tmonkey

Would you turn down Kaka if there was the possibility of him leaving a year later to a bigger club? Bit of an extreme analogy, but the point still stands. Anelka is a top class player, hes far more suited to the style and system that Big Sam wants to play (and is playing), and hes a better player than Martins, Owen or Viduka. Having him here for one season, and then making a profit at the end of it, is better than not having him here and having to sign someone average just because theyll not have the ambition (and no doubt the ability) to play at the highest levels in club football. And even then, its only a possibility that hed leave. I think we're the type of club that Anelka would love to be at - billionaire chairman, large fanbase and stadium, recent European regulars, a manager who Anelka respects, etc. Hes shown quite a lot of commitment for a mercenary at his last two Premiership clubs, Man City and Bolton, back when Man City were lower mid table with no money, whilst Bolton are Bolton, small club with small resources and the true ambition of being mid table (ie ignoring peaks and troughs). Without meaning to sound arrogant, I think we're a pretty big step up from the clubs that Anelka has been at recently (and again, was/is comfortable with), and if we could land him, Id be pretty certain that he wouldnt be leaving unless we wanted him to. Also, look at it from this point of view. How many good signings away are we from being serious top 5 contenders? I would say two quality (not world class, just consistently good) players would do it. Not too dissimilar to Robert and Bellamy changing Sir Bobby's mid table side to title pretenders. IF we can land Anelka, do it, and try to get at least another similar calibre player in another position that we need a first teamer, and we could easily jump from mid table to top 5/6. From that perspective, can you still see players like Anelka wanting to leave when we'd be only just behind CL clubs? I honestly doubt it. This would be called ambition - not wanting to sign Anelka for fear of him leaving would be a clear lack of it imo.

Diouf is shit and overrated. Cant stand that type of player, a player with average ability but manages to cover that by the use of intelligence to create situations where he can dive and win a free kick. Similar to Cahill, Ashley Cole and Ljungberg.

Arsenal will do ok without him, they still have Bergkamp, Vieira, Overmars, etc, so Le Sulk forcing a move to their london rivals wont make much of a difference to them.

Thats basically a snapshot of a 4-3-3 at a certain point in a match. The only difference on paper is that the two central midfielders are pushed slightly further forward, and the two wingers slightly backwards. Ultimately, youre still talking about a lone forward, two wingers, and 3 central midfielder, one of whom sits back all the time - ie, a 4-3-3, but a more attack minded one.

I get pissed off with Milner alot, and I dislike the fact that hes just not very naturally talented, despite all the hard work and ability to run in and out - for example, if the ball is high in the air, hes not someone who's going to control it deftly whilst under pressure. Although I think hes over the hill, Duff is an example of someone who is far more naturally talented than Milner - his touch is just better, and from there Milner is always going to be struggling to impress enough to warrant a first team place in a side with European ambitions. However, I cant help but feel that if we had, lets say Huntelaar up front, we'd be seeing double or treble the number of assists Milner is currently getting (or wasted crosses being turned into real goalscoring opportunities) - someone who is good at positioning themselves for crosses, someone with natural finishing instinct, combined with height and good heading ability, a good target man. Viduka and Owen arent in that mould for me, and even so, are utterly overrated based on performances for us.

Always been a 4-3-3 fan - well, since some of the best sides in Europe have started using it frequently in the past half decade, and since Souness wanted us to switch to that system. As long as you have that lone striker capapble of playing on his own, and two wide players who can chip in with goals whilst adding some pace or creativity, then that system is far, far superior to a basic 4-4-2. The central midfield is flooded, allowing players to get forward without fear of having no cover, and if two midfielders get forward somewhat regularly, you have the 5 attacking players that youd get in a basic 4-4-2 system (2 wingers, 2 forwards, 1 attacking midfielder in the 442, 2 wingers, 1 forward, 2 central midfielders in the 433) - but with more cover, more possession, more movement, making the team harder to pick up and contain. Personally, I cant wait for Big Sam to get rid of half of some of our "best" attacking players and replace them with players who are more suited to a 4-3-3. Im honestly looking forward to the sales of Martins and Owen - maybe im arrogant, but I think we can do better if we really had to, especially with Ashley's wealth, no debts, and a large wage slice to fill in if Owen/Martins were moved on.

Taylor is decent backup for right back. Theres also Edgar, who you would have thought had earned more of a chance than others like Huntington/Ramage/etc.

Compared to Ameobi hes world class.

The competition for that title: Smith - average squad forward who's bark is worse than his bite, played as the lone forward. Martins - clueless "speedster" who looks like a lost 4 year old who's been left behind in the supermarket by their parents when put on the right wing. Barton - midfielder who is very slowly building up his form, and even then he was hardly a top class attacking player. The truth is, Milner only has to put a few aimless crosses into the box to get called attacking MOTM, because everyone else is either s*** or playing s*** (or injured), and thats pretty much the case at the moment.

