The central midfield!

[Guest tobiazvanderziaz]

Most of us really are looking forward to Bartons comeback but the big question is who would you like to play beside Barton in the central midfield.

 

Now when Bull is rdy I hope and think Sam will use two wings instead of playing 3 central midfielders at the same time.

[Baggio]

That depends on who we play against and what formation we play.

[toptoon]

Got to be Geremi for me as he seems to be the most involved out of the current three, covers the most ground, wins the tackles/ball and plays it well too. Emre is a possibility but i feel Sam may want Joey bombing forward and i'd have to agree at the moment. I rate Emre but i feel with Geremi and Barton we could be onto a really fantastic pairing.   

[Guest icemanblue]

Geremi, for sure.

[Nobody]

Geremi for most games. For our "easy" home games, I'd play Emre

[Baggio]

I'd rather have Emre in midfield over Geremi if he can ever stay fit, does all of the simple things Geremi does but isn't afraid to bring the ball out, take players on and try the more adventurous passes.

 

Against the better teams though I'd go withh either Faye or Butt.

[NoU]

Geremi

 

And in a three man midfield I'd use emre too, think he would function very well in that kind of midfield, with barton in front of him and geremi just beside him.

[Guest Knightrider]

I'd rather have Emre in midfield over Geremi if he can ever stay fit, does all of the simple things Geremi does but isn't afraid to bring the ball out, take players on and try the more adventurous passes.

 

Against the better teams though I'd go withh either Faye or Butt.

 

Off the ball Emre does nothing though, which is where Geremi does a lot of his best work.

[Baggio]

I'd rather have Emre in midfield over Geremi if he can ever stay fit, does all of the simple things Geremi does but isn't afraid to bring the ball out, take players on and try the more adventurous passes.

 

Against the better teams though I'd go withh either Faye or Butt.

 

Off the ball Emre does nothing though, which is where Geremi does a lot of his best work.

 

Emre's closing down is very underrated, I'd say it's every bit as good as Geremi's.

[Guest Knightrider]

I'd rather have Emre in midfield over Geremi if he can ever stay fit, does all of the simple things Geremi does but isn't afraid to bring the ball out, take players on and try the more adventurous passes.

 

Against the better teams though I'd go withh either Faye or Butt.

 

Off the ball Emre does nothing though, which is where Geremi does a lot of his best work.

 

Emre's closing down is very underrated, I'd say it's every bit as good as Geremi's.

 

I disagree, he does close down, but is rash and not disciplined enough. Geremi knows where to close down and when to drop off and does it very well from what I've seen. Emre is like a bull to red at times. If it came down to a straight choice between the two Geremi gets my vote because he's a better all-rounded player, more versatile and less likely to miss large chunks of the season/get himself suspended. While his  creative value is tame to say the least. Don't get me wrong I like Emre, I think he's a neat and tidy player but I don't think he's best suited to our style nor indeed the hurly burly of the Premiership. He just hasn't convinced since he joined us save a few fleeting moments. That said I'd like to see what Big Sam can do with him as he is a talented player, that is beyond doubt.

[Baggio]

I'd rather have Emre in midfield over Geremi if he can ever stay fit, does all of the simple things Geremi does but isn't afraid to bring the ball out, take players on and try the more adventurous passes.

 

Against the better teams though I'd go withh either Faye or Butt.

 

Off the ball Emre does nothing though, which is where Geremi does a lot of his best work.

 

Emre's closing down is very underrated, I'd say it's every bit as good as Geremi's.

 

I disagree, he does close down, but is rash and not disciplined enough. Geremi knows where to close down and when to drop off and does it very well from what I've seen. Emre is like a bull to red at times. If it came down to a straight choice between the two Geremi gets my vote because he's a better all-rounded player, more versatile and less likely to miss large chunks of the season/get himself suspended. While his  creative value is tame to say the least. Don't get me wrong I like Emre, I think he's a neat and tidy player but I don't think he's best suited to our style nor indeed the hurly burly of the Premiership. He just hasn't convinced since he joined us save a few fleeting moments. That said I'd like to see what Big Sam can do with him as he is a talented player, that is beyond doubt.

