Vurnon Anita (now playing for RKC Waalwijk)

[Gallowgate Toon]

I thought he played well tonight, tenacious, persistent and progressive with his passing.

[Fenham Mag]

Still not sure what he's supposed to be.

 

A P Diddy impersonator.

 

 

Nah, I get what you mean, he doesn't really have a 'thing'.

[Dave]

He's okay. Doesn't get a start when any number of others are fit.

[Yorkie]

Still not sure what he's supposed to be.

 

Neither does the manager, which is his (and several others', past and present) biggest problem atm.

[Flip]

Still not sure what he's supposed to be.

 

This. Such a weird player. Not very good in any position but isn't very bad either. Think he might be some sort of Aaron Hughes in midfield for us. A player to use, but quality wise he hasn't proven his price tag, although his versatility has.

[Lotus]

He's pretty good picking it up from the CBs and getting it going. He's not all that useful without the ball though, and as we're not a possession based side i can see how it's a struggle to get the best out of him.

[Ashley17]

Where does he fit in? There's a good player in there but he just doesn't seem to belong in our team when he plays.

 

Is he a defensive midfielder? No, not big enough.

Is he creative? Not really.

Box to box? Can't see it.

Winger? Not in 4231, probably not in 4-4-2 let's be honest.

 

Only way I can see him working is in a 3 man midfield with a proper bodyguard in there and Cabaye creating - basically doing the leg work, fetching and carrying. Basically in the formation we finished last season with, put him alongside Tiote and play Cabaye further forward - but that means Sissoko wide or not involved, so an unnecessary involvement really.

[Ronaldo]

Still baffles me that he was signed for that amount when we've got one quality winger in the entire squad.

[Cajun]

Would probably see the best of him next to a Tiote and behind Cabaye/Sissoko.

 

He doesn't have the physicality to be a ball winner but has decent enough pace/movement/technique to drop deep, pick up the ball and move it on to the more creative players.

[Lotus]

Would probably see the best of him next to a Tiote and behind Cabaye/Sissoko.

 

He doesn't have the physicality to be a ball winner but has decent enough pace/movement/technique to drop deep, pick up the ball and move it on to the more creative players.

 

Doesn't that almost seem a waste of a position though? Tiote wins, passes it to Anita who passes it to Cabaye. I'd kind of think about skipping the Anita bit there!

[Mole_Toonfan]

Still baffles me that he was signed for that amount when we've got one quality winger in the entire squad.

 

I do like him a lot but i do agree doesn't really fit the needs of the squad and what Pardew needs.

 

 

[Skeletor]

If I'm being honest he's starting to look like a waste of money. Don't get me wrong he's a talented player and he had a very clear role at Ajax where he looked good but I'm not sure that role translates well to the Premiership, much less a Pardew team. Like Ronaldo says that money could have been used to get another winger. I feel bad for him in a way. Think he may have made a bad career move.

[Lotus]

Right now he looks like he needs the sort of time on the ball that was afforded him at Ajax. Maybe next year he'll get to grips with the pace.

[Cajun]

Would probably see the best of him next to a Tiote and behind Cabaye/Sissoko.

 

He doesn't have the physicality to be a ball winner but has decent enough pace/movement/technique to drop deep, pick up the ball and move it on to the more creative players.

 

Doesn't that almost seem a waste of a position though? Tiote wins, passes it to Anita who passes it to Cabaye. I'd kind of think about skipping the Anita bit there!

 

Not with Tiote's passing this season

[Lotus]

Would probably see the best of him next to a Tiote and behind Cabaye/Sissoko.

 

He doesn't have the physicality to be a ball winner but has decent enough pace/movement/technique to drop deep, pick up the ball and move it on to the more creative players.

 

Doesn't that almost seem a waste of a position though? Tiote wins, passes it to Anita who passes it to Cabaye. I'd kind of think about skipping the Anita bit there!

 

Not with Tiote's passing this season

 

Aye, fair enough! He has been , er, erratic!

[Smal]

I actually thought he was pretty good tonight. Certainly a lot better than he has been in the past couple of months.

