Originally Posted by
Balinkay
With all due respect Noods, what exactly would you have them do if Alisson gets injured? Have Neuer or Buffon as backup? Ok, actually thinking about that it does sound awesome, but it's not realistic and the expected number of points such a huge outlay would win us each season is minuscule. Adrian is one of the best reserve goalies in the league - it's laughable to suggest we should have someone even better warming the bench every week. You should also bear in mind that outlays don't only come from player fees. As posted in an earlier thread, our wage bill for the last year iirc was on par with United and City's. That's the price of success, of course, but it's worth noting that it's among the highest in the game. And apparently wages are a far better predictor of on field success than transfer fees.
I also strongly disagree Salah's injury lost us the game in Kiev. It was Karius's brain farts that did that. Real were clearly the better, more experienced team. Sure we weren't as good without him, but any team would be worse for losing one of their best players. And Real were still the better and more experienced team with him on the pitch. However, I do completely agree we should have strengthened up top with Werner to make that with/without Mo gap a bit smaller. Apparently we'd agreed terms with him and he was keen to come, but we didn't want to spend 50m before assessing the financial situation (note that this does not mean "this summer" but rather "this early in the summer"). From what I read RBL told him he needed to go "now" and so he left.
A similar argument can be made about the game vs Chelsea in 2014. Chelsea had barely crossed the halfway line before Gerrard's slip. Need I remind you a draw would have still left the league in our hands? We were completely fine even without Hendo - all was well, then Gerrard slipped and it went south from there. Does Hendo being on the pitch magically give Stevie's boots more traction?
I do agree we should add more depth, but how many points per year do you think Lewis would win us that Tzatziki wouldn't? Jamal's a good player but I see no reason why the Greek should be any worse. And he's cheaper. Surely we don't want to be spending 20m on Downing or 35 on Carroll just because they're British again, no? Sid makes a good point that being prudent on the market lets you invest when sorely needed - like say with VVD and Alisson.
Edit: I do agree the cups are cool... but we all know they don't really matter financially.
In all fairness, Karius's brain farts only happened after he was smashed by their captain, if you recall.
The cnut got away with two episodes of violence against our players in that game.
There's too much confusion, I can't get no relief
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