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Saturday showed up a lot of our frailties away from home, but for me what it showed most was how a lack of pace, a lack of a threat in behind teams, is killing us.
A lot of the teams around us at the bottom have defenders with similar characteristics to us — big and not very mobile. For all the plaudits Dunne has received, and to a lesser extent Caulker, Saturday showed (if it hadn’t already), where we can easily be hurt — balls in behind. Getting in front of the striker to intercept a ball to feet, using strength to brush them off, winning the aerial war, Dunne and Caulker have no issue. They’re at their best when the games played in front of them. However, get a striker with a bit of movement and sharpness, one willing to run in behind and they look uncomfortable. In the case of Caulker (going on Saturdays performance), they look like a pub footballer.
Ings is not express pace, but he’s sharp and willing to run in behind. Every time Burnley hit a hopeful long ball he was in, hassling our back line, causing havoc. Us on the other hand, we never posed that threat. Austin’s a great finisher and improving his hold up play all the time but he lacks pace and rarely gets in behind. Our option from the bench was Bobby Zamora which also made for quite depressing viewing. So much space behind the Burnley back line which Zamora had rightly noted yet you just knew any through ball played, the guy wouldn’t have the legs to get there. The Damien Delaney’s of this world that we’ll be coming up against in our scrap for survival are big units that enjoy the game being played in front of them, they don’t want to be tested by runs in behind. Sadly we just don’t have this weapon available to us.
He’s not the popular choice and I have no idea about the sort of condition he’s in, but I can see the logic in getting someone like Defoe into the squad. Defoe is a striker that prefers facing the opposition’s goal rather than his own. That burst of pace and willingness to not only look to get in behind, but have enough in the tank to get away from a defender is something that we need. Without it, I can see us posing little threat to some of our relegation rivals, whilst with it we could begin hurting teams again, we could actually win an away game.
Vargas and the new guy Zarate look nippy to me Its just that they are not being used in the position you are suggesting Philmy (I appreciate its early days for Zarate) Although he looks a striker on the You Tube clips
I assume they weren't signed as wingers as we have two excellent wingers in Hoillet and Phillips ! Just one more of the many questions regarding Harrys signing policy !
"Dozens of strikers around Europe"? What? Johnny Foreigner?? But they'll be unfit, unproven in the superior Premier League and might end up not being triffic lads. I take your point but Defoe, Robbie and Crouchy are all good lads, good "around the place" and won't give a minute's bother.
Doesn’t have to be Defoe but a player of that ilk would benefit us. Countless long punts from Burnley caused us all sorts of problems on Saturday, simply because they had pace up front. On a few occasions we could have caused them similar issues but we just didn’t have the legs. Defoe would offer that. Obviously if we can get a younger, hungrier prospect that possesses similar attributes I’d be all for that, but if the choice is Defoe or another number 10, I’d take Defoe. He would offer a different option, one we’re desperately short of.
On the suggestion of moving Vargas further forward, I wouldn’t be against that. Would certainly be a quick fix solution.
According to The Sun, the 32-year-old has agreed a £14m deal with Sunderland. The Black Cats are set to give Defoe a three-and-a-half-year contract worth £80,000 a week.
the first time Defoe tries to use that pace he'll probably do a hammy.
apart from his age & wages, he seems to have also had quite a few injuries over the past 3-4 years that are strains, tears and generally muscle related; so unlikely to go away when thrown back into the EPL! (i know i shouldn't have but as he's been in the MSL it's what he'll now call the top flight)
They obviously feel that the lack of transfer fee will make the large contract worthwhile. It would be the equivalent of 7m transfer fee and 40kp/w, which might seem more feasible, although still far too much IMO.
It's worth taking this with a pinch of salt though, we all know the Sun has previous for absolute fabrication.
On a seperate point, I can't see Defoe settling in Sunderland, it's a long way from the dolly birds in Faces that he likes so much!
We were never in for him I don't think. Always wondered why a premier league team hadn't come in for him, although he hasn't had the best season with Wigan so far.
As sensible a signing as he would have been in years gone by, he's the last thing we need now.
Pretty sure Toronto have previously made it clear that they want to recoup a decent amount of the 10 mill they laid out.
Looking at that sort of money and taking Harry's quotes about loans only at face value (combined with the assumption that there have been some realisations about the stark results of chucking money at everything at board level) I reckon we are out of the running for him.
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