Punk77 Posted April 2, 2011 Share Posted April 2, 2011 Can't wait for Monday. Have just filled up my baby oil cache Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Teasy Posted April 2, 2011 Share Posted April 2, 2011 I'm still waiting to see Ben Arfa back on the pitch before deciding on him. Such a long injury lay-off could have taken some pace away and could make him a much weaker player. Until he gets fit.. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
AyeDubbleYoo Posted April 2, 2011 Share Posted April 2, 2011 Good. Best players in their best positions. I'd be in the market for a left-winger though, definitely. With Jonas and Ferguson on the books? Wouldn't a right winger be a higher priority? Nope. We've got Barton. Purely in terms of investment into the first team, left-wing would be a position i'd look at first. Barton should be play CM imo. We need a distributor in the middle. When playing rm Barton has a tendency go too much inside, ruining the width. Had a good example today where Shola was forced to finish from 20 m because neither Barton or Simpson used the wide open space that was available on our right side. It was discussed so often that Barton's best position is on the right. Even if we do consider Barton a RM now, he's our only one if Routledge leaves. Bearing in mind that Ben Arfa, Jonas and Ferguson can all play on the left, I would definitely be signing a dedicated right winger before a left one. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yorkie Posted April 2, 2011 Share Posted April 2, 2011 Good. Best players in their best positions. I'd be in the market for a left-winger though, definitely. With Jonas and Ferguson on the books? Wouldn't a right winger be a higher priority? Nope. We've got Barton. Purely in terms of investment into the first team, left-wing would be a position i'd look at first. Why? Cos we've got £35m to really, really push on. The triumverate of Barton-Nolan-Tiote is set, but Jonas blows hot and cold. I love him but he's frustrating because his final ball, eight times out of ten is poor. Although he's one of the biggest workers in the side, and he's generally imperative to the way we play cos of his pace, if we're seriously thinking about pushing on for Europe i think he's the weakest link in the midfield. If what we saw in injury time today was a frequent thing, it'd be a different matter, but that was a rarity. CB, LW, ST would be my three main priorities to seriously bolster the first team. Those are our prospective Bellamy+Robert signings imo (if you know what i mean). With our squad fully fit, there's stacks of potential. I wouldn't consider anyone expendable - we have to build on what we have and progress. Seeing Jonas on the bench every week would A, be a brilliant option and B, mean we've improved (what's currently an okay) midfield. And re: Barton being in the middle. It's just a ridiculous, ridiculous thought. If we put him back there we'll have moved a step backwards. I honestly can't believe how anyone can want him in there. Condescending as hell, hold my hands up, but i fear you don't get the way we play if you don't think his best position is on the right. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yorkie Posted April 2, 2011 Share Posted April 2, 2011 Good. Best players in their best positions. I'd be in the market for a left-winger though, definitely. With Jonas and Ferguson on the books? Wouldn't a right winger be a higher priority? Nope. We've got Barton. Purely in terms of investment into the first team, left-wing would be a position i'd look at first. Barton should be play CM imo. We need a distributor in the middle. When playing rm Barton has a tendency go too much inside, ruining the width. Had a good example today where Shola was forced to finish from 20 m because neither Barton or Simpson used the wide open space that was available on our right side. It was discussed so often that Barton's best position is on the right. Even if we do consider Barton a RM now, he's our only one if Routledge leaves. Bearing in mind that Ben Arfa, Jonas and Ferguson can all play on the left, I would definitely be signing a dedicated right winger before a left one. If Jonas wasn't first choice he would provide cover for both wings. I'd be satisfied with seeing... RM - Barton, Jonas, R Taylor, Guthrie LM - New man, Jonas, Ben Arfa, Ferguson ... providing it meant we could go and spend some serious cash on that new left-mid. Harper Simpson - New man - Coloccini - Enrique Barton - Nolan - Tiote - New Man Ben Arfa ----------- New Man ... is what i'm envisaging in my head as our best options if we're gonna use the money to the best we can. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zero Posted April 2, 2011 Share Posted April 2, 2011 I think HBA should play on the left with Jonas as sub. So the priority should be RW. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yorkie Posted April 2, 2011 Share Posted April 2, 2011 I think HBA should play on the left with Jonas as sub. So the priority should be RW. Why, when his best position is off the striker? We've been desperately looking for someone to link the midfield to the attack well - for years now. We finally have that player so it seems infuriating if we're gonna waste him as a square peg. Would you not keep Barton there? