ToffeeWeb - Season 2008-09

The Mail Bag

Defensive Midfielder: The Key Position

I think most would agree that the key signings that need to be made this year are:

1. Moyes — New Contract
2. Moyes's No.2 — Steve Round (decent choice in my opinion)
3. Defensive Midfielder / Carsley's replacement

Hopefully 1 and 2 will be resolved shortly, however, the saga of No. 3 is ongoing.

We have been 'linked' with an abundance of players who allegedly fit the bill as 'Carsley's Replacement', namely:

- Engelaar
- Huddlestone
- Cana
- Diarra
- Mehmet Aurelio
- etc etc etc

Not forgetting the frightening talk of Neville and Jags being touted as potential suitors to that position and Fernandes coming back to revert into that role (while I would welcome him back, he is simply not a replacment for Carsley).

Purely hypothetical, but instead of chatting about the usual doom and gloom subjects, i.e. Kirkby, BK and KW, transfer budget, etc. I thought it would be interesting to know...

a) What players would ToffeeWeb readers be attempting to sign for the Defensive Midfield slot if they were in Moyes's position?
b) How much would they be prepared to spend on such a player to fulfill this role (bearing in mind the mumblings of our total summer transfer budget)?
c) How important do they feel a signing in this position is and/or are there other positions which they believe are of more importance for our progress?

I still fancy Albelda who we were linked with recently but he seems an unlikely target now that Valencia have a new manager and Mehmet Aurelio seemed ideal but that now looks unlikely (a deal has supposedly been done with Betis), the only other position I can think of who would be relatively cheap, seems surplus to requirements at his current club and who is experienced, is Gilberto Silva at Arsenal.

All thoughts and opinions welcome.

John McKie, Liverpool Posted 04/07/2008 at 12:13:16

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Comments

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Matthew Lovekin
1 Posted 04/07/2008 at 19:04:55

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Ideally, I’d like Lassana Diarra. I thought that we should have gone for him in January before he went to Portsmouth. Unfortunately, his value has probably trebled now he is actually playing games and showing what a good player he is.

A cheaper alternative is Torsten Frings. Older and would be a short-term solution, but the key point at the moment is.....cheaper!

Ste Kenny
2 Posted 04/07/2008 at 19:10:44

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I'd go for Yaya Toure of Barcelona. More of a Viera type than a defensive midfielder but could do the job.

IMO we need to relegate Osman to the bench and replace him with a more powerful box-to-box player. Perhaps if we did this we may be able to play a more expansive style.

Mark Cassin
3 Posted 04/07/2008 at 20:08:49

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Lorik Cana
12mil
This for me is equally important as a playmaker.

Cana and Moutinho would make my summer.

MIke Oates
4 Posted 04/07/2008 at 20:14:46

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In a direct answer to your question Fernades cannot play the holding role. He has too many tricks in his book and would be a liability - IN THAT ROLE-.

Now you either loathe Fernandes or love him. I personally feel he is going (with the right encouragement) to become a very good player playmaker. The thing I just cannot understand is, if Moyes actually wants him, which we all feel he does why isnt he here now, ready for a "full" pre-season training programme. He was desperately short of fitness when he arrived back in January and didnt show his capabilities until the last 3-4 weeks.

It either smacks of waiting for a loan option again or he is actually bottom of Moyes?s wish list in using whatever cash is available.
A loan option would demonstrate to Fernandes that he isn't really what Moyes wants ? and hey why go back for the 3rd time and go through is all again in 6-12 months time?

Connor Rohrer
5 Posted 04/07/2008 at 22:10:22

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Manny Fernandes as people have said is a deep lying play maker. He should be playing alongside the defensive midfielder. Hopefully we?ll get him. I think Moyes is looking for a loan because of the part ownership business, he probably also wants to be 100% sure that Fernandes is the real deal. That can only be judged over the course of a full season.

At the moment I'm leaning towards Alou Diarra for the defensive midfield role. I've mentioned him a few times as I believe he fits the bill of what where looking for. He's the right height, has excellent defensive qualities, is a proper athlete and is tidy in his distribution. He also knows the area, is at a good age, he's an international and he speaks English. He has the qualities to do well here and he's realistic.

He and Fernandes in the middle of the park would be a good blend in my opinion.

Jim Lloyd
6 Posted 04/07/2008 at 23:17:25

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I hope we go for Michael Bradley..but maybe that is as a longer term solution and we’d need an experienced player to fit right in. But he’s over 6 foot while the rest of our midfield are about 5’6. He can score goals, is athletic and, with Manny, might well start to provide the engine room we desperately need.If it comes off we’d also have a bloody young, energetic pairing, which could set us up for years.

Barry Heyes
7 Posted 05/07/2008 at 09:01:16

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We can still put a team out to beat Blackburn easy with the players that we have now if they are all fully fit! And If Liverpool fail to get Gareth Barry we should nip in and get him! A couple of class players are better than half a dozen average players!

Robbie Muldoon
8 Posted 06/07/2008 at 16:04:19

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Barry, nip in and get Gareth Barry?! What? We have absolouely zero chance of being able to even tempt Gareth Barry. We have a peanuts transfer budget.