Punk77

He's a squad player, but nothing more. But if his previous salary was 40 000 a week, he's probably on something similar now. He earns too much compared to how often he's injured and what he delivers on the pitch. If we could sell him for £6 mill, we could probably find a replacement that is just as good for £1-2 mill. And that player is probably satisfied with half of Taylors salary. Oh, like James Perch? Williamson is playing just as well as Tayls. He cost £1 mill and probably earns half..

It's Isn't that always the case with certain players? I mean, look at Inter (last year) for example - Sneijder could do what he wants behind the striker because he had defensive midfielders covering him. Also, the thing is that we looked very good with Barton on the right, though. And the thing is that Barton didn't even look that good through the centre after having played at RW. You misunderstand. Tiote should cover defensively yes, so Nolan can take part in the offensive play. That's a normal division of labor. The problem is that Nolan on paper is an offensive CM, but outside the box, he's not contributing to the offensive play at all. This puts an extra strain on Tiote, because he must act both as a ball distributor and as a defensive anchor. A good example of this was against Bolton. Normally it's the offensive player (Nolan) that must take responsibility to distribute the ball when Barton is away, but that job fell on Tiote's shoulders. It was him that made the crossers because Nolan couldn't cope.. The only reason why this works, to some extent, is due to Tiote's extraordinary passing abilities. If we had a DM that was not able to pass the ball in the same manner, Nolan's absence in the offensive play would have been more revealing..

They were horrible bastards on the pitch yes. But that's a long time ago. A club of leed's size belong in PL. And Leeds is a talent factory: Woodgate, Delph, Milner, Lennon, Bowyer etc. If I remember correctly, we also do well against Leeds.. I really hope Plymouth does well. My eyes got wet when I saw how they treated the fans after the match.. Our promotion got them relegated, so they were big hearted indeed..

Easy choice, Nham and Leeds..

But seriously, if we're going to challenge for the European spot next season, Nolan cannot be more than squad player (unless he gets in better shape). He's not movable enough, doesn't distribute the ball, leaving that task to Barton or Tiote.. It's thanks to the fantastic play of the latter that has made it possible for Nolan to stroll into the box and score goals. Remove Tiote, and Nolan's weaknesses will be much more obvious. We need an offensive midfielder with movement who's able to quickly distribute the ball to the side where the opponent is unbalanced. This will also make the job for our wingers much easier too. With Barton out, our wide men are always playing against a established defense. But with Barton on the right our team is unbalanced. So the best thing is to play Barton in central, and purchase a fast wide man. That will make both our wing play and Barton better.

I think that will be a probable outcome if Guthrie is sold this summer, which is likely

Nice play by lee and holden. Easy, simple but highly effective: Lee using Holden's overlap at corrects point in time. Enrique and Jonas have something to learn from them. They have a tendency of doing things too hard. It's typical Jonas not using the overlap when it arrives.. And Enrique tries to dribble instead of trying to set up triangle play.

I'm stunned actually..

Bad defending by Curtis D....When you have K Davies behind you clear the ball asap. Trying to outmuscle him will not work..Lee have already made two cracking crossers. That's one more than what Routledge managed with us this season

Not by his usual standard, he wasn't. In fact, in the first half, he was surprisingly solid. Yep, he had just one mistake if I remember correctly. I really hope we play Ferguson this match. We need pace and players that's able to keep the ball on the ground. That we did against both Bham and Burn with success. If we only try to hit long balls, like we did in the home game, we'll lose..

I stand corrected!

But it's the person who scores the goals, not the jersey For me goals isn't enough. The person must have a certain attitude too: Responsible, loyal and be a role model for the younger players.. He got to earn it..

No. 9 is all about goals and quality. But since shearer I've always associated no. 9 with loyalty too. So if Tiote choose to stay with us forever, despite the club not being able to fulfill his trophy dreams, I have no problem with him taking the famous number. HBA has a no 9 potential though, but I think he's very attached to jersey no 10 Only Shearer's held the number 9 shirt for more than three seasons in a row in feck knows how long tbh. Maybe even all the way back to Supermac? But it's because of Shearer I associate loyalty with the no. 9 shirt I

He's a squad player, but nothing more. But if his previous salary was 40 000 a week, he's probably on something similar now. He earns too much compared to how often he's injured and what he delivers on the pitch. If we could sell him for £6 mill, we could probably find a replacement that is just as good for £1-2 mill. And that player is probably satisfied with half of Taylors salary.

No. 9 is all about goals and quality. But since shearer I've always associated no. 9 with loyalty too. So if Tiote choose to stay with us forever, despite the club not being able to fulfill his trophy dreams, I have no problem with him taking the famous number. HBA has a no 9 potential though, but I think he's very attached to jersey no 10

Agree. Yong was excellent previous season. His crossers are sublime. Find it strange that Bolton choose to play with a player that has not signed a new contract instead of a hot prospect.