[Ronaldo]

If he was English he'd get a dog's abuse on here. Because he's from Ajax, has played for the national side and cost a few quid every tidy pass he makes gets a tick in the box. I really want to like him but he just never ever imposes himself on games and when he does see a lot of the ball he's Scott Parker-esque without the occasional beaut.

 

 

[LRD]

Still baffles me that he was signed for that amount when we've got one quality winger in the entire squad.

 

I do like him a lot but i do agree doesn't really fit the needs of the squad and what Pardew needs.

 

 

 

Versatility. Cover for Simpson at RB when the Debuchy deal failed and also as an option in central midfield when we only had Tiote and Cabaye.

[ohmelads]

If he was English he'd get a dog's abuse on here. Because he's from Ajax, has played for the national side and cost a few quid every tidy pass he makes gets a tick in the box. I really want to like him but he just never ever imposes himself on games and when he does see a lot of the ball he's Scott Parker-esque without the occasional beaut.

 

Agree with all of this. His signing never made sense and nearly a season has passed and we are still figuring out what to do with him. We were crying out for other positions to be filled and by the time they were our season was already over.

 

I reckon Anita must have come so highly recommended by the club's scouts that they made a special allowance that time and spent the money at the expense of the areas that really needed reinforcements. Perhaps they thought they were getting such a good player it was worth it. Had that money just been spent on someone we needed, such as Debuchy, or Sissoko, or Gouffran, they'd have walked into the first team back in August and plugged a major gap. Easy to say in hindsight, but many said it at the time.

 

You can see Anita has attributes such as a good touch, pace, workrate. It's obvious he will struggle in physical battles due to his size but he seems to lack ideas on the ball, as you said. We were told he'd be quite the opposite, a clever ball playing midfielder and a link man between defence and midfield. You sense we have seen nowhere near the best of him then, and I hope he will come good once he has a full season under his belt. As things stand, you struggle to see whose position he is going to challenge and he may end up becoming an expensive utility player. I hope he can show us more than he has and prove me wrong.

[mrmojorisin75]

We were told he'd be quite the opposite, a ball playing midfielder and a link man between defence and midfield.

 

in that period when everyone except him was shit he was playing much higher and his pace, movement and forward passing were key

 

not lost hope for him personally but like a few others needs to be deployed right or he's fucked

[Yorkie]

A little harsh to say the money should have been spent elsewhere - if Anita had been amongst a collection of signings, it would have made more sense. He's a decent squad player who did his best to carry us in Cabaye's absence. I would agree that none of us seem to know what he's best for, though. Manager included.

[Sima]

The jury is still massively out on him.

 

At least he's better than Gosling. But then again, he should be after costing £6.7m.

[Cronky]

He doesn't look strong enough for the DM role, not in the Premiership anyway, and he doesn't look skilful or quick enough to be a good attacking midfielder down the centre. He looks a useful utility player, but not much else.

[AyeDubbleYoo]

I think he did OK last night, he struggles for a role when Cabaye is also playing. I wouldn't play him as a DM in the Prem, but alongside Tiote he could be a CM who keeps the play moving.

 

It's annoying when he can't compete physically, but that's never going to change. I like the idea of finding a role for such a classy player.

[TherealnorthernTOON]

I've mentioned it earlier, he falls a little bit into nomansland in regard of position. Ajax were playing totally different to what we are with two deep laying midfielders. Retaining posession he is extremely good at. Can make difficult passes aswell as easy ones all day. But right now he is sharing space with the more known Cabaye and they are sharing a duty wich should be taken by one player. In my opinion Cabaye should play further up the pitch and draw sissoko a little bit further back so you've got Vurnon in behind them as an option alongside the centrebacks.

 

Cabaye is also alot better at those adventerous passes whilst Vurnon seems a little bit more reserved when it comes to try something, mostly because I think he's been coached in Ajax by needs of his position to NEVER LOOSE THE BALL. As he would be the last man before their backline. This would also free up Cabaye to do more of the sexy stuff we all know he can do. But the cost really is, we would have one less man back there right infront of the backline at times. And could be vulnerable on the counter.

 

A solution is offcourse to have a centreback to do the mopping up and vurnon covering, wich I think he is capable of. The lad is quite fast.