The Daily ITK Discussion Thread - SPECIAL EDITION The Weekend of 19/20th January

[wpd659]

Really good way for Levy to get the Holtby price down. He could talk to West Ham about Diame knowing it will leak out. And schalke agree to a lower price as even a lower price is better than Holtby just going for free in summer.

 

[Mr Pink]

I do not want Diame. Waste of time.

We need players who can actually pass the ball for our system to work. I don't want to go back to the groans of a Palacios or Zokora mishitting yet another pass.

I guess that is why AVB is desperate for Moutinho...

He's not like them though. As good as Palacios was, he never had the game by the scruff in an attacking sense from midfield. Diame is a serious driving force from midfield, extremely powerful and has some decent technique as well. You only have to watch his performance against Chelsea, who arn't exactly lightweight in midfield, to get an idea of how good this guy is. He bossed it, scored and was the reason why West Ham beat them.

He then gets injured, which was probably a blessing for teams coveting him, as he was playing extremely well. Had he not picked up the hamstring injury his stock would no doubt be even higher at this point - which always produces more competition/interest.

We need genuine cover for Parker/Dembele, this is crucial for me - he provides it, for a knockdown price which could also allow us to address our attacking options.

Lets not forget we just had the better of the best side in the League today, in every sense from start to finish. Every stat was in our favour, so there isn't that much wrong at the moment. Its the finishing, that's were we need to improve but ultimately that can be pricey.

 

[Gedson100]

I respect your opinion, but Diame is actually a pretty talented passer. He's completed 82% of his passes, and 32 of 43 long balls (74% which is pretty good), and has committed 0 (yes, 0) defensive errors in midfield that have led to an opportunity to score by opponents. We shouldn't forget that a lot of West Ham's play is more of a "hail mary" approach in sending long balls into the box and hoping for fortuitous bounces/falls.

In Diame's general passes (short-to-medium range which is more of our style from our holding 2), he has completed 87% of his passes (310 of 357).

Quality passing, dribbling and defense is what he brings to the table, and quite frankly I think at a price that will most likely triple once he signs a contract with us, it makes a lot of sense.

See, i'm irrationally against Diame as a signing so I wandered over to whoscored.com and Diame is the 40th highest rated player in the league and in regard to defined defensive midfielders is behind only Sandro and his team mate Noble.

So, for those in doubt (ie. me), it seems he's pretty good at what he does

 

[eddiev14]

I respect your opinion, but Diame is actually a pretty talented passer. He's completed 82% of his passes, and 32 of 43 long balls (74% which is pretty good), and has committed 0 (yes, 0) defensive errors in midfield that have led to an opportunity to score by opponents. We shouldn't forget that a lot of West Ham's play is more of a "hail mary" approach in sending long balls into the box and hoping for fortuitous bounces/falls.

In Diame's general passes (short-to-medium range which is more of our style from our holding 2), he has completed 87% of his passes (310 of 357).

Quality passing, dribbling and defense is what he brings to the table, and quite frankly I think at a price that will most likely triple once he signs a contract with us, it makes a lot of sense.

Interesting stats, but what we need is a midfield player who can recycle possession, be the heartbeat of the midfield and get our key players into dangerous areas to unlock tight defences.

If we can't get one in this window then I don't think we should panic buy just because Sandro is injured. We have good depth when it comes to players who can put their foot in and play a simple pass.

We need more guile, not more brawn. Imo

 

[Spurger King]

Just now?

Mentioned it about 40 minutes ago. Thinks we'll be bringing in a striker and a DM, with Holtby to be agreed this month.

 

[$hoguN]

I really don't think Diame would be a good signing tbh

 

[Spursidol]

Bit of light relief - Liverpool are complaining again about their scouting system being trolled by other clubs (after the Sneijder signing this evening), but consoilling themslves by talking of their next big siging !


Liverpool Union ‏@LiverpoolUnion
Do Galatasaray not have scouts, just stealing our players, at least we're still getting Villa

 

[EJWTartanSpur]

Sorry guys I was just thinking aloud re sub 10m pound strikers/attackers from Europe ie Kweuke. I agree, Bony, Son and Negredo if he could be got for around 10m, would all be better purchases.

 

[eddiev14]

Mentioned it about 40 minutes ago. Thinks we'll be bringing in a striker and a DM, with Holtby to be agreed this month.

This is good. This is good!!!

 

[Blackrat1299]

Bit of light relief - Liverpool are complaining again about their scouting system being trolled by other clubs (after the Sneijder signing this evening), but consoilling themslves by talking of their next big siging !


Liverpool Union ‏@LiverpoolUnion
Do Galatasaray not have scouts, just stealing our players, at least we're still getting Villa

I wonder who will troll this one

 

[Snarfalicious]

Interesting stats, but what we need is a midfield player who can recycle possession, be the heartbeat of the midfield and get our key players into dangerous areas to unlock tight defences.

If we can't get one in this window then I don't think we should panic buy just because Sandro is injured. We have good depth when it comes to players who can put their foot in and play a simple pass.