 

Sometimes you need a bit of bite in midfield though, I also said in my post that if Emre can stay fit all season, the problem for me with Geremi is he doesn't do much of anything, the majority of his passes are either backwards or sideways and he tends to dwell on the ball too much, it's great if we're trying to retain posession but he does it when we're level or chasing the game, he also doesn't seem that great in the tackle which is why I think he might get found wanting if we take Butt and Smith out of the midfield.

 

I think a few (myself included) got carried away with his pre season form but he hasn't come close to matching it when it matters in competitive games.

[ChezGiven]

Emre often gambles on a player's movement to try and catch them out and start a break off. However, i noticed him doing this and getting caught out a couple of times end of last season. As HTT says, he can be a bit rash but i'd like to see him fitter than he has been for a while as he has, imo, great skill and ball-winning capabilities.

[Guest Knightrider]

I'd rather have Emre in midfield over Geremi if he can ever stay fit, does all of the simple things Geremi does but isn't afraid to bring the ball out, take players on and try the more adventurous passes.

 

Against the better teams though I'd go withh either Faye or Butt.

 

Off the ball Emre does nothing though, which is where Geremi does a lot of his best work.

 

Emre's closing down is very underrated, I'd say it's every bit as good as Geremi's.

 

I disagree, he does close down, but is rash and not disciplined enough. Geremi knows where to close down and when to drop off and does it very well from what I've seen. Emre is like a bull to red at times. If it came down to a straight choice between the two Geremi gets my vote because he's a better all-rounded player, more versatile and less likely to miss large chunks of the season/get himself suspended. While his  creative value is tame to say the least. Don't get me wrong I like Emre, I think he's a neat and tidy player but I don't think he's best suited to our style nor indeed the hurly burly of the Premiership. He just hasn't convinced since he joined us save a few fleeting moments. That said I'd like to see what Big Sam can do with him as he is a talented player, that is beyond doubt.

 

Sometimes you need a bit of bite in midfield though, I also said in my post that if Emre can stay fit all season, the problem for me with Geremi is he doesn't do much of anything, the majority of his passes are either backwards or sideways and he tends to dwell on the ball too much, it's great if we're trying to retain posession but he does it when we're level or chasing the game, he also doesn't seem that great in the tackle which is why I think he might get found wanting if we take Butt and Smith out of the midfield.

 

I think a few (myself included) got carried away with his pre season form but he hasn't come close to matching it when it matters in competitive games.

 

You do need bite but the Scott Parker kind of bite which is what Emre would give, only without the tackling skills of Parker. I'd far rather have someone in there pressing than snapping because it's a more effective form of winning the ball back/competing against the opposition.  Geremi does pass sideways and backwards a lot like but he does it in a timely fashion, he doesn't dwell on the ball much. Plus Emre's passing isn't the greatest remember and I don't think he'll greatly improve our forward passing that much if at all. He has the vision but doesn't seem to have the technique, just look at his set pieces. Mind, Geremi's have been poor too. I can see where you're coming from Baggio and you put forward a good case, but for personal preference I'd go with Geremi myself. Having said all that though, ideally we'd have players in there that can do the lot and that will have to be the long term aim if we are to start challenging.

[ChezGiven]

Our form last season also made a pretty strong case for Emre too if you remember?

[Guest Knightrider]

Emre often gambles on a player's movement to try and catch them out and start a break off. However, i noticed him doing this and getting caught out a couple of times end of last season. As HTT says, he can be a bit rash but i'd like to see him fitter than he has been for a while as he has, imo, great skill and ball-winning capabilities.

 

He's a strange one, I'd love nothing more than to see Emre really establish himself here and become a Premiership star with it because he has the talent and he's the kind of driving force with that twinkle in his eye you'd want if only that player wasn't so rash as he can be and made of rock and not sand which Emre seems to be.

