Cant help but say it again (sorry)
Why would we buy any southampton player when the reason we beat them twice was nothing to do with poch or tim but because we have much better players ?
That was according to a lot of the poch fans anyway.
For the prices they want I'd pass on them all thanks plenty of decent fish in the sea.
Having better players overall doesn't mean having better players in all positions. We regularly lost to United up until a couple of seasons back, partly because they had better players than us. Carrick and Berbatov still did really well for them. Similarly we were obviously better than Portsmouth, but Crouch and Defoe helped us to the Champions League.
Most top teams sign players from smaller PL clubs. Look at United with van der Saar, Ferdinand, Carrick, Berba, (van Persie) and Valencia just to mention a few. Or Liverpool with Mignolet, Enrique, Henderson etc. It's not like a club finishing 3-4 places down the table for us will have only inferior players, picking up "the best of the rest" is a solid part of a well rounded transfer strategy.
Its also overpaying because you are usually dealing with a club that already is negative towards you for taking their manager
was more thinking Hoddle with Richards
You think Southampton will refuse a bid from us, but accept a similar offer from United, Chelsea or Liverpool for their players? I personally doubt that.
Ive never paid much attention to Schneiderlin other than quotes on Gilette Saturday that he's one of the most underrated players in the league.
How does he compare to Strootman, Claise and Schweinsteiger and other deep laying playmakers?
Who is he better than, who is he not quite as good as?
Is he a mobile type like Modric and Javi Martinez or a simple sit in front of back 4 and spray balls around Pirlo type
He looks mobile and tactically aware on Youtube, but who doesn't on a highlight reel
I have been impressed with him several times, but I have to admit I've never sat down to pay attention to him when Southampton have played. Based on what I've seen and remembered though: He's more mobile than Pirlo, gets forward more. Not quite as quick and sharp as Modric and not with the same dribbling ability, but a bit more tough and physical than Modric and perhaps stronger in the tackle and duels. Perhaps a comparison to Schweinsteiger is closest of those you mention, but obviously not at that level. Someone that gets on the ball a lot and plays a lot of passes and does so well, but does also burst forward. Probably Schweinsteiger is better at that, whereas Schneiderlin is a bit tougher defensively. All action type of player that gets involved a lot, solid both ways, good on the ball, but doesn't get involved all that much in the final third. Haven't seen enough of Strootman and Clasie to comment. I've been impressed with him enough that I thought he would have been an interesting signing for us way before Poch arrived.
Stats seem look similar to what I've perceived when watching him (whoscored.com): Highest average passes number of any Southampton player with 58, also the highest pass success % with 89 (somewhat similar to Modric), but very little in terms of goals and assists (also like Modric). Low number of successful dribbles per match with 0.6 (similar to Wanyama, Cork and Davis, unlike Modric). Highest number of tackles per game with 3,4. Shared second number of interceptions with 2,1 (shared with Fonte, second only to Lovren - both centre backs). (Superior to Modric, perhaps more like Martinez, although I rate Martinez very highly so not quite at that level)
