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ITK Thread

But it IS your opinion. People have already said NJie, Son, Chadli or Lamela can play up front. Oh look, someone has a different opinion. In fact, you'd have to be pretty stupid to think Kane will play every single game, and that's not even my opinion.
I moderated that view in the next post. Besides, Ade can't even play as he's not even named in the squad. But to expect people to be able to play in a role they've never played before is pretty stupid. That's not even my opinion... ;)
 
Who else just has one striker at their club?

Arsenal - Welbeck is not a lone striker.
Man U. Rooney (but better as a no.10 if Rooney gets injured they will have to play an U21)
City - Boney is out for a while. They probably have some on the bench but I can't think of any.

Out and out quality strikers are a dieing breed.
Barcelona dont even use them. Benzema is the only true one at Real.
 
Ar5ena1 - Welbeck is not a lone striker.
Man U. Rooney (but better as a no.10 if Rooney gets injured they will have to play an U21)
City - Boney is out for a while. They probably have some on the bench but I can't think of any.

Out and out quality strikers are a dieing breed.
Barcelona dont even use them. Benzema is the only true one at Real.

Wellbeck, has played as a central striker at arsenal man u and for England

Rooney is a striker dude, I don't even know what your arguing now?

Emirates Marketing Project...... Seriously??
 
Not to mention the dm situation. We have one player for this position
Ar5ena1 - Welbeck is not a lone striker.
Man U. Rooney (but better as a no.10 if Rooney gets injured they will have to play an U21)
City - Boney is out for a while. They probably have some on the bench but I can't think of any.

Out and out quality strikers are a dieing breed.
Barcelona dont even use them. Benzema is the only true one at Real.
Where to begin...
Arsenal have Giroud, Welbeck, Sanchez and Walcott who have all played and done well as lone strikers.
United have Rooney and Martial, but i agree they're a little short. Still, they have more cover than we do, and them being stupid as well is no excuse.
Emirates Marketing Project have two world class strikers. Bony is expected back for their next game.
You say Barcelona don't use them. Can you think of anyone else? Even so, we do! Poch's system does.
 
With the alternative being "get someone in. Anyone!" I don't think that's how you build a team. If we didn't have a plan B, maybe it was because the plan B's were short term stop gaps. But when you're building a team, you don't do stop gap. Methinks.

There should be a plan B and there should have been a contingency in place. Every player in the squad is in effect a stop-gap until you reach a point where you don't think you can improve in that position. The only guys who aren't stop-gaps at the moment in our squad are: Lloris, Rose, Eriksen & Kane and possibly Bentaleb. You can then add Alderweireld, Son & N'Jie as recent signings who we think are improving us.

I would argue the likes of Chadli although they are giving a tangible output in terms of goals & assists would be moved on in a heartbeat if we think we could get someone better and more consistent in.

And if we "don't do stop gap" what on earth was Stambouli? It seems a very definite shift in philosophy in 12 months if we've decided not to have a squad fillers. Where do Trippier & Wimmer fit in? If they're not in the starting XI then they aren't an improvement?

I understand the need for patience etc, I could accept no extra midfielder if nothing was available to improve us but really we needed a focal point striker to take some weight off Kane. I think its an incredibly poor piece of club management not to provide one. Austin could've been brought in for £15m and I've no doubt even if he had a poor year he would've been sellable for £10-12m next summer when we went after our real target.

Listing out N'Jie and Son as those who will get goals doesn't directly answer the point. We have no focal point attacker in the squad other than Kane. Soldado was the only other out & out striker who could play that role (to an inferior level). Adebayor is clearly a no-go. But you cannot play wide men as a focal point up top and if the ball doesn't stick then goals will not naturally flow from wide forwards or midfielders.
 
There should be a plan B and there should have been a contingency in place. Every player in the squad is in effect a stop-gap until you reach a point where you don't think you can improve in that position. The only guys who aren't stop-gaps at the moment in our squad are: Lloris, Rose, Eriksen & Kane and possibly Bentaleb. You can then add Alderweireld, Son & N'Jie as recent signings who we think are improving us.

I would argue the likes of Chadli although they are giving a tangible output in terms of goals & assists would be moved on in a heartbeat if we think we could get someone better and more consistent in.

