New backup striker?

I wonder if Giroud would have been possible. He went pretty cheaply, is a #9 type of striker, good hold up play but not a one trick pony.

Not sure if the chance of a fresh start would have been enough to convince him to be a back up. Going to Chelsea while Morata blew cold and a World Cup looming made more sense for playing time. If Mourinho could have talked him into it, he’d probably be about the best fitting back up we could have gotten.
 
Distracted Steward said:
I wonder if Giroud would have been possible. He went pretty cheaply, is a #9 type of striker, good hold up play but not a one trick pony.

Not sure if the chance of a fresh start would have been enough to convince him to be a back up. Going to Chelsea while Morata blew cold and a World Cup looming made more sense for playing time. If Mourinho could have talked him into it, he’d probably be about the best fitting back up we could have gotten.
Click to expand...

As strictly an off the bench option, he would've been ideal imo.
 
Raoul said:
As strictly an off the bench option, he would've been ideal imo.
Click to expand...
He’d have plugged in well. One of the main issues with having Rashford and Martial stand in for Lukaku is that it fundamentally alters the attack. The attack is poorly drilled as it is. They didn’t seem capable of that change last season.

Imagine Giroud as a sub when the work is done or away cup matches versus weaker teams. Alas.

That said, I wonder if there is a young player of the quality and mold Mourinho requires. Outside the ideal fit of Giroud, that’s what I’d like to see.
 
Why does most of this thread seem to be mentioning shit strikers as a possible back up striker? Personally I am not a fan at all of Lukaku, but I wouldnt be happy after 70mins to see his number come up for virtually any of the names being mentioned in this thread...Mitrovic, Balotelli, Aspas, Giroud.....wtf?
 
Balotelli would be good banter. Giroud would be solid. Mitrovic is not good enough. Seen people suggesting Vardy, Morata, Werner etc tho, they're never playing backup to Lukaku. Lukaku I don't believe is good enough to win us the league. I'd love Benzema in his prime. Fergie really fecked up not getting him in around 2009
 
Chicharito isn't a bad option. Still got the speed, experienced with the league, and pretty good in the air.
 
Isotope said:
Chicharito isn't a bad option. Still got the speed, experienced with the league, and pretty good in the air.
Click to expand...
What impressed me most about Chicharito last night was his ability to hold up the ball, lay it off or earn a free kick even when up against Hummels or Boateng. Would be a great option for us if he ever wants to come back to be our back up striker again. Lvg should notnhave sold him.
 
Sparky Rhiwabon said:
How much would Diego Costa set us back?
Click to expand...

You do know costa and mourinho arent on the best of terms right? And costa would cost a fortune. I wouldn’t sell him for less than 100 euros if I’m atletico. Costa and griezmann will be a powerful 1-2 punch.
 
gr3yham3 said:
What impressed me most about Chicharito last night was his ability to hold up the ball, lay it off or earn a free kick even when up against Hummels or Boateng. Would be a great option for us if he ever wants to come back to be our back up striker again. Lvg should notnhave sold him.
Click to expand...

Yes I noticed that too. Was particularly impressed and surprised that he could hold off Boateng and Hummels. Must've hit the weights more recently, or playing for a move away from West Ham. Lol.
 
gr3yham3 said:
What impressed me most about Chicharito last night was his ability to hold up the ball, lay it off or earn a free kick even when up against Hummels or Boateng. Would be a great option for us if he ever wants to come back to be our back up striker again. Lvg should notnhave sold him.
Click to expand...
I don't know. The game was pretty open. He had lots of space to turn into. It was more about being agile than strong, IMO.
 
ZlatanEra said:
Balotelli would be good banter. Giroud would be solid. Mitrovic is not good enough. Seen people suggesting Vardy, Morata, Werner etc tho, they're never playing backup to Lukaku. Lukaku I don't believe is good enough to win us the league. I'd love Benzema in his prime. Fergie really fecked up not getting him in around 2009
Click to expand...

