Van Wolfswinkel in our sights again?

[BlyBlyBabes 0]

According to Talksport. Sporting Lisbon hard up.

 

http://www.talksport.co.uk/sports-news/football/premier-league/transfer-rumours/130311/norwich-lining-%C2%A310m-swoop-sporting-lisbon-star-193426

 

Well, I''d much rather have him than Hooper. What about you?

 

OTBC

[Bws Cat 0]

I think i''d believe "Dodgy rumours.com" over talkshite.

But what about your spurs? Weren''t they interested in him as well?

[BlyBlyBabes 0]

[quote user="BWs Cat "]I think i''d believe "Dodgy rumours.com" over talkshite. But what about your spurs? Weren''t they interested in him as well?[/quote]

 

OK/ maybe/if you say so - now. wouldn''t you prefer him to Hooper?

 

OTBCBC

[JF 694]

I honestly don''t think it matters who we buy upfront. Until we break up the most uncreative centre midfield in the league and change the mindset of the management team our strikers will be on a hiding to nothing.

[lappinitup 629]

There''s a thread with the same link furthur down the page entitled RVW.....Dear, oh dear, oh dear. [:''(]

[Bws Cat 0]

Til to arrive in 3,2,1...

[BlyBlyBabes 0]

[quote user="lappinitup"]There''s a thread with the same link furthur down the page entitled RVW.....

Dear, oh dear, oh dear. [:''(]
[/quote]

 

You mean drifting near the bottom of the page with no input from you and sporting a headline that''s too clever by half.............

 

Oh dear, oh dear, oh dear. [:''(]

 

OTBC

[BlyBlyBabes 0]

[quote user="BWs Cat "]Til to arrive in 3,2,1...[/quote]

 

He''s off on holiday - well, so he said yesterday. Do keep up.

 

OTBC

[chicken 0]

I''d prefer Van Wolfswinkel, he''s the muts nuts.

However it depends on price.

I don''t think Hooper is worth more than £5million.

I don''t think Wolfy boy is worth more than £8million.

But the problem we have is every other league in the world knowing how much cash we are suddenly getting and I very much doubt we will be the only club in for him.

We''ll have to see. Midfield certainly does need some attention too. But we could be left with only two or three strikers in the summer - it''s not enough.

If we sign Kamara we need to get another more proven striker along with a youngster (U21) with promise from somewhere.

[ron obvious 1,711]

Well, what''s so clever about it? It was short & to the point.

You obviously read it, so why not reply?

[BlyBlyBabes 0]

[quote user="ron obvious"]Well, what''s so clever about it? It was short & to the point. You obviously read it, so why not reply?[/quote]

 

I saw it after being alerted by Lappy on this thread.

 

It had dropped further than I checked before posting this thread - presumably partly because the thread title did not immediately connect with most people, hence my comment.

 

In any event the matter would probably have just meandered  on without notice if Lappy hadd''t been on thre prowl looking for brownie points and stripes amonst his crew.

 

Still. One love.

 

.....and OTBC

[Not Nigel 0]

The thing that I find laughable is that Hooper is written off as being a medium sized fish in a tiny sized pond (the SPL) and criticised for not leading the SPL scoring charts, while the same bunch cream themselves at the prospect of signing a player who is 8th in goalscoring chart in the Portuguese league where there are numerous teams with averages attendances of less than 2000.

Probably on the basis that their national team has one of the three best players in the world but not much else and one of their teams won the Champions League thanks to having the best manager in the world for a short period.

Or perhaps it is his name, it excites them because it reminds them of computer generated players that come through football manager in 2029 when they get Wycombe in the champions league.

If Van Wolfswinkel was that good he''d have a second Holland cap by now, his solitary cap came in 2010 and he''s now 24. Looking at the last six or seven Holland squads there appears to be about twelve Dutch forwards ahead of him in the pecking order.

He made the ''preliminary squad'' for their last game against Italy in February, but was then left out of the squad. Seven strikers were named in the final squad.

Of those seven strikers two were uncapped, and one had one cap. Those three are all younger than Van Wolfswinkel, one of them has scored 0 goals in 12 games this season. Another had just two caps and is 30 years old, while Liverpool reject Dirk Kuyt who was pants last season and isn''t pulling up any trees at Fenerbache was also in the squad.

Van Wolfswinkel has 3 goals in the Europa League against tinpot teams, Hooper scored 4 in the Champions League.

