1) What is world class exactly, because Modric would be nowhere near my 'World XI' and I don't rate him above the likes of Sneidjer, Xavi, Iniesta, Fabregas, etc. He is a great player, but is not as good as you make him out to be and I wouldn't pay £35m for him, although prices are inflated nowadays.
It varies, I would consider Wayne Rooney WC yet he wouldn't get into my World X1 or near it. I would say that to be WC you have to be in the top 7/8 in your position in the world. I would definitely consider Modric WC and I am definitely not the only one, Fergie springs to mind.
2) You talk about experience but how is McEachran going to get it if Chelsea sign a first team player, blocking his path. Fabregas, Xavi and Iniesta were all given chances rather than Barcelona/Arsenal going out and buying a multi-million star. 3) Chelsea should go out and buy someone younger than Modric to compliment their ageing squad - maybe Pastore (if PSG hadn't got him)?
It's not difficult to rotate players nowadays you know? By signing Modric it wouldn't mean that McEachran wouldn't get any game time. Xavi wasn't even really given that much of a chance until he was 24ish anyway so thats a pretty poor point.
You said Modric was too expensive...but say that Chelsea should have signed Pastore for €43m?
3) People make such a big deal about the Premier League being the roughest and hard to adjust to, but really, let's be honest Sneidjer is a lot better and would probably do well in the Prem too.
You say that, but Sneijder flopped in the La Liga and has only really come to fame in the Serie A/Eredevise and we've seen before that players coming from Serie A can flop in the perm i.e. Shevchenko...
4) He has 5 years on his contract and 'Arry is so stubborn and stupid, in my opinion (I really dislike 'Arry), and overrates his top players. Bale (who has had 2, if not, 1 great season) for £50m? No thanks.
Sigh, What is he supposed to say? He wants to keep our best players so he warns clubs off by putting bigger price tags on there? What should he say? "He's our best player, but were not bothered if we sell him, 20m will do"?
5) I don't believe in the 'selling to rivals strengthens them' bullshit. You get money from the deal to spend on other (maybe better) players, don't you? So there you go.
How do you suppose that a team without CL and a huge wage structure is going to attract a top class player to replace Modric then? Think it through.
Modric is probably better in advanced positions, but McEachran has more potential (in my opinion) and you don't have to watch Modric at 18 to know, you can just tell by his assists, goals and probably what club he plays for/caps for his country.
As I've mentioned before, with better strikers up front it is very very likely that Modric would have got more assists last season, but he did play a very deep role.
Still, you are being very biased towards Modric. I agree he is a great player (better than McEachran currently) and Spurs should keep him, but I think he is worth £35m max and McEachran should be given a chance to prove how good he is in the Premier League - he scored against Aston Villa in Asia, didn't he?
In terms of his value to other teams he is 35m max yes I agree, but it terms of value to us, he is far more.
Plus, Villas-Boas seems willing to give the Chelsea youth a chance and should be able to lead them to the Premier League title without any new additions to the squad.
Chelsea consider fresh Modric bid
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That was before Wenger had to spend low, but the point remains.
Even my point remains.. Jeffers is/was a legend. See whose name you are using now..
Even back then Wenger was not spending big apart from Henry or he could have got Ronaldo..
Luka's first season in the PL was very slow for him and he struggled without a doubt. He found his feet when given the deeper role where he could start attacks and thats where he still plays today and will do all the time he is playing in the PL. And i know this because if you remember correctly he nearly joined Chelsea but chose Spurs and at the end of his first season i said thank **** for that. But now of corse i wish he chose us but thats because he has now found his place/position/role in the PL.
For the love of...
Look, McEachran is very promising, I said that above. And you remember incorrectly - I really rate him. However, I'm preaching caution, not that that we should call him ****. You said earlier that he 'will be better than Modric' and we don't know that, however highly rated he is. All I'm saying is it is ridiculous to be saying stuff like that when he can still fail. More to the point, statements like the ones you were making is one of the reasons our youth sometimes don't perform. The pressure on them is enormous, and with statements like that you're only fuelling the fire.
That was before Wenger had to spend low, but the point remains.
Im not putting any pressure on Josh at all, its not like im texting him every day saying "you will definatly be amazing, now go do it". Im saying when a young lad like him comes around you should praise him and talk about what he could become not whether he will fall from grace or not, its depressing.
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CJ, largely agree with what yuo just posted, but have t pull you up on Sneidjer, didnt flop in La Liga, just wasnt given lots of chances, (same with Van der Vaart), but he largely excelled when given them, had a very good first season
CJ said:
Xavi used to play from young age, just that he used to play second fiddle. He was not the main man in the CM untill 2006.
Sneijder didn't flop in La Liga. Had superb first season then his second season okish as he was injured by Diaby and he missed large part of the season. He was sold as he didn't fit Madrid Galactico policy. Not anywhere near flop..
Yeah, that's just... not true. At all. Really. He found his feet playing on the left wing, if anything.
That's not the point. You're still pressurising him in your own small way. Let him develop ffs: there's a reason why great managers like Ferguson shield their youth from media exposure as much as they can. See how he does in a proper season, give him two years and THEN say that he could potentially be better than Modric, not immediately say that he will be now.
