STM Posted February 12, 2008 Share Posted February 12, 2008 Blackburn and West Ham do have more quality in their sides. Especially in terms of attacking options. Look at who have played in their side consistantly, the only ones that stand out are Bentley and McCarthy, then i'm stuggling. These are sides who love to have viduka and emre. The problem isn't the players. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Baggio Posted February 12, 2008 Share Posted February 12, 2008 Blackburn and West Ham do have more quality in their sides. Especially in terms of attacking options. Look at who have played in their side consistantly, the only ones that stand out are Bentley and McCarthy, then i'm stuggling. These are sides who love to have viduka and emre. The problem isn't the players. McCarthy has only managed 1 goal in his last 15 appearances for Blackburn and that was a penalty against Sunderland, what they have got is a player in Bentley that is delivering the goods from midfield on a consistent basis, if you took him out of their team they would create very little. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Northern Monkey Posted February 12, 2008 Share Posted February 12, 2008 I hate the phrase "relegation scrap", it sort of says that it's no longer a game of football. No side has stayed in this league by "scrapping", they have stayed in by playing football. If we are going to stay in this league we need to be the best football side we can. Players like Viduka, Emre and N'Zogbia over Smith, Butt etc everyday of the week. If we're relying on Viduka and Emre, we ARE fucked. Why? Who would you prefer in their place? Good players, obviously. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
TRC Posted February 12, 2008 Share Posted February 12, 2008 Dunn, MGP, and upfront Santa Cruz is better than any of our strikers. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fugazi Posted February 12, 2008 Share Posted February 12, 2008 Aye, surprised he didn't mention Santa Cruz. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Northern Monkey Posted February 12, 2008 Share Posted February 12, 2008 I think Viduka is class but we can't rely on him as he's so injury proned. Viduka is class? Based on what? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest alex Posted February 12, 2008 Share Posted February 12, 2008 Blackburn and West Ham do have more quality in their sides. Especially in terms of attacking options. Look at who have played in their side consistantly, the only ones that stand out are Bentley and McCarthy, then i'm stuggling. These are sides who love to have viduka and emre. The problem isn't the players. Roque Santa Cruz, if we're just talking about Blackburn, has been a bigger threat than any of our strikers this season. They've also got players in the middle of the park (where we are sadly lacking this) who can pass a ball. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Northern Monkey Posted February 12, 2008 Share Posted February 12, 2008 all the teams below us would love to have Emre or Viduka in their side. the reason they're down there is because they don't have quality in their sides, lots of battlers and workers without much talent (Alan Smith) though. Erm, the teams BELOW us might want Emre or Viduka, but the teams ABOVE us (i.e. where WE SHOUDL BE) don't want them. What does that tell you? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Theregulars Posted February 12, 2008 Share Posted February 12, 2008 Blackburn have a lot of quality players, but more importantly, they are all consistent, seem to stay fit and all play well as a team. As you mentioned, Bentley and McCarthy, left out Santa Cruz, but what about Pedersen, Dunn, Tugay etc.? I agree on paper ours look just as good but if you look at the premiership records of those players and our equivalents, all have played a lot more games, contributed a lot more and fit better into a team ethic. Right now we're a team of individuals who don't play together, which perhaps hints that our siging policy isn't as stringent as it could be. How many unknown players has Mark Hughes plucked out and have become Premiership regulars? N'Zogbia aside, when was the last time we bought someone unheard of/not rated by others who turned out to be a real good deal? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scribble Posted February 12, 2008 Share Posted February 12, 2008 I'd say the problem is down to the players. Not their skill, on the whole they look decent enough for an upper mid-table side on paper (some better some not so), but they fold like a pack of cards when they concede. Never look like holding on to a lead and panic whenever they get put under pressure. The team also dont look fit enough to play attacking football for a full 90 mins (witness some great starts , followed by numerous second half collapses). There's not even much of an understanding or cohesion between anyone to cover for the above weaknesses as they've been chopped and changed all season (especially the back 4). Look at Aston Villa, nothing fantastic (bar young and agbonlahor who missed our game), but they are a settled 11, who know what their roles are and work as a team. We need a flukey win, and some games with an unchanged side to hopefully turn this around. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yorkie Posted February 12, 2008 Share Posted February 12, 2008 Dunn, MGP, and upfront Santa Cruz is better than any of our strikers. Hardly the best examples. Well, Blackburn in general just isn't a very good example (i don't rate them that much). I'd argue that our squad players are better than Blackburn's squad players... thing is, they've got two or three key players aswell who make them work, namely Bentley, Santa Cruz and Samba. Take them out and Blackburn would be just like us, probably in a worse off position. Infact, take Bentley out and i reckon they'd be in the bottom half. In my opinion, anyway. Aye, i know it's a fairly simplistic theory but you know what i'm saying. Just shows you what a good, creative midfielder can do for you. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ally Posted February 12, 2008 Share Posted February 12, 2008 I think Viduka is class but we can't rely on him as he's so injury proned. Viduka is class? Based on what? Based on what i've seen over his career. Granted, he's not done much for us - not denying that. