tmonkey

Mute, Moot, whats the differdence?

Althogh i rate him, i dont think he played well yesterday. The guy is 6'7 and won hardly anything in the air in the last 20 minutes. To give him some credit, he was f****** cattled after having to play half the game upfront on his own in a mudbath. He should have been taken off not long after scoring. Also, I thought the quality of the long balls late on was very poor. It was hit and hope stuff. I am historically not a Crouch fan. However, after seeing his performance on Wednesday the man is a mountain up there, he played a classy CF's game and at times reminded me of Shearer. With the right man beside him we could have done some real damage from the start. His goal was sublime, and so was the ball from Beckham. His knock downs have no accuracy. The fact that noone was there alongside him in the first half masked that - otherwise, hed be setting up goals left, right and centre because of his height meaning he's regularly the favourite to win a long ball. Hence, why with both Defoe and Bent next to him, he did very little - I wouldnt be suprised if the Croatians let him win the early aerial balls since they knew he was isolated, compared to the second half when the other forwards came on and he started to struggle to find a teamate with his headers. Good on the deck though.

That save from the corner wasnt even that good. Hit him straight in the chest whilst he was shoving his hands out to the right - knew nothing about it. Good positioning is part of good goalkeeping. His positioning was perfect as it happens. Depends on the viewpoint. Good positioning, or a shot that was straight at him? Fluke save imo, one that is being exaggerated and called a great save because of sympathy for a young keeper who had an absolute mare.

I would like to see Lampard and Beckham dropped entirely from the squad, and Gerrard pushed out from the central midfield births. Gerrard lacks the required game for central midfield. Hes not someone you want bogged down with defensive duties, nor is he able to dictate the game from central midfield because he lacks the close control, technique, and passing required for that area of the pitch. Push him out wide or play him behind Rooney, since hes all about being a goal threat and driving towards goal, which he isnt able to do from central midfield. Lampard is too slow and limited technically for that level. Hes merely an example of how some foreign players have improved some English players' game - hed be s*** without the likes of Makelele, Essien, etc, doing everything in central midfield so he can concentrate on popping up in the box and scoring goals for Chelsea. Beckham is a good player against crap to average teams, but hes frequently been utterly mediocre in the finals of the major championships. Why persist with a guaranteed loser, someone who you can bet your marbles on will pull a dissappearing act when it comes to the crunch games, as proven by previous tournaments? Move on from these two and focus on Gerrard out of that trio - I count them together because theyre all players who prefer to play a 50 yard through ball (rather than pass and move) if they get the chance to since they feel the need to live up to their reputations and impose themselves on the game, and having more than one of that type of player is too much. I would like to see a central midfield where Hargreaves is the first name on the sheet, followed by the likes of Carrick, Barry, etc. Not exactly glamorous players, but the best international teams dont have them in those positions - Portugal for example have made do with Costinha and Maniche, Brazil with Gilberto Silva and Ze Roberto/Emerson/Mineiro, France with Makelele and Vieira, Argentina with Cambiasso and Mascherano. None of them are "match winners" or 15+ goal scoring midfielders, as Gerrard and Lampard are, but theyre all tidy players who specialise in playing in the middle of the pitch as opposed to the last third. Then, build around that hard working, solid central midfield by adding a mixture of flair, pace, creativity, and goals, in the attacking positions. Maybe England lack the creative midfielder (big shame Scholes retired), but we have the rest - Rooney (goals), Young (pace), Gerrard (goals), SWP (flair), Dyer (pace), etc. Have them all interchanging and playing wherever they want as opposed to just jogging around in defined positions - theres no reason why any of them cant do that, most of them do it at club level anyway. Thats essentially the same system that other teams use, particularly the ones who play a passing game on the deck, and I cant for the life of me see why England cant do the same, other than feeling the need to fit all the big names into the team (Lampard, Gerrard, Owen, Beckham, etc).

That save from the corner wasnt even that good. Hit him straight in the chest whilst he was shoving his hands out to the right - knew nothing about it.

No I'm just saying with the nature of this club, and accepting that Viduka is our only other real goalscorer and is going to be injured fairly often as well, if those two dont score this year we are going to lose a lot of games and I think a bottom half finish will be the end of Sam. So Sam better delve into his much vaunted expertise in getting old crocks running again cus he has two in his forward line that will make or break his newcastle career (unless he buys a class striker in January but how often does that happen?) Or maybe he could just build around the rarely injured Martins, who will guarantee 15+ goals a season if given the games, and partner him with someone who can make up for Martin's deficiencies?