We were nearly there. His agent persuaded him to join Madrid over us because they were offering more in agent fees.
 
goober88 said:
I don't know. The game was pretty open. He had lots of space to turn into. It was more about being agile than strong, IMO.
Click to expand...
Maybe but it was still good work though. He did seem a little slower and less sharp than last time though. Maybe rustiness from lack of minutes.
 
ZlatanEra said:
Balotelli would be good banter. Giroud would be solid. Mitrovic is not good enough. Seen people suggesting Vardy, Morata, Werner etc tho, they're never playing backup to Lukaku. Lukaku I don't believe is good enough to win us the league. I'd love Benzema in his prime. Fergie really fecked up not getting him in around 2009
Click to expand...
You do know its not possible for us to sign every player we want, right? It was well documented that Fergie tried really hard to sign him but he chose Madrid for whatever reason. Not much to be done abut that.
 
Chicharito has been completely ineffective in the PL for a while now, both under LVG and at WHU. Let's not go down that road, please. Love the guy, though.
 
I like that German chap Werner, he's the kinda striker we need. Whether we can get him is probably a different story.
 
Maxi Gomez - 21 years old. He's the typical Mou striker ie he's strong, he's tall (6ft1), he's hardworking, he's pacey and he's got a great eye for goal. He scored 17 goals in 35 matches this season.

Patrick Cutrone - 20 years old. He became a bit out of fashion at AC Milan who was eager to spend ridiculous money to rebuild the squad but returned in fashion as soon as things didn't turned out as expected. He's a powerful striker whose been likened to Pippo Inzaghi. With AC Milan facing financial meltdown I think we could get him for a good price.

Giovanni Simeone - 22 years old. Son of the same guy who outsmarted Beckham a few years back. At 5ft11 he might lack the inches Maxi and Patrick has (both 6ft+) but he compensate to that with the typical hardwork, tenacity and shrewdness the Simeones are quite renowned for. He can either play in front or a second striker if needed.

Andre Silva - 22 years old. Once considered as one of the most promising strikers in the world he went to AC Milan for big money only to be blamed for everything that went wrong during a season were they bought an entire club. TBF he had a very difficult season this year. However so did other illustrate bidones such as Rush, Henry and Bergkamp who went to the EPL proving how wrong the Serie A lack of patience is

Martens - 31 years old. He's been a regular scorer for Napoli for quite some time and can play in multiple positions if needed. He's also got a minimum fee clause of 24m euros.
 
Last edited:
King7Eric said:
You do know its not possible for us to sign every player we want, right? It was well documented that Fergie tried really hard to sign him but he chose Madrid for whatever reason. Not much to be done abut that.
Click to expand...
We were the 2nd best team in the world in 08/09 behind Barca. We could've been a lot more persuasive or planned to bring him in earlier with Tevez looking like he wanted out. That summer 09 ruined our club. We sign Valencia, Owen, Obertan and Madrid signed our best player, Alonso, Benzema, Kaka. We were no longer the biggest club in the world
 
ZlatanEra said:
We were the 2nd best team in the world in 08/09 behind Barca. We could've been a lot more persuasive or planned to bring him in earlier with Tevez looking like he wanted out. That summer 09 ruined our club. We sign Valencia, Owen, Obertan and Madrid signed our best player, Alonso, Benzema, Kaka. We were no longer the biggest club in the world
Click to expand...
I don't get what point you are trying to make. We may have been the 2nd best team and every player in the world also knew that. But they all wanted to join Madrid, what can you do about it? All these players Madrid signed that year came from teams that were faring as well as or better than Real in the previous years, this was a time Real hadn't gone past the Round of 16 in the CL for 6 years. Yet Madrid were willing to spend 300 million or whatever they spent that summer (unprecedented spending during that time) and no other club including us wanted to match that. If a player knew Ronaldo, Kaka and Alonso were signing he would be more tempted to join that side too. That's what Benzema did. For whatever reason we weren't in a situation to spend that much money and that was that. Its not like we didn't try to sign Benzema, it was just that we couldn't offer what Real were doing at that time.
 
devilish said:
Maxi Gomez - 21 years old. He's the typical Mou striker ie he's strong, he's tall (6ft1), he's hardworking, he's pacey and he's got a great eye for goal. He scored 17 goals in 35 matches this season.