The clone = Much better The difference between Cole and Enrique now is the former's ability to contribute more in attack. Enrique is to inefficient. But overall Enrique has been outstanding in defense this year, better than Cole..

Ahh..I remember that situation. Bernard was sublime in attack. A clone of Bernard and Enrique would probably be the best lb in the world...

Exactly.. I don't remember where I read it, but correct diet is very decisive for how well you recooperate after training: If you eat wrong food, 30-40% of the training effect will be gone..

my experience with Newcastle, means that if a player has a chance to be back, then he is back in a months time eaxctly! With Pardew it will be, "oh he will be back next week"...and then "still not ready, we won't risk him, maybe in 2-3 weeks time"....then "oh well, he'll be ready for next season"! But it's the medical team that advises Pardew about a probable return date..In other words, those guys don't have a clue.. I still find it worrying that not stricter rules are enforced when it comes to diet, since that has an effect on restitution and how fast a injury heals. Nolan and Carroll are good examples of this lack of focus. As I've mentioned before, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has banned serious alcohol consumption in his new club Molde FK. If you drink more than one beer, you're out! And I'm pretty sure that he's picked up those attitudes from SAF. Why aren't we practicing a similar policy? That would improve stamina, allowing players to recover better and faster, which is in particular important during tough match schedules.. Wasn't it Enrique that on twitter (in the middle of the hectic boxing day program) reported about a massive hangover? And consequently he had to rest one match due to fatigue.. If he had been 100% focused on eating correctly and not drinking alcohol that situation may not have occurred. They are pro athletes who earn ridiculous amount of money, and one should therefore expect that they're serious in every respect. That involves eliminating alcohol consumption and banning unhealthy food.

I haven't seen league matches of him, only world cup matches. My impression of him is that he's a kind of player that could be invisible for large periods of a match before he pops up and scores a goal and that he doesn't contribute as much to the play outside the box. Consequently, he could do well for a good team that gives him the correct kind of passes inside the box. But if the team struggles, he's not the one that stand out and plays better than the rest..In other words, he's like Owen... Or am I completely off the mark?

Yeah, and Woodgate was 23 when we bought him. But already then, he was a complete stopper. Taylor is Yeah, and Woodgate was 23 when we bought him. But already then, he was a complete stopper. Taylor is now two years older, and he's still s***. The amateur faults he pulled off against Everton still amaze me. I could have understood them if they were of the less serious kind. Being just back from injury could then been an excuse. But not pressuring Arteta and inviting him into the box, is a humongous error at that level and shows a lack of football intelligence. And he cannot use lack of experience as an excuse either... now two years older, and he's still s***. The amateur faults he pulled off against Everton still amaze me. I could have understood them if they were of the less serious kind. Being just back from injury could then been an excuse. But not pressuring Arteta and inviting him into the box, is a humongous error at that level and shows a lack of football intelligence. And he cannot use lack of experience as an excuse either... Woodgate was the best defender we've had in my time as a fan (1980 onwards), so it's harsh to compare Taylor with him. Did the amateur faults by Williamson this season (conveniently forgotten by many Taylor haters) shock you? Williamson has made some mistakes, but none as "obvious" as the one Taylor pulled of against Everton. And this is Williamson's first PL season, a excuse that doesn't apply for Taylor. Williamson is now just as good a stopper as Taylor, and that feat he managed in just one lousy season. Taylor on the other hasn't developed since his early 20s.

Agreed. Rooney is great, but remember that he also benefits from playing on a good team. He's strength is his finishing skills and work ethic. He benefits immensely from playing in Man U which plays a style of football that suits him perfectly: fast passing, a lot of mobility and diverting the play to the side which the opponent is outnumbered. All those factors give Rooney space to run in. And high quality crossers are constantly delivered from the wide men, which enables him to exploit his finishing capabilities. That's Rooney at his best. But the man has much more problems when the ball is not passed around quickly enough, when the defenders are able to close down the space. This happens at the national team and Rooney is accordingly experiencing problems, like we saw in the WC.

Yeah, and Woodgate was 23 when we bought him. But already then, he was a complete stopper. Taylor is now two years older, and he's still s***. The amateur faults he pulled off against Everton still amaze me. I could have understood them if they were of the less serious kind. Being just back from injury could then been an excuse. But not pressuring Arteta and inviting him into the box, is a humongous error at that level and shows a lack of football intelligence. And he cannot use lack of experience as an excuse either...

We haven't managed to fix Nolan's appetite for unhealthy food. But Adriano is probably easier to cure