have no business sense.
teams are always going to try to overcharge us for players...we have to negotiate down.
£30m is ludicrous.

[brite blu sky]

Irrespective of how skilful and, technically, how accomplished Llorente is with the ball at his feet, at 6' 5" there will always be a temptation for some of our players (Hart, Lescott ??), at various times, to play the long ball up to him as per Stoke and to cut out the midfield altogether, which would be the very antithesis of how we play and how we should play.

Given that scenario, I'd rather have our Aguero/Tevez/Silva collection of 'midgets' up front any day, as in the last couple of games.

Anyway, at 27 years of age, he doesn't quite fit our purchasing profile under Bobby Manc and, when all is said and done, it is a 'story' in the Sun, after all. End of..........

Bilbao play it long to him sometimes, that's the beauty of it. Rather than just setting up to stop the tippy tappy, teams have to worry about a big fucking hoof down the pitch because he can score from it or set off the tippy tappy right outside your penalty area or score from a cross. It makes stopping the pass and move so much harder if you have other things for them to worry about.

The side who becomes better than Barca will be the side who can do that as well.

We have been saying this for quite some time now. As the step beyond barca is to have that option for teams to have to also worry about. Tippy tappy is a way of controlling the majority of the game and as a result have most of the opportunities. But as Arsenal teams past have shown it isn't always the way to be able to win games, again as barca have occassionally shown. While trying to contain 4 good intricate strikers is very difficult, it eventually comes down to the mental stretching of defences. How many things do they have to consider when holding a defensive formation. You could see the Chelsea players last night rubbernecking wildly to check if all the options were covered around themselves - they were on high alert. They also didn't have a man spare, hence Drogba came in from the rear to challenge the ball holder. A stalemate basically.

City have other basic strategies other teams do not - Yaya steamrollering for example. But we need more to be the most potent team in Europe.

As pointed out in this thread the crux of it is a Striker who can play possession football. Llorente is a good bet imo.

There are other options though. Having dual role players in the team who move up to out and out strike role when trying to break down teams.

[lets all have a disco]

Ted you sound like you've watched this fella a fair deal.But your sounding like those Dzeko arse bandits who told us he was the complete striker.
I'd rather go proven and spunk 30 mil for RVP.

[Blue Since 76]

Jesus, £30m and £200,000/week....that'd better be a joke.
If we do pay that much for him, which i could see happening, then we have no business sense.
teams are always going to try to overcharge us for players...we have to negotiate down.
£30m is ludicrous.

On the grounds we can't have even spoken to the player, how do the press 'know' we are offering £200k a week? Guessing here, but I doubt he's on more than £40k at Bilbao, as they're not a big Spanish club to be paying fortunes.

It's just standard press speculation that all our players, staff and tea lady are on £200k a week which means they can hit us with it every time we win lose or draw. Don't recall anyone every mentioning Shrek or Wio or Fat Frank's salaries, especially not whilst commentating on a game of football.

[CityGer]

Ted you sound like you've watched this fella a fair deal.But your sounding like those Dzeko arse bandits who told us he was the complete striker.
I'd rather go proven and spunk 30 mil for RVP.

He hasn't, though. he'd never mentioned him until Bilbao played the filth.

Ever since then he's been hailing him as the best thing since sliced bread. I've seen Llorente look very ordinary on many occasions.

Llorente is playing for a team that plays for him, in an environment which suits him and in a league where there are a lot of soft touches.

Cavani is in a different class, playing against tough defences, scoring goals, creating and leading the line every week.

A huge gulf in class between them IMO.

[Ted Hughes]

Ted you sound like you've watched this fella a fair deal.But your sounding like those Dzeko arse bandits who told us he was the complete striker.
I'd rather go proven and spunk 30 mil for RVP.

He hasn't, though. he'd never mentioned him until Bilbao played the filth.

Ever since then he's been hailing him as the best thing since sliced bread. I've seen Llorente look very ordinary on many occasions.

Llorente is playing for a team that plays for him, in an environment which suits him and in a league where there are a lot of soft touches.

Cavani is in a different class, playing against tough defences, scoring goals, creating and leading the line every week.

A huge gulf in class between them IMO.

Would you care to put money on that ?

[Ted Hughes]

Ted you sound like you've watched this fella a fair deal.But your sounding like those Dzeko arse bandits who told us he was the complete striker.
I'd rather go proven and spunk 30 mil for RVP.

