Sorry about the multiple posts btw, I know I could edit but then I'd have really long posts that some people wouldn't feel like reading. Also, when typing something as long as this is bound to be, I could be editing a post which is like 5 posts back now and people might not even see.
I will talk about United, but I want to talk about Newcastle first. I was thinking about one of United's potential target's, Gareth Bale, and thinking how he'd be better going to somewhere like Newcastle initially.
I used to really like Newcastle, fun team to watch. There was a time when they had Shearer, Les Ferdinand, Asprilla and Ginola and they were fantastic. Now they just infuriate me. A combination of their players being injured all the time (which I do not believe is just down to bad luck as it's gone on far too long, whether it's their pitch or their training ground or the amount they train or whatever, ****ing sort it out), using all the money to buy forwards when they need defenders and doing far worse than they should be with the players they have really gets on my tits. Oh, and in the past they've spent stupid money on useless players, like Luque or Boumsong.
Maybe I'm being overly optimistic, but I think next season they're going to turn it around. They're going to buy defenders this summer, have a normal amount of injuries and play like they should.
They have good players already, in a lot of positions. A lot of people say Shay Given is the best keeper in the Premiership, and even those who don't will admit he's right up there. In midfield Parker's one of the better defensive midfield players around, Emre is a great passer, Solano puts in good crosses and Duff can still be dangerous to any team. Up front Martins has been a success, already scoring 16 goals this year and could easily break the 20 mark and Owen, when fit, will almost certainly break the 20 mark.
They don't actually have the worst defensive record in the Premiership this season, not by a long shot. But I put that down to their team having to defend more as a whole and players like Given and Parker/Butt than I do their actual defence. And given the amount of money they have and spend, they should have a lower goals conceded number.
I genuinely believe that, with a little bit of luck and some new defenders, Newcastle have what it takes to challenge the top 4. They wouldn't be favourites to make it into the top 4, but they, along with Tottenham, have the money and players to capitalise on any slip ups from any of those teams.
Now I've heard Emre might be sold in the summer because of his alleged racist comments, so I'm going to leave him out of things, but I'm not convinced it's true and wouldn't be surprised if he stays.
Here's my Newcastle team:
-------------------Given-------------------
--------------------------Moore-----------
Solano------Dyer------Parker-------Duff
-------------Owen------Martins-----------
Personally, I'd scrap their whole defence, but I doubt they're going to do that. There's more of a chance of 3 defenders coming in and them keeping one of the current ones, which would help a lot, but I can't decide who I'd keep. I've gone with Craig Moore, but only beccause he's been injured for most of his time at Newcaslte so I can't really blame him.
They have pretty good reserves as well:
Given - Harper
(their current defence would become their reserve defence, so Babayaro, Bramble, Taylor, Carr etc)
Solano - Milner
Dyer - Emre/new attacking creative player bought with money from Emre's sale
Parker - Butt
Duff - N'Zogbia
Owen - Ameobi
Martins - Sibierski
Now, who to buy. First of all, try and get Gareth Bale. For those who don't know, he's a Welsh 17 year old left back who currently plays for Southampton. He's a free kick specialist and I believe he's recently won young championship player of the year. Now it's going to be tough to get him, apparently United and Spurs put in bids in January, but he decided to wait until the summer to see what his options are. Arsenal and Liverpool are also hovering around and Spurs' bid was reportedly £10m, so it's going to be at least that much. Now you might ask, why would Bale goes to Newcastle over these other teams? On the face of it, no one's going to join Newcastle if United come in for them too. However, if he thinks about it sensibly, Newcastle might be a better choice.
First of all, he's 17. Just 18 by the time next season starts. He can sign for a 4 year contract at a club like Newcastle and either be free to leave when he's 22 or more likely be sold if he's refusing to sign a new contract at 21. That's still really young and a lot of time to play for one of the best sides. Or, if things are going great at Newcastle, he can stay there if he's happy. The second reason is...will he actually play at the bigger sides? United have Evra, probably the best left back in the league. Yeah, he replaced Heinze himself, oen of the former best left backs in the league so it's possible, but it seems to me more like United would be buying Bale as a player for the future. Liverpool have quite a few players who can play at left back too. Will he displace Riise? Perhaps, perhaps not. Probably has a better chance than with Evra, but I wouldn't say he's guaranteed first team football yet. At Arsenal it depends how much Wenger rates Clichy. I would say they're his best chance as a big side, but will they really pay that much money for him? And still, no guarantees of first team.
If he's thinking like that, and just wants to establish himself, Newcastle or Spurs would be the better choice. A hard decision, I would say both could afford equal wages, both have strong chances of Europe, both have good players to play with. Newcastle have the larger stadium, better fanbase and you're more likely to become a hero, but Tottenham have a good stadium too and are situated in London. I don't care what Newcastle have to do, they need to make sure THEY get him.
Okay, so that's player 1. Two more to go, and quite a lot of money has been spent getting Bale. That's okay though, thanks to the wonders of relegated teams.
This is jumping the gun, West Ham aren't even relegated yet, but Lucas Neill should be available on a free. Definitely pick him up, Newcastle will be a side which appeal to him and he plays in positions which most of the big teams have well covered, even Spurs. Chelsea still want a right back, but have shown no inclination to buy Neill before so I don't expect them to this summer either. Liverpool will no longer be interested, they've bought Arebola and are probably pissed of at Neill turning them down anyway.
Now the question is, is Neill going to play right back or centre back? That very much depends on who else they get. If Upson has a release clause (or if West Ham are just willing to sell), get him for centre back and play Neill at right back. If not, Charlton may well be willing to sell Luke Young, their right back. Another possibility is Anton Ferdinand, but I suspect West Ham are going to try to get as much money as possible for him.
So their new team would either be:
-------------------Given------------------
Neill-------Upson-------Moore------Bale
Solano-----Dyer-------Parker------Duff
------------Owen-------Martins----------
or
-------------------Given------------------
Young------Neill--------Moore------Bale
Solano-----Dyer-------Parker------Duff
------------Owen-------Martins----------
Also, if Emre does go a possibility might Sidwell, who's had a great season at Reading but has yet to sign a new contract and might be able to leave on a free this summer. He's said he might still stay at Reading though, given how well they've done.
Then, if they have any money left, they can feel free to buy Crouch or Ahston or Bent or whoever.
I think that's a really strong side. Maybe not the finished article, but easily good enough to take 5th/6th place and then maybe the next summer they can use their money to buy a couple of really good players to finish it off and push for the CL. Of course, their worry then might be that Owen only has a year left on his contract and if he's not signing, they might have to sell or risk losing all that money they paid for him. At 28 he'll still be one hell of a tempting buy.
