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Rodgers in Rome, Pjanic Buying ???

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Isn't a player like him way down the list of priorities? He's effectively just an attacking midfielder, right? Isn't that what we've got Coutinho and Lallana for, and not to mention Sterling? I'd have said we should be looking for a CB, a DM, and a striker before we even consider someone like Pjanic.
 
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peterhague said:
Isn't a player like him way down the list of priorities? He's effectively just an attacking midfielder, right? Isn't that what we've got Coutinho and Lallana for, and not to mention Sterling? I'd have said we should be looking for a CB, a DM, and a striker before we even consider someone like Pjanic.
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you may think he is like Coutinho but Coutinho is pretty mixed kind of player where as Pjanic is more suited to a CM role. I checked and saw that he didnt play CAm role for Roma in this season. Also he has been playing with injuries in this season. I would take Gündogan over him anyday btw
 
TheRedCrusade said:
you may think he is like Coutinho but Coutinho is pretty mixed kind of player where as Pjanic is more suited to a CM role. I checked and saw that he didnt play CAm role for Roma in this season. Also he has been playing with injuries in this season. I would take Gündogan over him anyday btw
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Still tend to think CM with an accent on attack is basically the role Coutinho and Lallana are earmarked to play for us, just as this guy would

It just seems like it'd be solving a problem that doesn't really exist.
 
Lallana is in and out a attacking third player. If you ask him to play as CM, he may play there good because of his work rate. Coutinho is still getting developed so it will be interesting to see where he will play in his prime. Coutinho and Pjanic are different. Pjanic is no doubt a better CM than an attakcing third player.
 
TheRedCrusade said:
Lallana is in and out a attacking third player. If you ask him to play as CM, he may play there good because of his work rate. Coutinho is still getting developed so it will be interesting to see where he will play in his prime. Coutinho and Pjanic are different. Pjanic is no doubt a better CM than an attakcing third player.
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Agreed. I can understand getting a player like Pjanic if the long term plan is to use Can at DM. If Can masters that position, him and Lucas would be enough cover for that position. In which case, it would make sense to focus on getting a more attacking CM.

Pjanic fits that mould positionally, but like you, I think he's just not worth the fee he'd command. A pre-injury Gundogan and Koke are much better players.

I'd also rather target people like Cabaye or Cazorla (1 year left on contract - Atletico wanting him) - they're proven quality in the Prem and if we can get them on cheap 3 year deals, I'd be quite happy.
 
peterhague said:
Isn't a player like him way down the list of priorities? He's effectively just an attacking midfielder, right? Isn't that what we've got Coutinho and Lallana for, and not to mention Sterling? I'd have said we should be looking for a CB, a DM, and a striker before we even consider someone like Pjanic.
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I'm not so sure - bar Coutinho, is there really any playmaking ability in the squad?

You can make do when you have strikers of the quality of Suarez and Sturridge - they create enough for themselves.

But presently I think if Coutinho gets injured, our side could start looking bereft of ideas. Lallana is more of a floaty goalscoring AM - he won't drop deep and get on the ball to make the side play.

Ideally, Allen should have been filling this role - but at this point, he's really not looking like anything more than a utility player. So I think it's a position we do need to look at.
 
There are two types of playmaker and I think they're being talked about interchangeably, which can cause confusion.

The likes of Alonso and Pirlo are regarded as playmakers but they sit quite deep. Then you've got others like Silva for example that orchestrate play for their teams but do most of their work in the opponents half.

If we want an Alonso type, we need a proper midfielder. If we want a Silva / Coutinho type then we don't.

Which do we want?
 
Pjanic always looked a great player to me but would he suffer from the same problems as experienced by Sahin and Allen? He's probably better as the 2nd midfielder.

I think he's a very classy player though.
 
keniget said:
There are two types of playmaker and I think they're being talked about interchangeably, which can cause confusion.

The likes of Alonso and Pirlo are regarded as playmakers but they sit quite deep. Then you've got others like Silva for example that orchestrate play for their teams but do most of their work in the opponents half.

If we want an Alonso type, we need a proper midfielder. If we want a Silva / Coutinho type then we don't.

