Transfer Window: January 2013

[DICAN10]

Right,

Point 1. Tomkins has seen the ball coming
Point 2 Wasn't following the flight of the ball, it wasn't driven directly to RVP it was floated
Point 3 He didn't look across he's shoulder as he spotted the ball and see where Van Persie wasPoint 4 Completely the wrong side to start withPoint 5 Van Persie had time to bring the ball down and as RVP isn't lightening quick Tomkins still could have got infront of RVP.
Vidic isn't the defender he was as the injuries have taken it's toll after all he is what? 31, 32?
A bang on form fit and firing Vidic would have dealt with that, Meat and drink to him.

mate, please stop.

he's got his head up looking a the ball to begin with so point 2 has been wiped out.
he's already running with van persie before the ball is played meaning he knows where he is. bye bye point 3
he's goal side and under 5 yards away from his man. best position you can be in as a defender in that area of the pitch.. point 4 gone
point 5 is just ludicrous, he's brought the ball down and controlled it whilst on the run, his second touch is to set up his third which is the finish. the time between the first touch and the second touch is about a quarter of a second if that.. I don't think you're grasping how good that goal was.

[Wilko1304]

Ted's right, we are getting very off topic here, but the touch is into RVP's stride, he is fast enough to make that a very quick motion, if Tomkins is the wrong side of him then the right side of him would be behind him letting him through on goal? Its far easier to attack a ball like that as RVP can gamble where its going and face his target, Tomkins has to think where its going, where his goal is, where his man is, where all of this will end positionally when the ball lands and the striker has to take his next action. If RVP's touch is a fraction less perfect than what it was the goal wouldnt exist. Thats a world class pass and goal, I dont mind defenders getting beaten by absolute quality.

Lets just say we disagree on this one cos I dont think we're getting anywhere and transfer thread isnt the place for the discussion anyway.

We can agree that if we sign a defender capable of stopping that goal we will have done some good business! On defenders, I hope we dont pay anywhere near 7m for Olsson. Might as well bring Warnock in for a loan (if we can) for the rest of the season and give him, Linda n Potts a fight for that position. If none of them give us full confidence in that position then revisit Olsson (who will probably be cheaper by then as Blackburn look unlikely to get promoted and Olsson will continue to make noises of wanting to leave) and we can check on other options like Figeuroa.

[DICAN10]

the fact you've got pique down as a great defender tells me everything.

Someone who's won the World Cup, Euro Championship, La Liga Champions League yea he's a poor player[/quote]

good player yes, great defender no. there's a difference. if you took pique out of that barca style possession football and into a team with a flat back line that plays in the EPL he'd be getting trounced on every week. same with alves, same with marcelo same with ramos. that fifa XI was nothing but a joke. pique and ramos over Kompany give me a break. Pique is just a wanabee mats hummels only difference is hummels can actually defend.

[miles]

Selling Tomkins would be a ****ing disaster. Better to just stop wasting millions of pounds on forwards that don't last 6 months at West Ham.

[HamburgHammer]

I keep hearing about Maiga leaving this window. Won't that be pretty difficult to sort out a deal/medical while he's away for the ACON in South Africa ? I'm sure team representatives could travel out there and do a medical and all, but still awfully difficult. I'm still waiting to see what maiga can do when played in his prefered striker position, but I guess we'll just have to watch the Mali national side to find out...

[miles]

There is no shame in getting skinned by Van Persie. Unless the argument is that Vidic is a poor defender because Carlton batters the f*** out of him every time they meet.

[bobd_uk]

I'm still waiting to see what maiga can do when played in his prefered striker position

When we signed him, the talk was that his preferred position was as a second striker. We don't use that position, so it was a weird signing altogether really!

[Happyhammer52]

Some of you lot are embarrassing. RVP scored, we now face a replay. Get over this and return to transfer talk please.

[Westcliff Hammer]

He has played in England, Played for United. Fergie didn't want to lose him but couldn't guarantee him first team football so he got loaned out to Villareal and eventually sold back to Barcelona. Not a lower league Spanish team

Ramos style is tailor made for the English League. This has gone off topic. Fact is you won't see Tomkins playing in the Champions League, World Cup's, European Championships for England you wont even see him in the top competitions both at club level Tomkins is an average Premier League performer no more no less I would be confident that Tomkins won't wear the England shirt in he's career, Would you swap Chris Samba for James Tomkins? i would in an absolute heartbeat. If he stays here then i won't be dissapointed but equally if he goes then i wouldn't be bothered we've lost better players than Tomkins before. I really think all this wavered affection for him is because he is a youth graduate. If we get £8m for him that would be quite possibly a fair value for him and can be replaced for that. I'm not a scout but if you consider how much Fulham paid for Hangeland in the Scandinavian, German, Portuguese leagues i would reckon theres a better player in those league than Tomkins.

[WestHamIFC]

Tomkins is a young defender still learning the game.

Last season he was marking strikers for Barnsley, Peterborough and Bristol City.

Yep, and based on that I learnt on here that he's apparently gonna be England's next great Centre-Half!! :lol:

[saludo de carlitos]

How easily people forget how good Tomkins was last season, better than Winston who has flourished by being given a chance.

[djclipz]

How easily people forget how good Tomkins was last season, better than Winston who has flourished by being given a chance.

I always thought Winston was better last season! He reads the game better. However I wouldn't want Tomkins leaving anyway.. I rate him, there is more to come!

[HamburgHammer]

I thought our new transfer policy is (and should be) NOT to sell our up and coming young stars.
Tomkins is not the finished article yet, and I feel if we sell for 6 million or so now, he could well be worth three times as much in two or three years time.

Newcastle can have Piquionne if they're that desperate to avoid relegation...

[Westcliff Hammer]

If he leaves and becomes a top defender then i'll happily admit i was wrong about him. We're on the cusp of something truly special as a club. In a few years we'll be in the Olympic Stadium and be in for and maybe have better than Tomkins who by then could be completely squeezed out of any first team reckoning at that point. Sam wouldn't be prepared to listen to offers for Tomkins who has just signed a new contract so the transfer fee will reflect that (hopefully). Simple fact it is, He is replaceable

[Rocketron]

I've been at work all day. i come home to find 8 pages about Tomkins possibly leaving.
Unfuckingbelieveable.
BFS is one of his biggest fans, that's why he uses him to cover injuries in other positions.
I thought the school holidsays had finished by now.

[indiehammer]

BFS is one of his biggest fans, that's why he uses him to cover injuries in other positions.

I was thinking the same thing, Rocket.

[BenniBlanco]

In Today's ES article from the big guy he talks about team spirit and the value of maintaining it. He goes on to use an analogy about treating your lawn and getting the weeds out before they take over everything. I may be reading too much in to this but is he indicating that some one is on their way?

[Absentee Hammer]

Oh well, looks like the same old arguements, im off to give twitter a look to see what is actually going on ......

[bubbles1966]

Martin Olsson playing for Blackburn tonight

[ageing hammer]

bloody hell that was a long medical.. what they have him do, jog to sunderland?

Not as long as SWP