Top 5 Stories of the Window

So, this summer’s transfer window came to a close on Wednesday and whilst the rest of the world is in a recession, football’s spending keeps on growing. Over £430 million spent in this window and as usual the big bucks were spent on attacking players such as Juan Mata, Alexis Sanchez, Cesc Fabregas, and Sergio Aguero. That being said, defenders were regularly on the back pages and gossip columns. So let’s look at the top five stories over the last few months involving the men at the back.

New Gooners

Firstly we have to look at the changes Arsenal made at the back. I don’t know if that Sunday at Old Trafford convinced the indecisive Frenchman to act in this window, but was the main focus in the last few hours. He shipped out Armand Traore across London to QPR, bringing in Per Metersacker and Andre Santos. I am not sure about the Andre Santos deal, is he a significant improvement? We will have to see but the German will give them height and aggression at the back which they desperately needed.

The next has to be the lack of major defensive signings around Europe. As an Englishman, I pay most of my attention towards the Premier League. Since starting Defensive Discussions, I now find myself watching an array of games from across the globe. Real Madrid strengthened at left back, a position that they already have Marcelo occupying, which seems like a waste to me. Mourinho should have signed a partner for Ricardo Carvalho and is now left with the hotheaded Portugese defender, Pepe. Danish international, Simon Kjaer signed with Italian giants Roma whilst Brazilian legend, Roberto Carlos returned to Europe. Russian side, Anzhi Makhachkala brought back the left back, after returning home for two years back with Corinthians. The club was bought by a Russian billionaire and as we know, they don't mess about. Along with Carlos, the new owner brought in players such as ex Chelsea winger Yuri Zhirkov and Cameroon legend Samuel Eto’o. The surprise was that Barcelona stuck Mascherano as their third choice centre half, who has enjoyed a spell at the back for the Catalan giants.

A new start

Manchester United, who had the third best defense in Premier League last year, still saw fit to make big changes at the back. Old boys Wes Brown and John O’Shea were both sold to Sunderland whilst Richie De Laet was shipped out on loan to Premier League new boys, Norwich City. Center back was a position of strength at United, with the option of picking Vidic, Ferdinand, or Smalling who really stepped up to the mark last year. Sir Alex decided to strengthen further with the talented Englishman, Phil Jones from Blackburn Rovers.  Jones is expected to play in his fair share of matches this season, as Rio Ferdinand’s body is struggling to cope with the demands of top flight football

Talking about Phil Jones, here at Defensive Discussions we wrote a piece named ‘Are the Cubs Ready to Become Lions’ which discussed the future of England's back four. Names like Cahill, Jones, Smalling, and Shawcross were all mention as candidates to replace Terry and Ferdinand. I was looking for Cahill, Shawcross, and Jones to move to so called ‘bigger’ clubs. Since then Stoke are playing in Europe and Phil Jones has joined Chris Smalling at Manchester United, which can only benefit our national team. One of the biggest disappointments of ‘Transfer Deadline Day’ was the fact that Gary Cahill couldn’t seal a move to either Spurs or Arsenal. I love Owen Coyle and his work at the Reebok, but feel like Cahill would benefit playing with better players on the biggest stage. This weekend playing for England, he did not look out of place next to world class defender, John Terry.

Only 8 caps for
such a talent

My favourite and final story of this transfer window was Jonathan Woodgate’s move to Stoke City on a free transfer. The center back has been riddled with injuries and hope for his sake that his body can cope with what the season brings. If the ex Real Madrid defender can stay fit and play in thirty games or more, it could be one of the signings of the year.

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