Plan B (Without Kun)

[Nick]

So thanks to that cunt Geoff Shreeves begging for a injury to sergio before the match; we need to start planning (hopefully short term) without Kun.

1. Dzeko needs to start his season. And fast.

2. What striker could we possibly get - probably on loan - in jan? What team will want to play ball? For me we needed a striker regardless of Kun's injury. We pay the price for 'gambling' constantly and I can't see in such 'big business' we don't go for contingency. Fair play negredo had to go and Falcao was fucked in the short term, but we needed a 3rd/4th choice striker. Now we need a 1st choice striker. Guidetti might have been useful with a call back clause..

3. Do everything we can do get the work permit for Illechano.

4. How do we setup for Roma? If jojo is back, do we play him up front on his own? IMO hes not a centre forward but we don't have many other choices. Dzeko is not fit and has been a traffic cone all season. Pozo is not a centre forward either. Don't we have any other strikers in the EDS?

5. Hope Jojo and Dzeko can stay fit and form an understanding (We've seen the basics between them IMO)

[Nick]

Also... Gareth Barry can now fuck off!

[sheblue]

Also... Gareth Barry can now fuck off!

Gareth Barry has fucked off, quite a while ago.

[Foreverinbluedreams]

Also... Gareth Barry can now fuck off!

Why? Wasn't it Besic with the snidey hack?

[Ted Hughes]

So thanks to that cunt Geoff Shreeves begging for a injury to sergio before the match; we need to start planning (hopefully short term) without Kun.

1. Dzeko needs to start his season. And fast.

2. What striker could we possibly get - probably on loan - in jan? What team will want to play ball? For me we needed a striker regardless of Kun's injury. We pay the price for 'gambling' constantly and I can't see in such 'big business' we don't go for contingency. Fair play negredo had to go and Falcao was fucked in the short term, but we needed a 3rd/4th choice striker. Now we need a 1st choice striker. Guidetti might have been useful with a call back clause..

3. Do everything we can do get the work permit for Illechano.

4. How do we setup for Roma? If jojo is back, do we play him up front on his own? IMO hes not a centre forward but we don't have many other choices. Dzeko is not fit and has been a traffic cone all season. Pozo is not a centre forward either. Don't we have any other strikers in the EDS?

5. Hope Jojo and Dzeko can stay fit and form an understanding (We've seen the basics between them IMO)

We don't have any strikers in the EDS ready for starting games at that level. I would imagine Devante Cole would be a better option for the solo striker job than Pozo; bigger, faster. But if we can't get him back til January then it doesn't solve our immediate problem, & he isn't an ideal player for that job anyway. Iheanacho is obviously a given if we can get him a permit but again, not really an ideal one up front player.

We really need Dzeko fit & then putting in the same kind of workrate as the others. If he does that, with backup from Jovetic, Pozo, Iheanacho, maybe Cole, we have a decent set of options for the Prem imo.

For Roma, maybe Pep's 4-6 formation is the way to go ? Press, dominate possession, nick a goal; lke Bayern did to us last season at our place.

[blues2win]

If Aguero is out for any length of time we need to buy a striker. We're one short as it is. I'd splash 30 million on Benteke. Belgian World Cup player. Strong good pace and scores goals. Premiership proven so he could hit the ground running. No point pretending we can replace Aguero like for like; he's irreplaceable.

[Ted Hughes]

We don't want to be blowing money on quick fix players.

If one of the players we are interested in for next season is available & our budget allows us to sign him without ending up being sanctioned for anoter year, then do it. Otherwise, barring a loan deal, forget it.

If that means we win fuck all, then we win fuck all. We need solid, planned, development in this period.

[Blue Since 76]

In the short term, we need to change our system. Whatever anyone thinks of Dzeko, one thing he can't do is play up front on his own in a system built around possession and neat through balls into channels. We're going to need Navas and Milner knocking balls across the 6yd box all game. The rest of the team therefore needs to be set up to make that happen. We may also need to make sure we are set up to keep clean sheets -

Manuel's principles of expansive football may have to be shelved until we have a few more options available. Mourinho style ruthless boredom is more important

[blues2win]

I think Benteke would be a good long term bet not a quick fix. He's excellent at holding the ball up and making life a misery for defenders. We haven't got a striker like him. He would offer a different option up front. We're a striker short even without Kun. We can't be playing for potentially months with only two strikers, one of whom at least has a dodgy injury record. The Club only decided to let go Negredo late in the piece so they didn't replace him. They need to do so now. I'd be surprised if they don't act in January unless Kun has a miraculously quick recovery.

[South Stand Balti]

We can probably play one up front with Yaya just behind and then Silva when Yaya goes on his holidays. The short term is really difficult tho. Dzeko is not match fit whilst MP said after the game yesterday that Silva is not yet ready and Jojo has a problem with his hamstring. They are not sure as to the extent of Jojo's hammy problem but we have heard that before. I can see fat Frank just behind a half fit Dzeko in Rome.

