Transfer Window Winners and Losers

Premier League Weekly Column 

       

By Jonathan Gault

There were no Premier League games this week due to the FA Cup, and just one of the 16 cup games featured two Premier League teams (Chelsea 1, Stoke 0). So you’ll forgive me if I hold off discussion of that competition until the fifth round three weeks from now, when we get a real treat: half of the eight games are all-Premier League affairs, including two gargantuan battles in Manchester City vs. Chelsea and Arsenal vs. Liverpool.

To keep the focus on the here and now, I thought I’d do a short recap of the comings and goings during the January transfer window. Just like at Christmas, teams that get their shopping done early can sleep easily ahead of the Friday deadline. But there are still deals to be had, and sometimes the best packages don’t get delivered until the very last minute (such as Arsenal’s acquisition of Mesut Ozil in the summer window).

I’m generally not a fan of “winners and losers” – it’s very hard to evaluate deals right as they happen – but it’s the easiest format to evaluate teams quickly. I won’t hit on every squad in this article, but here are the clubs that stood out to me (as of Sunday night).

Winner: Manchester United

United’s problems are too severe to address during a 31-day transfer window. Man U has no chance of winning the title this season, and to re-establish itself as title contenders in 2014-15, they need to upgrade significantly in defense and midfield. Adding players at those positions with the quality to challenge Man City and Chelsea will be neither easy nor expensive, but the Red Devils made a good start by splashing out a club-record £37.1 million to sign Juan Mata. Mata played all but three league games over the past two seasons at Stamford Bridge but fell out of favor with Jose Mourinho this year. Mourinho’s loss is United’s gain: at 25, Mata is in his prime, and he has a Maracana-sized carrot dangling in front of him right now. A few good months for Man U, and Mata has a chance to book his place in the Spanish squad for the World Cup. Though he addresses the third of the pitch in which United are the strongest, you can never have too many attacking players, and it will be a thrill to watch him work alongside Adnan Januzaj, Wayne Rooney and (hopefully sometime soon) Robin van Persie.

Winner: Hull City

Hull is desperate for goals. They’ve scored 22 in 22 games, and no player has scored more than three in the league. Steve Bruce addressed this problem by adding Everton’s Nikica Jelavic and West Brom’s Shane Long, both of whom figure to step into the starting lineup immediately. Though there’s a reason both were for sale (a total of three goals this year), they’ve combined for 32 goals over the past two seasons, better than anyone currently on Hull’s roster. Hull are 11th right now, but they’re also just five points out of the relegation zone. The Tigers’ defense has been superb this season (1.27 goals allowed per game, T-8th in the league), and with a stronger group of forwards, they have a great chance to stay up and even challenge for a top-half finish.

Loser: Manchester City

City have been quiet so far, and if it is to seriously attempt the quadruple, as Manuel Pellegrini claims, it needs to add a player or two before Friday. Playing and winning four competitions takes a lot of matches, and to play a lot of matches, you need a lot of players. Even without Samir Nasri, City has a constellation of stars in attack and should be all right there, barring multiple injuries. But the defense is far from stout, and the club’s biggest need is a central defender to pair with (or, as the situation dictates, replace) the indomitable but banged-up Vincent Kompany.  City have also been rumored to be pursuing a goalkeeper, which would help address some of the team’s defensive struggles, but it remains unclear if (or when) that will happen. At their best, City are the class of the Premier League. But even they need some help to survive a brutal February that includes two matches with Chelsea and a Champions League tie against Barcelona.

Winner: Cardiff City

It’s not confirmed as of this writing, but it seems all but certain that manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer is set to raid his old Manchester United club for forward Wilfried Zaha and fullback Fabio (he’s also swapping Peter Odemwingie for Stoke’s Kenwyne Jones, but that deal is less significant). Both those players figure to be substantial upgrades to a club that has lost five of its last six matches in falling to the bottom of the table. If Solskjaer can’t succeed with Zaha, Fabio and Magnus Wolff Eikrem (a Norwegian signed from Herenveen whom Solskjaer worked with at Man U and Molde), perhaps he’s not cut out to be a Premier League manager. Vincent Tan told Solskjaer he’d open his wallet when he appointed him. The Malaysian made good on his part of the bargain; now it’s up to Solskjaer to keep Cardiff up. 

Loser: Crystal Palace

I’m only slightly critical of Tony Pulis for failing to add a single player to a Crystal Palace team averaging 0.64 goals per game (dead-last in the league). I have faith that Pulis can keep the Eagles up – I wrote last week about the great coaching job he’s done at the club – but Palace could really use a striker. Every team in a relegation battle has scoring problems to a degree. But Palace’s are more serious than anyone else’s. It’s not a good position to be in.

Check back next week for a look at what promises to be an exciting week of football: 20 matches in seven days, capped by the big Man City-Chelsea game on Monday. Happy viewing!