Eggy McMuffin

I think we need to make three signings. Aguero (just to put an end to that thread), a creative midfielder (I'd love Silva, or Gourcuff if he performs in the world cup), and the biggest signing of all, Own Goal from Man Utd. With those three, and some promotions from the youth side, I can see us having a good chance of bettering this season's haul.

Got a source on that? I can't find anything like that. I'm quite disappointed, but with a year left and not wanting to sign a contract, no real option... however disappointing that may be. Onwards and upwards though.

Zola is shorter than Messi, Makelele and Wise are about the same height... I thought I'd look it up.

I'm currently saving for a PS3, specifically for this game. ;)

That wasn't really what I was saying. I was responding to DKW saying that he would go to Spain without any friends... well, he's good mates with Pennant, who is just down the motorway from Madrid. He should also be quite familiar with Cronaldo, considering the amount of time he's spent in Cole's pocket.

Isn't he good mates with Pennant? Currently at Zaragoza?

That's spare change, mate. :P

Oh no, you misunderstood our stance. We're not big enough c**ts to take Fellaini. We will take Rodwell though. :)

I do agree with what you say here, however, I'd rather have a more exciting player than Benayoun, although that's probably because it's not my money. A player a bit younger, a VDV, a Modric, would do a better job for us than Benayoun would, and what's more is that they'd be able to stay with the squad a bit longer too. I still don't think that would stop us from bringing through youngsters, it would just give us more options if they fail to make it.

If they sign Silva which is looking likely, I'm sure they'll line up something similar to this... Higuain Silva--------------------------Cronaldo Kaka Lass Gago Marcelo Pepe Albiol Ramos Casillas That's not too bad... not bad at all. Probably Gago being the weak link, actually. I can actually see Mourinho making a copy of the 4-3-3 he used with us, when we had Duff/Robben on the wings. Kaka as his Lampard, Lass as the holding player. He might have to adapt it with Higuain/Benzema up front, but in the Spanish league, you can probably get away with it more, especially seeing as Kaka will push further forward giving more support. Edit - Haha! I forgot about Xabi Alonso... Him instead of Gago.

I think that if they got the right offer they would, but the question then, is 'how much?' and 'is he worth it?'

Aye, we did. Hopefully we'll get one this time around, though. I don't think Sneijder would leave Inter, though. So our options are VDV and Modric, really. I'd rather go with the player who has Premiership experience out of those, even if it does mean signing someone from sp*rs.

The reason people want Modric, is because there's a feeling that we could do with a creative player in the centre of the park. Someone who can do what Deco did when it was sunny. Offer us something we lack and add the killer passes into our game. Modric is a poor man's Iniesta... that doesn't make him bad by any stretch and I'd say he's not all that far from being in that world class bracket. Anything £30m or above is probably too much, but I would not mind him coming here at all. Essien, Lampard and Modric would be a scary midfield for any opposition. Power, flair and goals. Modric may lose out to Mikel against the better sides, to give us a bit more stability, and power, but being able to bring on someone with that little extra spark in the centre, would be very useful indeed. He could also play at the tip if Carlo decides to go that way. I think he'd be a very good signing, but we might need to let Ballack go. Something I don't have a problem with, myself. Modric and a winger/forward, and we'll be sorted in my view.

They have two in Diarra, Lass and Mahamadou.

If you want to be pedantic - and I know you do - I was referring to Wiccans. Polytheism is any religion with more than one god, is it not? My mum was very interested in it and made my dad and I carry around symbols and sh*t.

Tell that to pagans, who still use the symbol in it's original meaning. They probably wouldn't use it outside of pagan circles, mind.

The same can really be said of the swastika.

I'm quite the fan of this little group on facebook... http://www.facebook.com/#!/pages/Nobod...118126444889112

The thing is, who has played this position? It's not really a winger, and signing one to play there, they'd be wanting to push wider, leaving Drogba more isolated than what the formation aims for. Having a player who is used to playing just off the striker is just what we need. Although my analysis of the positions might not be perfect, to me it seems like it's more having two players playing the tip of the diamond role... Having two of them means that they have to play slightly wider and it gives Lampard the space to come into the box late. Aguero has played off a striker before, and I'm fairly sure he's played wide right too. If we're to sign a right winger for the role, who would you suggest by the way? Just out of curiosity. I don't think there is anyone who would do the role any more justice than Aguero would... possibly Ribery, but there's something about him, I just wouldn't trust, not sure if it's his work rate, or that he can be a little lightweight.

It isn't really right wing though... it's a sort of strange inside forward position. Look at Malouda and Anelka, they don't exactly spend much of their time that far wide. It's more like having a player just off the striker on each side.

