You're absolutely right. I think of Alan Smith being our champion of that for us. BUT, and I've mentioned this before, it's more about in the head, rather than the legs. This has been obvious with both Vieira & Philips imo, and I think the simple reason for it is that Smiffy, and probably Sessegnon et al have exceptional mental fortitude. So the 'good enough' mantra still applies - as long as you're good enough upstairs! Too. If we play youngsters, we need to know the right point to stop playing them, before we break them. We've clearly failed Philips & Vieira in this respect - either that or for some reason we felt obliged to play them, in the full knowledge of the damage we'd do.
How so Phiilips WJ ? I'm aware that Vieira has had some ongoing tendinitis in his knee and it seriously affected him during the last season. Hopefully he can now get a good months rest and come back firing on all cylinders for next season. That's if we can manage to hold onto him as I expect some serious offers from the PL as he has massive potential. Has Phillips had similar niggles etc that I might have missed ?
Nah mate, Vieira had tendinitis of the brain after his winning penalty at the Toulon Trophy or whatever the feck it’s called. Kalvin is just cool and underrated by those who only want a successful footie team. Something about that boy that makes it ok to be average.
Remember reading Phillips had cut out chocolate cake after TC persuaded him it would help him improve as a player. Perhaps if he shaved the pineapple off is head he might be a yard quicker as well.
Yip. Basically, he mentally zoned out in the second half of the season. Was half a yard out mentally, and only seemed to recover a bit towards the end. It was classic overplayed kid, with the more unusual twist that he managed to pull out of the rut towards the end. If this had been noticed in time, he could have been rotated out for a spell. He actually was rotated out - but it was too late by that time. I've always been a fan of his, btw. Not criticising for the sake of it. IMO.
Yes I remember you're a fan of his, was it a young Souness you likened him to ? I do think he's at a crossroads in his career and perhaps needs to completely dedicate himself to the life of a professional footballer. In my opinion he's behind Vieira in his mobility so being leaner and meaner is imperative if wants to make it to the top.