[Baggio]

Our form last season also made a pretty strong case for Emre too if you remember?

 

Our best football over the past few years have been with a midfield combination of Emre and Butt, it was also at that time that Martins went on his goalscoring run as we preferred to play the ball on the floor instead of lumping it long and expecting him to chase everything.

[Guest Knightrider]

Our form last season also made a pretty strong case for Emre too if you remember?

 

I don't think a combination of Riquelme, Ronaldinho and Zidane would have changed our fortunes last season, so dire were we at times. I get your point though.

[ChezGiven]

I'd like to see Faye and Emre in the middle, Zog left, Geremi right.

[Guest NUFC4]

home games and winable away games geremi, tough road games faye with butt/smith coming off the bench when steel is needed to hold out for a win or draw

[Guest NUFC4]

I'd like to see Faye and Emre in the middle, Zog left, Geremi right.

 

you can't be serious.  why are people still supporting emre he's out in january the wanker? plus there's no reason to ever leave joey barton out of the lineup if he's fit..NONE

[ChezGiven]

I'd like to see Faye and Emre in the middle, Zog left, Geremi right.

 

you can't be serious.  why are people still supporting emre he's out in january the wanker? plus there's no reason to ever leave joey barton out of the lineup if he's fit..NONE

 

As was already stated by myself and Baggio, our best form by a mile last season was when we had a defensive mid with Emre in an attacking role. Thats how people still like Emre.

 

Barton wont be around properly for at least another month.

[Guest NUFC4]

I'd like to see Faye and Emre in the middle, Zog left, Geremi right.

 

you can't be serious.  why are people still supporting emre he's out in january the w******? plus there's no reason to ever leave joey barton out of the lineup if he's fit..NONE

 

As was already stated by myself and Baggio, our best form by a mile last season was when we had a defensive mid with Emre in an attacking role. Thats how people still like Emre.

 

Barton wont be around properly for at least another month.

 

emre aint fit either and has already said he wants to go back to turkey.  sam won't let him see the field again unless we have an injury crisis like last year.  also the point of this thread was to pair someone with barton WHEN HE'S FIT.

[ChezGiven]

I'd like to see Faye and Emre in the middle, Zog left, Geremi right.

 

you can't be serious.  why are people still supporting emre he's out in january the w******? plus there's no reason to ever leave joey barton out of the lineup if he's fit..NONE

 

As was already stated by myself and Baggio, our best form by a mile last season was when we had a defensive mid with Emre in an attacking role. Thats how people still like Emre.

 

Barton wont be around properly for at least another month.

 

emre aint fit either and has already said he wants to go back to turkey.  sam won't let him see the field again unless we have an injury crisis like last year.  also the point of this thread was to pair someone with barton WHEN HE'S FIT.

 

Wind your neck in ffs, i merely stated i'd like to see those four play together. Whether you think i should state that in this thread is irrelevant to me and probably the rest of the board.

[Guest NUFC4]

do you honestly think emre will see the field again?

[Baggio]

I'd like to see Faye and Emre in the middle, Zog left, Geremi right.

 

you can't be serious.  why are people still supporting emre he's out in january the w******? plus there's no reason to ever leave joey barton out of the lineup if he's fit..NONE

 

As was already stated by myself and Baggio, our best form by a mile last season was when we had a defensive mid with Emre in an attacking role. Thats how people still like Emre.

 

Barton wont be around properly for at least another month.

 

emre aint fit either and has already said he wants to go back to turkey.  sam won't let him see the field again unless we have an injury crisis like last year.  also the point of this thread was to pair someone with barton WHEN HE'S FIT.

 

Wind your neck in ffs, i merely stated i'd like to see those four play together. Whether you think i should state that in this thread is irrelevant to me and probably the rest of the board.

 

http://www.sachsreport.com/john%20mcenroe.jpg

 

You cannot be serious, Chez?!