What chance of him making the next international squad? I'll be honest I was a little dubious about his abilities and saw him as no more than upgrade on the hapless Dan Gosling. Fair play to him he has proven that to be all wrong and been one of the signings of the PL so far this season (particularly as a free transfer). Sunderland dropped the ball massively on him and it is easy to see why monkey man was so sorry to see him go. We know he has been looked at while at Sunderland and was called up off the back of his form at the back end of last season, only to suffer injury and miss out. His form since then has gone to another level and he has been integral to our surge up the table. England are crying out for defensive midfielders. To be fair Cattermole seems to have sorted out his wild ways since Poyet came in and has been performing well for Sunderland, so he could be considered an option. Colback is a bit better with the ball and has a bit more class about his game. Cattermole is better defensively and physically stronger. I know some will say its a sad state of affairs if Cattermole and Colback are good enough for England, and I'd have to agree they are not in the class of a Batty or Ince. However this is as good as we are at present and Wilshere is neither suited or unbreakable enough to be considered a long term solution. Of course the old "England managers don't bother watching up here" will arise but to be honest neither club has had players worth watching in my opinion. I'm sure some mackem will hark back to Phillips but the bottom line was that the lad was just not quite good enough and was unfortunate to be around at a time when we had masses of top class strikers. It certainly never prevented Hodgson from watching enough of Colback last season to call him up early on this season! So what do you reckon, could international football do with a bit of the ginger Pirlo?
In all honesty England would benefit massively form Colback and Cattermole in the squad. They both bring something that squad lacks. Colback has probibly more composure on the ball than any other English midfielder, he's a neat passer who rarely makes mistakes. Catts brings fire, drive, and work rate England just don't have in any other English DM, his ability to stop opponents playing through the middle is out of this world. He Mark Noble should be challenging for that position, not Wiltshire deep, dirty Shelvey or inconsistent Delph. Colback should be challenging for a CM place. Both in the reckoning for a place in the side Both are consistant, both for England, no doubt in my mind.
I worry about this. He seems much more at home when Abeid is alongside. They complement each other. Tiote works a lot better when we have playmaker like Cabaye who dictates the game. His ability to break up and feed then becomes effective. Personally I think we are in transition. The way we are setting up is ideal for Abeid and Colback. If we had signed Grenier, we may have seen a more effective Tiote. He is such a dominant figure that it seems to send Colback and Sissoko into their shells. Mind Tiote was just not fit on Saturday. Very insulting to Anita that Tiote waltz's back in and is half cocked. No doubt about it though, only a bitter mackem would suggest Colback has not been good this season. He has had average games, but overall he has been very very good. Slightly different players are Jack and Cattermole, but Colback is obviously a lot better with the ball so is probably more naturally suited to international football.
To be fair when Colback had his worst run of form in September, it was when Tiote was in the team. Always felt Sissoko and Tiote play worse when in team together for some reason.
I don't think he will make the England squad again and I don't think he would suit the way International football is played. He just does the simple things well and moves the ball on quickly whereas its about dominating possession in midfield and spotting the killer pass (and not just when the opposition are still in the changing room!. Think that this is why him and Tiote don't look as good together. Tiote does like to dwell on the ball when he has it and that tends to negate Colback's game whereas Abeid is a very similar style of player. It's something Pardew will need to sort out as I think both Colback and Tiote both have something to offer the team but not necessarily in the same game.
To be fair Jakarta, I like Tiote but think it's time for him to move on, both to help us progress and him progress to what would probably be a bigger club than Newcastle United.
Its great that we can actually say this based on what we think the team needs. A few weeks ago we would have been dreading Tiote going.
cattermole just won NE Player of the year. Reflects how ****e the regions players really have been. Remember this is calendar year.. Ie we were propping up the 2014 league with our ****e run.
I sort of agree I think. He's the sort of player thats a bit worrying if he leaves as he can be influential when your struggling in a game but you kind of feel he needs to go of we are to move on. Who's to say colback can't step up and he is already considerably better on the ball.