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zero Posted April 2, 2011 Share Posted April 2, 2011 Why, when his best position is off the striker? We've been desperately looking for someone to link the midfield to the attack well - for years now. We finally have that player so it seems infuriating if we're gonna waste him as a square peg. Would you not keep Barton there? We got Best, Ameobi and Ranger (WFC Loven), and very likely we will sign a new striker this summer. To me it is a waste to play just one of them, and it's too negative to play 4-5-1. Yes against teams like Man United and Chelsea I will go like that but if we are targeting 3 points we should play 4-4-2. And in addition, I'm afraid HBA does not have enough stamina to play that role for the whole match. Rotation. Certainly he is first choice but that's not enough for the whole season. Raylor should be shipped out this summer and HBA is kinda injury prone, so we do need one more right winger who's good enough to challenge Barton's position. I don't wanna see Simpson/Ranger playing as RW anymore... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest BlacknWhiteArmy Posted April 2, 2011 Share Posted April 2, 2011 I'm still waiting to see Ben Arfa back on the pitch before deciding on him. Such a long injury lay-off could have taken some pace away and could make him a much weaker player. There's still the risk, but even if he has lost some pace (Which I do expect), his general technique play should not have got any worse. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
midds Posted April 2, 2011 Share Posted April 2, 2011 I think he could cause mayhem played in a free role behind a mobile striker. Problem is we haven't bought this striker yet. He could do well on either wing too but the biggest impact/upgrade for the XI atm would be to start him up front in the place of Lovenkrands. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ash Posted April 2, 2011 Share Posted April 2, 2011 Good. Best players in their best positions. I'd be in the market for a left-winger though, definitely. With Jonas and Ferguson on the books? Wouldn't a right winger be a higher priority? Nope. We've got Barton. Purely in terms of investment into the first team, left-wing would be a position i'd look at first. Why? Cos we've got £35m to really, really push on. The triumverate of Barton-Nolan-Tiote is set, but Jonas blows hot and cold. I love him but he's frustrating because his final ball, eight times out of ten is poor. Although he's one of the biggest workers in the side, and he's generally imperative to the way we play cos of his pace, if we're seriously thinking about pushing on for Europe i think he's the weakest link in the midfield. If what we saw in injury time today was a frequent thing, it'd be a different matter, but that was a rarity. CB, LW, ST would be my three main priorities to seriously bolster the first team. Those are our prospective Bellamy+Robert signings imo (if you know what i mean). With our squad fully fit, there's stacks of potential. I wouldn't consider anyone expendable - we have to build on what we have and progress. Seeing Jonas on the bench every week would A, be a brilliant option and B, mean we've improved (what's currently an okay) midfield. And re: Barton being in the middle. It's just a ridiculous, ridiculous thought. If we put him back there we'll have moved a step backwards. I honestly can't believe how anyone can want him in there. Condescending as hell, hold my hands up, but i fear you don't get the way we play if you don't think his best position is on the right. Where did I say I wanted Barton to be moved from the right? All I did was question why the LW position would be somewhere you'd look at first. More than happy with Jonas there personally, don't think he's been given enough credit for a lot of his performances this season. I'd also say that we need a striker or two before we even think about any other positon. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
AyeDubbleYoo Posted April 2, 2011 Share Posted April 2, 2011 I'm still waiting to see Ben Arfa back on the pitch before deciding on him. Such a long injury lay-off could have taken some pace away and could make him a much weaker player. There's still the risk, but even if he has lost some pace (Which I do expect), his general technique play should not have got any worse. I don't think he'll necessarily have lost any pace, if it was purely a bone injury. I don't know the details like, but other than fitness-wise he might not have lost any pace. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yorkie Posted April 2, 2011 Share Posted April 2, 2011 Good. Best players in their best positions. I'd be in the market for a left-winger though, definitely. With Jonas and Ferguson on the books? Wouldn't a right winger be a higher priority? Nope. We've got Barton. Purely in terms of investment into the first team, left-wing would be a position i'd look at first. Why? Cos we've got £35m to really, really push on. The triumverate of Barton-Nolan-Tiote is set, but Jonas blows hot and cold. I love him but he's frustrating because his final ball, eight times out of ten is poor. Although he's one of the biggest workers in the side, and he's generally imperative to the way we play cos of his pace, if we're seriously thinking about pushing on for Europe i think he's the weakest link in the midfield. If what we saw in injury time today was a frequent thing, it'd be a different matter, but that was a rarity. CB, LW, ST would be my three main priorities to seriously bolster the first team. Those are our prospective Bellamy+Robert signings imo (if you know what i mean). With our squad fully fit, there's stacks of potential. I wouldn't consider anyone expendable - we have to build on what we have and progress. Seeing Jonas on the bench every week would