Which of our players are good enough to help us finish top six?

[Chris_R]

I voted for 11 of them.

 

Given, Harper, Beye, Taylor, Faye, Enrique, Milner, N'Zogbia, Duff, Owen, Martins

 

Genuinely think none of them would look out of place in a side finishing 6th. Many of them already have. Get a good DMC in there, play N'Zogbia centrally (Not saying it's his best position, just saying it to make a team out of my selections) and you've got a decent first 11 with a reserve goalie. Makes it even more disheartening that we're not up there.

[fredbob]

Surprised by the Milner stat. thats a lot of people who think that Milner could be a good enough player to get into the top6

[Guest Coin]

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2207/2176480511_39c8d63abf.jpg?v=0

 

 

 

[NUFC06]

Given

Faye

Taylor

Enrique

Beye

Zoggy

Milner(squad player)

Duff

Owen

Martins

Viduka

 

its obvious from most of the votes on here that we are short on quality CM.We need someone creative CM who is capable of giving the final ball to Martins and Owen and who is capable of creating something genius.

[NG32]

The ones with the most votes are a decent back bone/start to a team.  We need more players this transfer window to keep us ticking over.

 

Also desperate for some sort of creative player in the middle of the park.

[bodson]

Voted for 5

 

Given

Beye

Faye

Zoggy

Owen

[toptoon]

Given, Harper, Beye, Taylor, Faye, Zoggy, Milner, Barton ??(if he can stop beating people up), Martins

 

Voted for 9 however 2 are keepers + big question mark over Barton.

 

We need a world class 'big man' type striker who is quick strong and knows where the goal is. Also another Faye type player at either CB or DM would be great and an atacking CM. 

[Guest teepee]

i voted for 8: given, beye, taylor, faye, zoggy, duff, owen and martins

 

however, only 6 of those would be on the pitch at the same time, leaving us with the need for: left back, right winger, two cm's, striker.

 

top ten i believe is the realistic target to set for ourselves, and it can be reached with just a new cm with a bit of creativity and passing ability

[UV]

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2207/2176480511_39c8d63abf.jpg?v=0

 

 

 

 

He's already been in teams which finished 5th, 4th and 3rd and he was a major reason for us getting to 7th just 2 seasons ago.

 

Ameobi, Carr, Emre, Given, N'Zogbia, Owen, Ramage, Taylor were in a team which finished 7th. Either:

• they're good enough
  
• they were carried by Babayaro, Boumsong, Bowyer, Bramble, Elliot, Amdy Faye, Parker, final season Shearer and Solano
  
• Souness & Roeder are exceptional managers to be able to put out a team which is greater than the sum of it's parts.
  

 

Most if not all of the players we have are good enough to finish top 6, we just need 1 or 2 extra creative players in the heart of the team and a manager who can get them to play.

[Yorkie]

Order in terms of number of votes:

 

Given

Beye

N'Zogbia

Faye

Owen

Martins

Taylor

Duff

Enrique

Milner

Viduka

-----------------

Harper

Caçapa

Emre

Barton

Butt

Smith

Rozehnal

Geremi

Ameobi

Carr

 

The line represents the 'cut-off' point. The ones above it, in my opinion, are capable of playing in a Top 6 first team every week. Probably not all of them above that line, but it offers the most appropriate segregation.

[Doug]

Indi and Liam Liam Liam O

Exactly right

Given, Beye, Feye, Zog.

There are no others for a top 6 team in this squad.

 

Doug.

[Munkey]

voted for : Given. Beye, Faye, N'Zogbia, Owen & Martins.

 

the couple of times i've seen Enrique play he looks good, but would need to see him a consistent run of games

[Nate]

Given

Harper (squad)

 

Beye

Faye

Enrique

Taylor (squad)

Caçapa (squad)

 

Duff

Barton

N'Zogbia

Emre (squad)

Milner (squad)

 

Owen

Viduka (squad)

Martins (squad)

 

So, that's a top quality centre forward, central midfielder and centre half required for a first team capable of competing with Portsmouth, Everton, Blackburn etc. I think people are overrating them if they think we need much more than that.

[NUFC06]

Indi and Liam Liam Liam O

Exactly right

Given, Beye, Feye, Zog.

There are no others for a top 6 team in this squad.

 

Doug.

 

utter monkey poo poo

 

If you think that Owen and Martins are not goood enough for a top 6 team you are on glue

[Parky]

Top 6 means I could give the odd one the benefit of the doubt.

 

If it was top 4 then I couldn't with a clear conscience pick anyone.

Charles N'Zogbia is the only player I think a top 4 side would like to get hold of and develop, he has more or less everything that he needs to work with and as I've said before he will be a full French int over the next 2/3 years. Liverpool and Arsenal would immediately benefit from Zoggy in the side.