Patrick Cutrone - 20 years old. He became a bit out of fashion at AC Milan who was eager to spend ridiculous money to rebuild the squad but returned in fashion as soon as things didn't turned out as expected. He's a powerful striker whose been likened to Pippo Inzaghi. With AC Milan facing financial meltdown I think we could get him for a good price.

Giovanni Simeone - 22 years old. Son of the same guy who outsmarted Beckham a few years back. At 5ft11 he might lack the inches Maxi and Patrick has (both 6ft+) but he compensate to that with the typical hardwork, tenacity and shrewdness the Simeones are quite renowned for. He can either play in front or a second striker if needed.

Andre Silva - 22 years old. Once considered as one of the most promising strikers in the world he went to AC Milan for big money only to be blamed for everything that went wrong during a season were they bought an entire club. TBF he had a very difficult season this year. However so did other illustrate bidones such as Rush, Henry and Bergkamp who went to the EPL proving how wrong the Serie A lack of patience is

Martens - 31 years old. He's been a regular scorer for Napoli for quite some time and can play in multiple positions if needed. He's also got a minimum fee clause of 24m euros.
Click to expand...

Very good options, I'd throw in Santi Mina as well. Versatile - can play across the front line, 22 years old, 12 goals in the league and reasonably tall as well.
 
Mario Gomez anyone? Always wanted to see him in the PL. Missed a free header yesterday tho the old fart
 
King7Eric said:
I don't get what point you are trying to make. We may have been the 2nd best team and every player in the world also knew that. But they all wanted to join Madrid, what can you do about it? All these players Madrid signed that year came from teams that were faring as well as or better than Real in the previous years, this was a time Real hadn't gone past the Round of 16 in the CL for 6 years. Yet Madrid were willing to spend 300 million or whatever they spent that summer (unprecedented spending during that time) and no other club including us wanted to match that. If a player knew Ronaldo, Kaka and Alonso were signing he would be more tempted to join that side too. That's what Benzema did. For whatever reason we weren't in a situation to spend that much money and that was that. Its not like we didn't try to sign Benzema, it was just that we couldn't offer what Real were doing at that time.
Click to expand...

It really didn't mattered for Benzema who was a fan of Real Madrid (aside Lyon) in younger days and wanted to follow the foot steps of his idol (Ronaldo Nazario).
 
Bestietom said:
Think Mourinho wants a big CF who can hold up the ball. Someone going on the cheap, that will fill in if Lukaku gets injured or needs a rest.
Click to expand...

Agreed. I could see us signing Bas Dost if he's now available on a free.
 
El Pasillo said:
It really didn't mattered for Benzema who was a fan of Real Madrid (aside Lyon) in younger days and wanted to follow the foot steps of his idol (Ronaldo Nazario).
Click to expand...
Well that further reinforces the fact that he just didn't want to come here, which was my point in replying to the guy who was having a go at Fergie for not having signed Benzema.
 
ZlatanEra said:
We were the 2nd best team in the world in 08/09 behind Barca. We could've been a lot more persuasive or planned to bring him in earlier with Tevez looking like he wanted out. That summer 09 ruined our club. We sign Valencia, Owen, Obertan and Madrid signed our best player, Alonso, Benzema, Kaka. We were no longer the biggest club in the world
Click to expand...

We were £720million in debt back in 2009 and investment was relatively low up until the last few years where when have secured record sponsorship deals and television money.

