Can't lie; I think the bloke is brilliant. There's very little he can't do on a football pitch. He only turned 22 last month but he's got the composure of someone who's a decade older. He's Andrea Pirlo's favourite Italian youngster, and praise doesn't come much higher than that.
Nicolo Barella
Yep, was worried Chelsea would get him. This is the type of player profile we should be aiming for
I like him a lot too, but I don't think he wants to leave Italy. He rejected Chelsea in January for family reasons and Chelsea bid 50m euros for him.
how many of these CMs do we want though. Got Doozy and Torreira, AMN still waiting to get his chance, Xhaka not going anywhere soon. Plus Bielik also plays DM.
Doozy is 19 and still pretty raw, Bielik has never made a start for us, Xhaka is someone I'd prefer to move on, and we're going to lose our best central midfielder in a few months. We could definitely do with a replacement from where I'm standing.
Is Barella a CM in the Rambo mould? Didn't get that vibe from the youtube vids. I don't really watch Serie A.
Klaus wrote:Doozy is 19 and still pretty raw, Bielik has never made a start for us, Xhaka is someone I'd prefer to move on, and we're going to lose our best central midfielder in a few months. We could definitely do with a replacement from where I'm standing.
We could do with lots of players, but you still have to think about what we need the most. A winger and a CB are definitely needed before a CM. I could live Chambers or AMN as backup RB and Monreal and Kola as the LBs if it meant there was still money for a great CM though.
i'm not overly enthused with our midfield options. i think we do need a CM. if there's a quality player available we should go for it, and turf whoever is surplus.
Precisely. We are talking about a winger being a priority but how many wingers out there in the premier league are tearing it up week in week out? On the flip side, can’t you see how much a Ruben Neves type player would improve our side? A quality CM is the glue that holds it all together and takes the team to that next level. I’ll always go back to the Ramsey V Cazorla debates. Our team truly could only become a fluid unit once Cazorla was able to take the reins in the midfield. Personally I’d take a quality CM over a quality winger anytime.
I think the opposite was true personally. Cazorla was overrated as a central midfielder. Or rather, that midfield setup was terribly overrated. It left us with the absolute necessity of having a poverty player like Coquelin in there too, and then the wings didn't work properly because we punted Ramsey out there, or sometimes Özil, which just created a whole new set of problems up the field. That midfield was one big patchwork mess brought on by our unwillingness to replace Arteta properly.
banduan wrote:Is Barella a CM in the Rambo mould? Didn't get that vibe from the youtube vids. I don't really watch Serie A.
He's an oldschool midfielder in the sense that he plays where you tell him to play. He has the ability to do it all. But yes, I think he has looked best in a box to box role. He's defensively and tactically stronger than Ramsey but doesn't score as much. They share the same core instinct to always do something constructive with the ball. There's probably a good chance Juve would have gone after him this summer if our brain trust hadn't given them Rambo for free.
flobaba wrote:Precisely. We are talking about a winger being a priority but how many wingers out there in the premier league are tearing it up week in week out? On the flip side, can’t you see how much a Ruben Neves type player would improve our side? A quality CM is the glue that holds it all together and takes the team to that next level. I’ll always go back to the Ramsey V Cazorla debates. Our team truly could only become a fluid unit once Cazorla was able to take the reins in the midfield. Personally I’d take a quality CM over a quality winger anytime.
emery is searching for someone to play the banega role. hopefully it's not actually banega, though
Klaus wrote:banduan wrote:Is Barella a CM in the Rambo mould? Didn't get that vibe from the youtube vids. I don't really watch Serie A.
He's an oldschool midfielder in the sense that he plays where you tell him to play. He has the ability to do it all.
FM2018 agrees with this. Legendary bargain this guy.
flobaba wrote:Precisely. We are talking about a winger being a priority but how many wingers out there in the premier league are tearing it up week in week out?
City have three + Mahrez who would start for us every week. Liverpool have two, Chelsea have one. Martial would easily start for us as well, so would Rashford. Son obviously. So yeah, every team above us has at least a great winger.
These teams also have a steady, controlling, influence in midfield which is what provides the base for the forward line to be effective. Every now and then you will get the odd individual moment of brilliance, but without the stabilizing and driving force of a balanced midfield pairing the team will suffer in the long run. I feel the difference will be clear once we find that player that will influence our game consistently (and positively) from the middle of the park. And I think that should be the priority item on our shopping list this summer.
We need to replace Ramsey so a midfielder makes sense but Quincy is right too, we absolutely need a quality winger as he demonstrated well by all the good to great wingers our rivals have.
If we are going to pay big for an attacking mid like this we need to move Ozil on though.
The penetrating wide forward is a priority for us along with cenrtral defender. It's such a glaring omission from our squad. Earlier I mixed up Ljunberg and Overmars - when I meant to say the latter promises to bring De Ligt to Arsenal. Either way we need someone who can cut through defenses like one of those men and both create and score. Just think about the speed that these guys got on DB10 through balls, but also the trickery that Overmars especially showed in the box to lose men and make shots for himself. We need that
Barella is a quality footballer all around. Incredibly technical, beautiful passer - potentially developing a range like Modric. I would take him if he was readily available, but we would then need to shift other pieces to get in the wide forward and central defender. Remember we also need to get a goalie, unless we want to see Ospina rolling around on the grass 10 times a year.
Actually as long as your wingers are brilliant, most of the time you could getaway with a solid but uninspiring midfield like what Liverpool did, so I would always prioritise big attacking signings over CMs.
Clrnc wrote:Actually as long as your wingers are brilliant, most of the time you could getaway with a solid but uninspiring midfield like what Liverpool did, so I would always prioritise big attacking signings over CMs.
How are they getting away with it though? What have they actually won despite having attacking players like Suarez and Salah over the last few years? Zilch.
I think that's unfair. If we sign a brilliant CM and still don't win the league against City, that doesn't prove anything either. It's just that City have great players everywhere.
Clrnc wrote:Actually as long as your wingers are brilliant, most of the time you could getaway with a solid but uninspiring midfield like what Liverpool did, so I would always prioritise big attacking signings over CMs.
Well it depends on what style you are trying to play and where you want to be most effective. Liverpool clearly wants a pacy Forward line and quick, skillful wingers as well as good fullbacks are critical to that. They also utilize a high press and therefore the tackling and work rate is of greater value to them than creativity or inspiration from the middle. Their midfield is very solid. Minimal errors. Simple stupid. Retrieve the ball and get it forward to Sane or Salah ASAP. It has its advantages as obviously they can overwhelm you when it’s going well, but against a superior midfield that is able to retain possession and break through the press they will flounder and look quite ordinary.