Summer Transfers 2014

ResurrectionRooney wrote:Most retirement homes hire young staff to help the elderly patients and cheer them up.  Usually they leave after a couple of years when they find something better.

I did community service at an elderly home to enhance my resume a couple of years ago.  I think this could be similar.

Another Arsenal captain off to Barcelona.

Rumor of Eto'o to Liverpool doesn't make much sense to me. Can't imagine they'd have as much use for him as Chelsea did last year. Him going to Ajax would be much more interesting.

Heard Atletico Madrid has signed Raul Jimenez. Gross.

Was hoping they would sign Hernandez. Pretty sure that possibility just went out the window.

Liga MX clubs lost a lot of key players this summer, Jimenez to Atleti, Rafa to Hellas Verona, Basanta to Fiorentina, Enner to West Ham, Montero to Swansea and the one that hurts the most; Damarcus Beastly to Houston. :'(

He chipped his tooth in his first game, against United. Whoops.

Yedlin --> Tottenham for $4m. But he will stay in Seattle until January.

Technically (I think) he isn't a Spurs player yet. What's more likely is that they've agreed to a deal which sees him stay with Seattle until January (at least), at which point he becomes a Tottenham player. Somewhat confusing though, because Seattle says he is leaving the club after 2014, and Tottenham said he is joining the club for the 15/16 season.



Fourth American to play for Spurs after Keller, Friedel, and Dempsey.

I only know that he is ridiculously fast and dominated a poor Hazard at the World Cup (I think).

Which is why he'll fit in just fine in the BPL. He's fast, likes to bomb forward, and can't defend all that well. I personally think he'd be better as a midfielder with less defensive responsibilities. He would have been great for Moyes' United, sending in meaningless cross after meaningless cross (thinking of the Fulham game at OT).

Apparently the deal is that Tottenham will decide what they want to do with him in January when they get there. They might send him out on loan (though back to MLS seems a bit unlikely), but he won't qualify for a work permit straight up if they choose to keep him there, and doesn't seem to fit the bill of the special talents or whatever exemption there is. 

Rumor was that he can qualify for a Latvian passport which would bypass the work permit situation.

Highlights against Belgium:

http://vimeo.com/99741936

Some other general clips from his time at Seattle and the WC. Of course they only show his positives. Like I said, weaknesses are mainly in his defending. He's just recently (within the past couple of years) been turned into a right back, so he struggles with positioning, one on one defending, and positional awareness. 

The amount of space he gets at 1:48

$20 million for Shane Long  

Someone is reporting Reus is going to Atletico for €27m.

Manolas to Arsenal, apparently.

Looks like Man Utd have signed Di Maria for £55m.

Scouser_Dave wrote:Looks like Man Utd have signed Di Maria for £55m.

Looks like it could be more expensive than that.

Cracking signing, but they really do need a proper DM and CB. Their squad is so unbalanced at the moment. Looks great on paper, in an attacking sense, but defensively, they look shocking.

Agreed, it's buying a new plasma TV for the living room to go with the luxury sofas and new Hi-fi while the kitchen is rotting with damp and the roof has started to cave in.

ResurrectionRooney wrote:Agreed, it's buying a new plasma TV for the living room to go with the luxury sofas and new Hi-fi while the kitchen is rotting with damp and the roof has started to cave in.

Great analogy

Do you think you'll sign more defensive players?

Scott_LFC wrote:

ResurrectionRooney wrote:Agreed, it's buying a new plasma TV for the living room to go with the luxury sofas and new Hi-fi while the kitchen is rotting with damp and the roof has started to cave in.

Great analogy

Do you think you'll sign more defensive players?

I'd be surprised if we didn't, but I doubt they'll be of the quality we might have hoped for. Our centre back options aren't great at the moment, nor are our central midfield options, although saying that an awesome front line can have the effect of masking the deficiencies of those behind them because everyone's terrified of them. God knows we benefited from that 2006-09, Ronaldo masked some very big weaknesses in central midfield.

ResurrectionRooney wrote:

Scott_LFC wrote:

Great analogy

Do you think you'll sign more defensive players?

I'd be surprised if we didn't, but I doubt they'll be of the quality we might have hoped for.  Our centre back options aren't great at the moment, nor are our central midfield options, although saying that an awesome front line can have the effect of masking the deficiencies of those behind them because everyone's terrified of them.  God knows we benefited from that 2006-09, Ronaldo masked some very big weaknesses in central midfield.

Something similar could be said of us last season, also. Our defence was abysmal, but our front line was incredible.

Scott_LFC wrote:

ResurrectionRooney wrote:

I'd be surprised if we didn't, but I doubt they'll be of the quality we might have hoped for.  Our centre back options aren't great at the moment, nor are our central midfield options, although saying that an awesome front line can have the effect of masking the deficiencies of those behind them because everyone's terrified of them.  God knows we benefited from that 2006-09, Ronaldo masked some very big weaknesses in central midfield.

Something similar could be said of us last season, also. Our defence was abysmal, but our front line was incredible.

  I hadn't noticed that.

Scott_LFC wrote:

ResurrectionRooney wrote:

I'd be surprised if we didn't, but I doubt they'll be of the quality we might have hoped for.  Our centre back options aren't great at the moment, nor are our central midfield options, although saying that an awesome front line can have the effect of masking the deficiencies of those behind them because everyone's terrified of them.  God knows we benefited from that 2006-09, Ronaldo masked some very big weaknesses in central midfield.

Something similar could be said of us last season, also. Our defence was abysmal, but our front line was incredible.

What happened to you could happen to us, but it was pretty much the opposite of what I was thinking. Last season nobody was really scared of you that much so they attacked you anyway and got blitzed in return, from what I saw people only really started shutting up shot very late on. With us in 2007-08 and especially 2008-09 was that everyone saw who we had upfront and sat back to avoid getting a hiding. The following season despite Ronaldo and Tevez leaving we actually scored more goals because teams came onto us.

ResurrectionRooney wrote:

Scott_LFC wrote:

Great analogy

Do you think you'll sign more defensive players?

I'd be surprised if we didn't, but I doubt they'll be of the quality we might have hoped for.  Our centre back options aren't great at the moment, nor are our central midfield options, although saying that an awesome front line can have the effect of masking the deficiencies of those behind them because everyone's terrified of them.  God knows we benefited from that 2006-09, Ronaldo masked some very big weaknesses in central midfield.

United had a good midfield from 2006-2008. It also helped having a great defence behind them.

If only United still had Pogba.

Theo Filippo wrote:If only United still had Pogba.

You think it might have been a mistake not keeping him?

£60million for Di Maria. Lol, United have massively overpaid for every single player they've purchased in the past 3 windows.

The Glazers need to reach into their greedy pockets and invest in the squad.

Keyser Söze wrote:£60million for Di Maria. Lol, United have massively overpaid for every single player they've purchased in the past 3 windows.

The only ones we've really overpaid for are Shaw and Fellaini. Herrera we signed on a free transfer after he bought out his contract (he received a £30m signing on bonus which is reflected by a drastically reduced wage packet from what he'd otherwise get), Mata was a bargain, and £60m for a world class player is pretty much par for the course.

Rojo?

How do you think you're going to be lining up, RR? I can't imagine 352 or 433 working too well with the players you've got.