Maybe I am dreaming..

[DHSF]

I just can't see us spending that kind of money unless we sell Bale

Out of interest - if we dont go out and spend a bit on two players that we desperately need to go beyond where we are now then a) what do you think AVB thinks or even do? b) what do you think players like Bale would think or even do?

To be honest it does look like we have the cash - dont forget we did bid for Leandro and unless we bid something silly like £2 then I suspect we have enough for a striker. I think we will sell Ade and a couple of others and that extra revenue will also help.

 

[milo]

Out of interest - if we dont go out and spend a bit on two players that we desperately need to go beyond where we are now then a) what do you think AVB thinks or even do? b) what do you think players like Bale would think or even do?

To be honest it does look like we have the cash - dont forget we did bid for Leandro and unless we bid something silly like £2 then I suspect we have enough for a striker. I think we will sell Ade and a couple of others and that extra revenue will also help.

I think that we will continue to do what we have done for most of Levy's time in charge. We will look for value in the transfer market, namely, young players that we can sell on for a profit in a few years time or quality older players that are surplus to requirements and available cheap. This is a policy that has had us on an upward trajectory for a fair while now and I doubt Bale staying around is dependent on us changing strategy.

 

[DHSF]

I think that we will continue to do what we have done for most of Levy's time in charge. We will look for value in the transfer market, namely, young players that we can sell on for a profit in a few years time or quality older players that are surplus to requirements and available cheap. This is a policy that has had us on an upward trajectory for a fair while now and I doubt Bale staying around is dependent on us changing strategy.

I think it is though - you dont think that Levy, if reports are to be believed, will break the wage structure for him? I think Levy would. Levy is a businessman im a fan but even I know that by keeping him around you can boost the attraction of players coming subsequently more opportunities for greater success and great revenue. Its all a snowball effect. Just look at Arsenal, they sold RVP and theyre on a downward trajectory. It is about building blocks and building on past successes and this season if it goes the way we suspect it should be successful and we MUST build on that.

 

[milo]

I think it is though - you dont think that Levy, if reports are to be believed, will break the wage structure for him? I think Levy would. Levy is a businessman im a fan but even I know that by keeping him around you can boost the attraction of players coming subsequently more opportunities for greater success and great revenue. Its all a snowball effect. Just look at Arsenal, they sold RVP and theyre on a downward trajectory. It is about building blocks and building on past successes and this season if it goes the way we suspect it should be successful and we MUST build on that.

I was talking about our transfer strategy rather than wages policy. I wouldn't be surprised if we offered Bale a pay rise to keep him for another year.

 

[Joesh]

Some great points in this thread. AVB mentioned momentum as a key to our success. Like earlier in the season when we conceded late goals consistantly or now it seems Bale scoring almost every game \o/. Positive or negative, it defines your season. Maybe its just luck, we went to UTD and won but were really pressed back and another day could have drawn or lost that game. We didnt and belief grew. You could go back through the years and think over so many games that could have changed everything and the margins were so small.

Its interesting on another point mentioned here going along the same lines about players that outgrew us or we out grew, using Dawson as an example had we sold him to QPR. Going back over the last few games, he has put in some great displays to effectively help us win games. He decided to stay, he could have left and maybe we lost or drew those games.

Is it as simple as luck and momentum that could change everything about our club and prospects?

 

[Jurgen the German]

Two players off seriously challenging for the title, Harry done well for us exciting football and good times but we seem to have gone up a couple of notches of late, all right Inter were disappointing but our work rate and movement (including Defoe) was excellent, also we got the tactics spot on for the gooners, as I keep saying happy days.

Tbh, I think our run now is similar to the run we had last season, the difference being we have a truly world class player this season and last season the goal tally was a bit more spread out. Lloris definitely makes a difference though, one of the best signings of the Levy era. But we only have 1 point more than we did at this stage last season, and we did get our tactics spot on against the scum at home also.

There is no doubt that than when it comes to tactics, AVB is superior to Redknapp. You can't help but notice our players all saying the same thing about the preparation being much better now. AVB seems to be a good man manager also, can't remember any of our players bad mouthing him, except Ade before he went to the ACN, but that's par for the course when it comes to Ade.

 

[Jurgen the German]

I was talking about our transfer strategy rather than wages policy. I wouldn't be surprised if we offered Bale a pay rise to keep him for another year.

Personally I think we not only have to give Bale a pay rise, but we also have to show him we mean business by buying a better striker than we have now. If that means spending more than £20m, then do it. Either that or our scouts have to do a far, far better job at identifying realistic targets than they have done in the last few years. Someone like Benteke who's young, developing and has the potential to be a world class striker.

I really wouldn't blame Bale if he decided to leave in the next couple of years if we don't sign more top players, the likes of Lloris and Vertonghen.

 

[milo]

Personally I think we not only have to give Bale a pay rise, but we also have to show him we mean business by buying a better striker than we have now. If that means spending more than £20m, then do it. Either that or our scouts have to do a far, far better job at identifying realistic targets than they have done in the last few years. Someone like Benteke who's young, developing and has the potential to be a world class striker.

I really wouldn't blame Bale if he decided to leave in the next couple of years if we don't sign more top players, the likes of Lloris and Vertonghen.

I'd agree with that, I think that Benteke is a very plausible target. I don't see us spending net £60m though.

