Current transfer window and our targets

Just been reading tomorrows papers and it says that apparently Ince wants pennant for blackburn as a replacement for the unsettled winger, and insead of the most obvious choice of us going for a swap deal, pennant for bentley maybe eeven with some cash on top if needed, it is being said that the money from that crouch AND guthrie going would all go on the '20 million rated robbie keane'. Now im in no doubt that money is tight at the moment and we need to spend wisely but I was just thinking to myself, am I wrong to question rafa's thoughts on transfers this summer ?

The way I see it we only need two wingers now to be honest for a good setup for next season. With £20 million we could definately lure Silva away from Valencia and use Pennant as an option for a swap deal to bring bentley to Anfield but rafa seems to be so determined to land Barry and Keane, two players I feel we dont need. Dont get me wrong I would love to have keane playing for us he's a great player but at around £20 million and aged 28 would Silva to sort out that ongoing left wing problem not be a better option ? And Barry I its no fault of his but I am seriously sick of his name, we dont need him as we have enough strength and depth in the centre of midfield and with juventus cooling their interest in Barry what would we need him for, he's not good enough to be the solution to the left wing problem.

I seriously feel for once rafa is making the wrong moves in the transfer market. He has seen what buying a young and talented spaniard can do (Torres) so why not go for Silva when he already likes him, we have the man who took a large amount of responsibility in him getting where he is today, at our club already and we have the money to get him. Bentley is another young talented winger who brings alot to the table and would do well at a club like liverpool, we have shown interest so why not make a move for him.

In the case of Keane, alot of us have said countless times that fernando should stay upfront in a lone striker role but still want us to buy keane to partner him which I dont quite understand. Whats so different about Keane ? He wouldnt like to play in a wide forward position like babel and kuyt did last season as he likes to play down the middle so whats so different about keane partnering torres than every other stirker we have been linked to which has brought on comments suggesting torres is better as a lone striker ?

If Torres were to get injured (touch wood he doesnt), Babel could play there as could Voronin and Kuyt and even Nemeth (probably best with a strike partner). I know they wouldnt be a direct replacement for him given they (most likely) wouldnt get as many goals as he would but still we do have other options should he get injured. Do we really need Keane that much that we should spend so much on him rather than opt for Silva and/or Bentley.

Am I just being petty and being lured in by the prospect of the two players maybe doing well at the club and am I wrong or would barry and keane benefit us more ?

This has been a tough transfer window to cope with and I hope things pan out whichever way is best for us. Why do we seem so petty in the transfer market, When carson first when out on loan to Aston Villa the price was touted as £10 million for them to eventually buy him when the loan was up and i know this was messed up due to them being devious but i now see prices for him all beiing as low as £4 million. How has our asking priice got to as little as less than half of what it started as. We seem to work on everyone but our own terms in the transfer market and it really annoys me, the only instances in which it changes are when we dont necessarily need to sell/buy the player e.g. Alonso and Barry. Other than that it sounds strange but its almost asif we are bullied in the transfer market, into working on the other teams terms and not our own. 

I never really question rafas decisions much as I feel the man is a genius but this is one instance in which I think he could well be making the wrong decision and it worries me a little. I feel Silva and Bentley would bring us closer to a title challenge and maybe even lifting the title than Barry and Keane would.

Do people agree or disagree with me ? All opinions welcome

i do agree with you but do disagree with you also . i  would love to have keane and barry in the team, i think they'd increase our strength a lot, their intelligence of the field will compliment nando greatly, and now both barry and stevie will be able to spread passes to both wings to get a good wide game going. I know alonso can do this but it hasn't been seen too often and due to barry's left foot i think he would be better and also a real driving force. Keane is proven striker in the EPL and at times can be magical (was it Boularhouz he left on his arse? without even touching the ball),so him up top with nando i can only see as a huge advantage, his finishing is good, defenders wont know which to mark harder, him or nando.   But yet there is just no talk of the wingers which we so desperately need which is either worrying or promising.

Rafa is a very clever man, he has had to deal with people upping their prices whenever he mentions them, so all i can say is maybe he's keeping Silva and others quiet so no other teams like Chavski or Manure come in and trump us and we get priced out. So maybe the fact that Rafa is focusing all his attention on these two players which other big teams dont really need or want, he is diverting their attention away from his main targets i.e. Silva, so that he can complete the deal easily. That is why it could be promising he has said so little.

More over though, what we're all talking about really is paper talk, which is either complete crap or hugely exaggerated and speculated. The papers only want a story really if a striker goes somewhere else or the teams main player,so they make up junk that'll catch your attention. I do believe Rafa has more money than he is letting on, which is very wise and i do believe he can clearly see that the wings need strengthening. The Goateed one has got something up his sleeve me thinks.

Two fantastic and well thought out posts!