With regards strikers, we do need a back up no.9 or centre forward, as Rashford and Martial can both play up there but are not so strong with the hold up play or in the air. In the last 5 seasons only Lukaku and Ibrahimovic have arrived, Rooney, Van Persie, Hernandez, Welbeck and Ibrahimovic have left.

Is Mauro Icardi any good? He seems to have scored a lot and be a good age, but I don't watch much Italian football and YouTube showreels can make Titus Bramble look good.
 
What are you playing at. Mauro Icardi as a backup striker? Even Real would struggle to get him out of Milan, so no he won't come to OT and sit on the bench.

Ho ever comes needs to be a workhorse considering how stagnate we look without Lukaku. I'd love Chicharito back actually.
 
padzilla said:
We need a Sheringham type.
Click to expand...

Sherringham was very intelligent.
He was slow, not particularly physical, but one of the most intelligent footballers I have ever seen in my life.
The guy was always 1 or 2 steps ahead of everybody around him, which is why top strikers loved being around him on the pitch.
Anybody remember SAS? Shearer And Sherringham.
We had our own version: Solkjaer And Sherringham.

So, in terms of intelligence, I just don't see any other striker available, who is of that mould.
 
devilish said:
Maxi Gomez - 21 years old. He's the typical Mou striker ie he's strong, he's tall (6ft1), he's hardworking, he's pacey and he's got a great eye for goal. He scored 17 goals in 35 matches this season.

Patrick Cutrone - 20 years old. He became a bit out of fashion at AC Milan who was eager to spend ridiculous money to rebuild the squad but returned in fashion as soon as things didn't turned out as expected. He's a powerful striker whose been likened to Pippo Inzaghi. With AC Milan facing financial meltdown I think we could get him for a good price.

Giovanni Simeone - 22 years old. Son of the same guy who outsmarted Beckham a few years back. At 5ft11 he might lack the inches Maxi and Patrick has (both 6ft+) but he compensate to that with the typical hardwork, tenacity and shrewdness the Simeones are quite renowned for. He can either play in front or a second striker if needed.

Andre Silva - 22 years old. Once considered as one of the most promising strikers in the world he went to AC Milan for big money only to be blamed for everything that went wrong during a season were they bought an entire club. TBF he had a very difficult season this year. However so did other illustrate bidones such as Rush, Henry and Bergkamp who went to the EPL proving how wrong the Serie A lack of patience is

Martens - 31 years old. He's been a regular scorer for Napoli for quite some time and can play in multiple positions if needed. He's also got a minimum fee clause of 24m euros.
Click to expand...
Maxi gomez is a great shout! Andre silva too. i think mourinho will go for someone with more experience like anthony modeste, or jackson martinez
 
Last edited by a moderator:
I think one piece of business we should pursue is taking Giroud off Chelsea. He’d be a perfect rotation option for Lukaku and is proven in the Premier League with very good goalscoring and creation stats, even as a sub. From what I know of Sarri, Giroud doesn’t seem his sort of forward, so it could be a realisitic possibility.

It’s not the exciting piece of business, but many of the best transfers often aren’t.
 
TMDaines said:
I think one piece of business we should pursue is taking Giroud off Chelsea. He’d be a perfect rotation option for Lukaku and is proven in the Premier League with very good goalscoring and creation stats, even as a sub. From what I know of Sarri, Giroud doesn’t seem his sort of forward, so it could be a realisitic possibility.

It’s not the exciting piece of business, but many of the best transfers often aren’t.
Click to expand...
Giroud, like Mandzukic, makes sense for us. We need an alternative that doesn't require us to radically change our setup when Lukaku is unavailable.
 
beergod said:
Giroud, like Mandzukic, makes sense for us. We need an alternative that doesn't require us to radically change our setup when Lukaku is unavailable.
Click to expand...
Yep. The latter may be better suited for playing with Lukaku as he has often been used as an unorthodox wide man.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.