When you watch the respective players ''goal compilations'' on YouTube, there is absolutely nothing to suggest that he will create any more of is own chances than Hooper, neither do I see any evidence that he can beat a man or is particularly blessed with electric pace, neither would score many in our current team. He''s just a bloke who can finish very well. So is Hooper. So in fact are Holt and Becchio, but they don''t get many chances.

What exactly is it that you think this bloke will bring to the table? He isn''t a magic cure for our goalscoring problems. Eto''o would struggle to score goals in our current set up.

[BroadstairsR 2,273]

You might well be right, but if our scouts and CH rate the player and have an appropriate fee in mind (nowhere near £10m  I should imagine,) then I am all for this signing. They have done rather well lately after all.  

[Lavanche 0]

signupcarrow

Porto is still in champions league and most of the years their european league teams do quite well there.

Primeira Liga isnt poor man''s league and they have lot of talent in there. Just check how much some players cost to get out of there. Compared for example leagues like Eredivisie or Ligue 1.

Anyway comparing Hooper and Van Wolfswinkel. I personaly wouldn''t take either of them, if we keep all Becchio, Kamara and Holt.

But if I would have to take 1 it would be Wolf. Why?

First of all he comes from dutch academy-system which means he knows how to play on the ground. Technique isnt something what you can learn at higher ages.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HdUL4v2xps4

Look for example that link and see how he touch the ball and think can any of our current strikers have that soft touch.

What he lacks is physicality. He wont win many headers even thought he has ability for it, but that is way easier to boost up with proper training.

Hooper is typical brittish all rounder striker. We have already 2 of them in Holt - Becchio duo. Hooper might be faster and a bit more clinical, but still as long as those two are in the team I wouldnt buy third from same mold.

But then again I dont know what Hughton want''s. I personaly would like to have someone who can do something else with the ball than shoot head and pass. Wolfswinkel has some extra abilities, but how well he would do alone between two physical centrebacks.

As I have said earlier if we go for strong player I would like someone like Aubameyang who has that extra pace and technique with him. Thought most likely he is out of our price range.

I personaly dont know if we truly even need pure striker. Someone creative in second striker role would give us so much more options, but well this is just something I prefer and fantasy ^^- Adam Maher, Younes Belhanda, Henrikh Mkhitaryan and Alessio Cerci for example score quite often without being pure strikers to mention few that are not playing in big teams.

And after that ramble I just say that I rate Wolfswinkel, but hope we sign a bit different style player and at the end I''m happy with him, if Hughton sees this type of player fitting better his formation.

[smooth 114]

Kk has a tough time to impress, he is not up to match fitness.

With a reported 1.5 million release fee, it looks cheap but we are not looking at cheap. We need to buy the quality that is not unknown. We need genuine class.

Happy for us to pursue rwp and this type of calibre forward. I also think we will spend quite big in midfield. I have no concerns that the areas have been looked at by Hughton and his team. We just need our group of players now to play for their premiership contracts as I am sure their contracts wil go up.

But looking forward to genuine class coming in to push some of our weaker first 11 to the bench.

[cornish sam 1,040]

Lavanche, can I just ask what you are doing on this forum? You seem to consistently contribute a genuinely interesting and informed opinion with far more footballing knowledge than most professional pundits... You''re the Anti-Wiz!!!

[ZLF 335]

there are plenty of hidden gems out there, who had heard of cisse, ba or michu before there arrived on these shores.

RvW has talentand may do well, and there are 7/8 more like him (Kadlec another that is a fantasy signing who may cost, wont look good on paper but has talent, plus 3/4 from france). All of them provide better value and potential than hooper who carries a British players over valued tax and has limited ability IMO. We need 4 strikers holt, becchio and kamara and another.

Without doubt we also need a cracking centre midfielder like schniedeling or better and a centre back.

[Tumbleweed 106]

And JF is right. No point shelling out a bean on any striker until we sort out the midfield and the tactics. Becchio, Holt and previously Morison are all proven goalscorers and Vaughan has been banging them in for fun. Our No1 priority is to sort that midfield out. Then we may not actually need much greater fire power.

[ZLF 335]

I do agree tumbleweed - I have been bemoaning our central midfield all season but I do think we need and will strengthen both positions.

We wont get biglia but its that class of player we need - maybe two to improve the centre of the pitch. I am happy with our wide players, pilks and snoddy are class and i think the cover is good enough too - its just teh awful centre...

