I said I was pretty happy with our transfer business at the conclusion of the window so it would be pretty cheap to start whingeing about just because we have made a poor start to the season.
Just a couple of thoughts though
- Despite being pretty happy with the Balotelli signing I nam already seriously questioning whether he was the right move. I like the effort he has been putting in and there have been some sublime touches but he is so different to the way we have generally set up to play I'm just not sure it will work.
- I remember when Fabregas was first linked with a move from Barca and most posters in the transfer thread said he was over the hill, a waste of money etc. What in fooks name were they going on about!
Were people saying that though Scott. I heard people having a similar opinion to myself and that's that he always seems to perform well in slowly ran games when he's given plenty of space but when pressured, basically in the big games, he seems to disappear.
It seemed to me the discussion wasn't if Fabregas was a good player, but if he was actually a great player, considering the price bracket we were talking about. At the time we were being linked with Muller, Reus, Benzema, Costa, Falcao, Isco, I find it funny because he's got a few assists against the small teams that he's being lauded as a great when against City he was pretty anonymous, one pass that almost made is all I saw from the lad even when City were reduced to 10.
We also had Coutinho coming off a great year in the hope he could kick on, we had Suso coming back and the managers main signing, Lallana, who would be competing for his position, most thought the money he would cost could be spent better somewhere else.
I don't think we spent our money correctly, but I do feel we aimed at all the right positions and Brendan got who he wanted. This will allow us to judge Brendan fairly this season, personally I think he's shopped at a store below the one I'd like. If I had lost one of the best players in the world I would make damn sure I had someone close to his talent coming in to soften the blow. A lot has been made of Luis being impossible to replace individually, of course that's true, but at the moment that argument seems to have devolved to the point that we shouldn't have tried to get as close as we can.
Maybe not Reus, who would have been my dream, maybe it could have been a Falcao, Costa, Muller, I don't really care who you choose to pick what I do think is that had any of our rivals lost their star player they wouldn't have been replacing them with Balotelli or Lallana, that I can be damn sure of. I actually think Balotelli has done well with us, but that's being fair on the lad without heaping too much expectation on him, Lallana I think has been poor and while for 15mins he had an impact against West Ham anyone with the ability to move further up the pitch would have because our balance to start the game was so bloody awful.
Overall we bought good players, hoping they'll become great players when we've lost a great player, it doesn't take a genius to work out those sides don't add up and we can expect to regress a little in the league this year, just how far though may depend on our defence more than attack. I think once we get Sturridge back Balotelli will kick on, Lallana will find it easier and generally our attacking play will improve, nowhere near last year but acceptable. Markovic is my worry as I like the kid but think he may end up being this years Aspas/Assaidi for some reason.
So to answer the OP, we've spent over the odds for some players, in time thanks to the current trend of football finance we wont lose out financially on this window but I don't think we'll really see the fruits of it until next year and I'm of the mentality now that I just want to see us get into the CL again by any means necessary, a title shot seems miles off.