And if we "don't do stop gap" what on earth was Stambouli? It seems a very definite shift in philosophy in 12 months if we've decided not to have a squad fillers. Where do Trippier & Wimmer fit in? If they're not in the starting XI then they aren't an improvement?

I understand the need for patience etc, I could accept no extra midfielder if nothing was available to improve us but really we needed a focal point striker to take some weight off Kane. I think its an incredibly poor piece of club management not to provide one. Austin could've been brought in for £15m and I've no doubt even if he had a poor year he would've been sellable for £10-12m next summer when we went after our real target.

Listing out N'Jie and Son as those who will get goals doesn't directly answer the point. We have no focal point attacker in the squad other than Kane. Soldado was the only other out & out striker who could play that role (to an inferior level). Adebayor is clearly a no-go. But you cannot play wide men as a focal point up top and if the ball doesn't stick then goals will not naturally flow from wide forwards or midfielders.
I would actually be contrnt with our current squad if we'd kept Stambouli and Soldado. Selling them without replacement is just outrageous.
 
I would actually be contrnt with our current squad if we'd kept Stambouli and Soldado. Selling them without replacement is just outrageous.

It's funny, 3 months ago everyone was moaning about having players like Stambouli around, saying that the likes of Veljkovic were capable of offering a comparable contribution.

Backing the kids over mediocrity is a good and exciting thing to do, and paid dividends last season (Kane over Ade/Soldado, Masaleb over Paulinho/Capoue/Dembele)
 
It's funny, 3 months ago everyone was moaning about having players like Stambouli around, saying that the likes of Veljkovic were capable of offering a comparable contribution.

Backing the kids over mediocrity is a good and exciting thing to do, and paid dividends last season (Kane over Ade/Soldado, Masaleb over Paulinho/Capoue/Dembele)
I have never moened about Stambouli. I think he did quite well when he played. I agree the youth should play, but you need backup in order to rotate and cope with injuries. Having more experienced players is also very important if not vital for the developement of the younger players.
 
Not to mention the dm situation. We have one player for this position

Where to begin...
Ar5ena1 have Giroud, Welbeck, Sanchez and Walcott who have all played and done well as lone strikers.
United have Rooney and Martial, but i agree they're a little short. Still, they have more cover than we do, and them being stupid as well is no excuse.
Emirates Marketing Project have two world class strikers. Bony is expected back for their next game.
You say Barcelona don't use them. Can you think of anyone else? Even so, we do! Poch's system does.

Arsenal are like us - Kane = Giroud - the rest are wide players just like we have - Welbeck is not a central striker IMHO.
Rooney and an 18 yo.....jury out (does Son = Martial, position wise.)

I dont see many choices out there other than Berahino and at a push Austin, although their some question mark over Austin.

Who would you have got in instead of Berahino? (forget Austin too many ??)
 
Ar5ena1 are like us - Kane = Giroud - the rest are wide players just like we have - Welbeck is not a central striker IMHO.
Rooney and an 18 yo.....jury out (does Son = Martial, position wise.)

I dont see many choices out there other than Berahino and at a push Austin, although their some question mark over Austin.

Who would you have got in instead of Berahino? (forget Austin too many ??)
Your first sentance makes me wonder if it's worth answering this post at all. I don't think United fans are very happy with their current striker cover. Like I said, they've made the same mistake we did, it doesn't make it right. To your last question, we should have tried to get Berahino earlier. If we failed, we should've kept Soldado. Why forget Austin? He would be much better than nothing.
 
Your first sentence makes me wonder if it's worth answering this post at all. I don't think United fans are very happy with their current striker cover. Like I said, they've made the same mistake we did, it doesn't make it right. To your last question, we should have tried to get Berahino earlier. If we failed, we should've kept Soldado. Why forget Austin? He would be much better than nothing.

We will not go anywhere with this. Be happy
 
Many of you think this is so simple. It is perhaps for the clubs with megabucks, but not for us. And even those clubs don't always get who they want.

