mozy

A few too many are twisting snippet comments without having seen the full interview.

Was absolute shite tonight. Worst game I've seen him have for us.

Did he actually say that? Fucking hell

If he keeps dicking the Champ at every opportunity then he deserves his chance.

Of course he's limited. He's a poacher and that's it. Can't hold the ball up or win it in the air, isn't in the slighest bit creative and doesn't have a particularly good touch or dribbling ability.

Wijnaldum is the only player in the squad who could potentially play the role that Colback currently plays, but even that is a total unknown. Anita has looked a great deal more comfortable this season playing in a passing team and being allowed to drop deep and start play from between the centre backs. They are the preferred CM's and be it 4-2-3-1 or 4-3-3 (I hope for the latter), those are the 3 that will play the majority of the games.

Krul Janmaat Mbemba Colo Haidara Anita Thauvin Gini Colback Perez De Jong

Anita certainly plays deeper than Colback, although at times they have occupied the same role and position.

Dummett would literally offer all of this, and actually knows how to play left back.

What the fuck are you on about. Goalscoring is part of being a player. Rooney's record is great and we'll done to him but he's never a better striker than Lineker, his England record changes nothing. Edit: hold on you on about Rooney or Lineker? Darren Bent and Javier Hernandez are goalscorers. They are also shit footballers and limited strikers. I never saw Linekar play so the point wasn't about comparing the two, only that goals are not a wholly accurate measuring stick with which to judge 'better striker?'.

All that means is that he's a better goalscorer, not a better striker and certainly not a better player.

I appear to rate Colback higher than most but he isn't good enough for England.

The biggest issue with Rooney is that I don't think anyone knows what his best role is, or how to fit a team around him. Which I guess is the same kind of comment as he hasn't reached his potential.

what's this now? He talks about Pogba, Matuidi, Cabaye and Schneiderlin and says they all play at 'big clubs compared to him'.

Says Crystal Palace are a bigger club than us. He can fuck off.

Gouffran before he got Pardew'd was actually a decent player. Light years ahead of anything Obertan has ever been. If I had to start one of them now (on the wing) though it would be Obertan every time. Saying all that, my vote goes to Mike Williamson. In terms of being an actual footballer his standard is genuinely shocking. To the extent I don't think he could manage 10 kick ups.

Actions over words, Lee. Decent start this summer though.

At least he's honest.

I want Perez playing left wing or as a striker. Don't see him as a number 10.

Tiote has given 10 times more good performances for this club than either Anita and Colaback and against the so called better teams also. I won't even go on about agile opponents cos if you think Anita and Colaback are better at stopping these players then you're just talking utter shit. Anita and Colback short sharp passes are you for real - I must have missed the bids coming from Barcelona. Mason and Benteleb are not the best I agree but still a lot better than Anita and Colback (Benteleb actually played in the 4- 0 and 3 - 1 victories last season so your point again is mute). Please name me one game when these two have dominated midfield even one game please do and don't say West Ham last year as they were not even giving 100% that game If you fail to grasp the rationale that by continuing to play Colback and Anita in midfield to the detriment of the team then your clueless - what makes it even funnier is that you contradict yourself be saying you wouldn't play both either and yet still argue the point - LAUGHABLE!! Let's see in another six matches if these two play what the results are and the league position the team is in as we won't be out of the bottom 3 if they are playing every game. Do you read? Colback and Anita are the best that WE have. Would it be nice to go out and buy Busquets and Modric? Yes, absolutely but it isn't going to happen. I'm speaking about the CURRENT squad we have here. Otherwise we all might as well just pick our world XI's and blame McClaren for not banging on the door hard enough. My point is not redundant just because someone played in a team that beat Alan Pardew and John Carver. Anita and Colback are comparable players to Mason and Benteleb and Tottenham were able to finish 5th. As Triggs points out, this was largely because of Harry Kane (and others), but we have players of that quality in Sissoko, De Jong, Thauvin, Mitrovic, Wijnaldum, etc. The fact is, you can do well as a team with average players starting at CM as long as they know their jobs. What I said was, I wouldn't play just one of Colback-Anita, as neither is good enough defensively to play as a single anchor.

I would assume McClaren could clearly see that CM wasn't a pressing need, so pressured for transfers in other areas. It's not about playing 30-40 yard passes and it's not about being physically dominant. How many times does Tiote get turned by agile opponents. I want my CM's to keep the ball and control the tempo of the game above all else. That means short, sharp passes, to move the opposition around the pitch. Anita and Colback are the best we have at doing that. Wijnaldum might be better but we don't know yet. I'll point out again that Spurs finished 5th with Benteleb and Mason playing CM. They are not fundamentally better than Anita-Colback. I'm not saying you have to agree with playing them both, but if you fail to grasp the rationale behind doing so, then I don't hold out much hope.

Did I not state that in my message above and who is judging the transfers which I again mentioned are good? This is about two players who are currently at the club and should not be playing. Instead of trying to be clever why do you think they should be playing and why don't you take on some of the points I raised. No - what you've said is that McClaren should be banging Ashley's door down for two new central midfielders, and if he keepers playing Colback-Anita, then you deem him a failure from the off. My view is that playing only one of Colback-Anita doesn't give enough defensive cover or work rate in central midfield, and we don't have anyone currently at the club who is talented enough (as a Carrick style deep lying playmaker) to take their place. Furthermore, playing two (nominal) deep midfielders doesn't automatically invite pressure, it's the mentality of the team as a whole. So many big teams play with two 'holders' even when playing at home against shite teams. And we have actually seen the formation morph between 4-2-3-1 and 4-3-3 depending on game situation and opponent. I'm just absolutely baffled as to why you view this as the management crime of the century. It's a perfectly rational and reasonable decision.

A question to ElCid - As you clearly dislike the Colback-Anita duo starting games so much, who would you play ahead of them with current options available? I'm not judging McClaren on transfers as 1. He isn't wholly responsible for them and 2. Our transfer business has actually been quite good.

Anita - Wijnaldum - Sissoko looks good on paper and I'm sure it's great on Fifa and everything, but we don't know if it works until we see it. Feel defensively light to me but I suppose it could be our selection for when we are going to dominate the ball.

Derby finished 1st and 4th in goals scored in his seasons there. So your opinion is wrong.