A, be a brilliant option and B, mean we've improved (what's currently an okay) midfield. And re: Barton being in the middle. It's just a ridiculous, ridiculous thought. If we put him back there we'll have moved a step backwards. I honestly can't believe how anyone can want him in there. Condescending as hell, hold my hands up, but i fear you don't get the way we play if you don't think his best position is on the right. Where did I say I wanted Barton to be moved from the right? All I did was question why the LW position would be somewhere you'd look at first. More than happy with Jonas there personally, don't think he's been given enough credit for a lot of his performances this season. I'd also say that we need a striker or two before we even think about any other positon. Aye, the Barton bit wasn't directed at you mate. Re: Jonas. I just think now is a fantastic opportunity to balance out the quality we get from Barton on the right. Jonas contributes hugely to our ply but still could be so much more. Just my opinion. Probably agree to disagree. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
henke Posted April 2, 2011 Share Posted April 2, 2011 I'm still waiting to see Ben Arfa back on the pitch before deciding on him. Such a long injury lay-off could have taken some pace away and could make him a much weaker player. There's still the risk, but even if he has lost some pace (Which I do expect), his general technique play should not have got any worse. I don't think he'll necessarily have lost any pace, if it was purely a bone injury. I don't know the details like, but other than fitness-wise he might not have lost any pace. Shouldn't affect his pace at all. The only area a clean break is likely to have a long lasting effect is mentally, and to be honest hatem doesn't seem the sort of person to have his confidnce knocked easily. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest BlacknWhiteArmy Posted April 2, 2011 Share Posted April 2, 2011 Totally different though. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Disco Posted April 2, 2011 Share Posted April 2, 2011 Is he back in at training on the 4th or back in the country? Get Skirge down the airport if the latter? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Teasy Posted April 3, 2011 Share Posted April 3, 2011 I'm still waiting to see Ben Arfa back on the pitch before deciding on him. Such a long injury lay-off could have taken some pace away and could make him a much weaker player. There's still the risk, but even if he has lost some pace (Which I do expect), his general technique play should not have got any worse. What are you basing that expectation on? I don't see any reason why he should lose any pace unless his injury was much more serious then anyone has said. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
NEEJ Posted April 3, 2011 Share Posted April 3, 2011 Seeing Valencia play yesterday makes me feel a lot more confident about HBA. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frazzle Posted April 3, 2011 Share Posted April 3, 2011 He is the sex god. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
womblemaster Posted April 3, 2011 Share Posted April 3, 2011 `RM - Barton, Jonas, R Taylor, Guthrie` we havent seen jonas on the right, so we dont know how he plays there. guthrie is awful on the right. he has no pace and keeps coming inside. Rtaylor should not be in a newcastle team ever. so tbh i think ur talking bollocks Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nordstrom Posted April 3, 2011 Share Posted April 3, 2011 `RM - Barton, Jonas, R Taylor, Guthrie` we havent seen jonas on the right, so we dont know how he plays there. guthrie is awful on the right. he has no pace and keeps coming inside. Rtaylor should not be in a newcastle team ever. so tbh i think ur talking bollocks Jonas played quite a number of games as RM/W during the relegation season. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Colos Curls Posted April 3, 2011 Share Posted April 3, 2011 And jonas drifts over to the right quite a bit in games, I'd say he would be 'reliable' enough to play there. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
womblemaster Posted April 3, 2011 Share Posted April 3, 2011 I cant recall jonas starting any games on the right. I admit that quite a few games last season i was only listening on radio, and they always mentioned his link up play down the left with jose. I saw him drift over in 2nd half yeasterday once. first time i can say ive seen himon right since the world cup. Is he actually right footed ?? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
David28 Posted April 3, 2011 Share Posted April 3, 2011 I cant recall jonas starting any games on the right. I admit that quite a few games last season i was only listening on radio, and they always mentioned his link up play down the left with jose. I saw him drift over in 2nd half yeasterday once. first time i can say ive seen himon right since the world cup. Is he actually right footed ?? Jonas started on the right at the start of the 08/09 season sometimes with Duff on the left. Last season there were a few games in which he changed position with Routledge during the match. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Optimistic Nut Posted April 3, 2011 Share Posted April 3, 2011 There's going to be an interview with him live on Canal Plus at 7.25 French time this evening. Hopefully there'll be quotes from it online soon afterwards! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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