Up front we have been lacking movement and we have had chances not taken.

[Yorkshire Canary 118]

He would represent a significant improvement on what we have. Mention has been made about our midfield. against Southampton we had about 4 very good chances none of which resulted in a direct shot on goal plus the penalty. Better quality will convert such as these

[York Canary 29]

[quote user="cornish sam"]Lavanche, can I just ask what you are doing on this forum? You seem to consistently contribute a genuinely interesting and informed opinion with far more footballing knowledge than most professional pundits... You''re the Anti-Wiz!!![/quote]Totally. Lavanche is the manAlso completely agree with the CM position needing a boost. Howson doesn''t appear to have improved greatly and doesn''t have much of anything yet. We need another CM at the very least who can hold the ball, unlock defences and makes things happen. Like Wes, but perhaps taller and stronger. There must be someone out there we can afford and would come here. Up front I''d like something different as Lavanche says. Some pace with technique/balance would be ideal. We have 3 tallish, strong strikers at the moment. 2 of those have minimal speed and are quite similar. Even a James Vaughan that stays fit would be decent lol. I can see us getting a good CM. Fox probably gone as he has barely played. Howson moving to backup/competition. Korey probably outA quality striker. Martin and Vaughan pretty much gone tooPotentially another proper LW player to compete with Pilks. Surs as a backup/alternate if neededAnother good quality CB to give solid cover. Ayala and Ward also pretty much gone and Barnett most likely. Wouldn''t be surprised if we signed another DM to give cover for Tettey/BJ when we go 4-2-3-1Another LB. Either Garrido or perhaps Olsson or another young, fast LB who can support attacks. Tierney probably out

[Bethnal Yellow and Green 2,424]

I can see a player like Van Wolfswinkel coming in to play in the Hoolahan type position. In a 4-2-3-1/4-4-1-1 you need more of a goalscoring threat from your "Number 10" - I doubt Wolfswinkel would be asked to operate up top as a lone striker much, although he can also play this position very effectively also. Due to his technique and eye for a pass he would be well suited to play deeper, but also be able to contribute more goals (which is Wes'' main weakness unfortunately).

[York Canary 29]

[quote user="Bethnal Yellow and Green"]I can see a player like Van Wolfswinkel coming in to play in the Hoolahan type position. In a 4-2-3-1/4-4-1-1 you need more of a goalscoring threat from your "Number 10" - I doubt Wolfswinkel would be asked to operate up top as a lone striker much, although he can also play this position very effectively also. Due to his technique and eye for a pass he would be well suited to play deeper, but also be able to contribute more goals (which is Wes'' main weakness unfortunately).[/quote]That could work quite well as I''ve seen him play behind the striker in that role before. Between the lines so-to-speak. However, we''d need a clinical striker to partner him or someone like Holt to hold to the ball (not fall over) and link back with RVW or others

[star_manic 0]

also if we get in a quality DM then there is no need to play two DMs thus freeing up another place for an attacking option.as it stands it seems that neither Tetty nor Johnson are capable of doing this jod solo, mainly due to their lack of passing quality.

[Not Nigel 0]

"Porto is still in champions league and most of the years their european league teams do quite well there"

He doesn''t play for Porto though does he, he plays for Lisbon, who are 10th in the league. They have two strong teams - Porto and Braga - just like the SPL did until Rangers were banished. Most of their teams are completely tinpot, they get a couple of thousand fans a week. Many of the teams in their top league don''t get gates big enough to survive in our league two.

"Primeira Liga isnt poor man''s league and they have lot of talent in there. Just check how much some players cost to get out of there. Compared for example leagues like Eredivisie or Ligue 1"

Thought I''d do the obligatory check. Eredivisie transfer record 16.5m euros, Ligue 1 transfer record Lucas Moura 45 million euros, Portuguese transfer record 19 million euros. It probably isn''t necessary for me to drill too down into the ludicrousness of your comparison, I just need to say the letters: P, S & G. For the sake of the true argument, which is the one that says that the Portuguese league is just as tinpot as the SPL, the Scottish transfer record is £12m.

"Anyway comparing Hooper and Van Wolfswinkel. I personaly wouldn''t take either of them, if we keep all Becchio, Kamara and Holt"

Well we need a striker if those three are the scope of our roster, unless relegation is our objective.