Ruh Buh Juh - I like your analysis in some ways, but I think you're wrong about one small thing... which has an influence elsewhere too. I think the strikers playing out wide is more of an if needs must, than the other way around, but neither particularly favoured as it's a sort of inside forward role Ancelotti has created. I think it's about time I went for my usual analysis of this kind of thing, which will be long-winded and probably unread by most, but f**k it. Right, so the ideal is about 2 players for every position, and possibly 1 or 2 utility players on the fringes to cover the worst injury crises. So let's start by stating the expected and hopeful ins and outs. Blue = Certain Green = Likely Yellow = Maybe Out: Deco Belletti Ferreira J. Cole Carvalho Kalou Ballack In: Aguero Modric Possibly a little harsh on Kalou, Carvalho and Joe, but it's just a gut feeling I have on the matter, but I'll cover other eventualities later on as I go through. So that leaves us with an interesting set of possibilities for next season. Here is what I would consider our best line up with the above comings and goings, keeping the signings in their colour to show the likelihood of their arrival. Drogba Malouda--------- Aguero Lampard Modric Essien Cole Terry Alex Bosingwa Cech The major disadvantage of this is that Essien will be limited in the amount of bombing forward he can do from the holding role, but against weaker sides we could get away with that. A few people will probably contend that we wouldn't need a holding player at all against weaker sides, but I think it gives our fullbacks the license to go forward and attack as much as they do. Sides generally need to leave 3 at the back while attacking and instead of sacrificing a full back, and the extra width they give in attack, we're sacrificing in the centre, where most counters come from and it's worked well this season. Limiting Essien is a big worry though, but I'd like to think that one of the fullbacks would drop back to cover if and when Essien bombs forward from this role, assuming this is how we'd line up. On the positives for this line up, are the extra creativity and flair in midfield, and notably on the right. Aguero coming in from the right, could well play a similar role to what Cronaldo did for Man Utd, that's a big thing to say, but Ferguson did once make the astute (and annoyingly obvious) observation that a player coming from wide, looking for space in the centre is more likely to score than a player starting in the centre who is forced out wide. The question does remain about Aguero being willing to play that role for us and even being able to, but I think this new inside forward, striker-cum-winger role is perfect for anyone, with pace, skill, the eye for a pass and the ability to finish well... exactly why Anelka has been played there. So what would this leave our second string like? Would there be any room for youth? Well let's have a quick look. Anelka Zhirkov---------Stoch Kakuta Matic Mikel Bertrand Ivanovich Bruma Hutchinson Turnbull Now this isn't quite as strong, possibly due to my zeal in putting as many players as I did in the out-box, but I'll get to that in a minute. It's clear to see where the strength lies. A front three of Anelka, Zhirkov and Stoch is strong enough to play in a fair few games next season, and for them all to start, Drogba, Aguero and Malouda would all have to be injured at the same time. In midfield, it looks to me like we'd be lacking some experience, so it may well be worth hanging on to Ballack for an extra year. Possibly for the expense of Kakuta, who I know we all are looking forward to seeing more of, but might still be a little raw to really be our only creative centre mid we'd be able to bring on. Although, we may well get away with having him as an impact sub, it's impossible to tell. Defensively I'd see that as strong enough. Considering that Zhirkov could also cover the left back spot and Ivan can play right back if needed too. Defenders don't get injured as often as players do in other positions, so that could be good enough. Even for a long season, and could give just the right amount of exposure to Bruma and Hutch. In Goal, we've also got Hilario and Delac, so it's not really a problem area. So really that's how I see next season. Two in, three promoted and two back from loan, replacing seven on the way out. None of this is definite and we're only dealing in rumours and hearsay at the moment, but I think we'd have not just a good season next year, but a good foundation for the future too. What if we don't sell that many, though? Or if we don't sign that many? I think Ballack and Modric, or indeed any centre mid we sign are fairly dependent on eachother. If we keep Ballack, there's no massive need for another player to come in there... although it may well be useful to sign one, as Kakuta and Matic might not be ready for such a responsibility. Not to mention that a bit of flair in the centre might help unlock the door against one or two sides... a player like Deco is when it's warm. Kalou, and Cole... These are possible departures rather than definite, but I see them as quite easily being let go. If we keep either of Kalou or Cole, it would mean that Zhirkov would be more of a backup left back and would push Bertrand out of the squad, and with his desire to get first team football, it may well mean him leaving completely. Which would be a waste in many ways, but we could cope for the next few years, considering Zhirkov's being only 26, he could well be our first choice left back in a couple of years when A. Cole calls it a day on a fine career. Finally Carvalho. I think we can cope with him leaving. Alex and Terry are rock solid, and Ivan can cover either of them, but if he can't because he's needed at right back, Bruma or Hutch can be given a game or two. Like I said before defenders don't suffer from injuries as often as players in other positions. It'd be nice if Hutch knew about that, mind. :unsure: So that's how I see it, really. Impressive if you stayed with me through that.

I've heard a couple of people go on about it and I've asked them all the same question. "Where did you hear about it?" The response both times has been the reputable news source which is 'Facebook'. They didn't understand my point, but f**k it.

I disagree, but that's just me. I'd say that Aguero is more suited to playing the role behind Drogba, Pato can play right wing, so either would be a better option, but as I said when discussing next season with a gooner. It's hard to know what formation we're going to be playing next year, so it's almost impossible to speculate on who would be a better signing. In a 4-3-3, which I'd see as our best option, he would have to be seen as a straight replacement. We'd probably need a new right winger more than a striker in that formation though. In a 4-4-2 diamond, we'd have to find a new striker and a player for the tip of the diamond. Drogba and Torres in my view wouldn't work too well in it. I just feel that both want to be the furthest forward, it's where both of them thrive, and forcing one of them to take a back seat, would be a complete waste. Not to mention that in this formation, we'd reduce the efficacy of both Lampard and whoever plays at the tip, because we'll probably just pump it long to Drogba, as was our problem earlier in the season. In a flat 4-4-2, we'd have to stop Cole and Bos/Ivan from bombing forward as we wouldn't have a holding player to cover them, but we could probably get away with having Torres and Drogba playing together in that, but I don't see it being something Ancelotti would go for. Drogba and Torres would both be pushing forward trying to play on the last man, forcing space for Lampard and Essien to burst into, but I'd be unsure of it without a true playmaker. We also wouldn't have the same control over the centre of the pitch in this formation, which is important and something I think Ancelotti is a fan of too. This has really just turned into some random musings on various formations, but it's why I see Torres as a bad fit for the side.

People talking about him up front with Drogba, but would that really work? If Drogba and Anelka didn't work, why would Drogba and Torres be any different? Drogba and Torres are far too similar to play up front together, they're even more similar than Drogba and Anelka are. If Torres comes, it's with a view of replacing Drogba, not working with him.

Ah fair enough, sounds like you have it all planned out.