BD Condell,
okay our best midfield and offense is great, but there will be many times where one or two or three players cannot or should not play. What do you do then? The rumor of Mascherano for Touré (he just renewed) is not true, but the rumor of Mascherano AND Touré can be true as it gives us a lot of options, by putting Mascherano as DM and putting Touré in Iniesta’s position (his position in Ivory Coast and Monaco) or CB. This allows rotation and DM backup for ANC. Eto’o is gone for ANC, so what happens then? We need more players.
Thanks

I think Manchester United’s success over the years has been due to Sir Alex Ferguson’s shrewd transfer policy where gunning for the big names never takes priority over balancing the squad. While Man Utd have always had big name players, you will be better able to explain to everyone how Cristiano Ronaldo didn’t come to Old Trafford as the star that he has become but that he became the star while he was there. And that’s to SAF (apologies for the Americanized abbreviation) credit. I don’t believe that Nani is the successor. I don’t know who is. But believe you me there will be someone who fills the gap. That has always happened at United… when Cantona left it was Beckham..when Beckham left it then became (not overnight) Ronaldo… if anything we’ll wait and see if indeed it is Valencia who takes the reigns.

As for Barça I agree with the consensus here that “if it ain’t broke don’t fix it.” Yet some would say that such thinking is complacent in light of all the developments going on in Madrid. And it’s that feeling that could lead to rash and impulsive buying that plagued the club back in 2000. With the Eto’o situation still not crystal clear I believe that Barcelona should acquire another striker…whether that’s Villa or another, so long as he fits in with Guardiola’s long term plan. I think what’s clear though is that Barcelona need fresh blood in goal and one or two more defenders. Of course this is my assessment and if it was absolutely correct then I’d have Txiki Begiristain’s job.

But seriously, we have seen the Galaticos policy go south before. Football is a fickle business. This year’s superstar is next year’s has been (maybe not quite but you know what I mean).

You can be sure that in 2 or 3 years time some of today’s superstars will have slipped a little and there will be some new names on the table. The big clubs will pay big money for the here and now but there’s big money and then there’s just being silly.

I look forward to seeing how it all pans out.

By the way, after this weeks goings on if I’m Kaka I’m seriously pissed-off!

Don’t Messi, Iniesta and Eto’o already fit the bill in this respect? I don’t think there’s any question of Barca ‘going-off’ in the transfer market. They don’t need to.

Rumours so far suggest Villa for Eto’o and possibly Mascherano for Toure. Both like for like players who will maybe bring something extra and provide a little refresh. Other than that maybe they need to look at defence but then so do Real.

With Xavi, Mascherano, Iniesta, Messi, Henry and Villa providing a front 6 I don’t think they have anything to fear from Real and they have a settled and proven side whereas it remains to be seen how it all pans out at Real.