I feel that questioning Rafa's judgement is beyond me, to be perfectly honest. I'm not saying he has earnt our un-questioned loyalty since he arrived. The man has been magnificent, but I feel he can see things so much differently than ourselves.

People are questioning Barry arriving, yet it's his partnership with Gerrard in the England squad which lights up what is otherwise a pretty mediocre set up for England. They have good individual players, but this partnership is the first exciting thing to happen in a long time in that squad. It's something I look forward to Rafa incorporating next season.

Then there's his options of wingers. Bentley seems to be on everyones list. It may just be a smokescreen for Rafa going for someone no-one has even thought about. Or David Silva. You never really know with Rafa until he is pictured next to the fella holding a scarf! Jumping on the Bentley band-wagon might be Rafa's way of keeping the eyes off his final target.

There's the Robbie Keane scenario. People question bringing in another striker, and the validity of this with our current formation. Torres plays better up front on his own, he doesn't need a strike partner, etc. Last season there was the odd game where Torres was a little under the weather or was rested for a bigger match. We don't exactly have Crouchie to step in now, we need a quality replacement for him. Weird thing is though, not as many people have questoned the idea of another striker when it came to Villa! From a realist's perspective, Keane would be the much safer option than David Villa. As much as I'd love to see them pair up, Keane costs less. Has already did the Premiership thing with a couple of teams. More or less gauranteed goals. Not a bad second choice I say!

I hope, as Jonny has just mentioned, that Rafa does have more money than he is letting on. Let's be honest, Rafa spoke out when he didn't have substantial backing last time. He isn't exactly complaining at the minute. He's getting his head down and getting the players he wants in. It may be taking a while but Rafa is getting things done!

I don't think it's time to start sweating yet. The transfer window has been pretty quiet on the whole when you look at other teams. And from our position, we've brought in players as well as got shut of dead wood players. The rest of the 'Top 4' have players jumping ship, with not so many coming in!

Thanks for the replies.

The other problem i have with keane and barry joining is that it pretty much means no more 4-2-3-1. With keane partnering torres that means no more gerrard torres combo for a large part  of the season which was broght on by the 4-2-3-1 formation. And with that meaning an inevitable change to the rigid 4-4-2 that would mean barry and gerrard in the centre and no masch or alonso or lucas on the field. This is the kind of thing i mean, barry is good but not so good that he can do what mascherano does for us, with gerrard and barry in the centre alone it would mean not so much driving forward from steve, he would be back to the old drop back every minute to defend.

I think we saw last season a 4-2-3-1 suits us much more than a 4-4-2 and barry and keane would both fit into that formation and be happy without someone better than them being dropped in the process.

Maybe wants to be able to swap back and forth from the 4-2-3-1 and 4-4-2 to cater for different opposition. I do echo your sentiments though. Our formation last season seems to be the one for us!

Yet this could be where Rafa is bringing in players for entirely different reasons. We could be thinking of how Barry and Gerrard have linked up when you look at an England context, yet could have left wing stamped out for Barry. For example! We won't know until we see them in action next season.

I'm not sure we actually need 2 wingers... Everyone speaks of the infallible partnership between Stevie and Fernando being the main reason for so many goals but Torres was quoted on saying that Kuyt does the work of 3 players which then allows him to work his magic.. In other words Raffa will probably prefer Dirk to take one of the wings again which probably means we need 1 quality winger.

And like someone else mentioned in another post, i cant imagine Raffa getting rid of one striker without obtaining another..

An excellent point Chico.

Yet we do still need cover. Other than Kuyt, Babel and Yossi, that's about it really isn't it? We need a packed out squad if we're going to challenge anything this season. With competition for each place.

I think Barry is just above average I dont think he is a world beater I do like keane though I think he is a cheap option to david villa but think he could do just as well I think Silva would be great for us but I am sorry everyone I am not a Bentley fan I don't think he would give us any more than Pennant does, He would prefer to go to Spurs I only want players who would prefer liverpool ( like keane & Pennant ) I think we could get a bargain in shaun wright philips who i feel would a better job than Bentley Chelsea have ruined Him but I know Rafa would restore him it's what great coaches do I for one have every faith in him cant wait for new season to start

Interesting topic and the thing is that I believe a lot of supporters are on the same boat as you are.

 I can understand the Barry buy, I think he offers more balance and can work much better with Javi than Alonso did. It lets Javi simply stay back to hold and clean up the play as we see with him when he plays for his country rather than him trying to push up and attack. Also he can play the left side which is something people tend to forget so really he can be seen as filling an extra winger. (Though I would prefer Babel get a lot of playing time there).

The Keane issue is one that boggles me, not that question of talent because he is a very good player but where he fits and would he be happy being a bench player and making the odd start now and then. Also for a player in that role 20m quid is money that could be used to buy a Silva like lil cisse said who I think would slot in nice in the right attack mid side of the 4-5-1.