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Steve McClaren


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Because Nemanja Matic would make a great fullback............ what? Different position. Different skill set largely.

 

I don't think he's good enough defensively in a midfield 2 with him sitting only.

He doesn't do anything with the ball of use. Unless played as the deepest of a midfield 3, he's average to crap.

He doesn't make anything "tick". If we are going to take the approach where our fullbacks push on, a DM comes deep between the CB I entirely hope the player that does so attempts something useful with the ball!

 

Last game of the season against West Ham? He was lauded for how he played in that game.

 

Off the top of my head this season, first game of the season he was the one who put Sissoko through to cut the ball back for Wijnaldums early miss against Southampton when he hit a defender.

 

Its a bit harsh to judge when in 2 of the other 3 we've been down to 10 men early. The ambition going forwards for the side is obviously going to be restricted to a certain degree then.

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Because Nemanja Matic would make a great fullback............ what? Different position. Different skill set largely.

 

I don't think he's good enough defensively in a midfield 2 with him sitting only.

He doesn't do anything with the ball of use. Unless played as the deepest of a midfield 3, he's average to crap.

He doesn't make anything "tick". If we are going to take the approach where our fullbacks push on, a DM comes deep between the CB I entirely hope the player that does so attempts something useful with the ball!

 

Last game of the season against West Ham? He was lauded for how he played in that game.

 

Off the top of my head this season, first game of the season he was the one who put Sissoko through to cut the ball back for Wijnaldums early miss against Southampton when he hit a defender.

 

Its a bit harsh to judge when in 2 of the other 3 we've been down to 10 men early. The ambition going forwards for the side is obviously going to be restricted to a certain degree then.

TCD doesn't watch us play man, he can't if he doesn't think Anita makes us tick.

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Don't think he's physically capable. He's fairly quick but it takes a lot for him to cover ground, if only lateral.

 

The only way he could be successful is if he has 2 other central midfielders near him. And it looks like McClaren likes his 4-4-1-1 with two water carriers. "Controlling the play" I think is the aim with those lads and protecting the defence.

 

Two water carriers might be how McClaren wants to go, but it didn't work against Swansea and it hasn't seen us dominate any of the midfield battles we've played so far. My question is whether either Anita or Colback are capable of doing the defensive midfielder role by themselves. Until we see them given that responsibility we won't really know the answer.

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Don't think he's physically capable. He's fairly quick but it takes a lot for him to cover ground, if only lateral.

 

The only way he could be successful is if he has 2 other central midfielders near him. And it looks like McClaren likes his 4-4-1-1 with two water carriers. "Controlling the play" I think is the aim with those lads and protecting the defence.

 

Not sure what the statement 'He's fairly quick but it takes a lot for him to cover ground' means tbh. He's quick enough to do it and he's not blowing out of his arse after 30 minutes so i don't really get what you said there.

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Don't think he's physically capable. He's fairly quick but it takes a lot for him to cover ground, if only lateral.

 

The only way he could be successful is if he has 2 other central midfielders near him. And it looks like McClaren likes his 4-4-1-1 with two water carriers. "Controlling the play" I think is the aim with those lads and protecting the defence.

 

Not sure what the statement 'He's fairly quick but it takes a lot for him to cover ground' means tbh. He's quick enough to do it and he's not blowing out of his arse after 30 minutes so i don't really get what you said there.

 

A fast runner can cover ground well up and down. Straight sprints to be precise. Anita is good at that. However, footballers often move laterally. Or just plain jog. For whatever reason, Anita isn't very good at this. You rarely feel like Anita is dominating an area of the pitch. So when a team is passing the ball around midfield, it takes a lot for him to keep up with play. He's fine when he's sprinting. But just moving around, he doesn't cover the ground well. I think Wilshere suffers from a similar thing. He's no slouch but it takes a fair bit for him to get around a pitch. Someone like Ramsey is no quicker but is able to cover ground easier.

 

Apparently, I sound pretentious. But i'm talking about a technicality here. Just because you can run fast, doesn't mean you get around the pitch well to force your presence. Makelele was short, not lightening but somehow managed to fulfill the action.

 

What exactly does "make us tick" mean?

 

I would love to know this. I would also like 1 example of when Anita's passing has "made us tick". I get shit for saying "gegenpress" which has explicit actions. "Make us tick" is a lazy cliche that doesn't mean anything. Especially when used for Anita.

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I was always under the impression that 'keeping things ticking' was simply about keeping the ball moving and feeding the more creative players with short passes. It's a phrase/cliché/however you feel about it more suited to a  water-carrier type midfielder than a deep-lying playmaker. Along those lines, I don't think it's too bad a description for Anita tbh. I could well be just talking shite however.