We need more guile, not more brawn. Imo

I totally agree in that we could use more of a Moutinho/Pjanic type of midfielder but as you alluded to I think the Summer makes more sense.

But, if Dembele were to go down, we have no realistic cover for him. Anyone that watched Diame at Wigan, or even Diame yesterday against QPR is aware of the similarities they share in that they can beat defenders one-on-one with relative ease, draw defenders to them, and simply find the man left available.

Diame is a very good DM if he's playing that role specifically, but he's also got that Dembele-look about him in attack. I'd be great moving forward if our 4 guys vying for time at the holding 2 were Livermore, Diame, Dembele and Parker. That'll be good enough to maintain similar styles of play should a Dembele/Parker go down.

 

[EJWTartanSpur]

Re - Jasper info

I don't know why people are just latching on to that now, he said the exact same thing last night, except people decided to gloss over it and get their knickers in a twist over all the other opinion/doomsday fluff that he added !

 

[kazzah9]

Bit of light relief - Liverpool are complaining again about their scouting system being trolled by other clubs (after the Sneijder signing this evening), but consoilling themslves by talking of their next big siging !


Liverpool Union ‏@LiverpoolUnion
Do Galatasaray not have scouts, just stealing our players, at least we're still getting Villa

I think he may be disappointed

 

[Berbatonghen]

http://m.talksport.co.uk/sports-new...-another-striker-january-transfer-window-1897


Pleaaaaaaaaaaaasssseeeeeee levy back this gorgeous portuguese man

 

[eddiev14]

He's not like them though. As good as Palacios was, he never had the game by the scruff in an attacking sense from midfield. Diame is a serious driving force from midfield, extremely powerful and has some decent technique as well. You only have to watch his performance against Chelsea, who arn't exactly lightweight in midfield, to get an idea of how good this guy is. He bossed it, scored and was the reason why West Ham beat them.

He then gets injured, which was probably a blessing for teams coveting him, as he was playing extremely well. Had he not picked up the hamstring injury his stock would no doubt be even higher at this point - which always produces more competition/interest.

We need genuine cover for Parker/Dembele, this is crucial for me - he provides it, for a knockdown price which could also allow us to address our attacking options.

Lets not forget we just had the better of the best side in the League today, in every sense from start to finish. Every stat was in our favour, so there isn't that much wrong at the moment. Its the finishing, that's were we need to improve but ultimately that can be pricey.

Fair enough mate. If we sign him then hopefully he'll work out. It just seems to me another buy that doesn't cure our need for guile and goals.

 

[cwhite02]

http://www.talksport.co.uk/sports-n...another-striker-january-transfer-window-1897?

AVB talking about we might be doing some business in the transfer window. Makes a change from him saying we won't be doing any!

 

[BPR_U16]

in regard to our forward situation.......

we have TWO forwards (proper established forwards I mean by this)

Defoe who is 30 years old
Adebayor who is 29 next month.

this means that we will have a new forward line in the next two years or so (you would hope sooner)

with this in mind...does anyone else hope that Aston Villa get relegated and we get a cut price deal for Christian Benteke in the summer!! potentially exactly what we need and with our belgium players at the club it would help him settle!!

Even if we sign someone up top this window, he should be someone we consider in the summer (doubt we could get him now!!)

are we not forgetting that we appear to have some useful forwards with U21 and NextGen team - plus of course Kane out on loan. (and i know there are lots of reservations about him).
Surely we should be hoping that as Defoe and Ade come to the end of their best years with us in the next two years or so, then these youngsters should have gained enough experience to step in......

I'm sure it's what DL would want otherwise whats the point of the academy

 

[Gedson100]

Did anyone worry when Thudd came on today?

I did. If you frame it as that, it could have been Diame coming on or Parker coming on for Diame today then it suddenly looks like a better idea.
With all the will in the world, we can't just rely on Sandro recovering and getting back to his best, it could be a hell of a long way off. Ironically, Thudd is exactly an example of how major injuries can reduce a player's effectiveness. It saddens me cos i've always liked him but we need to sign a solid midfielder to take Thudd's slot in the squad.

 

[Berbatonghen]

http://www.talksport.co.uk/sports-n...another-striker-january-transfer-window-1897?

AVB talking about we might be doing some business in the transfer window. Makes a change from him saying we won't be doing any!

Just about beat you to it mate lol

 

[eddiev14]

I totally agree in that we could use more of a Moutinho/Pjanic type of midfielder but as you alluded to I think the Summer makes more sense.

But, if Dembele were to go down, we have no realistic cover for him. Anyone that watched Diame at Wigan, or even Diame yesterday against QPR is aware of the similarities they share in that they can beat defenders one-on-one with relative ease, draw defenders to them, and simply find the man left available.

Diame is a very good DM if he's playing that role specifically, but he's also got that Dembele-look about him in attack. I'd be great moving forward if our 4 guys vying for time at the holding 2 were Livermore, Diame, Dembele and Parker. That'll be good enough to maintain similar styles of play should a Dembele/Parker go down.

Ah ok, that is interesting then. I hadn't considered him as a backup for Dembele. Interesting shout, so we're talking about maybe Parker holding and Diame carrying and going box to box?