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John Carver tells Rafa Benitez the players he should sign/have signed (Yes, honestly)

7 years ago
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John Carver has popped up again, this time telling Rafa Benitez where he is going wrong in the transfer market.

Yes, honestly.

Pardew’s former assistant says that Rafa has got his priorities wrong when it came to recruitment this summer.

John Carver says that rather than looking for a goalkeeper and wasting his time on £4m and £5m signings, the United boss should have spent ‘The bulk of the money should have gone on an attacking midfielder and a striker’.

Carver adding that surely with Rafa’s contacts he could have then topped his squad up with ‘three of four loan players’ from his previous clubs, such as Real Madrid, Liverpool and Chelsea.

John Carver saying his biggest surprise has been Rafa Benitez ‘finding it difficult to get these players over the line’.

It makes you wonder exactly where John Carver has been the past couple of months…

With a net spend of just over £20m this summer, Rafa Benitez has clearly had no choice but to go for the more bargain end of the market, taking risks on cheaper players.

Whilst we all hope Joselu can produce, clearly Rafa Benitez had hoped he wouldn’t be relying on a £5m striker who has never scored double figures in any previous league season in the top tier of any country.

Even with free agents (Willy Caballero) and loan deals (Tammy Abraham), Rafa has been blocked from bringing in these signings, presumably because of the overall cost of the deals, particularly wages.

It isn’t Rafa struggling to get them ‘over the line’, it as been a case of the manager setting up the deals and then Mike Ashley and his minions preventing them happening.

Whilst Mike Ashley has never previously allowed a manager to build a squad, Rafa did that last season in the Championship and the strength in depth proved crucial in getting promotion.

Manquillo played against Spurs due to Yedlin’s injury, whilst Lejeune has strengthened the centre-back position and started ahead of Jamaal Lascelles. All four centre-backs ended up being needed due to the injuries to Dummett and Lejeune and that strength in depth allowed the defence to still look decent, until Shelvey wrecked things with his red card.

John Carver speaking to Radio 5 Live:

Question:

‘One person who is angry is Rafa and it has surprised me the lack of support for him in the transfer market. John, you have been in there, did you expect Newcastle to go into the season more stocked than they are, that Mike Ashley would have backed Rafa more?’

John Carver:

“I think everybody has expected Newcastle to be in a better position with regards to players coming in.

“The biggest thing I got from Rafa was the fact he is finding it difficult to get these players over the line.

“I looked at it before the season started and I thought, how are they going to approach this season?

“Talking about a goalkeeper…we don’t need a goalkeeper, we have enough in reserve with goalkeepers.

“I thought they would have went out and bought a striker, that would have been the first priority. Strikers are the players who keep you in the league.

“It’s so important, the bulk of your money should have gone on a striker, then you can top it up with loan players.

“With his experience at the likes of Chelsea, Real Madrid and Liverpool, he could surely have dipped in and got three or four loan players.

“The bulk of the money should have gone on an attacking midfielder and a striker.

“What worries me is we are spending £4m here, £5m there, it is as though we are filling places for the sake of filling places, as in doubling up on every position.”

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