Demba Ba (now retired)

[Ikon]

Scapegoat? Not from my pov.

[Ronaldo]

Scapegoat despite being one of our better performers.

 

 

 

He deserves a lot of credit for scoring 8 goals in that side, but he's hurting us with his first touch lately. That and his recurring problem - being totally and utterly fucked after 65 minutes.

[The College Dropout]

He's the only player scoring and people want him out wide. Insane.

[Hanshithispantz]

He's the only player scoring and people want him out wide. Insane.

Not at all.

[Ronaldo]

You can actually make both arguments with that fact. We were a far bigger threat when he wasn't scoring.

[Ikon]

He's the only player scoring and people want him out wide. Insane.

 

No it's not, as we probably would score more goals as a team, im very confident that Cissé would find form again played the right way. (at least while everyone's fit)

[Rich]

You can actually make both arguments with that fact. We were a far bigger threat when he wasn't scoring.

 

He was still getting chances too, which still boggles my mind as people seem to totally gloss over that fact. He was just missing them.

 

Obviously he was having to work harder and run a fair bit more in terms of tracking back but there were also plenty of occasions where he swapped with Cisse for prolonged periods and it was Cisse doing the donkey work.

[Super Duper Branko Strupar]

Scapegoat despite being one of our better performers.

 

 

 

He deserves a lot of credit for scoring 8 goals in that side, but he's hurting us with his first touch lately. That and his recurring problem - being totally and utterly f***ed after 65 minutes.

 

We heard you the first time.

[KaKa]

The funny thing is he always played out on the left at Hoffenheim, so I don't know why he's been so fussy about it.

 

He probably didn't have to track back as much for them though, as someone alluded to already. Probably doesn't fancy all the extra running involved.

 

Really annoying situation though.

[Ikon]

The funny thing is he always played out on the left at Hoffenheim, so I don't know why he's been so fussy about it.

 

He probably didn't have to track back as much for them though, as someone alluded to already. Probably doesn't fancy all the extra running involved.

 

Really annoying situation though.

 

Probably loved being the main man scoring goals for fun, wasn't the same while there, can't blame him. Should be enough of a professional and team player to accept what's best for the team though.

[Kanj]

You can actually make both arguments with that fact. We were a far bigger threat when he wasn't scoring.

 

He was still getting chances too, which still boggles my mind as people seem to totally gloss over that fact. He was just missing them.

 

Obviously he was having to work harder and run a fair bit more in terms of tracking back but there were also plenty of occasions where he swapped with Cisse for prolonged periods and it was Cisse doing the donkey work.

 

He was miss kicking, snatching at shots, hitting the bar a few times or getting tripped in box before he was going to tee up etc. had he scored those hed be perfectly fine in the role. But he seems to think it was the role vs his own inability to score / get a break.

[The College Dropout]

You can actually make both arguments with that fact. We were a far bigger threat when he wasn't scoring.

 

When we where winning? When we kept clean sheets? Steven Taylor didn't play during our best period, is Williamson better than him too?

 

Playing alongside Cisse doesn't suit Ba much either but he's still managed to score goals. If any should be dropped or moved wide it should be Cisse.

 

I haven't seen ANYTHING from Cisse this season that suggests he should play up top by himself. We where 4-4-2 several times at the end of last season when he was on fire. Including the debut goal and the Chelsea match.

[AyeDubbleYoo]

Can't see any decent arguments against keeping Cisse central at all times TBH. Ba is a good player, but Cisse is absolutely lethal.

[Hanshithispantz]

You can actually make both arguments with that fact. We were a far bigger threat when he wasn't scoring.

 

When we where winning? When we kept clean sheets? Steven Taylor didn't play during our best period, is Williamson better than him too?

 

Playing alongside Cisse doesn't suit Ba much either but he's still managed to score goals. If any should be dropped or moved wide it should be Cisse.

 

I haven't seen ANYTHING from Cisse this season that suggests he should play up top by himself. We where 4-4-2 several times at the end of last season when he was on fire. Including the debut goal and the Chelsea match.

