The Wish List

[Arsenal in Aus]

When I heard the news about Smalling this morning it made me sick. I had been thinking "Wenger's actually gone for an almost ready-made player rather than a 12-yr-old for a change, great!" only to read we'd been outbid.

This is how ManU stays on top!!! They spend the money!!! As their CBs (or any other players) age, they buy quality replacements. If Wenger had upped the offer and actually signed Smalling, not only would we have a great defender in the squad, but we would have prevented Manu from having him - it's a bit like a six-pointer in the league. It's possible we wouldn't have succeeded even with a higher bid, but surely we could have gone to great lengths. The club earns $3 million more per home game since we moved stadium, and that's after repayments. The money is there!!! I'm very upset.

 

[Anzac]

With Gallas looking like extending AW probably thinks Smalling would be 4th choice with JD back next season.

 

[Captain]

When I heard the news about Smalling this morning it made me sick. I had been thinking "Wenger's actually gone for an almost ready-made player rather than a 12-yr-old for a change, great!" only to read we'd been outbid.

You mean like Sol Campbell, or Tweety, or Vermaelen, or Arshavin....

 

[Klaus Daimler]

When I heard the news about Smalling this morning it made me sick. I had been thinking "Wenger's actually gone for an almost ready-made player rather than a 12-yr-old for a change, great!" only to read we'd been outbid.

We're talking about the same Chris Smalling? The one who just turned 20 and has made four league appearances for Fulham in his career?

 

[Accomplished]

John Cross on Twitter says the deal still hasn't been done:

http://twitter.com/johncrossmirror/status/8272445571

#ManUnited have edge over #Arsenal on #Smalling. But why was Smalling so deep in thought after #Sp**s game?


Dunno what this all means, and I'm not expecting us to sign him, but it'd be nice.

 

[progman07]

It'd probably be a good signing for the future, we are short of young defenders who have future here, but it's nothing to lose sleep over. Our defensive problems start at the goalkeeper and the lack of concentration as a team, until we sort that out, we can have any centre back, we'll concede anyways.

 

[Illusion]

I love how people automatically talk down a player if it seems like we wont get them and talk them up if we seem like we might get them.

Smalling is going to be an England international defender, he has bags of potential and is already a rather good defender at 20. He's very tall and has strength enough to hold off the likes of Drogba as well as the ability to beat Crouch in the air (no mean feat).

Just because he's appeared on the scene with relatively little hype doesn't mean he's no good. Plenty of hyped players go on to achieve absolutely nothing for various reasons. Talent will only get you so far, especially in English football.

Make no mistake, Smalling is going to be a big player in the future and we will regret not signing him for the sake of a couple of million, especially when we actually have more than enough money sitting in the bank.

I'd trade Theo Walcott for Chris Smalling anytime. One of them has hype but almost nothing to back it up and the other has no hype but enough quality showing through already.

 

[USArsenal]

John Cross on Twitter says the deal still hasn't been done:

http://twitter.com/johncrossmirror/status/8272445571

#ManUnited have edge over #Arsenal on #Smalling. But why was Smalling so deep in thought after #Sp**s game?


Dunno what this all means, and I'm not expecting us to sign him, but it'd be nice.

wtf is john cross smoking?

 

[Klaus Daimler]

I'd trade Theo Walcott for Chris Smalling anytime. One of them has hype but almost nothing to back it up and the other has no hype but enough quality showing through already.

Well, you (and others) are certainly doing your best to change that. On the contrary, I'd say. The main reason Smalling is getting so much attention right now is because he's english.

Seriously. The kid has played four games. How ridiculous to compare him to Walcott (who doesn't even play on the same position). This is exactly what people talk about when they're referring to english players being overpriced. Smalling is older and less experienced and already costs more than the likes of Sakho, Kjaer and Ranocchia. If you wanna argue that he's even more talented than that lot then fine, but it's a baseless opinion since you've most likely seen as little of Smalling as everyone else.

 

[USArsenal]

Kjaer.. there's a player i wouldnt mind having here.. have watched him blossom at Palermo, especially this season.. becoming a very good defender, is 6'2" and is only 20.. would throw a 10m bid for him over to the Pinks to see if they bite

we could always try to have Nik talk to him on our behalf

 

[Klaus Daimler]

Yeah, I'd love to have Kjaer here too. He's already looking at least five years above his actual age, and he's still young enough for Wenger to mould him as he'd like.

Ranocchia has been great for Bari this season too. I think he might be the next big italian defender. A lot of his presence on the field reminds me about Nesta during his Lazio days. We were linked to him a month or two ago, no? I didn't see anyone bursting any coronary vessels in anger when we didn't sign him, though.

