He has put in a good shift in his last 3 England games including tonight's game so far. One thing I did notice vs Spain was how well he linked up with the full backs. What I don't get is his performances for Liverpool so far, no goals and no assists? We know he can perform better as his national and previous season's performances prove. Why do you think this is? Is it his relationship with Enrique? Jose worked with Guttierrez for 3+ years and they had a good partnership last season. Or is it because Carroll isn't being utilised the way we expected from Downing's capability to deliver crosses? What really grinds my ears though are the people who at the start of the season who said that we got the better deal out of him and Young are now questioning why Kenny bothered to buy him at all, as if they never agreed with the signing all along. OK, he wasn't the first choice winger for most of us and no one thinks he is worth £20m. But we weren't going to get Mata or Young and be grateful we didn't get N'Zogbia. Downing is about as good as you can get without CL football and we all know he is better than what he has shown so far for us, discuss your thoughts...
Just needs to put in consistantly good performances , where it counts , for Liverpool To be fair in pre season and the first 2/3 games of the season, he looked good, his form since then hasnt been as good,lets hope he gets his form back
He should have had 2 or 3 assists by now. That's no criticism of him, but of the finishing/positioning of others. I can't remember who it was against, maybe Bolton, where he put in a perfect cross for Carroll, who failed to react to it. There have been 2 or 3 like that, as I say. Also, he's hit the woodwork twice, so it isn't for want of trying that he hasn't scored. He's just been a bit unlucky.
I think there are two factors at play. 1. watching him play for us I am amazed at how narrowe he is playing and how he's rarely linking up with the full back. I don't understadn why he's doing this with us and not with england. 2. england are to be frank at a lower level than us... yes its true... international friendlies have no intensity and qualifiers are usually v championship standard teams. the prem is very competitive and i have to wonder if he's just not as effective. I would like to see his starting position be wider and him do what bale does... namely donkey 20 crosses in and hope one sticks... bale works on quantity... downing isn't getting the ball in enough. thats just my opinion but he's got to make room for suarez to play in... he's got to be demanding carroll stays up top ready for a cross and he's got to tell kuyt to bloody well stay on his side of the pitch! ie he's got to make himself heard.
One of Downings problems too is there never seems to be enough players in the box,more often that when Downing gets the ball in a crossin position theres 1 guy in the box and sometimes none.The 2 strikers should be in there , the right mid,and sometimes a centre mid.I dont remember Lucas or Adam bein the box all season, thats one reason id give Hendo a go at CM
When he's out on the left (and bearing in mind he's primarily right sided) he'll naturally drift in - Enrique is naturally going to provide the overlap, so its predictable that he isn't wide. On the right, its a different story. Being naturally right sided, he should be comfortable attacking the byeline and driving or whipping in crosses before the defence can settle and turn to face the right way round. In this position, Johnson should be able to assist by occasionally drifting in rather than out and drawing the cover with him. The other problem is the lack of a target coming onto the box to attack the cross. Gerrard is excellent at arriving late and really attacking the ball, and when he's been on the pitch, Jordan Henderson has also made those late runs into the box. As you say DayDoDoeDontDayDoe, Lucas and Adam don't make those sort of runs. I can't remember whether Spearing does? Stewart should have had a couple of goals as well so far this season, but has been denied by the woodwork, so he's there and there abouts...