"But if I would have to take 1 it would be Wolf. Why? First of all he comes from dutch academy-system which means he knows how to play on the ground. Technique isnt something what you can learn at higher ages. "

So did Fernando Derveld, Raymond De Waard, and Jurgen Colin. Strangely they left their technique at home, British Airways must have lost their luggage.

"Look for example that link and see how he touch the ball and think can any of our current strikers have that soft touch"

If there is one thing that I''ve learnt from the internet and following football is that you can make any professional player look like a world beater with YouTube videos. I watched one of Chris Martin the other day which made him look like a potential ballon d''or winner. The best player I''ve ever seen at Carrow Road when it comes to ball control is Paul McVeigh, never made him a Premier League player.

"Hooper is typical brittish all rounder striker. We have already 2 of them in Holt - Becchio duo. Hooper might be faster and a bit more clinical, but still as long as those two are in the team I wouldnt buy third from same mold"

Typical British strikers tend to do quite well in Britain, surprisingly. Your comparison between Holt and Becchio with Hooper is a ridiculous one though, completely different players. You do realise that Gary Hooper is 5ft 9" don''t you? If he is like any player he is like Robbie Keane. Next you will be telling me that Robbie Keane is similar to Andy Carroll.

"I personaly would like to have someone who can do something else with the ball than shoot head and pass"

Shoot, head, and pass sounds like the perfect combination to me. That would be a better combination than the one that we currently have, none of whom seem to possess great passing skills. I''d love to have a striker who could beat three men and lob the keeper from the edge of the area, unfortunately this dutch fella isn''t one of those either.

"I personaly dont know if we truly even need pure striker"

Possibly not, a Hoolahan with more goals would do me, or a Huckerby on the left.

"And after that ramble I just say that I rate Wolfswinkel, but hope we sign a bit different style player and at the end I''m happy with him, if Hughton sees this type of player fitting better his formation"

I''d rather Hughton changed his formation, in all fairness.

[smooth 114]

I think we need the middle of the park and another wide option needed. Snoddy is great but pilky is inconsistent.

Upfront we need two we have holty and becchio. I am not sure if kk is the answer... He has time to prove he has but I think we can pick up some other players in the window in the striking position.

He has a few months to prove he is worth it, only then can we judge.

[Lavanche 0]

cornish sam: Sometime I wonder why I am here, but some posters and the fact this is only active Norwich forum keeps me here and also this is only place for me to learn what club related people do and say and get local rumours as our club''s "news" dont be on the front page of goal.com or finnish radio ( and non other media to be fact) wont broadcast anything related the club. Anyway good if someone gets something out of my ramblings.

signupcarrowroad:

First of all I ment players that are sold from that league to other clubs. Hulk, Witsel, Coentrao to name few. Yes ofc Ligue 1 has Hazard and Remy etc, but Ligue Primeira is known of developing players near their prime and league has to have some quality to do so and make them do well in big leagues.

Second get your facts straight. They have 3 big clubs there. Benfica, Porto and Sporting. Braga is quite new and they havent had constant success and if I dont remember wrong they have never won the league. Dont have now time to wiki about it, but you can correct me, if I''m wrong.

Also they have been constantly front of Eredivisie and Russian League for example thought russians are probably going front of them soon because of oligarks and just behind Ligue 1. For a tinpot league it is quite an archievement to succeed in european cups every year quite well ;)

They might have low competition in the league for three bigs, but how many teams have won Premier League and or qualified in Champions League from England? If you put it in perspective their league is quite much balanced as any other league in Europe and most of their teams would do just fine in Championship and best of them would be low table or middleclass clubs in premier league. I bet Benfica and Porto would win almost any day teams like Sunderland and Stoke.

This way or that Primeira is at the moment better league and (this part is important) it has more talent and faster tempo than SPL. They probably wouldnt produce good squad players for english teams like SPL, but more profilic players that are used to bring that something extra.

You are correct that Wolfswinkel doesnt play in Porto. Thats why he hasn''t score more than 14 goals this season ^^ Also you are right that we need one striker, but in my opinion it should be neither of these two as long we keep all three we have already.

Holt, Becchio and Hooper are similar players :) they have different strenghts and weakness, but their playing style is similar. All of them play more or less as a target player, they are not really dribblers and they rarely make their own chances or drop down to make the play. Hooper might be bit smaller than two others, but he still makes most of his goals by using his body strenght near goal and where youtube can make anyone as a Messi, it can''t fake the playing style and I have seen him play at least 6 times this season.