 

Players who we can work with and are a clear asset to a team competing for top 6 are:

 

Given

Beye

Faye

Enrique

Zoggy

Duff

 

All the forwards have glaring shortcoming regardless of systems and our CM is adequate for a top 12 side as I've said elsewhere nothing more. Butt and Geremi or Smith/Emre would find it difficult to get a game in a top 10/12 PL side imo.

 

We need an emergency input of 3/4 quality players and another3/4 goodish players to compete for top 6, which means we need to set down a marker and spend some cash.

 

 

 

[Guest Edd]

Interesting reading how short some of the lists are on here and IMO some people are being far too negative.

 

The following are just some examples of players regularly playing and in most cases permanent fixtures in teams we would all class as top-6 material:

 

Joe Hart

Michael Ball

Stephen Ireland

Darius  Vassell

Tony Hibbert

Leon Osman

Lee Carsley

Phil Neville

James McFadden

Zat Knight

Nigel Reo-Coker

Luke Moore

 

We certainly have players better than most of those in their respective positions that aren't making some peoples lists.  I also seem to recall a number on that list who have been linked with us in the past and there was a huge outcry saying none were good enough (eg. Reo-Coker, Knight, Neville).

 

In truth for a top-6 spot there's nothing wrong with 90% of our squad, all we need, as a few have pointed out, is to add a couple of quality players in essential positions and for the manager to get the most out of them.

[WarrenBartonCentrePartin]

I voted for 11 players.  Scary.

same here.  Although I picked Harper among that.  (Given's liability with injuries means would have to call on Harper a fair bit)

[Baggio]

All of them apart from one or two, the problem at the moment is that everyone is out of form and playing below the standard they're capable of. That is something the manager has to sort out.

[Guest sappleton]

so more people have voted for beye over shay given

 

dont understand this obsession with him, he's hardly played

[Northern Monkey]

Alan Smith....

 

hahahahahahaahahahahahahahahaahahahahahahaha!!!!!!!!!!

[fredbob]

Alan Smith....

 

hahahahahahaahahahahahahahahaahahahahahahaha!!!!!!!!!!

 

 

I know Martins has got a lot of votes but i think he must be seriously underrated not to get more, some big big clubs have been linked with him yet there are still some of us who dont think he's top 6 material.

 

Surely it cant be a case of us knowing more than the said big clubs - Arsenal, Chelsea, Man City, Juventus, Man Utd who've all been linked with him at one opint or another?

 

 

[Skeletor]

All of them apart from one or two, the problem at the moment is that everyone is out of form and playing below the standard they're capable of. That is something the manager has to sort out.

 

I think we're in much the same position as we were in about 2001. If you take Bellamy, Robert and Solano out of the 2002 squad then they would have struggled as evidenced by the season before. I think if Sam signs 3 players who can make a major impact in creating goals like the 3 players above then it would make all the difference. Thing is I just don't see Sam signing players like that.

[Rich]

All of them apart from one or two, the problem at the moment is that everyone is out of form and playing below the standard they're capable of. That is something the manager has to sort out.

 

This is my take on things as well. I can't believe there are some people who think we're something like 10 new signings away from being able to finish top six! Realism is not on the agenda, it would seem.

 

A few quality signings in the right positions could help drag us out of the mire that we're currently in, but Allardyce has the biggest role to play in picking the "right" teams and formations.

[Guest alex]

Alan Smith....

 

hahahahahahaahahahahahahahahaahahahahahahaha!!!!!!!!!!

 

 

I know Martins has got a lot of votes but i think he must be seriously underrated not to get more, some big big clubs have been linked with him yet there are still some of us who dont think he's top 6 material.

 

Surely it cant be a case of us knowing more than the said big clubs - Arsenal, Chelsea, Man City, Juventus, Man Utd who've all been linked with him at one opint or another?

 

 

Which of those clubs have bid for him though? 'Linked' means nothing. That applies to any player btw.

[ChezGiven]

All of them apart from one or two, the problem at the moment is that everyone is out of form and playing below the standard they're capable of. That is something the manager has to sort out.

 

This is my take on things as well. I can't believe there are some people who think we're something like 10 new signings away from being able to finish top six! Realism is not on the agenda, it would seem.

 

A few quality signings in the right positions could help drag us out of the mire that we're currently in, but Allardyce has the biggest role to play in picking the "right" teams and formations.

 

A few quality signings would be a step in the right direction but our midfield needs work, Viduka and Owen will just get slower and Martins wont improve.

 

Geremi, Smith, Butt and Milner are all decent players but not of sufficiently high standard and severely lacking in pace. Emre has some class but just isnt cutting it. Duff may re-discover his Chelsea form but thats a big if. The jury is still out on Barton (sic).

 

What i dont get is the fact that people on the one hand are prepared to say that players arent good enough after watching a match, then say that they all have potential to be better. I'm going on the evidence of their ability to control the ball under pressure and find a man with a decent pass. Those skills have nothing to do with tactics or formations.