Submitted on: 09/05/2012 by
Kelvin Mak
So here we are, another transfer window shutting. Bless the Premier League, and a certain Qatari-backed team from Paris: as other clubs in the continent came to their senses and agreed to more sensible prices for player transfers, they kept things interesting with their dealings, as they plonked down more money than FIFA delegates at a World Cup bid.
So who made the list of notable teams for this roundup and why? And how will they impact your choice of teams in this year’s football games? Let’s find out.
Notable Signings: Santi Cazorla, Olivier Giroud, Lukas Podolski
Notable Departures: Robin van Persie, Alex Song, Nicklas Bendtner...just kidding
What it means to football gamers:
Vieira, Henry, Gallas, Fabregas, and now van Persie. The Dutchman is the latest captain to head out of the Emirates.
At times last year it seemed like he carried the entire team on his back (insert your own injury joke here), so if nothing else, this should make playing with Arsenal more fun as you’re tasked with making up for RvP’s lost goals. In Olivier Giroud, you get a big strong player who can hold play up, or be the focal point of crosses; while Podolski is in the typical Arsenal mould: quick and clinical You can try to account for van Persie's goals with Giroud and Podolski, or should you find yourself more enamored with big names, splash down some cash for another striker. With Arsenal’s sound finances, this task shouldn’t be too difficult, as you will likely have a decent-sized transfer kitty to work with.
In midfield, Cazorla looks a class player. If his attributes in this year’s games correspond to how he is playing in real life, then him, Wilshere, Arteta, and Diaby can cause a lot of teams trouble in the middle of the park. However, with the departure of Song, the back end of that midfield is looking thin behind Diaby. So perhaps an extra defensive midfielder is worth a look. Depending on how the team's centerbacks are rated, your biggest priority may lie there--let's assume the virtual Steve Bould won't make as big a difference to the team as he is doing in reality-- as you may need to find a better quality partner for Vermaelen.
Notable Signings: Eden Hazard, Oscar, Marko Marin, Victor Moses, Cezar Azpilicueta
Notable Departures: Didier Drogba, Salomon Kalou, Jose Bosingwa, Michael Essien (loan)
What it means to football gamers:
Is Abramovic getting sensitive at all the criticism leveled at Chelsea for parking the bus to win the Champions League? If nothing else, as the team has shown so far in this early stage of the season, they will play a more attractive brand of football than last year. And they bloody well should, as Roman's ponied up more than 60 million pounds for attacking midfielders in this past transfer window.
Playing as Chelsea will definitely be fun if you like your fancy skill moves. New additions Hazard, Oscar, and Marin, plus the incumbent Juan Mata, are all creative, fleet-footed players. Play them right, and they can be incredibly lethal when combining with Fernando Torres (Football Manager players: that’s assuming Torres will get a bump in attributes, which is not a guarantee). If Torres or Daniel Sturridge isn't your cup of tea, you can just use Chelsea's almost always flushed coffers to put in a bid for, say, Falcao-- something the club tried, but couldn't accomplish during this transfer window. The centerbacks may also need shoring up; and also, depending on how Bertrand and Courtois are rated in this year’s games, you may want to start scouring for long term replacements for Ashley Cole and Petr Cech sooner rather than later.
Notable Signings: Joe Allen, Fabio Borini, Nuri Sahin (loan)
Notable Departures: Alberto Aquilani, Maxi Rodriguez, Dirk Kuyt, Andy Carroll (loan), Craig Bellamy, Charlie Adam (to sighs of relief)
What it means to football gamers:
Uh-oh, is this when the backlash starts to grow against the Fenway Sports Group?
To be fair, John Henry and company has the right to be a little skeptical after seeing their money squandered on the likes of Andy Carroll, Charlie Adam, and Stewart Downing. But their failure to pony up the money for Brendan Rodgers—who didn’t have anything to do with buying the aforementioned players—and sign a quality striker in this transfer window means that, for all of Suarez’s slippery dribbles and runs, the team may still have trouble scoring goals. Sure, there’s new recruit in Borini, but he’s still technically too raw to carry the team on a consistent basis.
On the plus side, the center of the park looks set this year with Sahin, Allen, Lucas and Gerrard running the show. In Allen, Liverpool gets the kind of crafty, subtle playmaker they’ve lacked since Xabi Alonso left town. So, depending on the budget given at the start of each video game, a striker is probably the biggest priority. Who knows, maybe AI managers might just be more willing to take Stewart Downing off your hands to fund your quest. Or you can bury the illusions of fantasy football and play route one football by recalling Andy Carroll and playing him up top.
Notable Signings: Jack Rodwell, Scott Sinclair, Maicon, Javi Garcia
Notable Departures: Adam Johnson, Emmanuel Adebayor, Nigel de Jong
What it means to football gamers:
After losing out on De Rossi and van Persie, what does Roberto Mancini do? Buy other players, of course. He hauls in Javi Garcia, Jack Rodwell, Scott Sinclair, and Maicon. And just because he’s a nice fellow, Mancini also signed Richard Wright, who is back to his favored role of warming the bench at a big club.
Of the lot, Javi Garcia looks like the most important signing. He steps in as a better quality replacement for the departing de Jong, and the usually invisible Gareth Barry. He also allows the powerhouse that is Yaya Toure (who, if the ratings people at FIFA and PES are anywhere near competent, should be one of the best all around midfielders in the games) to maraud forward and cause significant havoc.
