Yorkie Posted September 27, 2012 Share Posted September 27, 2012 We've won a lot of games without Ben Arfa too like We've been almost completely dependant on him so far this season; if he's not scoring then he's providing assists. Right now, with the sketchy form of Cisse and Cabaye and Ba being desperately, desperately unhappy at the club - he's our most important player. Didn't disagree with the point at all, but the "won games without" line was proper bollocks. He's become the main man here, as many expected he would. How was it? The point i was making was i don't think we'd have won as many points without Ben Arfa (in the context of this season); as there's no one who can come in and do what he does. Colo and Tiote, whilst extremely important for us to play our best football, are more 'replaceable'. I'm not saying Williamson is anywhere near as good as Colo, by the by. It doesn't really matter anyway. They're all essential players if we're actually fighting for 4th place. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rich Posted September 27, 2012 Share Posted September 27, 2012 Aye, it doesn't matter like. I'm sorry for not seeing that point in what you posted initially. Ben Arfa > Coloccini > Tiote for me, at the moment at least. Feels mental to be discounting Ba and Cisse though Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yorkie Posted September 27, 2012 Share Posted September 27, 2012 Ba and Cisse are both wonderful strikers at their best, but i honestly think i could bag a couple playing in a side with Ben Arfa. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ketsbaia Posted September 27, 2012 Share Posted September 27, 2012 We've got such a good team Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mole_Toonfan Posted September 27, 2012 Share Posted September 27, 2012 And why can´t you be a great team with Titoé? He is good with the ball too. I never said you can't i was just saying the top teams don't usually use destroyer's implies that players like Tiote are not as necessary for them. It's Tiote btw Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Optimistic Nut Posted September 27, 2012 Share Posted September 27, 2012 We've won a lot of games without Ben Arfa too like We've been almost completely dependant on him so far this season; if he's not scoring then he's providing assists. Right now, with the sketchy form of Cisse and Cabaye and Ba being desperately, desperately unhappy at the club - he's our most important player. I have no doubt over the course of the season there'll be spells where not everything's coming off for HBA and we're relying on a few successive clean sheets from Krul, or Cabaye passing the ball around for fun, or where Cisse goes on one of his scoring streaks to get us through too. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mick Posted September 27, 2012 Share Posted September 27, 2012 Ba and Cisse are both wonderful strikers at their best, but i honestly think i could bag a couple playing in a side with Ben Arfa. I've seen you play football and you honestly wouldn't bag any playing in that side. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
NEEJ Posted September 27, 2012 Share Posted September 27, 2012 Ba and Cisse are both wonderful strikers at their best, but i honestly think i could bag a couple playing in a side with Ben Arfa. I've seen you play football and you honestly wouldn't bag any playing in that side. Burn. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yorkie Posted September 27, 2012 Share Posted September 27, 2012 Aye, ain't gonna argue with that. I'm abysmal at football. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
TRC Posted September 28, 2012 Share Posted September 28, 2012 Tiote is a monster, would like him to stop playing "hollywood" balls though. Although I understand why he does it. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
The College Dropout Posted September 28, 2012 Share Posted September 28, 2012 That's the biggest weakness of the top teams outside of City and arguably Arsenal. In the middle, they look like they can be outrun, out fought & out strengthened. We already know Carrick/Giggs can be dominated. Athletico ran rings around Lampard/Mikel. Teams are generally too scared to try though. Everton & Liverpool weren't and both should've won. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beren Posted September 28, 2012 Share Posted September 28, 2012 That's the biggest weakness of the top teams outside of City and arguably Arsenal. In the middle, they look like they can be outrun, out fought & out strengthened. We already know Carrick/Giggs can be dominated. Athletico ran rings around Lampard/Mikel. Teams are generally too scared to try though. Everton & Liverpool weren't and both should've won. Top post. Even Man Citeh without Kompany/Yaya. They're like Cadbury caramels... soft in the centre. Ohhh yeah. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tiotes Witch Doctor Posted September 29, 2012 Share Posted September 29, 2012 Big cocks is the answer. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Varadi Posted October 5, 2012 Share Posted October 5, 2012 Good to see him back to something like his dominant best, will be very important he's on form against Man Utd - him and Cabaye dominating the centre won us the game last year. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
