Sols has a point tho. I'll be surprised if we sign someone like Aguero. It makes little sense, considering we have a 50 mil striker partnership which still needs ironing out. And he's not going to come to play 2nd fiddle to Carroll and Suarez. I can only see us sign a defender or two max.

I bet that's sols.

I think Carroll will come good this coming season. Well at least i hope so. The club knows he requires good service and has gone trying to fix it. When all being fit, we will have Gerrard, Aurelio, Downing and Adam to provide all the service he needs.

There's also the possibility of going with Kuyt up top with the likes of Gerrard, Downing and Suarez supporting him. Kuyt is deceptively strong in the air as it is. Going down this route makes it more the vital to keep Aqualani tho. Just think about the amount of creativity and mobility we're able to unleash.

Relax fellas. By tradition, we always seem to have a slow start and this season is no different and especially considering we have bought some new players. Buying new players don't necessarily mean we're going to start steamrolling teams. Almost half the team only had several hours of having played together so it's no surprise that are still issues need to be sorted out. Realistically, they need time gelling and getting used to whatever system Kenny has set in place. It's way to early to begin judging our performance.

Really enjoyed the match. It was no cutting edge football by any means, but it was not terrible football either. We were just retrained but i think that's more to do with Kenny wanting to try one or two different things. Loving the fact that we can call Meireles and Suarez off the bench to put the nail on the coffin. It's been a while since we're afforded such luxury.

Performance wise, i thought Carroll and Henderson were the only exceptions to otherwise a good display from the team. But it's not something i'm overly concern with. Lucas had a torrid time adjusting and getting accepted, and look at him now. Carroll too, i hope, will come good. Defensively there were few lapse of concentration here and there but otherwise they were solid. Enrique was very calm, almost too calm for the other's defenders liking lol. He was just composed and looked to play short passes even when under pressure. Good player. Really impressed with the midfield duo of Lucas and Adam. Not the quickest and toughest combo but they were clever to position themselves and were quick turn defense to attack, which was good to see. Downing looked lively and was a very mobile outlet for our mid to distribute the ball to. It was very well balanced side which Arsenal had trouble breaking down.

Overall, we did alright. The team still needs improving and it's soemthing i think we all need to be patient with. Rafa's team did not even peak until his fourth year. That's not to say we're gonna have to wait that long. Just that all teams need to go a certain process to grow before becoming a well oiled machine.

Maxi just sits around to collect money ? Why would you say that ? Because he's not a flashy youth ? I think you understimate his worth to the team. He's not exactly getting younger but experience can be quite useful to the team. Youth is not the answer to everything, just look at Arsenal for example. Unlike Cole, Maxi is a lot more professional, he keeps fit and do his job whenver required. He's a very useful squad player. He can play in several positions, that may not count for much given his age but should luck desert us and we'll find ourselves in some crisis, you gonna wish we have someone like him. He will get game time because the likes of Kuyt and Downing will not be able to play all season long, that is if they don't get injured first. The best of teams rotate their players regardless of their abilities. Also retaining him helps to keep morale up amongst the spanish speaking players like Suarez, Reina and hopefully new players like Coates.

It's not only his game that suffers when the team plays badly. A lot of other players are affected by that as well - football is after all, a team sport. If you think back, you'll be able to recall how Lucas got the same thing thrown at him, that he only played well when the team played well. If you're gonna use Suarez as a stick to beat Maxi with, then why not use it against other players when their form dipped whenever Suarez didnt take part in the game ?

Maxi is not a conventional winger, he's just a modern attacking forward who can play in various attacking positions. He's not the greatest player in that position but he's not terrible in it either. You could say the same for most of our players too but that's not all that important. The important thing is his ability to play along sides his team mates. As Kenny puts it, his strength is his football intellect. Give Maxi's brain to Babel and you'll have a killer footballer. If i'm not mistaken, just last season he had the highest ratings of creating non converted chances. His assists ratings would be unquestionable had those chances been converted. At the moment, he's still alot better than most of the lads from the Academy.

Imo, it's not important to get world class or 9/10 type of players. You can get away with lesser players just as long as you can get the whole team operating at optimal level. Especially when Maxi is now being used more as a squad player - a security blanket. It's far cheaper to keep him than it is to replace him.

And he scored a hattrick when Kenny recalled him. Players can and will drop their form, that's just part of the game. Even Gerrard can have a series of bad games. I still think he will feature a fair bit in the league, especially coming towards the end of the season. We will have to rest few key players in between to maintain high fitness and that's not counting the possibility of injuries and suspensions. This season is gonna be twice harder than last one so we're not gonna simply waltz our way into the top four. And the FA cup is not a bad competition, it may end up being our only way of getting a european spot.

I agree dude. He's now got some hell of a experience playing for some big clubs. Liverpool, Galatasaray, Boca Juniors and now Sporting Lisbon. That's pretty impressive resume for someone his age. Hopefully he returns to the epl one day.