So who are we going to buy?
Regular reader, and occasionally writer, Premandup has written another article for us all to digest. The focus, as I'm sure is the case with many people, is on who we should be looking to sign during the summer. Here goes.
Personally speaking I want to see at least two experienced players for each position. To me that is a minimum if we are to have a team that can compete throughout the season and survive such injury problems like we've had this season. If we can do that we can then keep the kids as a bonus we'd be covered for even the most harsh injury crisis.
Where to start though? I guess the easiest way is to break it down into positions otherwise we'll end up in a free-for-all. Hopefully you'll find this interesting as I've picked some altogether different names for us all to ponder.
Goalkeepers - Easy - none needed. We are fine in that department. It's going to be an interesting pre-season as there is going to be a battle for number one, and a winner is far from obvious as yet.
Defence - We have three decent centre-backs plus Tamas Kadar. Personally I think an extra central defender would be nice. Someone with Premier League experience, but not too expensive, like James Tomkins from relegated West Ham.
Left/right-back - If Jose Enrique stays then I would still buy Cheik M'Benge or Mamadou Sakho as have needed an extra left-back for heaven knows how long. If Jose gose (like the typo?) then buy both. Simpson is OK, James Perch isn't, so how about Guy Demel on a free as an option at right-back?
Midfield - Cheik Tiote is immense, but we have no real decent back up so young Victor Wanyama (19) from Germinal would be a good shout. I then want to see good central midfielder either side so that if we need a five man midfield we have one. Joey Barton is one, and he can also play backup on the right side of midfield. On the left we are playing Jonas as a winger. He is out of position in my view. I personally would like to see Ozan Ipek playing on the left of a three man midfield. He wouldn't be cheap, but he would come.
Attack - In case you haven't guessed I'd play Hatem Ben Arfa behind the main striker with Kevin Nolan in an advanced position linking play. If we sign Stephen Ireland he would provide competition for places, but I would also like to see Jonas play there. This means we have width and creativity again, at last. If we had Seb Larsson it would only be to keep Ed happy. Up front I'd like to see young Kolbeinn Sigthorsson as cover, but for my main front man I would go for Yevhen Seleznyov. He's 6' 1'', 25-years-old with 65 goals from 124 games. He is also a Ukrainian international.
Width - Personally I think that the width comes from the back rather than outright wingers. My logic is that when we need to control the midfield we have three midfielders in the centre, namely Ipek, Tiote & Joey. When we need to attack wide then we can bring three players into play like, Jose, Ipek and Ben Arfa or Danny Simpson, Joey Barton and Kevin Nolan. Surely we can generate enough crosses from those players? However, an out-and-out winger is appropriate when the circumstances demand it, and therefore buying one would not be a bad idea. Antoine Griezmann would fit the new NUFC profile.
To summarise - I'd like us to sign Ipek & Seleznyov to strengthen the starting XI, with seven new players to strengthen the squad. Is it going to happen? Of course not, but that in my opinion is the scale of the problem.
I've not included the likes of Shola Ameobi, Leon Best, Xisco, Alan Smith, Ryan Taylor, James Perch, Peter Lovenkrands and Danny Guthrie. Also I've not included any of the youngsters, however I am convinced they will start to emerge next season. So it may well be that we may use these players to only buy three or four of the squad players.
If we could make transfer movement something like this then we'll not only have a competitive squad for next season, but we'll also have cover all over the pitch aswell as the ability to change formation on a game by game basis.
What do you think?