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I was always under the impression that 'keeping things ticking' was simply about keeping the ball moving and feeding the more creative players with short passes. It's a phrase/cliché/however you feel about it more suited to a  water-carrier type midfielder than a deep-lying playmaker. Along those lines, I don't think it's too bad a description for Anita tbh. I could well be just talking shite however.

 

It was me that started the whole "making things tick" bollocks. What I meant was that McClaren has identified it as a role in his team,  regardless of the individual. Anita is the man who he picked for that position.

 

Personally I think Anita's role in the team is vital in how McClaren wants to play.

 

Colback on the other hand is in an expendable position. Both Sissoko and Wijnaldum could both play there and offer more to our team. Where as neither could play in Anita's deeper role, nor would be suitable to it IMO.

 

I'll pretend Tiote doesn't exist because he offers nothing in this set up. He certainly couldnt do Anita's job and would offer even less in terms of creativity in Colbacks position.

 

At least we have options for a change.

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I was always under the impression that 'keeping things ticking' was simply about keeping the ball moving and feeding the more creative players with short passes. It's a phrase/cliché/however you feel about it more suited to a  water-carrier type midfielder than a deep-lying playmaker. Along those lines, I don't think it's too bad a description for Anita tbh. I could well be just talking s**** however.

 

It was me that started the whole "making things tick" bollocks. What I meant was that McClaren has identified it as a role in his team,  regardless of the individual. Anita is the man who he picked for that position.

 

Personally I think Anita's role in the team is vital in how McClaren wants to play.

 

Colback on the other hand is in an expendable position. Both Sissoko and Wijnaldum could both play there and offer more to our team. Where as neither could play in Anita's deeper role, nor would be suitable to it IMO.

 

I'll pretend Tiote doesn't exist because he offers nothing in this set up. He certainly couldnt do Anita's job and would offer even less in terms of creativity in Colbacks position.

 

At least we have options for a change.

 

Said it before if Colback and Anita are both kept in the team over a period, we will be bottom of the league and fighting a relegation battle - watch and see if he does. This Anita 'love in' is totally hilarious to be honest although I would have him in before Colback and that is really saying something though.

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Wouldn't describe it as a 'love-in' at all. More a case of preferring one over the other if we change formation a bit. Anita is far from perfect but he offers more in that role than Colback, Tiote appears to be 3rd choice at best.

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Colback definitely doesn't keep things 'ticking over'. The opposite imo. 'Ticking over' for me means keeping our fluidity or keeping possession to build something. Colback very often plays a little ball back to Coloccini, or Haidara, or Anita because he hasn't got the confidence and/or ability to actually make something happen.

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Wouldn't describe it as a 'love-in' at all. More a case of preferring one over the other if we change formation a bit. Anita is far from perfect but he offers more in that role than Colback, Tiote appears to be 3rd choice at best.

 

El Cid talks utter hoop tbf. Especially looking at his last post.

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Wouldn't describe it as a 'love-in' at all. More a case of preferring one over the other if we change formation a bit. Anita is far from perfect but he offers more in that role than Colback, Tiote appears to be 3rd choice at best.

 

El Cid talks utter hoop tbf. Especially looking at his last post.

 

Mr Clueless speaks

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Colback should be our left back. He'd make a decent(ish) old school 1990s full back that can pass but not get further than 3 quarters of the way up the pitch and put in deep crosses when needed. Would help to free Thauvin a little from having to bust a gut after losing possession, as a counter-attack down his flank would be well defended (in terms of a body there, rather than the ability of the defender).

 

It would also have the advantage of keeping a "Geordie" on the pitch and in theory better ball-playing ability in defence. Having played centre-mid for a few years Colback should be more calm and composed under pressure than Haidara and so passes on the floor rather than hopeful channel balls should follow.

 

(I appreciate a lot of this post is optimistic as to Colback's abilities a but at least it gets him out of centre mid.)

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Colback should be our left back. He'd make a decent(ish) old school 1990s full back that can pass but not get further than 3 quarters of the way up the pitch and put in deep crosses when needed. Would help to free Thauvin a little from having to bust a gut after losing possession, as a counter-attack down his flank would be well defended (in terms of a body there, rather than the ability of the defender).

 

It would also have the advantage of keeping a "Geordie" on the pitch and in theory better ball-playing ability in defence. Having played centre-mid for a few years Colback should be more calm and composed under pressure than Haidara and so passes on the floor rather than hopeful channel balls should follow.

 

(I appreciate a lot of this post is optimistic as to Colback's abilities a but at least it gets him out of centre mid.)

 

http://panditfootball.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/467150260_3286127-470x271.jpg

 

Moar leff-bax!

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