Luis Suarez

[Red Phoenix]

It seems to me as though they are publicly mooting the names of these players without the intention of placing any realistic bids to appease the fans. Commoli said of both Young and Suarez that we were interested, but their clubs wouldn't let them go in January. Why go for them then? Why not change targets. Also, with Ajax saying they want to do this quick in order to replace Suarez, it suggests that they would sell, contrary to Commoli's comments.

 

I hope I'm wrong, but this just seems like spin and politics.

 

But according to almost every journalist we're still trying to sign Suarez, I don't get what you mean.

 

Do we really need him?

 

 

We've only got one genuine striker who's good enough, so yeah.

[TheHowieLama]

Every big club advertises their targets, it turns the players head and forces the move. I do not think that holding firm on what you think the player is worth is a sign of weakness. This player will not be with Ajax next year and will probably go for less in the summer than now.

[ThewaytoRome]

Do we really need him?

 

We have an abudance of players who can play his best position

 

Gerrard

Colle

Meireles (excellent today in that position)

Maxi

 

Wide areas and a world class holding midfield player are more of a priority from my point of view.

 

seeing as cole is dogshit then yes, yes we do

[Wee-bey]

But according to almost every journalist we're still trying to sign Suarez, I don't get what you mean.

 

People are just panicking because the deal wasn't done last week. Plenty of time yet.

[Phoenix]

Ajax are depserate for cash...we are deperate for a striker.

 

This deal will fall in place late on with Babel probaly heading in the opposite direction.

[Benitaur]

I agree with Nick

 

He's not particularly pacey, and second striker we could play Gerrard, Meireles or Cole there. Maybe even Jovanović or if we get back Aquilani.

 

I would rather we get pacey wingers, as though Kuyt and Maxi are doing admirably, they are getting older and going to have to be replaced soon.

 

So if we were going to spend big, might as well go for the Hazards and the Marins, who will hopefully not cost that much (less than 20 mil each hopefully) and yet are young enough to grow and last for many years to come.

[CWD82]

Do we really need him?

 

We have an abudance of players who can play his best position

 

Gerrard

Colle

Meireles (excellent today in that position)

Maxi

 

Wide areas and a world class holding midfield player are more of a priority from my point of view.

 

He plays wide of a front 3 for Ajax, Nick

[Staniola]

But according to almost every journalist we're still trying to sign Suarez, I don't get what you mean.

 

 

 

We've only got one genuine striker who's good enough, so yeah.

 

We bid 8million for him when they want 21. Commoli then comes out and says they don't want to sell, then De Boer comes out and says they want to do it now to give them time to replace him, leaving the ball in our court. If we don't get him now, then we were never really serious about it and the names were just mentioned to make us think that we're after some decent players. Ajax were never going to accept £8million, so it would be a safe bid.

 

I think I may just still be paranoid since them 2 twats fucked off as this would be their style.

[Phoenix]

We bid 8million for him when they want 21. Commoli then comes out and says they don't want to sell, then De Boer comes out and says they want to do it now to give them time to replace him, leaving the ball in our court. If we don't get him now, then we were never really serious about it and the names were just mentioned to make us think that we're after some decent players. Ajax were never going to accept £8million, so it would be a safe bid.

 

I think I may just still be paranoid since them 2 twats fucked off as this would be their style.

 

At the same time.. Ajax are desperate to offload him in a buyers market. De Boer can say what he likes...they need the cash.

 

Guess we will find out towards the end of the transfer window.

[Trumo]

We bid 8million for him when they want 21. Commoli then comes out and says they don't want to sell, then De Boer comes out and says they want to do it now to give them time to replace him, leaving the ball in our court. If we don't get him now, then we were never really serious about it and the names were just mentioned to make us think that we're after some decent players. Ajax were never going to accept £8million, so it would be a safe bid.

 

I think I may just still be paranoid since them 2 twats fucked off as this would be their style.

 

What?! As I've read it, our bid was about €8m (that's EUROS, not pounds) short of what they were looking for, not the amount we offered. The bit in italics is important, because I'm of the opinion that whatever we're reading about this is just some writer scratching around for a story. We don't know what, if anything, is actually happening. Just the fact that stories from the Ajax side contradict themselves gives me that opinion. A club that said (publicly) that they don't want to sell a player, yet are still (publicly) negotiating a deal, and still looking (publicly) at alternative reinforcements?

[Pidge]

We bid 8million for him when they want 21. Commoli then comes out and says they don't want to sell, then De Boer comes out and says they want to do it now to give them time to replace him, leaving the ball in our court. If we don't get him now, then we were never really serious about it and the names were just mentioned to make us think that we're after some decent players. Ajax were never going to accept £8million, so it would be a safe bid.

 

I think I may just still be paranoid since them 2 twats fucked off as this would be their style.

 

Some utter bollocks right there.

 

8 Million? Where did you pull that bullshit from?

 

Commoli's comments were from before the window. Rehashed now as they fit into the current story.

 

De Boer is just trying to feed us some bait to get us to agree to a higher price.

