Unbelievable

Come on!!!

He's only recently signed a new contract with us so he must have been happy to have a future here not so long ago. I can imagine he's pissed off at being played out of position for most of the season and eventually being made something of a scapegoat for our defensive frailties, even though he was making sort of a personal sacrifice by helping the team out in playing in a position that doesn't suit his style of play/qualities. Now the positive vibe is back he's not a part of it even though he essentially didn't do badly in the first half of the season and could have perhaps done more if Allardyce would have realised Zog is a winger, not a left back. It's not that hard to imagine how this could affect a young foreign player who has been with us for a couple of seasons now and has gone through a lot of shit managers with us, is it?

I agree to an extent, but isn't it Keegan's job to motivate the players/make them want to play for us. He has only recently signed a new contract ffs, so his heart must have been into it not long ago. I can't help but feel people wouldn't be so laid back about possibly losing one of our brightest prospects if this was Allardyce instead of Keegan pulling the strings..

Maybe stating the obvious here but he has no role whilst we have a 433 formation. I think he'd be decent as a substitute for Owen or Martins if they get injured, perhaps even the best we've got. He has pace, tecnhique and is capable of scoring a goal. On our bench we have Smith and Carrol, who could both offer what Viduka offers (holding the ball up, only less well), but noone with pace to bring on. Also in midfield we only have Smith and Duff to bring on. I happen to think Zog would be a better bet in midfield than those two, even in a 3 man midfield. Zog has no football brain whats so ever. you need an end product. zog not even look up when he is running. No end product..? Sigh.. He was our top scorer at one point in the season ffs, and that was playing at left back. Also, he's our only decent crosser of the ball.. A lot of great dribblers look at the ball most of the time and only look up occasionally. Doesn't mean they don't know what's going on around them/run around like a headless chicken..

Maybe stating the obvious here but he has no role whilst we have a 433 formation. I think he'd be decent as a substitute for Owen or Martins if they get injured, perhaps even the best we've got. He has pace, tecnhique and is capable of scoring a goal. On our bench we have Smith and Carrol, who could both offer what Viduka offers (holding the ball up, only less well), but noone with pace to bring on. Also in midfield we only have Smith and Duff to bring on. I happen to think Zog would be a better bet in midfield than those two, even in a 3 man midfield.

Zoggy not even on the bench..

So what if Dyer was better at the same age? Dyer's downfall was his fitness. If he could have stayed fit and performed to his potential he probably wouldn't have been at a midtable team now. All that matters is that he is still young and he is already one of our better players as far as I am concerned. Where is all this criticism coming from? He's been one of only very few bright sparks so far in a very dire season bar the last 4 games, in which he hasn't featured. Surely he deseves a proper chance under the new manager and I was actually under the impression that Keegan was something of a man manager/motivator so is it unreasonable to assume he might come good?

He was our best player in the first half of the season. Oh, the short memories..

He's not a team player. He's always running down blind alleys and giving the ball away in the process. Dyer was better at what N'Zogbia thinks he's best at. Funny, because they way I see it he has been putting in our most dangerous crosses this season, and that was playing as a left back. Also, in the first half of the season he was one of the very few players capable of scoring or creating a goal even though he was out of position. He takes chances, hence he may lose the ball more often than some of our more mediocre players who don't and he isn´t as consistent yet as you would want, but I thought we had said goodbye to percentage football and welcomed a more attacking, flair style of play? It's funny how a few good results without him in the team and a few articles about doubts over his future seem to have affected how he is perceived as a footballer. For me, he is still one of the first names on the teamsheet. He is still young and learning and more importantly, he is a confidence player, so he should perhaps most of our bunch of players profit from Keegan's approach. At left back, he got tonnes of space provided for him by Milner to do his attacking work, but was a complete liability defensively. So tell me, which of our other non-left-back-attacking-midfielders would have done a much better job out of position? Hypothetically, would you say no to C. Ronaldo because he would constitute a liability if played in central defense? He's our best winger and arguably our best attacking midfielder at this point in time. To not get the lad playing at his potential for us would be criminal. Any attacking midfielder with a left foot that is better than N'Zogbia, as offensively they'd be given just as much time and space on the ball as Zog got and use it even better, while defensively they'd be equally liable. mackems.gif

He's not a team player. He's always running down blind alleys and giving the ball away in the process. Dyer was better at what N'Zogbia thinks he's best at. Funny, because they way I see it he has been putting in our most dangerous crosses this season, and that was playing as a left back. Also, in the first half of the season he was one of the very few players capable of scoring or creating a goal even though he was out of position. He takes chances, hence he may lose the ball more often than some of our more mediocre players who don't and he isn´t as consistent yet as you would want, but I thought we had said goodbye to percentage football and welcomed a more attacking, flair style of play? It's funny how a few good results without him in the team and a few articles about doubts over his future seem to have affected how he is perceived as a footballer. For me, he is still one of the first names on the teamsheet. He is still young and learning and more importantly, he is a confidence player, so he should perhaps most of our bunch of players profit from Keegan's approach. At left back, he got tonnes of space provided for him by Milner to do his attacking work, but was a complete liability defensively. So tell me, which of our other non-left-back-attacking-midfielders would have done a much better job out of position? Hypothetically, would you say no to C. Ronaldo because he would constitute a liability if played in central defense? He's our best winger and arguably our best attacking midfielder at this point in time. To not get the lad playing at his potential for us would be criminal.