And as for getting in anyone, this is exactly the thing that many on this forum have been criticizing (e.g. Stambouli). Now you're saying get in anyone. What this tells me is that there is a lot of knee jerk reaction. And that's fine coming from the fans (although I don't necessarily agree with it), but that's not how I would want the club to be run.

And finally, none of us has the slightest clue as to what the deliberations are by the coach, scouting staff, and management. Yet we profess to know exactly what needs to be done. And all that before we even give the current squad a chance! We're all impatient and want the team to succeed here and now, but come on, add a little dose of reality too, huh?
 
Ar5ena1 are like us - Kane = Giroud - the rest are wide players just like we have - Welbeck is not a central striker IMHO.
Rooney and an 18 yo.....jury out (does Son = Martial, position wise.)

I dont see many choices out there other than Berahino and at a push Austin, although their some question mark over Austin.

Who would you have got in instead of Berahino? (forget Austin too many ??)
IMO Welbeck is a very good central striker who can also operate as a wide forward. I agree with you regarding Man Utd however (although they at least have Wilson as a decent young option).

Regarding who we would've got instead of Berahino, well in this window aside from Berahino and Austin the following centre forwards were all sold/available to buy....

Rondon
Mitrovic
Van Persie
Berbatov
Jelavic
Negredo
Bacca
Zaza
Gestede
Benteke
Falcao
Wickham
Sako
Glenn Murray
Dwight Gayle
Balotelli
Rickie Lambert
Dzeko
Javier Hernandez
Wijnaldum
Mbokani
Yilmaz

There are probably dozens more as well....

We now face either absolutely knackering Harry Kane or trying to fit a square peg into a round hole and hoping we get lucky, which is absolutely ridiculous.

IMO our attempts at getting Berahino were an absolute disgrace, waiting for almost the entire window before lodging our first bid and then finally lodging serious (at least I hope they were?) bids for him on the final day of the transfer window when West Brom had no chance of spending the windfall. It really wouldn't surprise me if this leaves Harry Kane considering his future position at the club, if I were in his shoes I certainly would be.
 
IMO Welbeck is a very good central striker who can also operate as a wide forward. I agree with you regarding Man Utd however (although they at least have Wilson as a decent young option).

Regarding who we would've got instead of Berahino, well in this window aside from Berahino and Austin the following centre forwards were all sold/available to buy....

Rondon
Mitrovic
Van Persie
Berbatov
Jelavic
Negredo
Bacca
Zaza
Gestede
Benteke
Falcao
Wickham
Sako
Glenn Murray
Dwight Gayle
Balotelli
Rickie Lambert
Dzeko
Javier Hernandez
Wijnaldum
Mbokani
Yilmaz

There are probably dozens more as well....

We now face either absolutely knackering Harry Kane or trying to fit a square peg into a round hole and hoping we get lucky, which is absolutely ridiculous.

IMO our attempts at getting Berahino were an absolute disgrace, waiting for almost the entire window before lodging our first bid and then finally lodging serious (at least I hope they were?) bids for him on the final day of the transfer window when West Brom had no chance of spending the windfall. It really wouldn't surprise me if this leaves Harry Kane considering his future position at the club, if I were in his shoes I certainly would be.

"IMO Welbeck is a very good central striker" We will not agree.
Danny is good lad and I really would have liked him at Spurs, but I was wrong. To many injuries and average.

(Edit) If you like Danny you should take shine to N'jie
 
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IMO Welbeck is a very good central striker who can also operate as a wide forward. I agree with you regarding Man Utd however (although they at least have Wilson as a decent young option).

Regarding who we would've got instead of Berahino, well in this window aside from Berahino and Austin the following centre forwards were all sold/available to buy....

Rondon
Mitrovic
Van Persie
Berbatov
Jelavic
Negredo
Bacca
Zaza
Gestede
Benteke
Falcao
Wickham
Sako
Glenn Murray
Dwight Gayle
Balotelli
Rickie Lambert
Dzeko
Javier Hernandez
Wijnaldum
Mbokani
Yilmaz

There are probably dozens more as well....

We now face either absolutely knackering Harry Kane or trying to fit a square peg into a round hole and hoping we get lucky, which is absolutely ridiculous.