Which do we want?
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Sorry, I didn't get you there.

But I'll clarify what I want anyway.

I don't particularly care whether we get the playmaking from deep or from the third/advanced CM slot - don't think it makes a huge difference.

Last season we had Gerrard as the playmaker at the base, with Henderson and Allen being the two advanced utility CMs. This season we seem to have Lucas and Henderson as sitting CMs, with Coutinho offering playmaking as the third/advanced CM.

The point is to have at least one of your midfield three capable of getting on the ball and offering some guile.

Given that most of our midfield personnel (Allen, Can, Henderson, Lucas) are better in the two deeper CM slots (and don't offer much playmaking themselves), I think it's really the third/advanced CM slot we need to look at to fit in our playmaker.

My point was that Allen was probably originally bought for this role. He's clearly not cut out for it. Coutinho has played this position now with some excellent success, but if he's injured, I think our midfield could start looking flat. I certainly don't mind then looking at players like Pjanic - who play in that third/advanced CM position.

Of course you could take the view that Lallana can fill in if Coutinho is injured, but I wonder if a midfield of Lucas/Can, Henderson and Lallana offers much guile - unless of course your attacking trio is so good that it just needs a hardworking midfield behind it.
 
Or were you confused by the Koke and Gundogan references?

If so, you're right, they weren't the best comparisons for Pjanic - though I think both Koke and Gundogan play as the 3rd CM on occasion - they're more attacking than Alonso at least.
 
dmishra said:
Sorry, I didn't get you there.

But I'll clarify what I want anyway.

I don't particularly care whether we get the playmaking from deep or from the third/advanced CM slot - don't think it makes a huge difference.

Last season we had Gerrard as the playmaker at the base, with Henderson and Allen being the two advanced utility CMs. This season we seem to have Lucas and Henderson as sitting CMs, with Coutinho offering playmaking as the third/advanced CM.

The point is to have at least one of your midfield three capable of getting on the ball and offering some guile.

Given that most of our midfield personnel (Allen, Can, Henderson, Lucas) are better in the two deeper CM slots (and don't offer much playmaking themselves), I think it's really the third/advanced CM slot we need to look at to fit in our playmaker.

My point was that Allen was probably originally bought for this role. He's clearly not cut out for it. Coutinho has played this position now with some excellent success, but if he's injured, I think our midfield could start looking flat. I certainly don't mind then looking at players like Pjanic - who play in that third/advanced CM position.

Of course you could take the view that Lallana can fill in if Coutinho is injured, but I wonder if a midfield of Lucas/Can, Henderson and Lallana offers much guile - unless of course your attacking trio is so good that it just needs a hardworking midfield behind it.
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I think there is a significant enough difference between having your playmaker in your own half vs in the oppositions to draw attention to it.

That aside, I agree that our team would benefit more from someone in a more advanced position. We're not looking to control the game (if we are, we're not very good at it) - we want to be incisive when we're attacking.
 
Do we need more of a "Modric-Fabregas" type (a CM who is a playmaker and can also play AM) or a Draxler-Mkhitaryan-young Gerrard type (strong runner who can guarantee goals from midfield)?

I would put Pjanic, Gundogan, and Koke in the first category and Kovacic and the aforementioned Draxler and Mkhitaryan (as well as Xhaka with whom we were also linked at one point) in the second.
 
keniget said:
There are two types of playmaker and I think they're being talked about interchangeably, which can cause confusion.

The likes of Alonso and Pirlo are regarded as playmakers but they sit quite deep. Then you've got others like Silva for example that orchestrate play for their teams but do most of their work in the opponents half.

If we want an Alonso type, we need a proper midfielder. If we want a Silva / Coutinho type then we don't.

Which do we want?
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Zidane?
 
rurikbird said:
Do we need more of a "Modric-Fabregas" type (a CM who is a playmaker and can also play AM) or a Draxler-Mkhitaryan-young Gerrard type (strong runner who can guarantee goals from midfield)?