I haven't said anywhere that Llorente is the complete striker & I wouldn't say he's better than RVP, just different.

All I've said is that I think he does the job I believe we want Dzeko to do, better than Dzeko does it.

I happen to think Dzeko could do it just as well but doesn't, as he's a ponce & only plays for himself.

[CityGer]

Ted you sound like you've watched this fella a fair deal.But your sounding like those Dzeko arse bandits who told us he was the complete striker.
I'd rather go proven and spunk 30 mil for RVP.

He hasn't, though. he'd never mentioned him until Bilbao played the filth.

Ever since then he's been hailing him as the best thing since sliced bread. I've seen Llorente look very ordinary on many occasions.

Llorente is playing for a team that plays for him, in an environment which suits him and in a league where there are a lot of soft touches.

Cavani is in a different class, playing against tough defences, scoring goals, creating and leading the line every week.

A huge gulf in class between them IMO.

Would you care to put money on that ?

Yes. As much as you want to a charity of your choice.

You came on here after the filth v Bilao game and quite rightly enthused about him. He was superb that night. However, the manner in which you did so suggested to me that you hadn't seen much of him prior to that. I have seen the lad on at least 35 occasions, Cavani more than that. I make money from betting on Serie A and the Primera Liga and make it my business to watch as many games from both leagues as possible whether I have cash down or not.

I'm happy to bet you anything you like that Cavani will have a far more successful career, will play for more champions league games and score far more champions league goals than Llorente. How's about that?

The two players are on a completely different level.

[1950]

CityGer, what do you make of Falcao? Just scored another to put Atletico in front.

[dazby]

Llorente not in the same class as Cavani ? At what ?

I can understand people saying they prefer a Cavani style player to a Lllorente style player, but not in the same class ?

Steaming horseshit.

Ted, I know, without asking how much football you watch, that I have seen far more of this pair than you. Cavani is in a different league. Let's just take that as fact, shall we?

Stick to posting about sky four/rags/rag media/motd pundit scum/bent refs/bent fa, as media scrutiny and the critique of various footballing authorities is clearly your niche, not football.

You really should be a diplomat Ger. Diplomacy is clearly your niche.

[Ted Hughes]

Ted you sound like you've watched this fella a fair deal.But your sounding like those Dzeko arse bandits who told us he was the complete striker.
I'd rather go proven and spunk 30 mil for RVP.

He hasn't, though. he'd never mentioned him until Bilbao played the filth.

Ever since then he's been hailing him as the best thing since sliced bread. I've seen Llorente look very ordinary on many occasions.

Llorente is playing for a team that plays for him, in an environment which suits him and in a league where there are a lot of soft touches.

Cavani is in a different class, playing against tough defences, scoring goals, creating and leading the line every week.

A huge gulf in class between them IMO.

Would you care to put money on that ?

Yes. As much as you want to a charity of your choice.

You came on here after the filth v Bilao game and quite rightly enthused about him. He was superb that night. However, the manner in which you did so suggested to me that you hadn't seen much of him prior to that. I have seen the lad on at least 35 occasions, Cavani more than that. I make money from betting on Serie A and the Primera Liga and make it my business to watch as many games from both leagues as possible whether I have cash down or not.

I'm happy to bet you anything you like that Cavani will have a far more successful career, will play for more champions league games and score far more champions league goals than Llorente. How's about that?

The two players are on a completely different level.

No, I woild never dream of betting on that as I have no idea whether Cavani will have a more successful career or not & I have no idea how you would quantify it. I don't know either whether Cavani would be better for City, it's possible he would.

Llorente though has 20 games & 7 goals for Spain & a World Cup winners medal, so I recon unless Uraguay win the World Cup, you would have already lost that bet if any professional footballer was judging it.

I've highlighted the bit I'm referring to. It's very clear. You are calling me a liar for some reason & now are trying to pretend you don't know what I'm talking about.

Questioning people's motives, calling them liars & complaining about them voicing their opinions rather than having a bit of banter, seems to be one of your main reasons for coming on here. I don't know why you choose to be that way with complete strangers but you do.

[Beefymcfc]

Interesting. Sometimes it's good to sit back and watch, try it sometime Ted ;-)

[Goataldo]

there's only one way to solve this................