[Nigels Tackle]

the club will have low maintenance high yield targets in mind

[Mikhail Chigorin]

We've often been 'accused' of being too 'open' in the way that we play and, with that in mind, our attack is so vitally important to us, more so than with other sides. Our goal-scoring approach is who or what we are and, at the end of the day, we live or die by it.

Somehow we've got to struggle through until January and then, at that stage, we need to get not only one, but rather two strikers in.

As mentioned above, Benteke might be a good possibility, not merely for the short term and I also wonder, similarly, if Papisse Cisse from Newcastle would be able to do a decent job for us.

Failing that, perhaps we should go for Cavani, in spite of the cost, although there's no guarantee he would/could fit in quickly for us. On the other hand, there must be some young/youngish, reaonably talented, Argentinian players floating around at River Plate Club or elsewhere in that country, or even in Spain, that we could look at and consider.

Last summer I lamented ('ad nauseam') the fact that we'd spent so much money on Mangala and Fernando, instead of strengthening the attack and now this omission has come back to bite us so hard.

If we don't bring anyone in, in January, I just hope we learn the lesson of this season and we don't make the same mistake next summer.

[Ted Hughes]

We desperately needed a centre back with a bit of beef about him imo.

This was the correct season to do it.

We are limited by sanctions for both squad numbers & spending in the Champions League. Three strikers is a reasonable compromise. The central defensive position has been under just as much pressure.

[ENIAM NAM]

Can we not take David Villa on loan in Jan like we did with Lampard?

[Mikhail Chigorin]

We desperately needed a centre back with a bit of beef about him imo.

This was the correct season to do it.

We are limited by sanctions for both squad numbers & spending in the Champions League. Three strikers is a reasonable compromise. The central defensive position has been under just as much pressure.

I respect your opinion Ted, but I don't think we'll ever agree on this particular aspect.

I think compromising is what has got us into the position we are in now and two of the three strikers we have are/were always going to be causing us injury concerns.

Mangala could ultimately turn out to be one of the best centre-backs we've ever had but, given our spending restrictions in the summer, I just wish we'd allocated our resources differently.

[Ted Hughes]

We desperately needed a centre back with a bit of beef about him imo.

This was the correct season to do it.

We are limited by sanctions for both squad numbers & spending in the Champions League. Three strikers is a reasonable compromise. The central defensive position has been under just as much pressure.

I respect your opinion Ted, but I don't think we'll ever agree on this particular aspect.

I think compromising is what has got us into the position we are in now and two of the three strikers we have are/were always going to be causing us injury concerns.

Mangala could ultimately turn out to be one of the best centre-backs we've ever had but, given our spending restrictions in the summer, I just wish we'd allocated our resources differently.

It's not a case of spending.

We have squad restrictions. We either sign an homegrown centre half, or a homegrown striker we can't have two foreigners in those positions. Who do you suggest for either job ?

When do we sign a centre back ? What if Mangala is the one we wanted ? We let him go elsewhere in order to try & patch up a striker's place for a season, even if it means we can't sign whoever we are after for next season ? We sign up Darren Bent or Ryan Shawcross to fulfil the squad restrictions, & miss out on Reus for example, when he becomes available ?

[Clowncrete]

Imo, we really need to work on our corners and free-kicks. Mangala, Demichelis, Kompany, Edin all can head if we put in quality balls. Our corners are horrific and our free kicks need to be more direct.

[nottsblue]

Plan B?

The loss of Aguero is a blow. It is not the end of the season. We got 156(?) goals last year of which Kun contributed 26(?).

I know personnel has changed but lets have it right. We are the current Champions of England with talent oozing out of every part of our first team squad and a good number of the EDS.

The midfield will just have to chip in with a few goals more, and maybe work on set pieces a bit better, but we have goals throughout the team, not just Kun. After all, we aren't a one man team, are we?

I agree with Ted in the assessment of not buying someone for the sake of it and if it means a potless year then so be it. That said, I do like the jib of Bony at Swansea. At the moment he is everything I'd like Dzeko to be

[Ted Hughes]

Plan B?

The loss of Aguero is a blow. It is not the end of the season. We got 156(?) goals last year of which Kun contributed 26(?).

I know personnel has changed but lets have it right. We are the current Champions of England with talent oozing out of every part of our first team squad and a good number of the EDS.

The midfield will just have to chip in with a few goals more, and maybe work on set pieces a bit better, but we have goals throughout the team, not just Kun. After all, we aren't a one man team, are we?

I agree with Ted in the assessment of not buying someone for the sake of it and if it means a potless year then so be it. That said, I do like the jib of Bony at Swansea. At the moment he is everything I'd like Dzeko to be

He was very good vs us, but it looks as though they are going to take the piss with the fee (& he's not home produced).

[blues2win]

You'd expect both Bony and Benteke to be sold in the Summer; Swansea and Villa won't be able to keep hold of them. Either might be available in January provided their managers got the cash early in the window and had time to spend it. Neither would come cheap but proven premiership goal scorers never do.