He's not a team player. He's always running down blind alleys and giving the ball away in the process. Dyer was better at what N'Zogbia thinks he's best at. Funny, because they way I see it he has been putting in our most dangerous crosses this season, and that was playing as a left back. Also, in the first half of the season he was one of the very few players capable of scoring or creating a goal even though he was out of position. He takes chances, hence he may lose the ball more often than some of our more mediocre players who don't and he isn´t as consistent yet as you would want, but I thought we had said goodbye to percentage football and welcomed a more attacking, flair style of play? It's funny how a few good results without him in the team and a few articles about doubts over his future seem to have affected how he is perceived as a footballer. For me, he is still one of the first names on the teamsheet. He is still young and learning and more importantly, he is a confidence player, so he should perhaps most of our bunch of players profit from Keegan's approach.

Errr.. Resale value of Michael Owen in 2012: 1M Resale value of talented player deemed worth 12M in 2008 after 4 more years of development in 2012: ? I´m off the opinion that there are players out there that would offer us more than Owen does at the moment and would make more sense economically as well. They represent slight gambles, and you don´t know whether they would come here unless you tried, but it´s not a given in my opinion that keeping an ageing and degressing player on over the top wages makes financial sense..

Not really, the competition has been quite intense these last couple of seasons and only one of the so called big 4 can win it. It´s not so much his inability to win the Premiership in my opinion, it´s the fact he hasn´t even got close. As a matter of fact, they are turning into a perrenial 4th place place team, slipping away from the big 3 and getting caught up by the likes of Everton. Have to admit he is an excellent cup manager however, going by results of course..

I don't get this team player business at all to be honest. N'Zogbia hasn't struck me as a selfish player or somebody who doesn't track back or doesn't help his teammates. Sure, he will sometimes attempt to shoot when he could pass the ball, but he has actually scored a few vital goals that way this season, and other than him we lack the threath of shots from outside of the box (on target that is). Is he being villified for this? I sincerely hope Zoggy doesn´t take this the wrong way, as I think we would be mistaken that none of the bigger teams are interested and this actually puts him in the shop window at a discount imho. I have no doubt a manager like Wenger would have N´Zogbia play to his strengths (i.e. not in a defensive position) and he could be exactly what he few teams need (Spurs being another). I don´t understand why we keep playing one of our brightest talents out of position, occasionaly openly critisising him. It´s no surprise that this agreement about his lack of team play (whatever that is) coincides with a run of good results in a system and with a team that he wasn´t a part of. If we were going to go 442 next season, which a lot of people seem to think, N´Zogbia would be one of the first names on the teamsheet.

This article is ridiculous. I agree to an extent that Benitez gets too much stick from the press as he is a good manager, but the way Arsenal and Wenger get discussed is quite frankly shocking. Does this journalist even watch football, or does he only look at the final scores..? Arsenal were all over Liverpool in the first half, just like they were all over AC Milan, who are still a great team as well (ridiculing that achievement shows real bitterniss, they were in more CL finals recently than his beloved Liverpool ffs). Arsenal have been unlucky with injuries this season (Van Persie, Eduardo) and their defense doesn't look good enough, which is something Wenger can be blamed for I guess, but this very much looks like a journalist who has been waiting for years for an opportunity to deliver his vindicative opinion on Wenger's Arsenal. It's sickening. Is this actual journalism or have you taken it from a Liverpool forum?

You're off your head. It's possible I guess, but at this point he's not even the best current football player, let alone close to being or becoming the best player of all times.

Great header Hyppia

Thing is, he was very good before he went there and he hasn't been bad whenever he's played for MU. A bit like SWP, he's too good a player to be on a bench. Not sure if he is what we need though, as he's more of a worker than a creative force in the midfield, which is what we need..

I haven't written off Duff at all, don't think he's been that shocking for us. If he returns to fitness I think he could well do a Butt/Owen next season.. Smith on the other hand..

I agree. For me SWP is just a better version of Lennon. There's a huge difference between those two unless I have made up SWP's exploits at MCFC, where he carried the team despite his young age. I have never seen anything in Lennon that suggests he is capable of being a goal threath the way SWP is..

I would be very disappointed to see Zoggy leave for another Premiership club and even more so to see Lennon come in as a replacement.

"Chelsea are monitoring the progress of Heerenveen starlet Miralem Sulejmani. " => one to watch out for!

Is this something to be proud of? Money will always buy the best, and there's hardly a decent English manager in sight in or outside of the Premiership..

Surely not?