After the Window: Chelsea

I apologize for the delay in getting past the first team transfer summary.  We are using the international break for a nice rustic vacation in Maine.  I’ve been trying to generally stay away from the internet, email, and the other things that I tend to use for both my day job as well as staying up with current events in the Premier League and posting to the blog.  That lasted for a solid 3 days before I felt the pull of the laptop – I guess that’s why I’ve gotten involved in writing a blog on top of a day job. 

As it appears that I’m not going to get to every team, I’m going to start with the ones that have made the most substantial changes and move downward toward the ones that didn’t do much toward the end of window.  Since we’ve already covered Arsenal, I’ll move on to Chelsea.

I LOVED what Chelsea did toward the end of the window.  They had the type of window that Arsenal used to have.  Pick up a few very high end kids and throw in a very strong continental veteran.  The difference?  The price of the high end kids that used to be Arsenal’s stock and trade has increased by a factor of about ten since this was Wenger’s strategy.  I don’t know all the details but my guess is that Chelsea ended up paying Mata and Lukaku (and their previous clubs) like they were already established stars rather than rising talents with the potential to be the “next” someone good.   The economics aside, the moves look excellent.  The only downside is that they probably won’t payoff in huge measure for another couple years. 

Injury Roundup

A run-through of the news from ESPNSoccernet. More as it becomes available.

Cech set to return for Man Utd clash
The article isn't quite as definitive as the headline, but Cech is quoted as saying that, ""The rehabilitation is going according to plan," Cech told his personal website. "I don't want to jinx anything but it seems that I should be ready to return to action inside the original timescale" which could have him available for United on Sept 18. That would meant that Hilario will likely start just this weekend's game against Norwich and the trip to Sunderland after the international break.

Meireles injury blow for Reds
Suarez started the match and played an hour. Hopefully we'll see more of the same from him - goal and two assists - against Bolton at the weekend.

Alcararez blow for Wigan
Seemingly Stam will start at right back with Boyce coming inside to partner Caldwell. It may not matter against QPR, but Wigan will need all the help they can get when the schedule toughens up - Manchester City, Everton and Spurs are coming up after QPR.

Ebanks-Blake blow for Wolves
Just FYI.

Wilshere sidelined with ankle injury
Another month out for Wilshere and Arsenal can ill afford a prolonged absence from their team's new hub. They'll be missing Wilshere, Song, and Gervinho against Manchester United and still have questions over Koscielny and Gibbs.

Swap Meet

Funny thing about this transfer window is that teams have seemingly stocked up on redundant players rather than addressing clearer needs.  Also, we've seen a further concentration of players at the top as the biggest clubs fill out their 25-man rosters with full internationals while clubs below them are looking to academy and youth players to play a larger first-team role.  How do we address this?  Not being shy of an opinion, we offer our solution:

Based on the rumoured "Nasri for Tevez" swap, here are some ideas for player swaps that would help both sides.

Drogba for Modric
Chelsea want Modric, but Spurs are playing hardball and demanding an exorbitant fee.  Spurs are desperate for a striker, any striker, to help keep them in the hunt for Champions League football.  So, let's swap players!

Meireles for Shawcross
Stoke are desperate for some source of creativity in their central midfield and we're all well aware of Liverpool's glut of players in that department.  Also, Liverpool are looking to shore up their central defence as Carragher continues to age and neither Skrtel or Agger can put together a consistent run of matches.   So, let's swap players!

Adebayor for Aquilani
Back to Liverpool's bloated squad.  This swap makes sense for both teams in terms of shoring up their squads where they lack depth.  Adebayor would be an excellent "understudy" for Carroll as he would bring many of the same attributes to the team - good in the air, headcase, etc.  In return, Manchester City get another creative player who could be cover for Silva or be an alternative to Milner in the middle of the park. So, let's swap players!

Cahill, Reo-Coker for Vela, Bendtner, and Oxlade-Chamberlain
Bolton are reasonably well represented in central midfield with Muamba, Holden, Pratley, M Davies, S Davis as "specialists" while Ricardo Gardner can also play there.  They also have a ready-made replacement for Cahill in David Wheater.  In return for sending their commanding center-back to Arsenal they would get the attacking tools that they desperately need.  Bendtner could play though the middle with, or in place of, Davies while Vela can play across the front line.  In Oxlade-Chamberlain, Owen Coyle would get another youngster to mould and would provide cover on the wings with Chyong-Lee out with his broken leg.  So, let's swap players!

What swaps would you propose?

