ohmelads

Controversial in what way? Controversial is putting it lightly, it is never a pen. Henry has passed the ball and realised noone is in the box so instead he has tried to wrap his leg around the keeper and flung himself to the floor. Absolute joke of a penalty.

I'm not sure he will be a squad player. Sam has taken the trouble to bring him from his former club, the Bolton fans are gutted he's gone and say he's a very good player. As Sam has signed him twice now and only inherited Butt then I wouldn't be surprised to see him gradually favour Faye over Butt in that DM position. Managers often tend to favour their own signings, and Faye with his height and big build is probably more what Sam wants in the centre of the park. He's good on a squad level too, of course, because we're now in a position where a couple of injuries in defence wouldn't cripple us. When was the last time we could say that?

Just read on .cock that he scored for England U-17s against Italy U-17s last night (we won 3-0). Also says he became Newcastle's youngest ever reserve scorer last season. I seem to remember nufc.com saying he got something like 11 goals in 14 games for the U-18s at the tail end of last season. Only 16 years old, sounds like he could be a prospect. Anyone know anything about him?

Sums up my thoughts as well. Everyone's talking about the midfield, but I think Viduka's been a problem in this 4-3-3. He might have the build but he clearly doesn't have the legs for such a demanding role. On his own he's easy prey for two defenders and lacks the movement to be beating them to balls, the games so far have been largely passing him by. Put a striker alongside him and that all changes.

He might save him for a home league debut, seeing as he's being so delicate with him. I agree with you though, he's got to start at Derby. This fitness reason we've been told can't hold true for much longer.

Milner looks our most creative player at the moment and for a winger does more than his fair share of defensive work. On form he's one of the first names on the teamsheet right now for me. The fact Villa doubled up on him and Boro kicked lumps out of him shows that teams are afraid of him. If he gets injured we'll have problems.

5-0 Real Madrid. Guti. Schuster was an excellent appointment for Real IMO, he'll give the fans the football they want and if he gets the time they'll be a force in Europe again. Amazing to see people writing them off again, you'd think people would learn their lesson after last season.

So Barca get a controversial penalty and a goal that didn't cross the line to win 3-1. Wonder how long before their fans start whinging that Real get all the decisions?

Everyone is talking about Liverpool but they've spent a fortune on quality and depth so they're bound to be there or thereabouts and something is wrong if they're not. I think Arsenal could be the real surprise package though. Still think Chelsea will win but it should be a lot closer this year.

I think bringing in Heskey might prove to be a rare inspired decision from McClaren. With the injuries we have in midfield we may need a bigger target to aim for and someone to get on the end of crosses, hold it up etc. Heskey does that job well and has partnered Owen before to good effect. We need to win these games, is it such a gamble to go for the only proven partnership available to us? I'm sure the press are going mad about it but they talk so much bollocks when it comes to the national team.

Come to think of it you're probably right. But in situations like that cynical little fouls are what's needed to stop a better team from getting any sort of momentum. Celtic do it all the time in Europe, and Allardyce's Bolton did it to Arsenal all the time. Smith's problem, as you rightly suggest, would be his big all-or-nothing tackles.

I think Smith is a welcome addition to the squad in terms of depth, versatility and the fact I think he's not a bad player. But he's not a player we really needed and not at the expense of a winger, which has become the weakest part of the squad. As has been pointed out before, he could come in very handy when the African Nations Cup comes around, as any or all of Martins, Geremi, Faye and Beye could be gone for a month. I do think he'll come in handy as a utility player for any injuries which arise in midfield or up front and I think coming off the bench he could help us close out a game. If, say, we had a tight lead against Man Utd with 30 mins to go he'd be an excellent option to bring off the bench to try and close the game. But I don't think he deserves a starting place in any position on current form.

Mark Hughes does seem to be quietly building Blackburn into a good team, very balanced with two quick wingers, good strikers and a mean defence.

I agree with this. It stands to reason that there are two methods of using a squad, one is to fit a system around your players and the other is to buy players to fit a system. I think what often occurs is a bit of both, but the best teams seem to be designed around their best players. This is because you never know when a top player will become available, or because you don't always get your first choice targets. Man Utd didn't buy Rooney because he fit a system, they bought him as England's brightest youngster and then worked out how to get the best out of him. The same as when they signed Ronaldo, I seem to remember he began in a 4-4-2. The formation was changed and both Ronaldo and Rooney had more freedom of movement. Meanwhile Scholes dropped into a deeper role as his legs were going. Surely not a coincidence that Ferguson switched from a 4-4-2 which he had used for years. Barcelona designed a similar system to give players like Ronaldinho maximum freedom to torment the opposition. Milan try to give Kaka as much freedom as they can as well. In our case we have a top class striker who will be the difference in a lot of games for us, if he's played the way he wants and needs to be played in a 4-4-2 with a big striker alongside him. With regards to Barton, I think some people are overrated him a bit because of his England cap. I think he's a decent player who will hopefully be our driving force in midfield, making forward runs and passes as opposed to the likes of Parker and Jenas before him. I think he'll di alright in either formation but I agree he needs to be in the middle. Unfortunately I think when you look at the signings Sam has made he is building for a 4-3-3 but to be fair to him, he never knew if Owen would be staying and we still don't know how long he will stay. Also, because he has had to overhaul the squad, he has generally built players to fit his system.

