I have a confession to make. Deep into those dog-day hours before Deadline Day, against better judgement and all odds stacked against, including those supplied by fork-tongued folk from Sky Bet down to Stan James (whoever he may be) my head was well and truly turned by the availability of a certain…. Danny Welbeck. Worse still, I’d given no thought to Loic Remy, not since the Pudlians effectively labelled him ’damaged goods’. Nor to super-dope Mario Balotelli, albeit he was destined to pass the medical Loic failed, although the mental part of that must surely have been shelved by the Scousers, much as you would do if you were running out of acts to sign for your ’Special Nights’ of vaudeville and in sheer desperation settled for a clown, despite his maniacal tendencies.

 

So, apologies for that Shed-Enders, yet my initial intentions were good, my mind having wandered off in the direction of Champions League football and our need for a ’qualified’ player to replace Johnny foreigner. Not that we knew he was going to be called Johnny, but simply because he had to be foreign and he’d have to go to ‘comply with the rules‘, something we‘ve done an awful lot of lately. It was at this point that I started to think Danny might do, despite our previous ditching of another of similar name and ilk. Okay, some might recall that Sturridge ran off to join the circus of his own free will, way before they called in the clown, but we were compliant and, thankfully, now content with what we’ve got up front, certainly when compared to both red and blue halves of Merseyside.

 

Then, just when I’m beginning to think I should have learnt my lesson and not even given these home-grown, inhibition-induced, third rate strikers a second look, I came across an article by one of the best journalists around and the following quote provided some comforting vindication:-

 

“… a better role model [than Danny Sturridge] for Welbeck 2.0 would be Diego Costa, who is just two years older and who had a huge developmental surge at the same stage in his career. Costa is the kind of player Welbeck might model himself on stylistically, with similar gifts for disrupting the opposition and playing in every part of the pitch, but who is also a high-class pure centre-forward with a poacher’s finishing skills. No pressure then, Danny.â€

 

Barney Ronay, The Guardian, 2 September, 2014.

 

Felt a lot better after reading that, I can tell you, although the whole let’s-compare-the Dannys-with-Diego scenario does smack of matching-up a world class hit-man with two feet of clay pigeon shooters. Sceptics might claim that Diego is twice the player, but also twice the price and is much nearer to being a finished product, however there is no getting away from the fact that he has [certainly in Barney Ronay’s opinion] reached role model status. How ironic, then, that he will soon be portrayed as the baddie in every forthcoming combative situation in the Premiership and will forever be the villain of any piece written by hacks intent on finding a blameworthy Chels-involved controversy, especially when we hit the opposition for six - Kieran Gibbs wrongful sending off against the Arse last season and constant referrals to Martinez’s damning of Diego last Saturday being typical examples.

 

Indeed, it is only when contrasting this type of wide-ranging eccentricity with something like Wayne Rooney’s asserted desire [through captaincy of club and country] to be a role model for kids that you begin to see the state of confusion pundits are in when they pontificate on the qualities needed to become a completely rounded, grounded and iconic striker these days. The redesigning of Rooney is bound to be orchestrated by the Media and accompanied, at best, by a barrage of international goals scored against embarrassingly weak opposition. At worst it will cement his place in a team that plays better without him, his declining ability glossed over with the same amount of indecent haste the scribes used to depict Torres fading of the light. And all the while Diego [not that he cares] will be cast adrift on an ocean of effrontery, like some modern day ancient mariner, complete with he-plays-for-Chelsea albatross around the neck.

 

How times have changed since Jose declared Rooney to be his only true striker love of last season and many [me too] anticipated a union that never happened. Twelve months on and Wazza is wedded to United, astronomic dowry paid in full, and welded to an England cause he’s ill-suited to champion, unless he changes role, stepping into midfield and out of a striker’s spotlight now occupied by another who is equally desperate for centre stage appreciation about to be denied him at his own club. I’m expecting a domestic season in which Danny One finds it increasingly difficult to get the ball off Why Always Me Mario and Danny Two gets to realise that one Englishman’s role as a central striker feeding off endless crosses is actually another Frenchman’s vision of a forager on the flanks, giving it short inside, always on the deck, and aiming it at an assortment of midfielders intent on walking it into the net - the Emirates equivalent of rocket science.

 

But what isn’t rocket science is the need for every club and international team to have role models who are ready and willing to pass their knowledge on to the next generation, much in the same way as JT and Didier have done this week by training with our Under-21s. Invaluable experience for all concerned, not least for these two legends themselves. You can’t buy this type of bonding, as you would the 'quick fix' Falcao’s or Di Maria’s of this world. Transference of wisdom never takes place on Deadline Day… because if it did, who in their right mind would buy a Balotelli?

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Awesome article, I just love the thoughts of the Akes (i know technically he's in the first team) of today getting educated and taught by the Terrys of today to be the Terrys of tomorrow. I really hope we might start to see more of the youth start to come through.