you'd be wrong about 90% of fans thinking parker is that good but thats another story.... if thats your reply fine. as for stoke... let me be the first to offer rational dispute to the point that is being made in a wummy way.... stoke have this season and last not displayed very much away form. as a result though thier home form is mighty but they will not finish 4th. you need 70 points to be sure of 4th so taking say a 13-3-3 record at home thats 42 points leaving another 28 points from the road... or 9 wins and a draw.... if you see stoke winning 9 on the road given what they've done so far.... for the record they have a home record of 1-2-0 and an away record of 1-1-2... so by any stretch someone wumming by shouting stoke can be rightly considered as being at best tongue in cheek.
This is my take on Lucas...He plays in a position where he has to make a lot of challenges and has learnt to stay on his feet and sometimes just nick a ball from a player which he now does very successfully. A lot of the work he does goes unseen by a lot of fans as it's just breaking up play and giving a simple ball. The improvements he has made over the last season is that he now commits fouls on purpose but in the right area i.e not around the edge of the box but further out so that a direct strike on goal is not possible. Intentional fouling in this position is part of the game if you want to be successfull (see Makalele). Occasionally a player will get past him as he is exposed to attacking midfielders and spends a lot of time with a player running directly at him so it is difficult to get it right every time. Also take a look at his passing he now starts attacking moves with very effective passes they may not be hollywood but they are effective an assist to an assist if you like. Consider this next time you watch him play welshred and you may change your opinion.
I wasn't calling "everyone who doesnt agree with you a wum" a wum. I was calling your intervention on this thread as pointless wummery
I think I posted the humble opinion on a thread recently that we (wrongly IMHO) wrote off Parker as a potential LFC player and couldn't really see why, given his work rate, his commitment AND his skill (wherever he ends up playing) we didn't think he was potentially a valuable asset - and I don't just mean at the ridiculous £5m fee that he went to Spurs. Recall I got shouted down at the time and yet every time I see him play (last time versus Liverpool) I still feel as though he would have done a brilliant job in our colours. Why Bellamy and not him? (as a principle) BTW, I think Lucas is a diamond... GKRK.
That's what happens at every top club though, and even clubs like Spurs. Its why the likes of Bolton, Sunderland etc started last season strongly but faded off towards the end, because they don't have the depth to go on for 38 games.
Why are you dismissing stoke. They beat you, are clearly on the up and have a decent squad. An outside bet at the very least while the rest muck about worrying about each other.
Even clubs like Spurs? No offence, but I'd suggest that we have more squad depth than you do. If you pick as side from players that didn't start against Arsenal, then you end up with something like this: Cudicini; Corluka, Gallas, Dawson, Rose; Sandro, Huddlestone; Lennon, Kranjcar, Dos Santos; Pavlyuchenko. Gomes, Bassong, Pienaar, Livermore and some promising youngsters don't even make it into the second XI.
Correction, on the balance of play we failed to win rather than they beat us. Whereas they did deserve to draw with you and could have beaten you. However, as has been pointed out above, Stoke have a poor away record (take Sunderland as an example) and on that basis alone I do not take a top 4 finish from them seriously. Having said that, they are an improved side and I can see them finishing in the top 7 and having a good run in Europe.
Your away form isnt brilliant either and we won the league with a questionable away record. Personally away records are overrated at the minute.
If you asked Tony Pullis today if he was targetting the top 4 I reckon he'd just laugh at you. Of course if it came about he'd be a very very happy man but I seriously doubt it figures in his targets for the season
I do think his passing has improved immensely from when he first broke in the side. he rarely gives the ball away and doesn't always play a sideways pass like he did. No problem with his passing at all.
Re:Lucas He's one the main reason why I believe we're going to collect 3 points on October 15th. For some reason he just loves bullying Man Uniteds central midfielders and he does it with ease. I still believe if Kenny gets his tactics right and packs the central midfield, then they have no chance of getting even a point.
Spurs have the best team, but Liverpool have the advantages of no Europa League and a bigger transfer budget in January. Arsenal can still challenge. It's likely to come down to a few games at the end of the season. As long as Gerrard stays healthy and keeps Adam on the bench, Liverpool's midfield looks good, and while I still think Carroll is a square peg in a round hole, Suarez is outstanding. The problem with Liverpool is their defending, which looks distinctly average.
LIVERPOOL are conceding goals and not scoring enough goals.At present Newcastle United conceded least goals=4 in total.#Unusual of Newcastle. Manchester United 3+2=5 Manchester City 0+5=5# No goal conceded at home Chelsea 3+5=8 Newcastke Utd 2+2=4 Liverpool 2+5=7 Tottenham 6+4=10 Aston Villa 6+3 =9 Stoke City 1+7 =8#Only Manchester United scored there. If Liverpool are scoring more than they are conceding it would be better.
I think Lucas is a very good member of the squad, however I would prefer we had someone else to compete for that position. Also, I believe Lucas breaks the mould for DM because he's not as physically imposing as his counterparts like Vieira, Mascherano, Makelele etc. I think this is the major reason as to why people still doubt his ability but he ultimately achieves the same level of success. Personally, we need a commanding midfielder who wants the ball and will make things happen ala Alonso. I don't want Lucas to be playing long balls etc, I want him to nick the ball and pass to the man beside who will start the attack. I was hoping Adam would do this but he has struggled.
