Definitely badges of honour, mate!! You take a look at their boards and see all the fake 'repping' going on. Infantile is possibly being unkind to infants.
I am loved by the Mousers and PESKIE. But probably the one who loves me the most is Ozzie (who is a Chav). He never tires of telling me and everyone else how much he appreciates and respects my opinions.
And sigurdsson. The fact that he nearly went in jan, had it not been for the fact that we didn't have time to find a replacement, says it all.
Well, we've got Ade back early. Not that he appears to have improved his form, at all, while he's been away.
Was just about to type exactly that before I saw you'd got there first. I think that Adebayor, should he be fit, is our striking option. THE END
I'm suprised how you guys went down to two strikers. This was never going to be enough for any side having top 4 asperations. Going back to the striker debate, it'll have to be Dempsey or Dembele. Both are strong and can hold the ball up pretty well. Bring Bale, Lennon and Holtby into attack. Your next two games will be at home so you should have enough firepower to keep you going.
Ade is coming back this week. I know some players come back from ACON and struggle but I can't see how he can be in worse form than he was when he left and who knows, maybe playing in the scorching heat will have upped his fitness that looked lacking for us having had no preseason and a series of injuries. Most clubs would struggle if they had to play their 3rd choice for a position that you only normally have one for though, if Gibbs and that new guy were out for you guys you'd have to play either Santos or Vermaelen(out of position) and it's the same at right back. Every team has that problem at full back so I don't see why there's quite so much fuss about our having 2 out and out strikers. Actually, thinking about it if you got 2 injuries at centre back who would play? Surely having 3 senior centre backs is as risky if not worse? Not picking on Arsenal, I think it's true of all clubs to a degree in some positions.
Piskie neg repping me twice to prove he wasn't getting wound up springs to mind. I wonder if Davidako and astroturfnaut put "neg repping" on their CVs as a valuable skill, since they're the ones particularly obsessed with doing it.
Yeah, he's done me as well. I suppose that if I was as childish as Peskie, and some of the same scousers you mentioned, I would respond. Frankly, I couldn't be bothered. Little things please, etc...
You can always mix and match your defense and get away with it. If one has a bad game, then you always have a couple players who can cover you. Strikers are a very specialist area that not anyone can do. If you have a bad game then there really is no hiding. Injuries are part and parcel of the game. CFs will be more prone to being tackled harshly as they'll be up against the two biggest defenders of the team at all times. All top teams should have at least 3 strikers. Just having Defoe while Ade was away was always going to be a big risk. Saying that, you should be fine for a couple more games. But you are in the business end of the season and can't afford for any slip ups whatsoever. The same goes for Arsenal, Chelsea or Everton....
How often do strikers actually get injured by tackles though? None of Ade's niggling injuries were even caused on the pitch whilst Defoe has now picked up two small injuries nothing to do with any challenges on the pitch. What you're saying sounds good but you've not based it on anything, it's just something you thought of that suits your opinion. It's really not a significant threat for our strikers getting injured by tackles, Wingers and midfielders are statistically fouled more often. The players that have been most fouled(per game) this season are Danny Rose(left back) Karagounis(attacking mid) and Wilshere(centre mid). Infact there are only 2 strikers in the top 20 most fouled players in the PL and the most tackles come from midfielders and fullbacks, who strikers seldom come up against. Ask Chelsea fans if moving their defenders around the back 4 has been good for them, sorry but it's just wrong to say that you're well covered in defence because defenders can play anywhere across the backline. Every role on the pitch is specialist.
Defoe didn't do much yesterday imo, just rolled his ankle. The fact is 30 yr old ankles don't take it aswell as a player in his early to mid twenties, I firmly believe through experience (when I played they were my weak point, I had 2 ****les not ankles!) a younger man would run that off.
I agree that the most fouled players will be those who take on players eg Wilshere. At Arsenal we have a number of players that can cover the back line, you also have this in Vertog at Spurs. Wenger has frequently put players in positions that are not native to them, and it's worked. Gibbs started off as a LM/Striker, but was converted to a LB. However, how often do you hear of a defender being converted into a striker? The most recent example of this is Feilani of Everton. That was more down to neccessity than anything else. Being a striker is something else. It's a natural, instinctive thing. Take Walcott for example, the guy was used as a winger, he wasn't very good, but as a striker he is top notch. There is a reason why Strikers are at a premium. As for Chelsea, they have a quality backline. Yes they are off form as a defensive unit, but it doesn't help when Abram gets involved and screws things up. Going back to Spurs, I don't think you will be in much trouble. You have enough to tie you over until your strikers are back.
In FIFA I used to just shove Walker up front when things got really desperate, until I signed some 6 foot 8 Austrian with 1,000,000 strength called Maierhoffer And in fairness, I'd love to see Walker in the furthest possible position away from right back. The man's become a liability. On topic: Thank God Ade is back, wonder if we'll play 2 up top with Kane, or stick to a Harryesque 4-4-1-1
