Afternoon all, I'm usually a 'lurker', but thought I would share my views on Parker. Does anyone think that he has the ball too much? By this, I mean that he always seems to be on the ball, and not in a positive way. I find myself continually shouting for him to pass it to someone who can actually dribble, pass and or shoot. He rarely makes a first time pass, he has to take two three sometimes four touches before making a pass which was obvious 5 seconds beforehand He is starting to remind me of palacios in his second season, when he suddenly thought he was a quality footballer, when all he was good for was tackling. Wilson was immense in his first season, because he did what he was good at, winning the ball then passising it 5 yards. I think parker needs to get back to this, as he is really starting to p!ss me off. Anyway, just my opionon, thoughts?
i can see where you are coming from. I often see Parker make a good interception or rob an opponent in the middle of the park but then follow it with a 360degree, 5 touch turn as Bale, Lennon et al stream passed and away without a hint of getting the ball. Scotty still does a job, that job being protecting the back 4, the problem is that Sandro does that plus more.
That turn does my head in! The thing is, more often than not, he ends up passing the ball in the direction he started in. Agree with you on both points, he's not a bad player to have, but Sandro when fit has to start ahead of him.
Completely disagree. Of course if that is what you are looking for, that is what you will see. There are many occasions where he turns sharply, keeping hold of the ball, and drives off *in the right direction*. There were many occasions where he did this yesterday. If Tom C had done the same thing, people would be raving about it today. No wonder they say fans are fickle. And yes, I would have Sandro ahead of him but the current wave of criticism of him is way overdone.
i think we have 2 problems in the team at the moment. Scotty slows it down too often. Sometimes a calm head is needed but in other occasions we need to hit Bale/Lennon/etc with quick ball to launch us on a counter. The other problem currently is Ade. I thought he was a great buy, but he is flopping. Last night was marginally better, but not exactly great. Currently we are winning while playing with 9 players and 2 half players. This is why we are winning by just the 1 goal each time. If Bale had done EXACTLY what he has done in the last 10 games but Ade/another striker had chipped in with 5 goals (1 in 2) then there would be a hell of a lot less people saying "1 man team" etc etc. (sorry, striker talk slightly off topic)
At no point have I said that he is not a good player, (I know you didn't say I did, just getting that in!) but I think he looks better when he does the basics. I can't really see where I have 'overdone' the criticism, and how exactly does my opinion of Parker make me fickle? I don't think comparing Carroll to Parker works either, they are two totally different players. Players like Carroll are there to make things happen, that's my point. Parker just needs to win it and give it.
I've said for a while that I'm not keen on the whole Parker and Dembele partnership at the moment. Parker's not been impacting the games like he was last season, I appreciate he's on the wrong side of 30 now but his standard this season compared to last season has drastically fallen. I've said a couple of times perhaps Jake could/ should be given a chance but it's a tough one. We all know what Parker's capable of on form but at the moment, he's just not looking too bright and I think Jake should at least be given a chance at some point.
Jake is our secret weapon, we can't just start him willy-nilly otherwise other teams will catch on and he'll be off to Barca in a jiffy. He needs to be limited to a maximum of five minutes per match, and only games we are losing.
the problem is he has little options when he has the ball. Dembele can go missing and with our lack of creative class central players he has to take it forward. Really we should just feed bale all the time as he is winning the games for us and nobody else has his talent.
Dembele is getting better with forward passes, and played a superb one last night, but he's no Modric or VDV, yet Sky done a good analysis of how when Dembele breaks up play or gets the ball, he feeds Bale who is running into space, so essentially his job is to give the ball to Bale! However we miss that creative play through the centre, mixing it up, and Parker at times would run with the ball, run around in circles, he hasn't a clue what to do with the ball, as like you said last year he had Modric or VDV to pass to last year. This year Dembele is sitting deep and the ball doesn't travel far when released, which is one of the reason I believe we miss Sandro, as while he is no Modric, He has a greater attacking intent to his play then parker, and Sandro & Dembele for me make a better combination.
...yeah there was...right down a blind alley losing possession in the end. He runs aimlessly straight in the hope he'll get fouled as far as I'm concerned, 95% of his end product is a plain 5-10yd pass...David Batty incarnate! Parker is great at breaking up play, blocking and getting his body in the way...and giving penalties away of course! Thing is our games involve a lot of possession now, indicating our defence isn't under so much pressure, so I don't think his skills suit those games. Sandro offers so much more and breaks things up earlier, and gets it turned round so we can build again, Scott is slow ponderous and is everything you do not need for quick counter attacks, great at the end of a game you're seeing out, but thats all.
If anyone has a saved video of the game, you will see a point where Parker literally runs around in a circle, as he doesn't know what to do with the ball! not mocking him as a player, as parker is a top lad and has some good qualities, yet the less time he has on the ball, the better for the team.
Inda will post a download to it tomorrow, if anyone wants to check it, but I know the bit that Boss is talking about. He did the same turn thing that he always does, but was forced to keep doing it, as nobody was showing for the pass. As others have said, I don't think that Parker and Dembele are on the same wavelength at the moment. It's clearly a less effective partnership than Sandro and the Belgian was, though I think we've probably picked up more points since the Brazilian's injury, strangely enough. I'd still like to see Livermore and Carroll given a shot at some point, but I can't see it happening, given our run in.
I know exactly the passage of play you mean Boss, that and a silly spell of 'to you to me' passes between him JV and one of the CB's that lasted a full minute...I just thought what the **** are you doing!
The exact point I made in my initial post. As someone mentioned earlier, because we have so much possession in many of our games, it negates Parkers strengths, i.e tackling, because there is no one to tackle if we have the ball! I think Sunday will be tailor made for him as possession is sure to be very even, or slightly in Arsenals favour.
Good point, as parker is perfect for counter attack, but possession based football means (as you say), it negates his main qualities, and this will mean Parker will feel the need to get involved, do something with the ball. Overall I still feel we're playing a system that doesn't suit many of the players strengths, yet Bale is simply over-riding this and saying "what does it matter, as long as you don't screw up, I'll score a wonder goal and win us the game"!
I think Dempsey and Siggy are case in points re our system. In Dempsey's case, you don't go from being a consistently good permormer for the past 4-5 years in a **** team, scoring 10-15 goals a season to someone who looks lost on the field. But whilst Bale is doing 'his thing', **** it!! I think my girlfriend is starting to get pissed off with me saying 'give it to Bale' every time we have the ball!