 

We're in negotiations for him. Pretty clear that much. If we had bid 8 million for him it would have been thrown out as derisory, no negotiations, the phone would have just been hung up.

[JermainePennant]

If we have gone above 15m then we have already bid more then hes worth, as others have said a pacy winger is more of a priority and their are other strikers I would take over him anyway.

[Red Nick]

He plays wide of a front 3 for Ajax, Nick

in that case we should defo not be signing another wide player with no pace

[Wor Horse]

We'll wrap Suarez, Adam and Warnock up next week I reckon, triple signing.

 

(NO ITK!)

[Yossi15]

Of course you don't know! Who are your sources? Dizziee Rascal and Samantha Fox?

[Evil_Ways]

If we have gone above 15m then we have already bid more then hes worth, as others have said a pacy winger is more of a priority and their are other strikers I would take over him anyway.

 

Like who ?

I cannot think of anyone who fits all the criteria that Suarez does.

If he takes the final step in his development as a footballer he'll go from bloody good to world class. Ajax fans are saying he's made a bigger impact than the likes of Sneijder, Van Der Vaart and Ibrahimovic. If you've actually seen him play both for club and country more than a handful of times you'd know he's a great footballer who is only likely to get better.

This is a great opportunity to land, what im convinced will be, one of the next 8-10 years best forwards in world football.

 

We are in desperate need of another top class forward and i cannot think of anyone who is realistically available now, who is as good and with as much potential as him.

[G Richards]

I found the tactical discussion on the last few pages quite interesting. As ever, I think movement is the key. No matter what system we put out, if the players aren't moving and working hard it will be static.

 

I think 4-4-2 is too outdated personally. Rafa used to talk a lot about the space 'between the lines' and in a 4-4-2 I think there is a lot of space to be exploited by the opposition. So Rafa brought us 4-2-3-1, which is, by and large, what we've been playing for a while.

 

I would like to suggest that we tweak this system in favour of taking a defensive midfielder out and adding another forward. I would favour us setting up the majority of our games as a 4-1-3-2 unit. I see loads of benefits to this. Torres gets another player up top with him and we give opposition defenders another focal point of attack to worry about. The three players in behind will add pace, creativity and movement. If, for example, the two up top end up being Nando and Suarez, then I could see the three in behind being Gerrard on the right, Meireles in the middle, and a new signing - Young/N'Zogbia on the left. That has a bit of everything and will give any opposition a lot of problems.

 

When we don't have the ball, at least one of the three tucks back in to add a bit more resilience to the midfield. Meireles and Gerrard both have that in their locker.

 

Also, when we play a top Prem team or (hopefully) a top European team - assuming we get back there, and we will! - then arguably you could set your stall out as a 4-2-3-1, sacrificing a striker for another holding midfielder.

 

If our system is 4-1-3-2 then the holding midfielder will be vitally important. Lucas has come on leaps and bounds but I'm not certain that he should be first choice for this. We probably need to recruit the best holding midfielder we can find, as he will have a lot of responsibility.

 

Interesting times ahead, but 4-1-3-2 is the future IMO.

 

------------Reina------------

 

Kelly----Skrtel----Agger----Johnson

 

-------------Lucas--------------

 

---Gerrard---Meireles---Young---

 

---------Torres---Suarez--------

 

 

This needs a new left back, a dominant defender to replace Skrtel, and possibly an improvement over Lucas to anchor the midfield.

 

But you get the idea. It's the future, I'm telling ya!

[AmerScouse]

i think there is a lot of value to 4-2-3-1 when 1 or both of the "2" are mobile midfielders. i've always thought those midfielders were the toughest to pick up defensively when they time their runs properly from deeper lying positions.

[Nelly-Szoboszlai]

Isn't 4-1-3-2 just 4-4-2 with a defensive midfielder anyway?

[Staniola]

Some utter bollocks right there.

 

8 Million? Where did you pull that bullshit from?

 

Commoli's comments were from before the window. Rehashed now as they fit into the current story.

 

De Boer is just trying to feed us some bait to get us to agree to a higher price.

 

We're in negotiations for him. Pretty clear that much. If we had bid 8 million for him it would have been thrown out as derisory, no negotiations, the phone would have just been hung up.

 

I got it wrong mate. It's £8mill below the asking price, not an £8mill bid. Wrong end of, meet stick! Sorry

[The Dude Abides]

I still don't know where I'd play him. Take the team today for instance, where Torres was very much the lone forward. Obviously he wasn't isolated, but that's because Kuyt, Maxi and Raul, and even Lucas sometimes were joining the attacks, rather than starting from attacking positions. Suarez if he ever comes, would have to be playing in a more advanced role than any of them you'd have to imagine?

[sh#t waffle]

He'd take Maxi's place if we set up like today I'd guess.

[Ted]

Someone on Twitter (I know, I know) apparently saying that he was spotted at OT today.

[The Dude Abides]

Must be true then. And if there's anything United need it's another striker.

[Unrighteous]

Someone on twitter said that Lady Gaga is a good musician. Doesn't make it true.