Mascherano replacement?

[WaltonRed]

El jefe is defo a gonner.

 

I just hope we get top price for him at least 30m and Roy gets it all to spend

[G Richards]

I'm not so confident in writing Aquilani off. Obviously it was a mistake to sign an injured player, and by the time he was getting fit we were a team with no confidence and well out of the race on all fronts.

 

In the couple of cameos he had I thought Aquilani showed he had a good touch, decent vision, and could play a pass off either left or right foot.

 

I'm not quite ready to say he's the answer we need; but after a dreadful first season - for all sorts of reasons, not least his injury problems, I'd like to see what he can do this time around.

[Gary Mac Legend]

 

 

What changed since that goal he scored against Everton? Rafa? Anyways I think we all know this transfer is going to be protracted all summer.

[WaltonRed]

They want to drag it out so that they get him cheaper.

[zigackly]

In the couple of cameos he had I thought Aquilani showed he had a good touch, decent vision, and could play a pass off either left or right foot.

 

I agree with that, but I am deeply concerned that he can't or won't put his foot in and was often to be found wandering round in really peculiar positions. He looked at times like a little kid playing with the big lads, who couldn't get into the game. Where would you play him Rev? The only way I could see him playing is behind a striker which might really limit his appearances unless Gerrard was willing to drop back. And all that is assuming Roy wants to play one up front. In a 4-4-2 I can't see Aquilani playing at all. You don't really want a £20M player sitting on the bench in our situation, and if a half decent offer came in from an Italian side I would seriously consider taking it.

[Trucker Paddy]

They want to drag it out so that they get him cheaper.

 

August 1st should be deadline, or the mercenary and his tart are staying

[Gary Mac Legend]

I agree with that, but I am deeply concerned that he can't or won't put his foot in and was often to be found wandering round in really peculiar positions. He looked at times like a little kid playing with the big lads, who couldn't get into the game. Where would you play him Rev? The only way I could see him playing is behind a striker which might really limit his appearances unless Gerrard was willing to drop back. You don't really want a £20M player sitting on the bench in our situation, and if a half decent offer came in from an Italian side I would seriously consider taking it.

 

 

Didn't Juventus offer £9m? I'd take £12m

[zigackly]

Anything over ten if we were able to spend it ...

[Nebnotsew]

I agree with that, but I am deeply concerned that he can't or won't put his foot in and was often to be found wandering round in really peculiar positions. He looked at times like a little kid playing with the big lads, who couldn't get into the game. Where would you play him Rev? The only way I could see him playing is behind a striker which might really limit his appearances unless Gerrard was willing to drop back. And all that is assuming Roy wants to play one up front. In a 4-4-2 I can't see Aquilani playing at all. You don't really want a £20M player sitting on the bench in our situation, and if a half decent offer came in from an Italian side I would seriously consider taking it.

 

I agree with this, I do think he is a good player but recently I've thought about it and he doesn't fit into our system, he can't sit in the two and he is too old to replace Gerrard in the long term

 

If we didn't have such a lack of funds I would keep him for another season but in our current position I'd rather replace him with a more useful player

[Brownie]

If Mascherano does leave, which I think he will, then i'd be happy with Lassana Diarra (great shout, Ted) or even Scott Parker. I like Mascherano and I think he's a good player but I don't think he's irreplaceable; out of all of our world class players, he's the one i'd sell first given a choice.

[Guest PurpleNose]

I really don't want to sell Aquilani.

[zigackly]

I really don't want to sell Aquilani.

 

What would you do with him then? Genuinely interested as I am struggling to see where he fits.

[Gary Mac Legend]

I really don't want to sell Aquilani.

 

What if he can only manage 25-30 appearances next season?

[Trucker Paddy]

I really don't want to sell Aquilani.

 

I dont think we will TBH,especially if Gerrard goes he's an obvious replacement, if Rafa wants him though its £30m thats what he said he'd be worth when fit

[Guest PurpleNose]

What would you do with him then? Genuinely interested as I am struggling to see where he fits.