Van Wolfswinkel isnt far from that type, but he has technical ability to play bit different. Still for me he wouldnt be different enough thought I would pick him before hooper and yes for every successfull dutch academy player there is two who fail in top leagues, but want to count how many brittish players do same for trying to get from lower league stages to premier or are bought for foreign leagues and success? Not to mention Hooper have 0 english national team games under his belt and I most likely dont have to tell which national team lacks good strikers dutch or english.

Also check goalscorer table in premier league and see how many english players there are. Not so many even if you would count Welsh, Scottish and Irish players and most of them dont even play as a striker. That means english strikers dont typically do well in premier league considered the ammount english youth system produces every year for domestic football.

So at the end I would take odds with few games dutch national player than zero game english. Well to be honest I would take odds with 0 game dutch too.

So again I wouldnt pick either of these two, but I''m not saying either of them is a bad player and if we wouldnt have already similar players as Hooper I would have harder to pick, but in current situation I would go for Wolfswinkel just because he has bit different attributes than our current strikers and Hooper and he is more creative player. What we lack is creativity. You almost know every time what our players do when they get the ball. Pilkington and Hoolahan can surprise some times ^^

[York Canary 29]

I think Hooper and RVW could both do well here. Couldn''t give a flying f*** which League they come from. There''s plenty of players who have come from some obscure minor League and been successful. RVW obviously has good technique and talent and more natural quality than all of our strikers. He could certainly add something different and positive to our strikeforce. Same goes for Hooper. He did great at Championship level and went on to do well at Celtic and in Europe and has a natural ability to get goals. Looks like a bit of a terrier and he''s another player who could add something positive to our forward-line that is missing now. I see him as the player Vaughan could/should have been. He''s not a dribbler or a player with searing pace, but he''s not slow and he''s relentless and gets in the correct positions and he will take his chances. I don''t agree with the crazy prices quoted for either player, but I don''t think they''d want that in summer as Lisbon need the money and Hooper is in the last 12mths of his contract and Lennon has basically said he''s losing his best players. I''d expect Wanyama to go as well. Wouldn''t be surprised to see Forster leave either (though I''d be sad to see him at a Prem rival lol)

[Not Nigel 0]

Cheers Lavanche.

York Canary, "I think Hooper and RVW could both do well here. Couldn''t give a flying f*** which League they come from"

Agree completely. My point is that everybody is dismissing Hooper because he plays in a ''tinpot'' league full of league one standard clubs, I''m simply making the point that RVW also often plays teams of a similar standard to the likes of St Mirren and Inverness or whoever it is that Celtic have to play.

It would be amazing if we could sign both of them to be honest.

I''m sure that Hughton has a much longer list however and will be signing two out of however many he admires, probably has a dozen targets in that position and there is no reason to think that Hooper and RVW were ever at the very top of that list, they are merely two that leaked to the media.

It could well be the case that clubs and players who wouldn''t listen in January will be prepared to listen come the summer, when it is easier - and cheaper - for them to sign a replacement. Clubs are reluctant to sell in January for the simple fact that selling their primary goalscorer is likely to wreck their season.

[York Canary 29]

[quote user="singupcarrowroad"]Cheers Lavanche. York Canary, "I think Hooper and RVW could both do well here. Couldn''t give a flying f*** which League they come from" Agree completely. My point is that everybody is dismissing Hooper because he plays in a ''tinpot'' league full of league one standard clubs, I''m simply making the point that RVW also often plays teams of a similar standard to the likes of St Mirren and Inverness or whoever it is that Celtic have to play. It would be amazing if we could sign both of them to be honest. I''m sure that Hughton has a much longer list however and will be signing two out of however many he admires, probably has a dozen targets in that position and there is no reason to think that Hooper and RVW were ever at the very top of that list, they are merely two that leaked to the media. It could well be the case that clubs and players who wouldn''t listen in January will be prepared to listen come the summer, when it is easier - and cheaper - for them to sign a replacement. Clubs are reluctant to sell in January for the simple fact that selling their primary goalscorer is likely to wreck their season.[/quote]

 

If we signed both I''d be mightily happy and I think it''d placate most fans and allay a few fears before next season starts. That and a quality CM and I''d be buzzing