 

[Illusion]

<a class="postlink" href="http://www.football365.com/story/0,17033,8652_5888781,00.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;">http://www.football365.com/story/0,1703 ... 81,00.html</a>

Smalling is also very well educated which ticks a very big box in Wenger's "should I sign him or not?" list.

Walcott was hyped from a very young age and he has hardly delivered a thing since then. I believe this is mainly down to his awful injury record, which has hampered his progress, much like it ruined Diaby for several years.

But that doesn't change the fact that I would swap Walcott for Smalling instantly.

 

[ibby]

Ranocchia would be a great option in the summer but I heard City were sniffing around.

Would love to see him go to the World Cup but is he going to make it? He has a ACL injury but don't know how long it's going to keep him out for.

 

[Klaus Daimler]

Ranocchia would be a great option in the summer but I heard City were sniffing around.

Would love to see him go to the World Cup but is he going to make it? He has a ACL injury but don't know how long it's going to keep him out for.

****, I didn't realise it was that bad when he went off. Have they confirmed that it's a full tear? If it is I think we can rule him out of the World cup already. He'll need at least as long rehabilitation period as Djourou.

 

[Timleaf]

I love how people automatically talk down a player if it seems like we wont get them and talk them up if we seem like we might get them.

Smalling is going to be an England international defender, he has bags of potential and is already a rather good defender at 20. He's very tall and has strength enough to hold off the likes of Drogba as well as the ability to beat Crouch in the air (no mean feat).

Just because he's appeared on the scene with relatively little hype doesn't mean he's no good. Plenty of hyped players go on to achieve absolutely nothing for various reasons. Talent will only get you so far, especially in English football.

Make no mistake, Smalling is going to be a big player in the future and we will regret not signing him for the sake of a couple of million, especially when we actually have more than enough money sitting in the bank.

I'd trade Theo Walcott for Chris Smalling anytime. One of them has hype but almost nothing to back it up and the other has no hype but enough quality showing through already.

What are you, Smalling's agent?

You're on the money with some things though. Talent WILL only get you so far and plenty of promising young players go on to achieve very little at the top end of the game. That's why, at 20 and with less than a dozen first team games under his belt, signing Smalling for a significant sum is a gamble that may or may not pay off for Utd. We'll just have to wait and see.

 

[qs]

Make no mistake, Smalling is going to be a big player in the future and we will regret not signing him for the sake of a couple of million, especially when we actually have more than enough money sitting in the bank

From the Galindo thread

I'm all for signing the kids early and always thinking about the future, but right now I care about what our current team does and how it can be improved this season to win trophies this year, not in seven years.

Anyway, you can't win them all in the transfer market. We signed 2 talented kids this window and we beat United to Ramsey in the summer.

Yeah Smalling might become a quality player but I remember people *****ing when United signed Anderson and Nani but they've been ****. I also remember people getting very upset Wenger passed over Carrick when he was a kid when united were paying big money for him but he's been poor too. When they signed Berbatov people said it was going to make them unstoppable. Theres no gaurantees this kid is as good as he's being made out to be.

 

[Illusion]

Make no mistake, Smalling is going to be a big player in the future and we will regret not signing him for the sake of a couple of million, especially when we actually have more than enough money sitting in the bank

From the Galindo thread

I'm all for signing the kids early and always thinking about the future, but right now I care about what our current team does and how it can be improved this season to win trophies this year, not in seven years.

Anyway, you can't win them all in the transfer market. We signed 2 talented kids this window and we beat United to Ramsey in the summer.

Yeah Smalling might become a quality player but I remember people *****ing when United signed Anderson and Nani but they've been s**t. I also remember people getting very upset Wenger passed over Carrick when he was a kid when united were paying big money for him but he's been poor too. When they signed Berbatov people said it was going to make them unstoppable. Theres no gaurantees this kid is as good as he's being made out to be.

I think Galindo is quite different compared with Smalling.

One of them has played Premier League games and has shown glimpses that he is up to the task of dealing with some of the toughest strikers the league has to offer. The other one is completely unproven in European competition and will spend the next few years on loan before getting anywhere near the first team.

So I'm not too disappointed with the apparant contrast in my opinion that you attempted to show with the quotes

It's clear Smalling is a Premier League player already and would have slotted in nicely behind Gallas ready to make the step up. It's also clear than Galindo is years away from doing the same thing to Cesc, Ramsey, Nasri or Rosicky.

Berbatov, Anderson and Nani were all overpriced for what they were and this has certainly been proven. None of them would seem particularly poor purchases if they cost half the money, especially Berbatov.

 

[Arai]

A loan striker....

 

[Timleaf]

Wayne Rooney.

 

[Floating]

If Vermaelen is out for more than a few weeks, then I want an experienced CB on loan: Servet Cetin, Diego Lugano, Bruno Alves, someone like that.