 

What if he can only manage 25-30 appearances next season?

 

I dont think we will TBH,especially if Gerrard goes he's an obvious replacement, if Rafa wants him though its £30m thats what he said he'd be worth when fit

 

Well, it depends what sort of formation Roy wants to play. If its 4-4-2, then I agree it will be difficult to get him in the team. If its 4-2-3-1, 4-1-4-1, 4-4-1-1, or anything similar, then I want him as the number 10.

 

If he can only manage 25-30 appearances then so be it. I just believe that now would really be the wrong time to sell. We have a few players that could play as a number 10, so its not entirely essential that he plays every single game. Shelvey and Pacheco will play some games. Even if its with half a view to selling him summer 2011, a good season could see us recovering all of the £17m, rather than half of it. If he's excellent, and stays fit, then obviously keep him.

 

I believe Gerrard and Mascherano will both leave. So selling another central midfielder/number 10, at half of what we paid for him, seems like a very bad decision. From a footballing and financial point of view. I'd rather take a risk with his fitness, if only for a season, than to see him replaced by some very average English water carrier.

 

I genuinely believe Aquilani is a very good footballer. I think he's worth persevering with.

[TheHitman]

We don't actually have a system yet the new manager hasn't even put a team out. So I would certainly be extremely keen to keep one of our more creative players in Aqualani. If he doesn't fancy him then we have the Jan window to reassess.

[zigackly]

If Gerrard leaves then you have a point, maybe give him a chance if we are playing a system which requires that kind of specialist player. I am assuming Gerrard will not go after Carra's comments on him and Torres; hope my optimism is not misplaced. In that case I think the best he could hope for is to be backup, and then I think I would prefer someone who will play every week.

[Gary Mac Legend]

Well, it depends what sort of formation Roy wants to play. If its 4-4-2, then I agree it will be difficult to get him in the team. If its 4-2-3-1, 4-1-4-1, 4-4-1-1, or anything similar, then I want him as the number 10.

 

If he can only manage 25-30 appearances then so be it. I just believe that now would really be the wrong time to sell. We have a few players that could play as a number 10, so its not entirely essential that he plays every single game. Shelvey and Pacheco will play some games. Even if its with half a view to selling him summer 2011, a good season could see us recovering all of the £17m, rather than half of it. If he's excellent, and stays fit, then obviously keep him.

 

I believe Gerrard and Mascherano will both leave. So selling another central midfielder/number 10, at half of what we paid for him, seems like a very bad decision. From a footballing and financial point of view. I'd rather take a risk with his fitness, if only for a season, than to see him replaced by some very average English water carrier.

 

I genuinely believe Aquilani is a very good footballer. I think he's worth persevering with.

 

 

Why do you believe Gerrard will leave?

 

Anyone would Agree Aquilani's a very good footballer, but he has been off the pace with the Premier League, he's made of wet-tissue paper, Rafa gambled on Torres' fitness last season and he paid the price. Aquilani can be a success for us, but if he picks up a big enough injury, then we're back to what happened last season, can we afford that? It's quite likely he'll pick up that injury, especially in England, he picked up enough in Serie A.

 

I understand your reasoning, we sell Aquilani and he gets replaced with fucking Scharner or someone.

[G Richards]

I agree with that, but I am deeply concerned that he can't or won't put his foot in and was often to be found wandering round in really peculiar positions. He looked at times like a little kid playing with the big lads, who couldn't get into the game. Where would you play him Rev? The only way I could see him playing is behind a striker which might really limit his appearances unless Gerrard was willing to drop back. And all that is assuming Roy wants to play one up front. In a 4-4-2 I can't see Aquilani playing at all. You don't really want a £20M player sitting on the bench in our situation, and if a half decent offer came in from an Italian side I would seriously consider taking it.