Cisse hasn't shown anything to suggest he can play wide, playing him there would be strange.

 

Other than Ben Arfa, who will be on the other wing, Ba is the only competent player on our books who can play as a wide forward.

[Jack Flash]

Ba is only behind Suarez and Van Persie in the top goal scorer chart. That's a big enough reason for him staying where he is.

[Mole_Toonfan]

Cisse is awful out wide the fact we are even discussing it is ridiculous

 

If Cisse is going to be deployed out wide you might as well not play him at all, complete waste of a footballer and a great footballer at that.

[Hanshithispantz]

Ba is only behind Suarez and Van Persie in the top goal scorer chart. That's a big enough reason for him staying where he is.

If we didn't need to drastically shake things up this would go without saying.

[AyeDubbleYoo]

Cisse is awful out wide the fact we are even discussing it is ridiculous

 

If Cisse is going to be deployed out wide you might as well not play him at all, complete waste of a footballer and a great footballer at that.

 

Exactly.

 

It also doesn't really matter how many goals Ba has scored, it's impossible to compare that against how many he might have scored on the left, or how many the team would have got with a better setup in general.

[Dinho lad]

Get more aggressive, Demba for fuck sake.

[Jack Flash]

It also doesn't really matter how many goals Ba has scored, it's impossible to compare that against how many he might have scored on the left, or how many the team would have got with a better setup in general.

 

It matters more than the goals other people might have scored

 

What if we'd had Ba on the wing again all season and Cisse still wasn't pulling his weight? "What if's" don't matter.

[The College Dropout]

You can actually make both arguments with that fact. We were a far bigger threat when he wasn't scoring.

 

When we where winning? When we kept clean sheets? Steven Taylor didn't play during our best period, is Williamson better than him too?

 

Playing alongside Cisse doesn't suit Ba much either but he's still managed to score goals. If any should be dropped or moved wide it should be Cisse.

 

I haven't seen ANYTHING from Cisse this season that suggests he should play up top by himself. We where 4-4-2 several times at the end of last season when he was on fire. Including the debut goal and the Chelsea match.

Cisse hasn't shown anything to suggest he can play wide, playing him there would be strange.

 

Other than Ben Arfa, who will be on the other wing, Ba is the only competent player on our books who can play as a wide forward.

 

Aye, Cisse should be on the bench. His performances have been poor.

[Legacy]

It doesn't matter how many goals he's scored or not if we keep drawing/loosing. We need to play him where it's best for the team to keep shape and get results, even if it means sacrificing his goals for that reason. Generally the team looked better and played better with BA on the left. Of course that means Cisse would need to score more, but playing him on the wing is a waste of his talent. At least BA has some experience of playing as a wing forward for both us and in germany.

[The College Dropout]

It's not like we have been creating bucket loads of chances for Ba. The 4-4-2 the way we play it has both of them in prime positions to score. Only 1 does it regularly and it's Ba.

 

Cisse hasn't done anything this season to suggest he should be starting.

[Mole_Toonfan]

Of course we haven't seen anything from Cisse

 

He's a finisher who relies on service but instead we hoof to him expecting to him be Drogba 2.0 or play him on the wing

 

As a said before players can only perform as much as the system and style of play will allow them to.

 

Case in point: Messi best player in the world under Barca's system.... goes to World Cup under Maradona's awful tactics and looks average by comparison.

[The College Dropout]

It doesn't matter how many goals he's scored or not if we keep drawing/loosing. We need to play him where it's best for the team to keep shape and get results, even if it means sacrificing his goals for that reason. Generally the team looked better and played better with BA on the left. Of course that means Cisse would need to score more, but playing him on the wing is a waste of his talent. At least BA has some experience of playing as a wing forward for both us and in germany.

 

the problem is Cisse HAS been playing up front. Not by himself but he's been up front and has not been scoring. He was scoring in a 4-4-2 last season. Ba should stay in the middle and someone else should go wide.

 

Cisse's general play won't improve, neither will his finishing if we play him central of a 3. If you play a 4-3-3 and the middle striker is not scoring, most likely you'll have poor results. We can't carry that with Cisse.