The Parker, Butt & Dyer Triumvirate

[Guest Knightrider]

The three last night not only played well as individuals, but as a unit, they were excellent defensively and attacking wise. I think in Europe against the level of opposition like AZ, we should keep the same midfield three, with Butt sitting protecting, Parker snapping away further up and Dyer the outlet. Without Dyer this way won't work so he's the most important player in that threesome, so that would mean Sibbers or another forward has to play up top with Martins. Dyer has the legs to cover the up and down aspect, the right channel, while Parker has the tackling ability and the pressing skills, and Butt the experience and know-how to mop up. Our entire play sprung from those three last night, or rather our whole game plan and AZ couldn't cope.

 

With Emre back now, it would be tempting to partner him with either of Butt or Parker, but he doesn't have the strength of Parker in midfield for me or the discipline and for all the "he's a creative player" talk, is he? He is guilty of wasting cheap possession and overrunning the ball as anyone, and he does just as many turns as Parker does. In his favour, he provides good balance to the left, but weighing up the pros and cons, I'd stick with the three that did so well last night.

 

Of course those three won't work in the Premiership as there aren't many sides with the technical ability of AZ and the passing and movement they produce, but in Europe against the AZs of this world, they are my choice as they compliment each other so well 

[Northern Monkey]

i'd stick to Dyer/Butt/Parker

[jackyboy]

Dyers best position is not wide on the right as we all know but he was 10 times more effective than Milner in that position

[Guest Knightrider]

Dyers best position is not wide on the right as we all know but he was 10 times more effective than Milner in that position

 

To my mind he didn't exactly play wide right last night, he was more tucked in and drifted, like in SBR days, which allowed Solano to push up and play almost as the winger.

[Cronky]

If we're playing 4-4-2, I don't think Butt and Parker are our best combination in the centre. Parker as an attacking midfielder just isn't good enough in possession. They could maybe be accommodated in a 4-3-3 / 4-5-1.

[Rich]

Dyers best position is not wide on the right as we all know but he was 10 times more effective than Milner in that position

 

To my mind he didn't exactly play wide right last night, he was more tucked in and drifted, like in SBR days, which allowed Solano to push up and play almost as the winger.

 

Agreed. I've long been a fan of Dyer in that position and I thought he had his best game for a while for us playing there. His lack of crossing ability/confidence to make a pass doesn't help him, but his interplay with Solano was excellent and he caused De Cler loads of problems on the night. Fair play to Roeder for his team selection last night because despite my doubts pre-match the front six all did their jobs incredibly well and Solano, in particular, was magical supporting them from the back. If we can get Babayaro back to help Duff out on the left, then with a more balanced attacking threat we can be a match for anyone left in the UEFA Cup.

 

When Duff was involved he looked very, very good. I think we need Emre back involved, though, to free him up a lot more from the centre. Time and time again Duff was ignored on the left-flank as all our play came down the right, and when Duff did get it he looked extremely threatening on a number of brief occasions in the first half.

[Guest Kenton Magpie]

Why change a winning team!?

[Syrette]

i'd stick to Dyer/Butt/Parker

 

Changed your tune a bit.

[Guest Knightrider]

Dyers best position is not wide on the right as we all know but he was 10 times more effective than Milner in that position

 

To my mind he didn't exactly play wide right last night, he was more tucked in and drifted, like in SBR days, which allowed Solano to push up and play almost as the winger.

 

Agreed. I've long been a fan of Dyer in that position and I thought he had his best game for a while for us playing there. His lack of crossing ability/confidence to make a pass doesn't help him, but his interplay with Solano was excellent and he caused De Cler loads of problems on the night. Fair play to Roeder for his team selection last night because despite my doubts pre-match the front six all did their jobs incredibly well and Solano, in particular, was magical supporting them from the back. If we can get Babayaro back to help Duff out on the left, then with a more balanced attacking threat we can be a match for anyone left in the UEFA Cup.

 

When Duff was involved he looked very, very good. I think we need Emre back involved, though, to free him up a lot more from the centre. Time and time again Duff was ignored on the left-flank as all our play came down the right, and when Duff did get it he looked extremely threatening on a number of brief occasions in the first half.

 

Aye, Emre would certainly help Duff and our left-hand side to some degree, but playing him brings with it more problems than solutions in my opinion. As an individual Emre is a talented player but he's one of those players in order to be truly effective, needs to be at the hub of everything, for a team to be built around him.

 

At Newcastle he overruns the ball, comes far too deep to collect the ball which creates a hole in midfield and drags the midfield back in with him which isolates the attack and he can be a liability in terms of dissent and possession. People complain about Parker slowing things down with his turns but they forget Emre does exactly the same. He's also not very disciplined. (Yes he drives forward and that seems like he's quickening up play but this is often done with the head down and again, results in overruning the ball) Having a left-footed LB in the team will equalise the left-hand side issue and help Duff more than Emre would, in my eyes.

 

Anyway, isn't it good just to be able to talk about these things, for once we have options in midfield.

[80]

Generally speaking, I'm a supporter of Emre's (in the context of our central-midfield squad) as I feel his presence can be the difference between us breaking down a defence and hitting our head against two brick walls on the wings. That said (and bearing in mind I wasn't at last night's match and had to make do with the telly), I thought what Parker can do well did us good last night. AZ were physically intimidated, bullied, by us over most of the pitch, and Parker's tackling and harrying appeared to play a part in that. I generally think Parker lacks the wit and overall brains to make good use of his tackling, getting drawn all over the pitch by a confident display of slick-passing by an intelligent continental team, but I think he may have a role against some of the physically (and perhaps mentally) weaker opponents we may come up against.

 

Regarding Emre, he may not be perfect, but I think he's the best we've got just now at doing something critical to our wider success. Thinking of talk about him helping our left wing, though, the best thing we can do on that front is to get ourselves a good attacking Left-Back. Unlike many people, I miss Babayaro when he's not around. Not because I especially like him as a player, but because he's vaguely useful at feeding, supporting and providing a passing option to Emre and our Left-Winger. As you can imagine, though, I'd rather get some of genuine quality this Summer.

[Guest Knightrider]

Aye I can agree with that 80, I'd prefer us to buy a good attacking LB too and think that would solve a lot of issues down that flank.