Ever heard of the phrase 'compliments going to their head'? Didn't come around from nothing. It happened to better players than McEachran - Ronaldinho, for one - and it could happen to him too.
First season he was still adapting to the league, also have to consider the league he came from. Then next season he was very good. Played many games from left side, I think only last season he played as CM or from business end of second season with Spurs..
Your first point is debatable, i thought he was poor/average in his first season.
On McEachran Chelsea have shielded him and he only done his first interview to the worldwide media last week. I said i think he will be better than Modric not that he definatly will, its just my prediction thats all. Although it dosent happen often i am wrong sometimes still. Ronaldinho reached the top of his game for 2-3 years so i wouldnt say it went to his head. It just runs in alot of Brazilians heads the Rio Carnival/party/drinking lifestyle thats all.
I don't mind if Chelsea buy Modric for max. 35 million if he plays in an advanced position. That's what we need, and he showed at Dinamo Zagreb that he can play AM very well (and get goals and assists). However, if we are going to get him and play him in the deep-lying role then I wouldn't pay a penny over 30 million, we don't need somebody who can play deep. We have McEachran who likes to come deep for the ball and although he prefers playing higher up I'd like to see him cover either deep or advanced when needed. We have Mikel who has all the ability to play deep-lying playmaker, the same goes for Oriol Romeu and there's also Lampard who might be played deeper this season.
There's players I would prefer to Modric, but if we buy him and play him in an advanced position where he can get goals and assists (more importantly assists), then he will do because we need somebody who will help Torres get goals!
There's players I would prefer to Modric, but if we buy him and play him in an advanced position where he can get goals and assists (more importantly assists), then he will do because we need somebody who will help Torres get goals!
Thats what i said lol, i said his first season he wasen't that great but then he found his place from his 2nd season onwards and has been very good.
---------- Post added at 07:07 PM ---------- Previous post was at 07:05 PM ----------
McEachran seems to play better when played further forward, in 2 years time i'd be happy with a midfield 3 of Mikel-DM, Ramires-roamingCM and McEachran-number8/10.
Fair enough, don't watch much of the La Liga myself, but was going on reports.
When Luka first came, he was adapting to the country and he was working with Juande Ramos, a manager who couldn't speak english. That was the season when we went 2 points from 8 games. You can't expect him to excel in a new team where the moral was awful instantly. Then when Redknapp came in he moved him from AMC to LM where he was brilliant, controlling our gameplay, drifting inside and attacking. Then when Bale burst onto the scene a season later, to accommodate everyone, he shifted Modric into the Middle where he got even better.
Modric only really struggled in the opening games under Ramos, which given the circumstances, is understandable.
And what about the next 2 years? We need an advanced playmaker now. Josh can cover deep and advanced very well for now; playing when players are unavailable or out of form. And when I say deep I don't mean Mikel deep, I mean Xavi deep. And there's nothing to say Modric and McEachran couldn't play together. Bit like Barca with Xavi and Iniesta, with one deep and one more advanced...
fffffffffffffffffff Modric
McEachran
ffffffffffff Mikel
But then in a couple of years it could swap, as Modric loses pace and McEachran reaches his potential. Or they could even swap within the game, as McEachran did with Lampard at times against Villa. But, personally the thing I would prefer the most is if we start rotating more, as much as I hate to say it - like United do.
EDIT: Also, the midfield trio is not necessarily what I think it should be now or in a few years, but it's just an example. It could be different, especially with Romeu who could challenge Mikel and Essien may well still be here and back to his best. Then there's Ramires who was very impressive in his first season and it will be interesting to see where he plays in the midfield, maybe it could be that we use rotation like I suggested. Then there's obviously Lamps and Benayoun, but I prefer Benayoun drifting in and out of a wide position.
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Modric and McEachran could play together for sure, Mikel roving behind them
Ah, wow.
You made up some details about how Modric isn't versatile, got proved wrong, then decided that Modric was poor in his first season to back up your point, and again got proved wrong. Now its all 'debatable' and it 'doesn't matter'. Sigh.
Stubborn little ******* lol
But that's not what the debate was about was it? You said he isn't versatile, about a billion people proved you wrong and you, as usual, half back-down and half stand your ground - refusing to admit you may have been wrong - before finally going completely off the point.
Modric can play in a more advanced position, wide-left, or in a deeper role as he has been doing recently. Who knows? Malouda might have another poor season, or he might get injured - is Zhirkov good enough? Modric could certainly be used to cover that area if there's an injury/whatever.
You can't just dismiss these things as if it's a fact that Modric will never play LM for Chelsea (if he signs). It may be your opinion, but the way you post makes it seem as if you're presenting it as gospel. Like saying "McEachran will be better than Modric".
Sorry - had to get that off my chest.
Meh, i like Ramires too much to leave him out.
I never got proved wrong in my head, i stand by my view that he wasent great or even fully noticed until he was given his deeper role. It is all debatable the whole game is, we have been debating right from the off lol.