 

A lot depends on what happens with Stevie, as I think Aquilani's best position is in the advanced central midfield position, linking up with the striker/s.

 

If we keep Gerrard, and if with more playing time we see that Aquilani is a real asset (which is not established yet), then I would switch Stevie to the right and play Aquilani in the middle.

 

There's no reason why a 3 of Jovanovic - Aquilani - Gerrard can't function very well behind Nando. (If it were up to me I'd play another striker alongside Nando and only one holding midfielder in a 4-1-3-2 system as we should blow plenty of teams away with that - maybe tuck another midfielder in there for the biggest games).

 

Anyway, that's what I'd do with Aquilani, but again, only if he proves to be a player (and I suspect he might, but we don't know that yet).

 

On a tangental point, and I whisper this very quietly, but if Stevie does go it might make some of the other players step up a bit, and at that point Aquilani might be a player to help fill the gap. A comparison might be the emerging German team, sans Ballack.

[Cantrell20]

I can't stand people calling Aqua a 20m luxury sub or 20m epic fail, as he cost 14m, 17 is the maximum we will pay in the long run. But I understand the tabloid logic: 14m pounds is 17m euro. So 17m euro is 17m pounds, which is 20m euro, which is 20m pounds:) Anyway, although not many mention it, we need to reshuffle the midfield and bring some new face. We lost Crouche, Voronin and Keane up front with virtually no replacements, so we need to play with a lone striker. It means we need one more CM, while we changed Xabi for a gifted but injury-prone Italian, Mascherano wants to leave and Gerrard isn't getting any younger. To make the matters worse, our "prodigies" like Lucas, Plessis and Spearing haven't stepped up to the task, Duran got three serious injuries. Therefore our engine, center of the park should be one of the focal points for Woy. I forgot, Benny left as well. And Lucas isn't a Sissoko type tackler. Sell Speo, Plessis, Lucas, loan Duran, Pepper, Bruna (prolong deals of last two), give a chance to Saric and Ince, include Pacheco in the squad for the next season. Marchena and Senna have one year on their deals, they can be a cover for Mascherano if he stays.

[Ted]

£20m.

[Guest PurpleNose]

If Gerrard leaves then you have a point, maybe give him a chance if we are playing a system which requires that kind of specialist player. I am assuming Gerrard will not go after Carra's comments on him and Torres; hope my optimism is not misplaced. In that case I think the best he could hope for is to be backup, and then I think I would prefer someone who will play every week.

 

I think if Real Madrid bid £25m + it will be accepted, and he'll go. He knows we're being asset stripped. He knows we won't bring in any top class players. He knows we're unlikely to win anything.

 

If he stays I'd play 4-1-4-1 and play him next to Aquilani.

[waddy78]

Aqua is a player i would keep, alot of us were complaining about negative football we were playing last season Aqua is an attack minded player a decent one from the glimpses ive seen his game isn't to put his foot in thats masch's game just has masch's game isn't a defence splitting pass would any one consider playing aqua and stevie in the same team? in a 4-2-3-1 formation play Aqua behind the striker with stevie right side? we all want to see a more adventurous style next season (i think we all do) obviously we need to keep stevie,nando first does anyone else think that could work with 2 of them playing an advanced roll or even a 4-3-2-1 with both behind the striker

[AmerScouse]

what purple nose said.

 

chelsea fit fat frank and ballack into the same team. its all a matter of formation

 

get your best XI on the field. leaves masch as the lone holding player.

 

if we put more attacking numbers in midfield, then fullbacks have instructions to not push as much forward. stevie and alberto can easily interchange. formations are meant to be fluid, not static.

 

the current spain team currently has xavi, busquets and alonso all in the centre. roy could easily make it work

[Wor Horse]

Reina

 

Johnson Carra Agger Insua

 

Diarra

 

Aquilani Gerrard

 

Maxi Torres Jovanovic.

 

BANG.