I would put Pjanic, Gundogan, and Koke in the first category and Kovacic and the aforementioned Draxler and Mkhitaryan (as well as Xhaka with whom we were also linked at one point) in the second.
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I'd go with the former (CM/AM playmaker) along with a striker.

Think we have someone in Markovic who will develop into that Mkhitaryan type player. Sterling and Lallana can play that role as well.
 
One player I'm intrigued by in Wolfsburg's Maximilian Arnold – he sort of combines traits of both types. Very intelligent passer, but also with an eye for a goal.

Also Bayer's Calhanoglu – Mr. Deadly Free Kick.
 
Will check out Arnold.

Think we need to be careful who we're buying. There have obviously been a lot of players in that mould who've been very successful in the Prem - Modric, Fabregas, Cazorla, Cabaye. There've however been a few duds as well - Aquilani, Herrera (at least until now), Ramirez.

I suspect Pjanic might be one who might be in the latter group. Clement Grenier is another player who I get that feeling about.

Really like Koke though.
 
Ramirez is not a dud – and he is not in that category anyway, he is more of a Khedira/Naingollan type – attacking DM 🙂
 
Without getting into the nitty-gritty of exactly what type of player Pjanic is and exactly what type of playmaker we'd most like to have, the basic reality is that he'd either be replacing Henderson (who he's very different from) or Coutinho. Now I've never been Henderson's biggest advocate, but I still can't see that he's a major priority to replace this summer.
 
HA! I don;t think anyone except maybe the Oil baron blue teams can guarantee CL footy these days
 
Pjanic won't come cheap.

Strootman, Nainggolan & Ljajic all linked with moves away from Rome in the off season ... if either of them are sold then it will only increase the asking price for Pjanic.

I read some where Liverpool evaluated Pjanic as a 20M signing, but there is absolutely no chance at all Roma will settle for less than 30-35M ... 40M if either of the above listed players are sold.
 
Roopy said:
Pjanic won't come cheap.

Strootman, Nainggolan & Ljajic all linked with moves away from Rome in the off season ... if either of them are sold then it will only increase the asking price for Pjanic.

I read some where Liverpool evaluated Pjanic as a 20M signing, but there is absolutely no chance at all Roma will settle for less than 30-35M ... 40M if either of the above listed players are sold.
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Erik Mejer came quite cheap. Just depends what you look for I guess....
 
dmishra said:
Will check out Arnold.

Think we need to be careful who we're buying. There have obviously been a lot of players in that mould who've been very successful in the Prem - Modric, Fabregas, Cazorla, Cabaye. There've however been a few duds as well - Aquilani, Herrera (at least until now), Ramirez.

I suspect Pjanic might be one who might be in the latter group. Clement Grenier is another player who I get that feeling about.

Really like Koke though.
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well Arnold is a good shout. I cant judge him properly because he is playing with Gustavo and it makes his Job easier. Gustavo is good at easing pressure on midfield so I dont think Arnold is the Player who can dictate the game like Pjanic might eb able to.
 
TheRedCrusade said:
well Arnold is a good shout. I cant judge him properly because he is playing with Gustavo and it makes his Job easier. Gustavo is good at easing pressure on midfield so I dont think Arnold is the Player who can dictate the game like Pjanic might eb able to.
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who else in the bundesliga stands out?
 
red_maradona said:
who else in the bundesliga stands out?
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well Arnold is still only 20 so I dont want another Youngster who will Need time and blah blah blah...
Go for Gündogan, I know other teams will be after him but we must at least try. A lot will depend on if we have CL.
Also I would target Gustavo, in case he is available and let Coutinho, Henderson and others do the creative work. Lucas can be back to him. Gustavo can no doubt dictate games.
Another name is Schweini, we can really push for him. It will be a class signing with so much experience and can be a brilliant player for us. I know he is old but still can contribute a lot.
We want a playmaker, we need to target players in other league so that Coutihno can concentrate on his development in the final third.

Well there are loads of names but I think we have to target in this class only otherwise it will be waste of money and time, because we already have Can, Henderson at the Club.
 
I've checked a few of the Roma forums too and none of them wanted him in the team for the last 6 or 7 games.
 
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