*Official* English Football Season 2012-13

[Pothas]

Guess so, if they buy Lewandowski as well then you would have though Robben or Ribery would have to make way for him. I don't watch Bundesliga so have only seen him in Champions League where he has been very good but not noticeably better than the other great young talents in Germany. They all say he is the most talented though so have no reason to doubt that.

 

[Pothas]

Plenty of transfer news already with Fulham signing Boateng and Amorebieta on free transfers. Amorebieta will be fun, going to get sent off plenty.

 

[Uppercut]

That's far too simplistic a way to rate a striker.

Yeah I think they're more diverse than any other position. Higuain always tries to get in behind, Jovetic likes to pull centre-backs out of positon and drop deep to get involved in the play, Giroud plays a lot with his back to goal and thrives on crosses, Podolski heads straight towards goal and shoots early. It's really important how the rest of the team works around them, a lot of them look great in one system and hopeless in others.

I also think strikers at good clubs get too easy a ride (see: Rooney, Hernandez, Torres). Madrid's attack has been brutal this past few seasons, 20 goals a season for a striker that plays as high up the pitch as Higuain should be an absolute minimum.

 

[Cabinet96]

Gotze will definitely start for Bayern when he joins. I don't even think he's the best player at Dortmund, let alone in the Bundesliga, but he's Pep's personal signing, so he'll definitely make Pep's team. The question is, whether the Bayern Fans will be happy with it. Robben was already on the bench, and has only make the starting XI recently because Kroos is injured. Both of them could have their position in serious jeopardy next year. Although Furball seems to think Kroos is leaving.

 

[Pothas]

Would be mad to let Kroos leave surley. Where is he supposed to be going?

 

[Jarquis]

Yeah I think they're more diverse than any other position. Higuain always tries to get in behind, Jovetic likes to pull centre-backs out of positon and drop deep to get involved in the play, Giroud plays a lot with his back to goal and thrives on crosses, Podolski heads straight towards goal and shoots early. It's really important how the rest of the team works around them, a lot of them look great in one system and hopeless in others.

I also think strikers at good clubs get too easy a ride (see: Rooney, Hernandez, Torres). Madrid's attack has been brutal this past few seasons, 20 goals a season for a striker that plays as high up the pitch as Higuain should be an absolute minimum.

Go look how often he plays before saying something like that tbf. Its like expecting 20 goals a season from Hernandez

 

[Pothas]

I like Higuain but there is always something slightly unconvincing about him, generally been better than Benzema though. We can assume that Real are going to buy a striker if he is going to leave?

 

[sledger]

Arsenal better not end up with Benzema, which has also been mooted. Have never rated.

 

[Uppercut]

Go look how often he plays before saying something like that tbf. Its like expecting 20 goals a season from Hernandez

I know how often he plays. Take what I said as "a goal every two games", if you prefer.

 

[Jarquis]

Which he's managed comfortably at Madrid.

 

[Uppercut]

Of course he has. A goal every two games would be a minimum requirement and he's a better striker than that. But not by all that much.

How would you feel about Mario Gomez?

 

[Jarquis]

Think a goal every two games is a stiff ask as a minimum. There's a handful of strikers around the world who give you that on a season by season basis.

I love Mario Gomez but don't see him fitting as well. Would say he offers even less outside of the goals.

 

[Pothas]

Playing for Real? I think a fair few would and that is Uppercut's point. That is not to say Higuain would not be a good buy for Arsenal because I still think he would be an upgrade.

 

[Uppercut]

Think a goal every two games is a stiff ask as a minimum. There's a handful of strikers around the world who give you that on a season by season basis.

I love Mario Gomez but don't see him fitting as well. Would say he offers even less outside of the goals.

True, but most strikers offer much more outside of goals than Higuain. It's the kind of return Darren Bent got playing for **** clubs at his peak, it's hardly a stretch to expect him to score a lot more with a world-class support act.

Of course Bent was a bit of an extreme in how little he offers outside of goals (as is Gomez). Higuain's nowhere near that bad but he still doesn't offer very much.

I think it's telling how few really good sides play with a player like that, though. Bayern only stepped up to the next level when they brought in Mandzukic (who scores far less), and United immediately improved a ton when RVN left. Barca have no strikers, Chelsea at their best just played Drogba up front, Arsenal's best team had Bergkamp and Henry. Again it depends a lot on the system but I think those players tend to make themselves look good more than they help their team win games.

 

[Furball]

Although Furball seems to think Kroos is leaving.

?

I've always said that Manchester United should have broken the bank and chucked money at Bayern to sign Kroos.

 

[Furball]

How I'd expect Bayern to line up next season (should they sign Lewandowski)

                 Neuer

Lahm      Boateng      Dante      Alaba

                Martinez

   Schweinsteiger      Kroos

    Muller    Lewandowski    Götze

Other options:

Play Martinez in defence, put Götze centrally and Ribery on the left/Muller centrally and Shaqiri on the right.
Play Martinez in defence and develop Emre Can.

They've got an insanely strong squad. It'll be fascinating to see just how exactly Guardiola improves them.

 

[Ikki]

Gotta say I agree with Marcuss here. Higuain is a fantastic forward. Great finisher, very intelligent near the box and he does actually create assists too. If Arsenal get him they've got a great upgrade. I'd love him at Liverpool.

 

[Pothas]

Hate them for buying Gotze though and will even more if they get Lewandowski. It is just not right.

 

[Furball]

Hate them for buying Gotze though and will even more if they get Lewandowski. It is just not right.

Haha, in a way I'm glad they've signed Götze as it's reminded me that they're a club full of absolute ****s.

 

[Cabinet96]

Fun to play with them on Fifa too.




Nah seriously, they can **** off.