Duff, Smith, Milner frontline? Yikes.

christ. Alright, I exaggerate, but he's not good enough at the minute. what did he do wrong today? i thought he had a good game Please. He's too casual, he can't head a ball, he gets caught out of position, he's weak, he doesn't attack the ball, he plays passes that put us in trouble. Mostly, though, he just needs to start playing it safe. Beye Cacapa Rozehnal NZogbia =Healy= Newcastle player =Fulham player= =Fulham player= =Fulham player= Newcaslte player Ball loops high in air towards Rozehnal, noone closing Rozehnal down, Newcastle's midfielders are higher up the pitch, Rozehnal is under no pressure and just needs to deal with a moderately easy high ball - so what does he do? Nods it directly into the patch of the Fulham midfielders. He has no composure whatsoever. A poser, a centreback who looks like he plays with grace and ability, but in truth is just a tarted up donkey.

Still giving the left winger too much room to attack him. I dont mean to be a negative nancy, but he was torn apart by Petrov earlier on in the season because of his positioning, and despite his performances overall having improved, hes still playing and positioning himself in a way that leaves him open to a decent winger.

What was up with Geremi today. Absolutely woeful performance. Not at the races at all. And Smith is starting to remind me of a 35 year old Shearer. Can stick it up the 'arse, but chasing shadows away from home. As for Martins, its painful to watch a player who has pace to burn, yet doesnt use it, nay, doesnt know how to use it. At this point in time, I think there is a major fault with every one of our forwards, so much so that we arent going to get anywhere above mid table unless we bring another two in for the first team.

Ive had the belief for a while now that Emre and Owen are better as substitutes. Good footballers who can come on and change a game if needed, or just very good subs to bring on. And most importantly, its wise to use their fragile physiques conservatively, since theyre not capable of playing regular first team football over a prolonged period without picking up injuries. The same applied for Dyer, who always looked good coming off the bench. Unfortunately, I think all of these players would view themselves as too good be to on the bench regularly.

Has Rozehnal's passing in recent games not discouraged you though? Its been all over the place, with no accuracy. He looks like he has good technique when passing, but thats only for a centreback. And he looks woeful in possession when being closed down, completely panics and ends up playing the team into trouble - not a good attribute for an anchor midfielder.

They'll have won it 6 times.

Marseille look like a team of hobbits. Even the centrebacks are midgets.

Its the defenders that piss me off mostly. Surely theyll have learnt by now that Gerrard always plays for the foul, and hence it might actually be better letting him potentially squander the chance rather than giving a stonewall penalty away, giving a far easier chance to score? Its quite possible that Gerrard is totally uncomfortable in that type of 1v1 situation against a keeper where hes running at pace with someone closing him down, and he has to slot it past the keeper. Hes a midfielder after all, not a striker, so maybe that kind of chance isnt natural for him to finish off, as opposed to shooting from 15-20 yards. So I cant understand what defenders think they have to gain by giving a penalty away, as well as a red card too. Just senseless defending.

I think hes better than Butt defensively because of the added height and strength, and a better tackler especially with his reach, but hes just as bad on the ball if not worse, so he wouldnt represent an improvement in the team overall unless we're looking to build a team of players with physique but no ability (ie Allardyce's Bolton until the latter stages of his tenure there). Which is why I was hoping we'd sign Edmilson. Someone with defensive ability as well as some decent technical ability, ie someone who'll increase our possession percentage without the normal weaknesses of low work rate of inproper physique for the Premiership. Thats an improvement. Plus Sissoko is an absolute liability. With Barton and Smith often attempting to kick lumps out of the opposition, we'd be the dirtiest bastards in the Premiership if we added Sissoko to that.

Thats what I was thinking too. I can't imagine Capello bringing entertaining football. I would've thought Barwick would've had that down as a prerequisite given the poor showing lately. Entertaining football? We should be concerned about qualifying first before thinking about entertaining the crowd. Entertaining football isnt feasible with the current group of players imo - strong defenders, physical and clinical midfielders/attackers, but no quality on the ball for that level. Thats why Svenn's England team were so defensive. He tried playing to the strengths of his squad of players - strong defense, clinical finishing goal, etc. Maybe he had his team sit back too much, and he failed to correct the inbalance in the midfield, but even if he had corrected those two errors, there wouldnt be any entertaining football. The only alternative if the aim is to liven things up is to play with a more open and attacking mentality, and since we dont have the individual players capable of maintaining possession, that would result in a suicidal gameplan against a side that can keep the ball - itd be like giving them the ball then stepping aside and creating an opening down the middle for them to run in on the keeper. Capello, Mourinho or Lippi would be good choices because theyre capable of coaching teams that can primarily shut the opposition out, whilst still doing enough in games to score goals, installing a disciplined style of play without their teams going all out defense as with Svenn - and theyve done it at the highest levels, so theyre able to handle the pressure. We have the players suited to that type of style and mentality, so with the current group of players, that is our best bet. As an example, look at England under Keegan, arguably the most attack minded manager the Premiership has seen in the previous half decade before he took over. There was the odd friendly or qualifier where his team looked good and scored goals, but why did we not play entertaining football under him especially when it mattered, ie the finals? Quite clearly it was due to lacking the players to do so, and since he was never going to coach a structured, disciplined team, the inevitable result was mediocrity.

Disappointed. Good player.

Come now. He lived the dream. Getting paid millions to do nothing after a pretty decent career until he moved to us.

Zidane, Redondo, Ronaldo. Redondo is the most underrated player of the 90's for me, immense midfielder for Madrid. Baresi would be next on the list.

And nearly every game being played on the right wing. Ill definately suck on it after dinner.

If only Big Sam hadnt of missed out on Distin, we could actually have a pretty good defence right now.