Big Sam had question marks over his head at the time with bung allegations. McClaren on the other hand was already in the England setup - he already had good access to the FA headquarters, and as soon as Scolari ruled himself out, got on the train, took a taxi to soho square, entered the boardroom, got down on his knees, and sucked off several aging cocks to land the job.

All over Sky news channel as well.

Sacked.

Only two feasible things can be done imo: 1) More technical coaching from a younger age. 2) Incorporate a system where talented youngsters or domestic players can be bought for fair prices from smaller clubs. Enforce a minimum fee release clause into every contract (as in Spain), enable co-ownership (as in Italy), etc etc. Nicky Shorey, for example, should be at a bigger and better club by now (eg ours), but instead hes stuck at Reading because they wont sell for a reasonable price after one half decent England performance. Instead, Newcaslte end up with Enrique, and although that works out for the club, it means stagnation for Shorey - not because a foreigner has prevented him from being at a better club, but because his own club have priced him out of the move (not factual, but its probably true given the various quotes by Reading's manager/board about his potential sale).

Yet again, a midfielder with a moderate amount of close control, technical ability, short ranged dribbling, and short passing in his game, in this case the relatively unproven/unknown Modric, totally dominates England's central midfield that contains players like Steven "Best Midfielder In The World" Gerrard. Thats how the central midfielder needs to play at that level - the amount of relief his mere ability to keep the ball and move with it gave to his team must have been immense compared to having a midfielder who is awkward on the ball and who's only noteable ability in that area of the pitch is to thump a long pass. How much longer will the managers be blamed for certain players simply lacking in the requird technical ability to compete with these midfields? How many years more will it take for the likes of Gerrard to be recognised for what they are - donkeys with great ability to produce end product, but limited footballers before that?

? Owen looks slower than the one we signed from Madrid. Damaged knee in the World Cup looks to have taken its toll on him, as it did with Shearer in 97. Nothing can be done about it, its not his fault, but im sure most people can see hes lost some pace in his game, which for the type of forward he is, he badly needs. And yes, Duff is still as good as he was at Chelsea. Or more accurately, as bad. He was poor for them before we signed him, and hes been EXACTLY the same for us. Fact is, he went downhill for Chelsea first, as opposed to coming here and then underperforming. Mourinho has not let any of his players go lightly. Thats just another aspect of what makes him a top manager - when he sells a player, its always someone he doesnt want to see go. The fact that Mourinho stated he didnt want Duff to go means nothing at all, which is where the initial point was made as an argeument for Duff still being a top player. As mentioned, the exact same tactics were used when selling Babayaro, Parker, and anyone else Mourinho has shunted out - Crespo, Cole, Del Horno, etc. As for Duff leaving Chelsea for first team football - who's arguing with that? Its a mute point. He left because he was going to spend most of his times in Chelsea's reserves. I dont see how that translates to "Duff wants first team football, therefore he must still be a top player". Noone is arguing that hes merely here for the money - the arguement is that hes s*** compared to his old self and merely an average winger who'll do something decent once in a blue moon. If anything, him dropping down the Chelsea pecking order and therefore feeling the need to leave in order to get games is a testament to that. If Duff was as good as he was back in 01-03, hed have never been sold by Mourinho.

Talk about living in the past. Duff hasnt even looked as good as NZogbia, let alone "one of the best in the world". Duff today is an average Premiership winger who works hard up and down, has decent technique, doesnt lose the ball easily, but doesnt do much with it either. A more accurate fact would be to state that our key players on paper are "gifted" players who hit their peak 3-5 years ago. Owen (European player of the year), Emre (looked like hed turn into a top draw international and Serie A deep lying midfield playmaker), Duff (top class winger) are all shiite now compared to what they were when a few years younger, and shouldnt be judged on the level they were at a few years ago as opposed to the level that they are at right now. I think thats down to constantly being injured over several years, and the permanent loss of form as a result, and although these players have still retained some of their abilities, enough to show glimpses of shadows of their form selves occassionally, ultimately theyre not what they used to be and are pretty much average Premiership players now. I wouldnt complain if we cashed in on all 3, in fact im hoping for it, hoping that we'll replace them with better players, since that hope is more realistic than living in the hope of them turning back the clock and performing consistently for us. To top it all off, theyre crocks too.

Why was he exactly the same then for Chelsea for a season and a half before they sold him? He wasnt surrounded by shiite, playing in a team with no tactics or hope - he was playing for the champions, but was just as poor as he was for us last season. From £17m to £5m at a peak age - bit of a hint surely. Mourinho is smart enough not to tell the press a player is shiite or not wanted when he might think it in private, which is why he said similar things of Babayaro when he was likewise flogged at a "bargain" basement price. Add Parker to the "I dont want him to go, hes good, but my hands are tied" list too.

