While I agree an an ideal world Anita doesn't offer quite enough to be a starter he has been man of the match contender on at least 3 or 4 seperate occasions this season and has put Colback to shame in almost all of them, hes been far improved this season while still not being quite good enough.
Nowhere near as bad as Colback.
I'd have to agree. While TCD likes to try and put Anita and Colback in the same bracket, the truth is Anita is far more effective at pressing and closing down the opposition regardless of how you manipulate the stats. Neither are really good enough, but of the two only Anita is really doing his job.
TCD seemed to take massive umbrage at the role Anita was asked to perform at the beginning of the season where he was dropping between the CBs and looking for the ball but doing little else. He blamed Anita for it and steadfastly ignored posts that pointed out Anita had never played that way in his entire NUFC career, and had always looked a better option in a more advanced or pressing role, therefore he was clearly being told to play that way.
You're trying to rewrite history here. For YEARS i've heard people say our hoof style of play doesn't suit Anita, that he spent his Ajax career as a deep midfielder picking up the ball and distributing. He could only flourish in a side that passed it out of the back and that he was being asked to perform roles he's never done before. Which is a great excuse for a player who has been at the club over 3 years and you could count his good games in one hand. I don't even think he's ever been a regular man in one of Pardew's winning streaks or good form runs, ever. We start the season in that passing style and it's ineffective as owt. He contributed fuck all except passing it to Chancel. This is what i've been waiting to see for 3 years? It was awful. He hadn't performed in any of his other CM roles and he finally played in a fashion he was used to and it contributed diddly squat.
1 central midfielder doesn't have a pressing role, you press as a team of which we have been better at recently (especially Anita).
Anita's been shit for us at CM for 3 years, prior to this season he's had a maximum of 3 good performances at CM - if that. The difference in the last two games is that he's actually influencing the game. Closing players down quickly and winning the ball and attempting forward passes. He's managing to impose himself on games, making other midfielders look lethargic and on their heels. He hasn't done this for the majority of his NUFC career. IN the last 3 years he's been largely anonymous, letting games drift by him, passing sideways and generally just hiding from responsibility. Not too dissimilar to the Ginger lad. But props to the lad he's shown that WHU game wasn't a fluke and has shown a couple performances of real influence.
Yep, there's some truth in there I suppose but you're also ignoring the fact that loads of us always said he could come good in the right system when the rest of the team functions and that is proving to be the case, at least in the last couple of matches. More actually, since McClaren stopped him playing so deep he's not had a shocker afaik, unlike others in the squad.
Referring to the Pardew years and his utilisation of Anita is a fucking joke and you know it, Anita was never suited to play his long ball horseshit and we all know it, he was never in one of Pardew's streaky runs for this reason. Pardew wanted his static formation belting the ball up to the strikers and that's not his game so he was a convenient scapegoat that Pardew is so fond of.
Call it excuses if you want but once again Colback has never once, that I've seen, put in a performance as good as Vurns best, not even close to it, and that's what we're on about here comparing Colback and Anita.
The big challenge for Anita, as he has undoubtedly played very well in the last two games will be the game this weekend where we will have more of the ball.
