Bold Tone wrote:

I don't think Wenger still has dominance over other clubs in the French League.

He never did.

We got Pires ahead of Madrid and that's pretty much it as far as it went.

y va marquer wrote:

I wouldn't call any of them mediocre, whether or not they'd combine into some sort of lethal strike force is another question.
Benteke doesn't fit the description of average for me.

Compare it with any top team's front 3 and you'll see what I'm talking about...

I know what you're talking about, I'm not sure I agree though.
Better than most teams bar United, City.
Yeah I'd prefer Falcao or Cavani to Benteke, but we're not going to spend £40m on a striker.

Well that kind of depends on what sort of striker Benteke might turn into once you put him into a top team, with a little bit more experience. He scored 19 in the league last season, for a team that were relegation candidates until almost the end of the season. If he got more chances & knocked in 24-25, nobody would sniff at him.

For comparison, Lewandowski (who I think everyone considers a 'super' player) has scored. 23 & 22 goals in the last two seasons, though the more recent was somewhat impacted by injury.

Of course, Benteke might not be good enough to make that kind of improvement in his game - he might have had a purple patch this year alone. But you can't really make that call without properly watching him. Personally, I think both he & Lukaku look like excellent prospects. Is take either.

The only issue I'd have with Benteke is the type of player he is, rather than his quality. Add him to our line-up during the run in, and I don't see him making a huge impact to the quality of our game going forward, just more clinical and effective. We'd need a Jovetic type to go along with him, another player in the 'genius' mould like Cazorla. That's the kind of player that will make our attack play well.

Feel the same way as Asa. I won't complain if we get Benteke. And i think theres 2 or 3 other strikers out there who are very attainable and would improve our attack quite a bit.

And as otfgoon says we need a bit more flair/creativity too. I'm going to judge our entire summer and ambition on what changes we make to the attack. I think if we're serious we'll spend most of our money there on two players of real quality. Anything less than that and next season probably won't be much different from the last couple of years.

otfgoon wrote:

The only issue I'd have with Benteke is the type of player he is, rather than his quality. Add him to our line-up during the run in, and I don't see him making a huge impact to the quality of our game going forward, just more clinical and effective. We'd need a Jovetic type to go along with him, another player in the 'genius' mould like Cazorla. That's the kind of player that will make our attack play well.

Spot on

asajoseph wrote:

Do people really think we'll make a marquee signing? It's not happening.

Depends what you mean by a marquee signing.

y va marquer wrote:

I know what you're talking about, I'm not sure I agree though.
Better than most teams bar United, City.
Yeah I'd prefer Falcao or Cavani to Benteke, but we're not going to spend £40m on a striker.

What about Chelsea? Assuming they get a new striker as well, their front 3 will be better than ours too. That leaves us in 4th again. And we're not even talking about the Champions League.

For what its worth, I think Benteke + a top class winger (no names come to mind) would be perfect. I just don't think Walcott and Podolski can create enough in the big matches.

I'll give you a name; Santi Cazorla.

Nah, Cazorla fucks up the team when he's out wide. Not a top class winger.

9 wins, 2 draws says differently.

Right, because all of that was Cazorla's doing. Is Gibbs a top class left back? Podolski a top class striker? Ramsey a top class midfielder?

"fucks up the team" were your exact words.

My view on Cazorla's position has changed twice. We he signed i wanted him to play on the wings with Wilshere to play the advanced midfielder.

Then few months into the season i was of the opinion that santi can play as the advanced Mid and should.

However after seeing him on the wings i am again of the opinion we need a proper 10 so santi can play on the wing. Its give us more options and also increases our effectiveness in the final third

asajoseph wrote:

Well that kind of depends on what sort of striker Benteke might turn into once you put him into a top team, with a little bit more experience.

Pretty much. Who knows what Benteke might become. If he quickly develops in to a world class centre forward a front line of Cazorla-Benteke-Walcott/Podolski looks pretty good to me. Definitely a massive handful for anyone.

Even if he just plays at his current level he should hit around the 25 goals a season mark and he's a nuisance for defenders in general play. Theres 2 or 3 strikers i'd take ahead of him but if we end up with Benteke i won't be upset.

Cazorla fucks up the team... The truth is - he is good enough and intelligent enough to be an asset to any team on the planet.

If we did buy Benteke i would be pretty happy with our forward and wide options. We'd still need certain players to step up a level, but the quality is there to do so.

Question would be, if Cazorla is going to be a fixture wide, is Jack really the answer at 10, and if not who else? Chambo? Rooney!? ;-) Personally i think Wilshere is a centre mid and thats where he should play always.