GOOD WINDOW/BAD WINDOW
StrumSolo > 04/09/2013, 09:27
Good window
Everton
If not the best summer then definitely the best deadline day. Out went Marouane Fellaini and Victor Anichebe, and in came James McCarthy, Gareth Barry and Romelu Lukaku. They’re £20m up as a result of those deals, remarkable. Add to that the earlier signings of Aurone Kone and Gerard Deulofeu, and for the first time in God knows how long the Toffees actually have options up top. They kept hold of Leighton Baines too. Plenty of reasons to be optimistic this season.
Arsenal
Yes, they’re still short up front and could do with some more depth in defence. They weren’t short of skilful attacking midfield players, but Mesut Ozil is by some distance the best player to arrive on these shores over the summer, and a player of that calibre can only improve you. It’s quite the statement of intent too, and with the German on board it’ll be interesting to see what kind of names they’ll be able to attract in January and beyond.
Liverpool
The late arrivals of Ilori and Sakho in defence, and the loan signing of Victor Moses up top leaves the Reds with a nicely balanced and strong looking squad. The return of Suarez will feel like a new signing too, just because it’s cliché doesn’t mean it’s not true.
Man City
Got their business done quickly and calmly whilst their neighbours floundered. Like the previous summer, only the other way around.
Southampton
No last minute panicking, and quality over quantity. The Saints broke their transfer record twice in the window and the arrivals of Lovren, Wanyama and Osvaldo should improve the spine of the team immeasurably. The loan departures of Puncheon and Mayuka hinted at the arrival of a pacey wide man but that never materialised. They could probably do with one too, but sterling work otherwise.
Tottenham
They’ll miss Bale and there might be a few bumps along the way as they try to integrate their seven new signings, but on paper those seven additions look excellent.
Bad window
Man Utd
The mini sagas on deadline day involving Herrera and Coentrao on deadline day shouldn’t come as a surprise, they were merely condensed versions of the drawn-out sagas involving Thiago and Fabregas earlier in the window. In the end, all they had to show for 3 months work was the signing of Fellaini, for £4m more than they could have got him at the start of the summer. Lessons need to be learnt if they want to avoid a similar situation in January, and you'd imagine that will be a busy window for them.
Chelsea
Schurrle, Willian and Atsu weren’t needed in the slightest and will only serve to keep Chelsea’s best player (Juan Mata) on the bench. Samuel Eto’o is a decent addition but who honestly thinks that Torres or Ba will score more this season than Lukaku in his Everton shirt? Letting the young Belgian go ahead of either of those was madness.
Newcastle
“Judge me on my signings” – Joe Kinnear.
Well Joe, seeing as you only managed to bring in Loic Remy on loan, a player who was on the verge of joining your club 6 months previously, it looks like you might be shit. Alan Pardew has come out and spoken of financial restraints and the 5 signings they made in January (though those were only made to make up for last summer’s inactivity) but this doesn’t hide the fact that they’ve had an absolute mare.
West Ham
Nothing wrong with the arrivals of Rat, Downing and Andy Carroll on a permanent deal, but when you’re having to re-sign Carlton Cole after the window has closed, it’s pretty obvious something’s gone wrong.
Crystal Palace and Hull
The teams that generally do ok after promotion tend to be the ones that keep faith with the nucleus of the squad that got them there. There’s nothing wrong with adding a bit of quality (see Cardiff) but wholesale changes are invariably disruptive. Palace signed 15 new players, Hull 11.
Sunderland
Another side to have rung the changes. Will Di Canio’s new men show enough to avoid another relegation battle? No idea, most of them are unheard-of.