Ultimately, there are not a lot of holes in the City squad that need to be filled. But chances are, if you’re starting a game at the Etihad, you probably don’t care about that—so happy buying.
Notable signings: Robin van Persie, Shinji Kagawa
Notable departures: Dimitar Berbatov, Ji-Sung Park
What it means to football gamers:
Rooney, van Persie, Young, Nani, Valencia, Kagawa, Welbeck, Hernandez, Macheda—nine players, four spots. The good news, surprise surprise, is that goals won’t be a problem. There’s tremendous speed and mobility upfront; and with the addition of van Persie, United gets not only a clinical finisher but also somebody who can interchange positions with the rest of the team. Though again, who do you leave out? If you’re firing up your FIFA/PES/Football Manager with the red team in Manchester, good luck tinkering and keeping everybody happy. But yes, it’s definitely going to be fun having Rooney and van Persie on the same team and watching the goals flow.
And then there’s that midfield to take care of. If we’re just going by the numbers, sure, there looks to be enough players. But is it good enough to win you the Premier League and/or the Champions League? In games like FIFA and PES, where you have more control in how the games play out, perhaps. But if you’re planning to use United in Football Manager, it’s a good idea to look for a powerful box-to-box midfielder who can contribute at both ends of the pitch. On the current team, there’s a glut of technical midfielders (Carrick, Scholes, Giggs, Cleverley), but only one legitimate “destroyer”—Darren Fletcher—who can hassle and harass opponents, and even he can be outplayed by bigger and/or quicker opponents.
Notable Signings: Stephane Mbia, Esteban Granero, Samba Diakite, Ji-Sung Park, Junior Hoilett, Julio Cesar, Robert Green, Ryan Nelsen, Jose Bosingwa, Andy Johnson
Notable Departures: Joey Barton (loan), Paddy Kenny, Tommy Smith, Heidar Helguson
What it means to football gamers:
The folks at QPR are giving us aspiring football managers who play, erm, Football Manager hope. After all, they’re behaving exactly the way we do when we play FM. We’ve all been there before: We get so excited at the large transfer budget that will attract big players who, in normal circumstances, wouldn't give the team the time of day, so we sign them no matter where they play or how old they are. So what if the team needs better centerbacks? Let’s just sign a name goalkeeper to replace the one we’ve signed earlier in the summer! Hell, sign everybody. To be fair, QPR did add Stephane Mbia, who looks like a solid defender. But the rest of the lot, like Anton Ferdinand, Nedum Onouha, and Ryan Nelsen, aren’t exactly centerbacks who strike fear in the hearts of opposing forwards.
So if you’re starting a game as the Rangers, explore ways to shore up your backline. On the plus side, you will most likely have a substantial transfer budget to spend to your heart’s content.
Notable Signings: Moussa Dembele, Jan Vertonghen, Gylfi Sigurdsson, Hugo Lloris, Clint Dempsey, Emmanuel Adebayor
Notable Departures: Luka Modric, Rafael van der Vaart, Stephen Pienaar
What it means to football gamers:
Apparently AvB doesn’t heed warnings from Football Manager. It’s a golden rule for FM players to not undertake massive squad overhauls in a short span of time, as all the new signings need time to gel and play to their potential. Well, that’s exactly what Villas-Boas has done.
What does his transfer dealings in this window mean for Spurs players? Most will see it a priority to replace Modric and van der Vaart’s creativity, and they may be right. In real life, Dembele may be every bit as good as Modric; but depending on how highly the former Fulham man is rated in the games, players may have trouble breaking down the more stubborn defenses.
Then there's Paris St. Germain. The new moneybags splashed out and bought Ibrahimovic, Thiago Silva, Lucas Moura. And, as the French transfer window doesn't close until September 4th, rumors are abound that Gregory van der Wiel is on the way too. Ancelotti's team certainly stumbled out of the gate in real life, but in video games your task should be much easier as, on paper, no other team in Ligue 1 can match up to PSG's expensive assembled squad. And of course, money is no object, so if you need to strengthen, you can probably buy an entirely new starting eleven if you need to.
The one eyebrow-raising transfer that occurred outside of Britain and Paris—besides Juventus swopping for Bendtner, which was just bizarre in so many ways—is Bayern Munich’s acquisition of Javi Martinez. For 32 million pounds, they’ve probably paid a bit over the odds, but he can play. Martinez, as he played for a Spanish team not named Barcelona or Real Madrid, is one of the more underrated Spanish midfielders out there. This year, with a central midfield consisting of Schweinsteiger, Martinez, and Kroos, players should have a blast playing as Bayern, especially on counterattacks.
Barcelona adds to its squad Alex Song and Jordi Alba. In Song, Barcelona gets the cover they need for Sergio Busquets, should the latter gets injured (which is different to "looks injured", as that happens usually about eleven times per game.) Meanwhile, in Alba, they get a left-footed and defensively competent version of Dani Alves. The former Valencia man is a pacey fullback-cum-winger, which means that the one hole that Barca used to have since Abidal went down, is now plugged.
But of course, their rivals Real Madrid won’t just lay down in the transfer market, either. Their squad, like Barcelona’s, looks like a fantasy football team. Ronaldo, Higuain, Di Maria, Ozil, Kaka, Essien, Alonso. Now add Modric and Essien to the mix. If you thought there were too many players using Barcelona in online games last year, Real may just give them a run for their money this time around.
Sound off, OSers! How did your team fare in this transfer window, and which team will you be using to start your football games this fall?
Working...