Ba
and Cisse can apparently now play together
With
Newcastle apparently trying to sign their old striker on loan Pardew must be
pretty confident that he can solve a conundrum that he never quite got round to
previously, namely how to fit Ba and Cisse in the same team. Also they
tended to score in spurts, Ba at the start of the season then Cisse at the
end. Prolific but only one at a time, nice enough to take turns.
Before Ba left for Chelsea seven months ago the feeling on Tyneside was that
they were too similar to work well as a pair. The Senegalese rarely play
in the same team at international level for precisely that reason. Also
with Newcastle set up in a 4-4-2 with them at the top they can’t half come
across as whatever the word for not fluid is. And 4-3-3 with either of
them wide negated their influence spectacularly. Pardew has either a
master plan up his sleeve like playing the one that’s in form with Remy or Joe
Kinnear is getting that desperate to make signings that he’ll take anyone with
a hint of quality. In other words it might not be the right signing but
at least it would be one.
Spurs
are considering fining Gareth Bale
For
not turning up to training two days in a row. You’d think there wasn’t a
lot to consider here, if he’s not turned up to training twice just fine
him. What’s he going to do, demand a move? Spurs have erred on the
side of supporting their (quite obviously now) want-away player all
summer. Surely now there’s only so many statements from behind the scenes
and conveniently timed injuries they can take? Just fine him. No
one can blame Bale for wanting to leave but if he’s breached the terms of his
contract he should be punished without having to debate it. If the
rumours about his new wages are true he can afford it.
Chelsea’s
attacking midfield equation doesn’t make sense
Oscar,
Hazard, De Bruyne, Mata, Marin, Schurrle, Moses, Ramirez. And that was
before they signed Willian. Given that they were obviously overstocked
there in a squad arguably needing investment in other areas the rumours
immediately started flowing about them signing him just to stop Spurs having
him (that Mourinho keeps talking about Tottenham being a threat this season not
only for the top four but the title would seem to add credence to this
claim). Now that they’ve signed him for £32 million they must surely be
intending on using him. Makes you wonder who will make room for him in
the team. Mourinho’s talked about his desire once the dust has settled to
get his squad down to the apparently perfect number of twenty four
professionals. That must surely mean players going out on loan
somewhere. Hazard will be safe. Jose has talked about De Bryne
becoming an influential player already. Moses must be on borrowed
time. And Mata, as incredible as it sounds for a player who contributed
goals and assists last season might follow him out the door. Remember
when Jose promised to deliver more flair and less bland efficiency this time
around? Don’t believe a word of it.
Rooney’s
deadline came and went
Anyone
notice? We finished with this now? Good. Now that it appears
no one wants to be the bad guy we all should prepare ourselves for a season of
hand wringing over how much playing time he’s getting. Or given that Man
Utd haven’t signed that creative midfielder they wanted a season of him
flourishing in the hole behind Van Persie. It doesn’t look like Moyles is
going to give Kagawa a run there.
Directors
of football help business get done early
Tottenham,
Man City and Sunderland. All three have been on a rebuilding exercise
this summer and all three got their major spending out the way before August
began. At City Txiki Begiristain made signings in a manner suggesting the
lessons of a previous summer procrastinating before signing inferior targets
had been learned. Tottenham are spending in two stages, early for their
major targets and then again when it became obvious Bale was going and needed
replaced. Sunderland may have had a more scattergun approach but have
still brought in eleven players. All three have demonstrated how having a
strong director of football can make signings a lot smoother. At Arsenal
and Man Utd they’re doing the opposite. The traditional English system of
leaving a manager in sole charge of identifying targets for a chief executive
to then sign doesn’t half look old fashioned. Around Europe with three
days of the window to go it looks a lot less frantic. The main action
seems to be English clubs putting in last minute bids for players they could
have gone in for months ago. Mind you the director of football system isn’t
perfect. Cough, Joe Kinnear, cough.
Sunderland
need a ball playing midfielder
With
all the business Sunderland and Paulo Di Canio have managed to do it’s
astonishing that they haven’t managed to address the most glaring absence in
their squad, of a midfielder with enough quality to control midfield. The
high tempo game that Di Canio wants to play relies on keeping the ball well
while being able to launch counterattacks early. No one at the club
currently fits the bill. Larson has the range but struggles with
tempo. Cattermole is apparently far enough down the list to be just above
Bardsley on the ‘don’t consider for selection’ (and hasn’t demonstrated that he
could be that type of player successfully anyway, although when motivated he’s
got more quality than he’s often given credit for). Cabral is learning a
new league and may flourish alongside someone more experienced. It’s a
shame a move for Tom Huddlestone broke down. He could have fit the bill
nicely. Michael Bradley of Roma and Zravko Kuzmanovic from Inter are
reported targets. Without signing one of them a season of struggle could
be ahead.
Crystal
Palace can’t sign anyone
No
one sums up the frustrations of the transfer window quite like Palace.
When your most exciting signing has been Marouane Chamakh you know you’ve got
problems. They were linked with arrogance’s Nicholas Bendter this week
(Which goes to show how far his stock has fallen, has anyone moved from
Juventus to Palace before? Lombardo did. Balls. Apart from Lombardo then?) a move that would
probably make sense for both club and player but would in all probability stop
short of breathing new life into either. Simply put it’s tough to attract
good players when everyone assumes you’ll only have a year stop off in the
Premier League. As the days tick over it’s a feeling that gets harder and
harder to shift. Just goes to show how well Hull did to get Livermore and
Huddlestone. No wonder Holloway’s already going nuts.
That
Sky Advert’s Awful
I
can’t think of a possible version for an advert promoting transfer deadline day
on Sky Sports News that I’d like but Jesus they’ve pulled out all the stops to
make us irate with this one. Hyping a day’s TV that even at its most
thrilling features men doing nothing standing in front of empty training
grounds while thirteen year olds flick the Vs behind them is always a recipe
for disaster. Doing it in a style that Liberace might describe as a bit
much is just asking for trouble when the biggest news on the day could be
Bendter not signing for Palace. And if there’s another financial crash
around the corner I don’t think anyone would be surprised if Jim White turned
out to be responsible somehow. The warning signs were always there.