Season Preview - Liverpool

Quick Reminder, Real Life

What a crazy season it was for the Reds. To do it justice you’d probably have to write a book (and I hear Jeremy thinking to himself that this preview is entirely likely to turn into one the way I write). In the quick version we find the first half low-lighted by poor performances, the disasterous Joe Cole signing, Roy Hodgson being in over his head, a contentious change of ownership between two groups of Americans, and numerous debates online and in the press wondering whether Liverpool could possibly go down under the weight of all of the above.

As bad as the first half was, the second half was that good. New owners, back office staff, and manager made the bold move of selling off star Fernando Torres and replacing him with the excellent-so-far Luis Suarez and full-of-potential-but-overpriced Andy Carroll. The results improved dramatically and Raul Meireles proved to be more than adequate cover for oft-injured captain Steven Gerrard. All the drama aside, Liverpool had two major weaknesses last season - their left back position and playing away from Anfield where they could neither score nor keep the ball out of the net.

Quick Reminder, Fantasy

As crazy a season as it was for Liverpool on and off the pitch, it was no different for fantasy managers trying to figure this team out. Reina’s fortunes mimicked those of the club (bad early, better late). Meireles and Suarez had excellent second halves of the season while Carroll had a great first half while playing for Newcastle but injury dragged down his second half pretty badly. Finally, out of almost nowhere, Maxi Rodriguez had an absolutely amazing last two weeks which saw him get about a third of his overall output for the season. On the defensive side of the ball Martin Skertl was ever-present and had an OK season but the rest of the defenders were seemingly on a carousel due to injuries and general mediocrity.

Summer Changes

Adam to Liverpool

Liverpool Seal Charlie Adam Switch - SBNation.com

We've known it was coming for a while and now it appears to be official according to people all over the world wide webs.  The mysterious Liverpool summer in which they stockpile central midfielders and fail to address their core needs (LB, CB, and both wings).  It really leaves you wondering, doesn't it?

I like Adam as a player and he's certainly better than Henderson is right now.  That said, I'm not sure he's better than Meireles.  Whether he's better than Gerrard depends on which Gerrard shows up this year.  None of the above are better than Gerrard at his best but all of them might be better than broken-down, injury-plagued Gerrard.  Assuming that the Liverpool captain is somewhere in-between those two models coming into the new season, I have a hard time guessing where he falls in the pecking order.  One thing we do know is that unless he's physically unable to go, politics at Liverpool are such that he'll be in the line-up regardless of where age/injury have left his ability to perform. 

So what next for Liverpool? Does this signal the end of Meireles in red? (If Fab4 is leaving Arsenal they could do far worse than Meireles as a short term replacement while they're waiting for Ramsey, Wilshere, and the next young guy Wenger buys to grow into their prime.  Just a random thought but one I suspect will find its way into the gossip rags soon enough.  Alternatively, he'd be a great buy/exchange for Villa is they can't keep hold of Downing.

Do you believe in Meireles?

GETTY IMAGES

Gerrard on course to face Fulham - not Newcastle

Gerrard on course to face Fulham - Yahoo! Eurosport

Liverpool captain Steven Gerrard will not be fit to play in Saturday's match at Newcastle but is on course for a return the following weekend...

"I don't know where the stories came from that Gerrard would be fit for Newcastle," said manager Roy Hodgson. "We have always been thinking he would be fit to face Fulham the following weekend, it would be much too early to consider him for Newcastle.

Well now I feel like an idiot for selling Meireles after last weekend's games. But at least I'm used to that feeling this season.

Carragher faces month out

BBC Sport - Football - Liverpool's Jamie Carragher faces month out with injury

Liverpool defender Jamie Carragher is likely to be sidelined for a month after dislocating a shoulder.

The Reds vice-captain picked up the injury in Sunday's 2-1 defeat by Tottenham at White Hart Lane.

"It's very bad," said manager Roy Hodgson after the match. "It's a disappointing thing to happen on his 450th appearance in the Premier League.

"We'll now be without him and Steven Gerrard and they are the lifeblood of our club."

Skipper Gerrard missed the match with a hamstring problem he suffered in the 84th minute of England's 2-1 friendly defeat to France on 17 November.

The midfielder is expected to be out for between three and four weeks.

This is bad news for Liverpool and anyone betting on them keeping clean sheets. However, in midfield Meireles will continue to be a good option at a still reasonable 8.5. And an observation... Maxi Rodriguez is playing up alongside the strikers and may be well worth a punt as a 9.29 midfielder. I don't know that I want both him and Meireles in my team, but at home to a young and struggling Villa team... maybe. We're all looking for Van Der Vaart replacments, aren't we?