Captain Haribo

Schweinsteiger's 6 foot and has a fairly stocky build, there's no way he's too lightweight for the English league. Germany's hardly a league full of nonces, anyway. The Bundesliga has been a very high standard recently, as Bayern's CL final appearance evidenced. English clubs should really be looking at more of the talent coming out of that league.

The average career span is considerably more than 5-6 years.

Yeah, played on the right wing when he was younger.

He's played central since the arrival of Robben and Ribery - which has led to the Germans pinning a lot of their hopes on him for the World Cup with the absence of Ballack. This is about the first potential signing I've seen that I'd actually be quite happy with. He's young and would fit our system quite well, as he could play midfield in rotation with Essien (or even Lampard), but also do a good job out wide when we change formation.

Christ, we're being linked with some real rubbish this window. Never been a fan of Ramos; always struck me as one of those fullbacks who never learned how to defend. Crazy to think that Real were playing him at centreback towards the end of last season, though maybe it's just positional indiscipline that lets him down when he plays wide. Regardless, the story sounds like the results another boring day in the office for a journo; we don't need another right back, unless maybe a young'un for if we get desperate with injuries again.

Regarding his form since returning from injury, Cole's always been a confidence player who needs time to find his form and get into the flow of things. He never got the chance to do that as we needded urgent results from him, which probably led to a rather vicious cycle of him feeling unwanted by Carlo. It's a shame, really, as when he does play to his ability he's one of my favourite players.

I'm aware he does a lot of running and is generally available for a short pass - I respect that aspect of his game. I just think sometimes he's happy to see others do the "dirty work" - i.e. really getting stuck in and winning posession back. If you look at the games we've lost this season, they've almost exclusively been to teams with a lot of pace in attack (e.g. City in Bellamy, Spurs in Bale et al). Our defenders don't have the pace to deal with such players, and so it's vital that we stop the supply. To often Ballack lets opposition get such passes away by sitting off. As I said earlier, it's favourable sometimes to be patient and pick your tackles, but sometimes you just need a bit more urgency and Ballack can be infuriatingly lacking there.

Break it up, ladies. I think the main point to consider is whether we even have the transfer budget for players like this anymore. I'm not convinced we do, as the club appears to be moving towards a much more sensible way of running things lately.

Little off topic, but it's surprising to see Seedorf named as an "ego" given some of the players Ancelotti managed at Milan. Seedorf has always come across as one of the model proffesionals of the game and generally a wonderful personality.

I know plenty others who agree with me. I think he's largely coasted on his reputation since joining us, and never shown us the same spirit he gave to Leverkusen or Munich. Only for a brief spell under Avram did I think he really gave us 100%; low and behold it was at a time when people were calling for him being dropped.

I'm probably a little biased, but I just really dislike him. He annoyed me in the Wigan game, especially, as despite the excellent team performance, he just didn't look bothered. Everytime the ball came near him he'd just stroll around and jockey the player instead of getting stuck in, which is something that annoys me from a player in that position. At times it's good to be patient like that, but I feel he just does it too much and never really shows us his full ability. When you contrast him to Essien, who's by far the most tenacious and energetic midfielder I've ever had the pleasure of watching, it makes it seem even worse.

I get the feeling he's only demanding more money from us because we can't guarantee him first team football. The lad's a genuine lover of the game and I have nothing but respect for him.

I think he'd suit United excellently so I hope he goes to Spurs instead. I'd like to see the lad do well, just not so well that it comes back to bite us!

I don't think he was alone there. Or, indeed, entirely to blame. He still needs those around him to perform to be at his best - he's not quite good enough yet to pick the team up when we don't play well. I think it'd be unrealistic to expect such a thing from a young player, and I was far more disappointed with Ballack in the latter stages of the season than I was Mikel. We missed Essien a lot, of course. He and Mikel compliment each other excellently.

I'd assume that's largely because of the World Cup, Maksimov. We'd be doing a tour of the USA/Asia otherwise.

He's more disciplined than anbody else we have, which is no mean feat for a 23 year old. Makelele was still at Nantes essentially playing as a box-to-boxer at that age and didn't become a proper holding player until his mid-late twenties. Holding midfield is as much about experience as any other trait, which is why it's essential we give Mikel the chance to develop. He's good enough to cope in a midfield with Essien and Lampard, even Ballack and Lampard.

I didn't say that all, if you'd re-read my post. I said if we give him the opportunities he deserves, he could one day become a capable player in a style somewhere between that of those two. In no way did I compare their ability.

I think Alex was our strongest central defender last season (counting Ivanovic as a right back). Terry post-Bridgegate was a total liability so to say Alex is the one making individual errors is strange.

He's an excellent young player, so it's certainly not polishing a turd. I was of course just using two players who are synonomous with the role they play - Pirlo a deep lying playmaker, Makelele an outstanding holding midfielder. Mikel could ideally do the breaking up of play to a high standard, but also set us on our way with excellent passing. I don't think for one minute he'd be as good at either role as those players mentioned, but I'd rather see him play a balance between the two anyway. Watching him, mostly. As I say, he's only shown it sporadically for us, but I have no doubts that he's a very capable striker of a ball. A rare talent in our team, oddly, given the strange manner in which some of our players have learned to kick the thing. As long as we just don't let him shoot, that is.

Hope this isn't true. Even if he has no place in our plans, we should at least wait until after the World Cup as there's a good chance his value will increase. He's one of the better youngsters in our squad though and based on some of Ancelotti's comments, I thought such players were going to get more playing time in the coming season.

Don't see why we'd want him when Lampard has just had such an excellent season. They couldn't both play in the middle of the park, and I'd prefer to buy a proper winger than push somebody like Kaka out wide.

I very much disagree. When he's allowed the freedom to do so, Mikel is the best long passer in our team. He's possibly shown it more for Nigeria than ourselves, where he plays a slightly more advanced role, but I think he'd be very capable if we mould him into a player somewhere between Pirlo and Makelele. I think we're strongest with Mikel-Essien-Lampard as the central set up. Essien and Mikel can sort of rotate in a defensive sense, with the former offering the relentless energy that we sort of lacked in Europe this year (I maintain we'd have beaten Inter with Essien in the side).

Very good analysis. It's easy to forget just how good Ivanovic was at times this season and the "big match" review is exellent evidence of that. Lampard and Drogba both had the best seasons I can remember from them, at least in terms of sheer numbers. Both directly contributed over a goal a game if you count assists and goals, which is phenomenal. Anelka did a lot of the hard work, and maybe didn't have the direct impact to receive the full credit he deserves. As the votes show a select few rated him in almost every game, but rarely enough to warrant a MOTM award. I'd be very disappointed if we signed a "big name" striker and relegated him to the bench, however, as I have a lot of respect for the man after this season.

I personally much prefer Mikel to Ballack. He's still a little young and inexperienced but he has an excellent range of passing and works a lot harder than Ballack. The German is a fairly infuriating player to watch as he does very little. He'd rather jockey a player into touch than stick in a tackle and rather pass it five yards than try a harder pass. He might be a safe option as a holding player but he really adds very little. Mikel will develop into one of the best deep lying midfielders in the league/world if we give him the chance.

Can only laugh at this. He's not very good, and he's a horrible little scumbag who fights with his own teammates. Would be a poor signing for anybody, let alone ourselves.