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Gravesen to Real

USArsenal

USArsenal

H.Y.I.C.
well, now that the deal is done and he is officially a Real player, a couple things will happen:

1. Everton will fall from 5th to 12th by the end of the season.... their only shot at Europe next year was with Gravesen in the heart of their team... they arent deep enough to handle the loss of Rooney AND Gravesen in one season...

2. Real will make a serious push towards the La Liga title... Gravesen helps them out big time with the one thing they were missing: Determination and Grit... he is a good CM that isnt afraid to get stuck in...


who would have thought that Real would sign someone from a "lesser" club like Everton... heh...
 
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patrick42uk

Established Member
everton were going to drop down any way, with or without gravesen. IMO it was never a matter of if but when. i also feel that out of boro liverpool and everton, everton are the least likely to be able to handle a cl campaign. liverpool will finish fourth IMO with everton a respectable 6th.

as for madrid, i always felt they were still in their title race. if i had a choice, i'd pick barca over chelsea as our title rivals. barca's squad weakness means tiredness will play a part in the second half of the season, espcially for their front players. madrid on the other hand have the much needed boost of a coach the players respect. gravesen will add a bit of steel too and improves their squad strength. i feel they will finish champions.
 
USArsenal

USArsenal

H.Y.I.C.
i agree that Everton were playing well above themselves the entire first half of the season.. who would have though it after we trashed them on opening day... but a big portion of that was Gravesen... now he's gone and they have a big hole... i honestly dont think they can finish as high as 6th at this point... i agree it was a matter of "when" they were going to slip, but now that slip will be greater...

as for Real, sure, they are technically still in the title race, but Barca are so far ahead Im not sure if Real (who have a knack of tanking matches nowadays) can catch them, expecially with Valencia starting to play the way they should be able to (even with Ranieri)
 
A

Arsenal316

Well-Known Member
They needed a CM who was defensive minded....experimenting with Helguera in midfield was a complete disaster.

Now by putting him in defense, I hope that Woodgate could possibly be taken on loan for the remainder of the season.

My dream is for Wenger to loan him for the season, and transfer Cygan out to any French team who wants him....because his contract runs out in June as well. He is supposedly recovering slightly faster than scheduled, and I know he would be a wecomed addition to our defense, and the team.
 
USArsenal

USArsenal

H.Y.I.C.
i wouldnt mind Woody (at full strength), the problem is, he is ALWAYS hurt... if he could play 15 matches a season, I would be very surprised....
 
the dawn raids

the dawn raids

Established Member
i stil cant believe they only got 2.5 million for such an important player. i know he was oging to be out of contract, but i think if they'd have fought a bit longer they could surely have gotten more for him.

still, it just adds more to what Eveton can spend. Beattie for 6 million was a bit daft in my opinion, but if Moyes can pull in a few decent players, Everton could have enough to hold onto a UEFA Cup birth at least.
 
Canuck

Canuck

Established Member
I was a little suprised that this went down. There were rumours but I wasn't sure it would happen. Madrid could have done a lot worse than Gravesen. They have classy superstars by the busload, but needed some grit and determination in midfield. I agree that Madrid will give a serious push for the league.
Poor Everton, their joy-ride is coming to an end I think. Credit to them for their performances up until this point. I never would have predicted it. At least Moyes has a bit more money with time to spend it still. Certainly don't think that Beattie is going to be enough with the hole in MF now. I'm going to guess that Everton will manage a top 10 finish. But Champions League football isn't in their cards next year.
 
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Arsenal316

Well-Known Member
USArsenal said:
i wouldnt mind Woody (at full strength), the problem is, he is ALWAYS hurt... if he could play 15 matches a season, I would be very surprised....
Click to expand...

Well, if we get him on loan, and he hurts himself, we'll just send him back when the season is over. Worst case scenario is that we lose some depth. But to add him at the cost of only his salary for the remainder of the season, I think it's worth the risk.
 
awesomarsenal

awesomarsenal

Active Member
everton must feel hard done by the deal, not only do they lose their best player, they also sell him for a loss IMO. they bught him for 2.5 mil and sold for 2.1 poor old everton
 
USArsenal

USArsenal

H.Y.I.C.
Canuck, they would be lucky to make the UEFA cup at this point....(by the end of the season at least)...
 
awesomarsenal

awesomarsenal

Active Member
USArsenal said:
Canuck, they would be lucky to make the UEFA cup at this point....(by the end of the season at least)...
Click to expand...
no i think they can make the uefa cup, their squad was not based on one player but on the team working as a whole, if somehow moyes manages to get another strong midfielder in, they should be ok, but it will break up at the end of the season as like almost their whole team is out of contract. well moyes now can play
4-4-2 with bent and beatie up front
 
Gunner4life09

Gunner4life09

Well-Known Member
i think if they can sign someone in the Graverson mold, they could get a Uefa cup spot. Kinda of harsh on everton that graverson left for so little. I think moyes shouldn't try and change things. he's done well with what he has got why not just sign some back up players to help bolster the squad . . .
 
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patrick42uk

Established Member
does anyone feel that gravesen would settle for taking on all the dirty work? are they expecting him to do so because he is a 'lesser' non-galatico possesing technique rather than because his ability suits the role. gravesen is tough but i'v always seen him as more of a playmaker that dictates the pace of the game. at everton he is paired with carsley who is a holding midfielder that breaks up play. if he is paired with guti, wont their be a clash becuase thats exactly guti's role or even beckham's. point is, gravesen is not a holding midfielder and it will be interesting to see how this works out. luxembergo also favours 3 at the back which requires a holding midfielder so will be interesting to see how he makes it work.
 
air

air

Well-Known Member
Finally a smart signing by Real Madrid, although by offering Makelele the salary he wanted a couple years back would have saved all this trouble, and they would have stayed at the top all this time in my opinion.
 
JazzG

JazzG

Established Member
Not really the type of player they needed imo. He will add some much needed steel into the midfield but like patrick pointed out at Everton he has Carsely doing all the dirty work and he is more box to box. But for Denmark I hear he plays a more defensive role so it could turn out a good signing. Lets just say it is a step in the right direction for them!

air said:
Finally a smart signing by Real Madrid, although by offering Makelele the salary he wanted a couple years back would have saved all this trouble, and they would have stayed at the top all this time in my opinion.
Click to expand...

To be fair though they got a lot of money for a player of his age but they were guility of not replacing him.
 
freddie8

freddie8

Member
i think that everton's great season has run out, at the most seventh now.

i don't think anyone, including them, could have predicted how well they have done this season, and i think the hype's wearing off now. they've had a couple of recent bad results, and a lot of their organisation and play was down to gravesen.

everton will not get a champion's league or uefa place. they have deserved it this season so far, but there's still 15 games. the 5 places will be occupied by chelsea, arsenal, man u, liverpool, and middlesbrough or newcastle, who i think can bounce back.
 
Canuck

Canuck

Established Member
i think they can make the uefa cup, their squad was not based on one player but on the team working as a whole, if somehow moyes manages to get another strong midfielder in, they should be ok,
Click to expand...
Absolutely!

Not a luxury signing for the sake of it on Madrid's part but I do think that he won't be exactly what they want. Luxembergo (or what ever his name is) will have to try and fit Gravesen in as best he can, but it's a good point to say that he is not the defensive holding MF that everyone suddenly thinks he is.
 
Florida Gooner

Florida Gooner

Active Member
I would have liked to see how Everton would have faired with the squad intact for an entire season. We'll never know now, and that's too bad. You'll get an argument from many neutrals that the best thing that could happen to English football would be for Everton to win the league.
 
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