aussiemag Posted October 5, 2012 Share Posted October 5, 2012 Good to see him back to something like his dominant best, will be very important he's on form against Man Utd - him and Cabaye dominating the centre won us the game last year. He was good, think he just needs to lay the ball off a bit quicker. But that will come with match sharpness. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jack Flash Posted October 5, 2012 Share Posted October 5, 2012 He was critically injured yet again last night only to resume play within a few minutes. Bigi was even getting ready to come on. Why does he need to limp off the pitch in nearly every game? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
The College Dropout Posted October 5, 2012 Share Posted October 5, 2012 He was critically injured yet again last night only to resume play within a few minutes. Bigi was even getting ready to come on. Why does he need to limp off the pitch in nearly every game? His game is very physical. It's not surprise he picks up a lot of niggles. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
durhamunigeordie Posted October 5, 2012 Share Posted October 5, 2012 Yea but it's the way he goes down. Can almost guarantee that at least once again he will go down seemingly in agony, only to run it off within a minute or two. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest hydeous Posted October 5, 2012 Share Posted October 5, 2012 Wasn't all that impressed with him in the first half. Misplaced passes, losing possession. He's better than that. Really hope he gets back to his dominating best. Given that he always ups his game vs the big teams, I think he will break the man united midfield. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dr Venkman Posted October 5, 2012 Share Posted October 5, 2012 Needs to stop that nonchalant flick with the outside of his boot straight to the opposition, moronic. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beren Posted October 5, 2012 Share Posted October 5, 2012 Aye thought his performance yesterday was really good. The silly mistakes, misplaced passes and foibles people will obviously fixate upon were, for me, vastly outweighed by the control he brought to the team. The difference with him in the middle is astounding. He is a virtuoso at engineering the ball out of a congested zone. Occasionally, he'll overplay it, but more often than not he will do it with enough conviction and authority that when he receives the ball - the opposition team will begin retreating, ready to begin defending their half of the pitch. This obviously reduces the pressue on our back line to boot it long and allows us to build from the back. It's something which can't be overestimated. Teams rightfully fear him.* * - (except Neil) Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Minhosa Posted October 5, 2012 Share Posted October 5, 2012 Aye thought his performance yesterday was really good. The silly mistakes, misplaced passes and foibles people will obviously fixate upon were, for me, vastly outweighed by the control he brought to the team. The difference with him in the middle is astounding. He is a virtuoso at engineering the ball out of a congested zone. Occasionally, he'll overplay it, but more often than not he will do it with enough conviction and authority that when he receives the ball - the opposition team will begin retreating, ready to begin defending their half of the pitch. This obviously reduces the pressue on our back line to boot it long and allows us to build from the back. It's something which can't be overestimated. Teams rightfully fear him.* * - (except Neil) Good post and agree. All we need is for him to stay fit for a while and he'll be back to his best. There's a huge difference to our play when he's in the team. Whereas as a HBA can hit the ground running, Tiote strikes me as the kind of guy that needs to play himself back to full fitness. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
TBG Posted October 5, 2012 Share Posted October 5, 2012 He was critically injured yet again last night only to resume play within a few minutes. Bigi was even getting ready to come on. Why does he need to limp off the pitch in nearly every game? To lure the opposition players into a false sense of security. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Varadi Posted October 5, 2012 Share Posted October 5, 2012 The difference with him in the middle is astounding. He is a virtuoso at engineering the ball out of a congested zone. Occasionally, he'll overplay it, but more often than not he will do it with enough conviction and authority that when he receives the ball - the opposition team will begin retreating, ready to begin defending their half of the pitch. This obviously reduces the pressue on our back line to boot it long and allows us to build from the back. It's something which can't be overestimated. Teams rightfully fear him.* * - (except Neil) Absolutely - his very presence transforms the centre of our midfield - there were a couple of occasions last night where you could tell the opposition midfielders just didn't want to go near him, he must be an absolute nightmare to play against. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mole_Toonfan Posted October 5, 2012 Share Posted October 5, 2012 I didn't think he was that good last night tbh, but him just being there makes a huge difference to how we play and gives great balance to the whole team. Thought with the signings of Bigi and Anita in the summer we could rest him in certain games and not really see a difference but it's clear they are totally different players and quite frankly more CM's than DM's. We have some nice options ahead of Tiote but quite frankly there's still no replacement for him and you notice it when he comes back. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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