What nearly always happens when you push a centre-mid out wide is they drift inside and leave their full back exposed with the opposition winger and full back doubling up on him. This happened when we played Emre left wing and when we used to try and play Bowyer right wing. I think the fact we're even talking about Smith and Barton on the right wing shows that we've left ourselves short on the wings, my one criticism of this transfer window. As you rightly say Owen needs to be on the field and he needs a 4-4-2, but we've got loads of central midfielders and only one right winger, so we may well be left with square pegs in round holes and I can see where you're coming from. I'd rather see Geremi right wing over Smith or Barton personally, if it comes to that. But when fit Milner has to play in a 4-4-2 because he's the only natural right winger on our books.

Beginning to wonder just when he will start in the Prem because the easier games are running out and we have a tough run coming up. Sam has obviously taken note of what happened to Luque and isn't taking any chances, but as the original post suggested I think that could be a double edged sword. Our next 5 games: Derby (a), West Ham (h), Man City (a), Everton (h), Tottenham (h). Wouldn't it be better that he goes into the tougher games with experience and match-practice under his belt? I honestly think N'Zogbia will be found out at LB against stronger opposition, Boro and Villa exposed him on a few occasions.

Last season means nothing! he looks like a different player and hes showing why hes playing at top level at the minute Given will struggle with injuries all season probably aswell It's easy to say that after a few good performances, though. "He's a new man, last season means nothing". It's only 4 games in, and over the course of last season I think he showed himself as a decent deputy but not worthy of taking the position permanently. Keep him in until Given is ready and unless he's really staking a claim then give it back to Given I say. I do think good form should be rewarded, but it's easy to forget how good Given is and how poor Harper was in a lot of games last season. There's no doubt in my mind as to who the better keeper is.

As much as I'm a fan of Martins I wouldn't feel comfortable with him taking them. I wasn't impressed to see him taking pens with either foot in an effort to show off, he made a fool of himself when he put it into row Z against Everton. I don't think his other pens were great either and I was really glad when Solano took the one against Liverpool. I think we should give them to Cacapa. I like the idea of him standing over the ball staring out the keeper with that beard.

He's done very well over a few games, but I think he showed last season why Given is better.

Not a bad shout, depending on how ourselves and Zaragoza do this season. More realistic than most of the suggestions on here and a fantastic player with years left in him.

I suspect Ashley may have had something to do with the Smith signing. Without him we have Geremi, Barton, Emre, Butt and now Faye for central midfield, and already have four strikers. And he isn't a winger. His signing made no sense, and the mood when he signed was more one of "another player in, fair enough". He's already played in three different positions for us and I'd like to think he'll be a good utility player but his fee, wages and desire to play probably won't stand for that, we're not Chelsea. Sam's comments when he signed were along the lines of "when a quality player like Smith becomes available". Then we see Ashley turning up to every game with Smith on his back and it makes you think. When everyone is fit I can't see him in our starting XI and the money really should have gone on a winger. As far as January is concerned, I don't think there'll be much activity because we've managed to do a lot of business this summer and overhauled the squad. A right winger with pace to burn would give us a lot more options though and some genuine competition for Milner.

Actually that's a point I'd forgotten. Wenger did say that he felt the Carling Cup had been too big a distraction last season after they made it all the way to the final but stuttered in the league and Champions League, a strong indication that he'll take it less seriously this season.

[ Bringing in Hoyte, Traore, Denilson, Diaby, Senderos, Aliadiere and Walcott does weaken them though and Rosicky, Fabregas and Hleb were on the bench. Mostly decent players but not their best at the moment. I do think a few of their more senior players will line up against us though, Gilberto and Toure perhaps to give their team some spine, and unlike Spurs/Arsenal this isn't two legs and the game will be decided at the Emirates (no replay or second leg).

Thing is the bigger teams are taking the Carling Cup more seriously nowadays, ever since Mourinho came in it's been getting more competitive every year and considering Liverpool won nothing last year you have to think they'll be going for it as well.

Arsenal now count Lassana Diarra amongst their youngsters, so he'll probably be included against us.