James Richards Campbell Lescott A.Cole Hargreaves Barry SWP J.Cole Gerrard Defoe

Really hasnt got a future with us anymore. Hes a crock with wages as big as his reputation, a player who has no place in Allardyce's preferred system where the central striker is more of a mobile battering ram than a quiet goal poacher. Owen out, Huntelaar/Anelka in.

A big problem with respect to domestic players' development in this country is also down to the fact that their club will try to take an arm and a leg for them if someone bigger comes sniffing. In Italy and Spain, talented domestic youngsters are normally snapped up from smaller clubs at fair prices, which aids their development when playing with better players in better teams, whereas in this country the hype starts early and you then have young domestic players like Walcott, Bale and Curtis Davies (who Spurs were quoted £8m for and instead went for Kaboul) not being sold for several seasons and certainly not for anything less than an extortionate price.

Maxi Rodriguez Riquelme Anelka Wed play good football with that trio in the team. Maxi Rodriguez would be the goal machine from midfield adding some technique along with strength and pace, Riquelme to pull the strings, Anelka to provide some class up front.

Big Sam is doing poor atm, but if we let him bring in the players he wants, I think he'll be a success with us. If things havent improved by the end of the next season, and I seriously doubt that will be the case, then Ashley should sack him.

I hear Hitzfeld may leave Bayern soon, and is looking for a new challenge.

Why does the writer expect Roy Keane to be under pressure from the media compared to Sam Allardyce? Totally different scenarios. Keane has taken over what should have been guaranteed relegation fodder, a club that would probably struggle to attract a half decent player especially without Keane as manager, yet the money hes spent has made them into a half decent side that has a chance of staying up this time around, as opposed to a side that has the chance of challenging themselves for the title of worst team in the history of the Premiership. Sam Allardyce on the other hand has taken over a squad with better players than your average lower mid table side, signed several players whilst spending around £25mill, and is supposedly a top class tactician, a manager with the potential to rival the likes of Mourinho and Benitez who was merely limited by Bolton's lack of ambition or resources - yet his teams in terms of tactics, selections, etc, look no better than those of Souness or Roeder, and has had us look worse than relegation candidate teams. It doesnt make things any better when this manager has spent the past few years moaning about not getting his chance at a bigger club - hes got his chance now, but hes doing nothing with it. Rafa Benitez, Martin Jol, even Ferguson two seasons ago, plenty of other managers have been "unfairly" picked on by the media and their situations exaggerated, with constant speculation about them getting the sack, so its nothing new for the media in general to be picking up on poor results and quiet discontent and then blowing it out of proportion.

As with the Bellamy sale, it wouldnt really matter if we had bothered to get an actual replacement. Beye already looks a far better right back that Nobby, so as a right back he shouldnt be missed, but we do need to sign someone with creative and technical abilities, either as a right winger or an attacking midfielder.

I agree with Ron and Barton, but you can't ignore the fact that Emre and Butt play well together, so for me it should either be Ron and Barton or Butt and Emre, depending on whether we need guile or a runner supporting the front 2 Forgot about Butt tbh. Youre right there. Emre Butt has probably been our best midfield combination over the past two seasons, and as a unit theyve played well whenever theyve been paired together. Its a pairing that looks natural and should be given more playing time. Dont think Big Sam would play that midfield on a regular basis though, hes spent biggish money on Barton and Smith (who he views as a midfielder who can get goals) and also brought in Geremi for the same position - maybe im wrong about him, but I think he'd be too proud to play a midfield combination he inherited ahead of one hes purchased.

Midfield should be Geremi/Barton or Geremi/Emre.

Owen can play in a 4-3-3. He did so for Real Madrid, and looked a good player. What hes not good in is a long ball team. If we had a team that could pass it around and maintain possession, then the opportunities to slip Owen through on goal when hes making an intelligent run would increase tenfold. Instead, hes making these little runs and watching the ball get hoofed up towards Viduka, Smith, himself, Martins, etc, with nothing coming from them. But its probably time to sell him anyway. Its asking alot to change to a difficult style of play to achieve in order to get the best out of him, and hes proven himself injury prone for too long now to be worth that effort, and it now seems that hes bulked himself up slightly to reduce those injury risks - which has resulted in even less mobility/speed on his part. Yet again today weve seen him being put through on goal, only to end up being easily caught by defenders who arent so quick. Hence, whatever his situation, whether hes still injury prone or not, hes just not as good as he used to be and has a reputation that outweighs his performances and ability levels. Time to move on, and maybe bid big for a certain promising Dutchman who scored a cracker against us in a shit team not too long ago.