Transfer Window: Winners

So, the transfer window closed a week ago. Where to start? It was fucking nuts. Torres, Carroll, Luiz, Suarez and a host of others in the window. So let's play a quick game of winners and losers.

WINNERS

Liverpool: Well, let's start with the busiest members. Liverpool made a splash in both directions, getting wildly overpaid for Torres and then wildly overpaying for Carroll. If you look at the fact that they basically didn't spend any money, flipping an injury-prone player who has been a shadow of his sublime self for 18 months for Carroll and Suarez is great business.


I'm not totally sold on Carroll and I think he will end up being a great target man, but watching his goal compilations, how many does he really score with his feet? He'll be lethal on set pieces and that's always useful but I'm still a touch skeptical about his technique. Suarez I think is the steal of the window. A player with great touch, tireless work rate and an absolutely predatory instinct around the goal is a great addition, and who can really argue that a strike force of Carroll and Suarez will almost surely end up better than the lone figure of Torres up top.

Blackpool

They held onto their inspirational captain, and were able to get James Beattie as he slowly tries to play in as many relegation battles as possible. Beattie isn't really that big a deal, the big thing here is holding onto Adam. If he ends up the difference between staying up and going down, he is worth as much as Torres, and who can blame Blackpool for scoffing at the 7mil offers they received. Adam is worth loads more than that for Blackpool and considering that's the case, who would ever expect to see them sell for really anything under 15? He will probably be gone in the summer, but they'll have all summer to retool and prepare for another season in the Premier League, and hey, maybe they'll use the money to buy some underground heating.

AMERICA

Michael Bradley on loan to Aston Villa

Jozy Altidore on loan to Bursaspor

Robbie Findley to Nottingham Forest

Eddie Johnson on loan to Preston North End

Freddy Adu on loan to Rizespor

Phew, OK that was a lot. But as you can see, Americans were pretty busy here. You had two players making clear steps forward, with three others trying to get some regular football at a lower level. Bradley is by far the biggest winner here, as he is a class player who can now show it provided he gets some playing time for Villa. With Ireland gone and the club mired in a relegation fight, Bradley should have plenty of opportunity to showcase his talents and secure a permanent move. Gladbach is almost assuredly going down and I think they are so confident in his abilities that they loaned him out so people could see how good he is. Otherwise, a relegation threatened team just simply gave up one of their best players. A great move for Findley as well, as he moves from a MLS side to a team that looks like it is in great shape to get promoted and even if not, the Championship is still a step up. He did pick up a knock in training but he should recover. The other three are really just in the situation of trying to get playing time. Eddie Johnson got a game almost immediately for Preston and who knows, maybe he can get some goals for them. They're the worst team in the Championship and if he can't make an impact there, he should either work on his Swedish or come on home. Altidore is going to the Turkish champions, and is still in a great situation with Villareal not looking keen to get rid of him. Altidore should probably leave the Yellow Submarine however, as he will never get in front of Nilmar or Rossi. If I were Jozy, I'd say a mid-level Spanish club would give him a better chance in the long run and he is also built for the Premier League. Finally, that brings us to the sad case of Freddy Adu. There are a lot of steps to take before the second division in Turkey, and this is where he is today. I hope he can make an impact and slowly start climbing his way up the ladder to success. He is far from past it age-wise, but he is dangerously close to falling completely off the map. He has to make an impact somewhere, anywhere and hope that things start to build. Hell, if he could raise through the ranks in Turkey that'd be a massive step up than being in the reserves at Benfica. You just gotta hope he gets it together.

Transfer League losers coming soon!

The Idiocy of Weakened Squads

I know it's deadline day, but I'm in a small state of mourning after the loss of Fernando, and so I'll cover all of that tomorrow. First, I want to talk about the fact that Blackpool is being fined by the FA for fielding a "weakened" squad. Now, 25k is quite a pretty penny for a team that cannot even afford under-pitch heating, and they did the same thing to Wolves last year. Let's just go over the facts, shall we? Ian Holloway selected a starting lineup, entirely composed of the 25-man squad he selected for the Premier League, but with 9 of the players starting not being first-team regulars. The game was very evenly matched, with Villa winning on a late Collins strike.

We Just Scored on Blackpool's B Team!

Now, look, it was clearly a weakened team (which makes it all the more pathetic that they nearly drew Aston Villa) but what exactly is the crime here? Teams all the time make callous decisions like this. First off, the FA, which controls both cups, regularly watches teams put in B (or C or D) squads in those cups that they frankly don't care much about. How is this allowed then? They are basically saying that these ties don't matter much to them. If they aren't allowed to say that about a Premier League game, why can they say that about the main cups in the country?

Furthermore, where you draw the line between rotation and weakening? Any rotation is clearly a weakening of your best XI, but when is it weakening and when is it resting? There's too much gray area, and Holloway has done a great job at Blackpool so far so who is saying that he is not doing what is in the best interest of the club? It is insipid to fine Blackpool when he simply did what the Big Clubs have always done but never get called out on. Fergie, Wenger and Rafa would all be very poor men if they were fined every time they rotated to a "weakened" team. Just because no one rates Blackpool's bench does not mean they are any less right.