IMO our attempts at getting Berahino were an absolute disgrace, waiting for almost the entire window before lodging our first bid and then finally lodging serious (at least I hope they were?) bids for him on the final day of the transfer window when West Brom had no chance of spending the windfall. It really wouldn't surprise me if this leaves Harry Kane considering his future position at the club, if I were in his shoes I certainly would be.

interesting list, I think if you remove the names of those who went for stupid money, those we couldn't pay the wages for and then all the ones who are crap, it would be a much shorter one
 
Hull City signed Diomande for 1,7m Just before the Window shut. Id have him as cover and EL striker. There are always option out there that can do a job. Going in without any is Not a good idea. It didn't have to be a dream signing. We are putting unnecessary pressure on our self and might have a total season collapse if we use Kane too much. Id have Kaz Sterling in our EL line up by this point
 
Hull City signed Diomande for 1,7m Just before the Window shut. Id have him as cover and EL striker. There are always option out there that can do a job. Going in without any is Not a good idea. It didn't have to be a dream signing. We are putting unnecessary pressure on our self and might have a total season collapse if we use Kane too much. Id have Kaz Sterling in our EL line up by this point


Not true on GG. The derision and angst that would have poured forth like bile from a gaping gall bladder if we signed another Frazier Campbell, Raziak or Saha as a late 'cover'/EL option would be of Noah-ic proportions.
 
IMO our attempts at getting Berahino were an absolute disgrace, waiting for almost the entire window before lodging our first bid and then finally lodging serious (at least I hope they were?) bids for him on the final day of the transfer window when West Brom had no chance of spending the windfall. It really wouldn't surprise me if this leaves Harry Kane considering his future position at the club, if I were in his shoes I certainly would be.


How much is this hearsay on the finer details?

I would imagine (and it is only imagine) that 3 or so months ago we started talking to them and they obviously gave us hope that something could be done but Peace said hold going public until we have 'Rondon' and 'Lambert' in so we can get them cheaper. So we did and then over the last 2 weeks when we presumed they had their replacements we privately made bids and Peace went public with his Billy Big-Bullocks I'm a tough negotiator stuff.

Our bids were by all accounts north of £15 million and upto £23 million. That is ball park what he is worth. The instalments etc might be another issue but the general amounts are 'serious' bids for a young semi-proven striker.

That is not tapping up. That is not us unsettling the player. That is not just us playing games. I really can't see how we are an "absolute disgrace" in this at all.

I would imagine, having followed your posting history, you would have "considered your future at the club" very carefully years ago if you were in Kane's position so I doubt this has changed your mind one iota.
 
IMO Welbeck is a very good central striker who can also operate as a wide forward. I agree with you regarding Man Utd however (although they at least have Wilson as a decent young option).

Regarding who we would've got instead of Berahino, well in this window aside from Berahino and Austin the following centre forwards were all sold/available to buy....

Rondon
Mitrovic
Van Persie
Berbatov
Jelavic
Negredo
Bacca
Zaza
Gestede
Benteke
Falcao
Wickham
Sako
Glenn Murray
Dwight Gayle
Balotelli
Rickie Lambert
Dzeko
Javier Hernandez
Wijnaldum
Mbokani
Yilmaz

There are probably dozens more as well....

We now face either absolutely knackering Harry Kane or trying to fit a square peg into a round hole and hoping we get lucky, which is absolutely ridiculous.

IMO our attempts at getting Berahino were an absolute disgrace, waiting for almost the entire window before lodging our first bid and then finally lodging serious (at least I hope they were?) bids for him on the final day of the transfer window when West Brom had no chance of spending the windfall. It really wouldn't surprise me if this leaves Harry Kane considering his future position at the club, if I were in his shoes I certainly would be.
Even if we had started bidding on July 1, it would have still gone down to the wire, if Brom knew what our cap is and was waiting for a bigger payday. If anything, leaving it late was the better decision, because by that point they were fully stocked on strikers and needed to sell, more so than in July. The logical conclusion would have been for them to sell Berahino at the final moment, given their squad and no bids from the megarich clubs and we made the best offer they could ever get, what with his contract running out and all that. The fact that Peace didn't sell in the end is more idiocy on their part than anything we did wrong.
 
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