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Theregulars Posted February 12, 2008 Share Posted February 12, 2008 Agree with Yorkie-Geordie - I think it's a key problem that we don't have any dependable player or a few of them who we know will perform week-in, week-out. I guess Milner is one that usually plays pretty well on a regular basis, and maybe Beye, but there aren't really any stand-out candidates, are there? Hopefully Owen could become one and go on a little scoring run, and I'd like Emre to be one but don't think he has the consistency. I think it's key in any team that you have at least one striker, midfielder and defender who you know will perform well week in, week out and that any mistake or bad performance is a blip. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yorkie Posted February 12, 2008 Share Posted February 12, 2008 Agree with Yorkie-Geordie - I think it's a key problem that we don't have any dependable player or a few of them who we know will perform week-in, week-out. I guess Milner is one that usually plays pretty well on a regular basis, and maybe Beye, but there aren't really any stand-out candidates, are there? Hopefully Owen could become one and go on a little scoring run, and I'd like Emre to be one but don't think he has the consistency. I think it's key in any team that you have at least one striker, midfielder and defender who you know will perform well week in, week out and that any mistake or bad performance is a blip. It's the same subject that's being discussed in Big TRon's thread. It's exactly what we're lacking; there's plenty of good players here. But if you haven't got a midfield then you haven't got very much. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Sniffer Posted February 12, 2008 Share Posted February 12, 2008 I pointed out in the summer that Fat Sam was buying players who could win a ball but nobody who knew how to use it. I got slated............... probably by the same people whose little lights have suddenly gone off. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
The College Dropout Posted February 12, 2008 Share Posted February 12, 2008 Tugay is twice the player Nicky Butt & Alan Smith are. He's far better at passing than both. You have wide players with a little flair and consistent delivery in Bentley, Pedersen & Dunn And in Santa Cruz you have a striker who feeds off brilliant deliveries.. McCarthy & Derbyshire have shown quality as well. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Baggio Posted February 12, 2008 Share Posted February 12, 2008 I don't think either team has a better group of players, they both have better balance throughout their squads though. Fat Sam went overboard on the grafters. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shearergol Posted February 12, 2008 Share Posted February 12, 2008 I don't think either team has a better group of players, they both have better balance throughout their squads though. Fat Sam went overboard on the grafters. It'll only take 2 good central midfielders to turn us into a top 7 team. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest alex Posted February 12, 2008 Share Posted February 12, 2008 I don't think either team has a better group of players, they both have better balance throughout their squads though. Fat Sam went overboard on the grafters. That's pure semantics. If you have better balance throughout the squad it amounts to a better group of players/squad/however you want to phrase it in any case. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Sniffer Posted February 12, 2008 Share Posted February 12, 2008 You are at least six months late in saying that. Any tips on who might win the FA cup last season? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest alex Posted February 12, 2008 Share Posted February 12, 2008 You are at least six months late in saying that. Any tips on who might win the FA cup last season? Baggio was saying that back then tbf. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Baggio Posted February 12, 2008 Share Posted February 12, 2008 I don't think either team has a better group of players, they both have better balance throughout their squads though. Fat Sam went overboard on the grafters. It'll only take 2 good central midfielders to turn us into a top 7 team. I don't think it would take much to turn us around, we're in a similar situation we found when Bellamy and Robert came in, I'd say a central midfielder and a right wing would push us back up the league. Like I've said, it's all about getting the balance right. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
tmonkey Posted February 12, 2008 Share Posted February 12, 2008 I don't think either team has a better group of players, they both have better balance throughout their squads though. Fat Sam went overboard on the grafters. It'll only take 2 good central midfielders to turn us into a top 7 team. I don't think it would take much to turn us around, we're in a similar situation we found when Bellamy and Robert came in, I'd say a central midfielder and a right wing would push us back up the league. Like I've said, it's all about getting the balance right. We need new strikers. Our current ones all have massive faults to a man, and none of them are compatible with the other. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
NE5 Posted February 12, 2008 Share Posted February 12, 2008 We need new strikers. Our current ones all have massive faults to a man, and none of them are compatible with the other. midfield and attack is unbalanced with bad partnerships. A striker, a creative central midfield player and a right sided player, would make a huge difference to this team in terms of hitting the top 6 or 7. More needed for the top 4 though. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Northern Monkey Posted February 12, 2008 Share Posted February 12, 2008 I don't think either team has a better group of players, they both have better balance throughout their squads though. Fat Sam went overboard on the grafters. It'll only take 2 good central midfielders to turn us into a top 7 team. Erm, where is the top 7 quality left back? Or striker? or back up for EVERY position? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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