 

[Joesh]

I was talking about our transfer strategy rather than wages policy. I wouldn't be surprised if we offered Bale a pay rise to keep him for another year.

To be fair to Levy, and Arsenal to a degree in this case, sometimes situations beyond your control can come up where a player just decides they are not happy and they are leaving. They are not just an asset or a tool, they are a person with goals and objectives in life. You cant just break the wage structure each time to try and match Barca, Reals, Chelseas, Citys or Utds vast resources or you'll end up broke. I am not too sure there is a strategy that aims towards selling players year on year just a reaction to a players will. We kept Modric for an extra year, if profit was all that counts why did we not sell him to Chelsa and then buy a cheap replacement a year before.

I have criticised him in the past but to be fair, in the current environment there are bigger clubs that will get their way one way or another and his job is reduced to getting the best deal possible.

 

[billyiddo]

what's to suggest we won't carry on signing the level of players that we have been for the past X amount of seasons?

 

[Jurgen the German]

what's to suggest we won't carry on signing the level of players that we have been for the past X amount of seasons?

I meant specifically when it comes to strikers. There's no doubt in my mind that's the area we need to improve upon the most.

 

[milo]

To be fair to Levy, and Arsenal to a degree in this case, sometimes situations beyond your control can come up where a player just decides they are not happy and they are leaving. They are not just an asset or a tool, they are a person with goals and objectives in life. You cant just break the wage structure each time to try and match Barca, Reals, Chelseas, Citys or Utds vast resources or you'll end up broke. I am not too sure there is a strategy that aims towards selling players year on year just a reaction to a players will. We kept Modric for an extra year, if profit was all that counts why did we not sell him to Chelsa and then buy a cheap replacement a year before.

I have criticised him in the past but to be fair, in the current environment there are bigger clubs that will get their way one way or another and his job is reduced to getting the best deal possible.

I agree 100%

 

[billyiddo]

I meant specifically when it comes to strikers. There's no doubt in my mind that's the area we need to improve upon the most.

undoubtedly

tbf to Levy he worked hard in bringing Adebayor to the club on a permanent deal last summer and if he had replicated his form from last season then a first team striker would probably be way down the list of priorities this summer - so im not exactly worrying at the moment over whether we can bring in a player of the required quality - although it has to be said that buying a striker at this level is possibly the hardest task of them all

 

[Jurgen the German]

undoubtedly

tbf to Levy he worked hard in bringing Adebayor to the club on a permanent deal last summer and if he had replicated his form from last season then a first team striker would probably be way down the list of priorities this summer - so im not exactly worrying at the moment over whether we can bring in a player of the required quality - although it has to be said that buying a striker at this level is possibly the hardest task of them all

Don't want to turn this into an Ade bashing thread, but I think the only way we can get last season's form out of him again would be to sell him, then get him on loan again. He follows the same pattern at every club, he looks good initially, but then for whatever reason, he doesn't consistently reproduce that form. And Defoe has impressed me this season, but I think we need someone better than him also. I realise we can't pay the mega money, but we must surely be able to do better. I mean our scouts must watch more football than we do and can come up with some realistic targets.

 

[billyiddo]

sorry what i meant was - that last summer we (and pretty much everyone on here) thought we had brought in a player of the required quality, sadly it has turned out we have a striker who has struggled to get anywhere the level we expected from him.

im not worried that we can replace Adebayor with a player of the required quality

im not expecting us to rely on him next season as our first choice (although i don't think he should be written off just yet, a full pre season under his belt blah blah blah )

 

[punk_is_back`]

I meant specifically when it comes to strikers. There's no doubt in my mind that's the area we need to improve upon the most.

I really don't think we're that desperate for a goalscoring striker, what I would like is wing cover and a forward who can hold up the ball and allow the likes of Bale and Lennon time to play.

 

[Jurgen the German]

I really don't think we're that desperate for a goalscoring striker, what I would like is wing cover and a forward who can hold up the ball and allow the likes of Bale and Lennon time to play.

I think Bale would disagree. Surely he would want someone up there to lighten the load for him a bit.

 

[punk_is_back`]

I think Bale would disagree. Surely he would want someone up there to lighten the load for him a bit.

I don't think we need someone who can knock 25 goals a season. Anywhere for 15+ in the league would be a great return for us. What I would like however is a striker who is technically skilled enough to hold the ball up and has enough strength, movement and pace to occupy defenders regardless of the context in which he receives the ball.

 

[milo]

I don't think we need someone who can knock 25 goals a season. Anywhere for 15+ in the league would be a great return for us. What I would like however is a striker who is technically skilled enough to hold the ball up and has enough strength, movement and pace to occupy defenders regardless of the context in which he receives the ball.

I agree but if they could get 20+ goals that'd be a bonus

 

[DHSF]

I'd agree with that, I think that Benteke is a very plausible target. I don't see us spending net £60m though.

Plausible maybe but good enough? how do we know. I dont think he has proven much at all - granted he is in a very very poor villa side but what has he shown to suggest he would be any good? All I seem to remember is he gets offside just as much as Defoe and Ade PUT TOGETHER.

I wouldnt see us spending 60m net then again I dont think we would need to spend 60m net. We get rid of two or three and bring in a couple of players maybe 15-20m net - we can afford that I think especially if we finish third and CL place.

Third is actually very crucial to planning for next season.