Dropping Demba Ba.

Now before I get shouted at, let me that I'm a HUGE fan of Demba and love him for what hes done for us this season, 16 goals and countless magnificent displays with a lot of heart.

BUT

At the moment IMO, the Cisse and Ba partnership doesn't work, they are too similar, they both want to be in the exact same place all the time and sometimes rather than picking a pass for one another or letting the play build up Ba will just try from anywhere to score, disregarding team mates and Cisse himself, even in the 4-3-3 lately Ba hasn't been that impressive and definitely the weakest link in the front 3, he hasn't been terrible but he hasn't been great either.

Now what I would propose is possibly giving Leon Best a shot on the left in the 4-3-3, I think he would be great at it, to at least try it, he always drops deep for the ball and has provided a few assists from this position earlier in the season when Demba was the main striker, it might be good to give Ba a rest and bit of time to think about how he wants to approach games, because at the minute hes turning into a greedy player who would rather swipe at the ball from anywhere rather than see the simple ball and lay someone else through.

I'm by no means saying that Best is a better player than Ba, but maybe its worth trying something new, possibly even Ferguson, though I'm not massively impressed by him either. I know Best didn't make the bench on sunday for whatever reason but I'm sure hes fit, its certainly something to think about for Everton and next season anyway.

What would your views be of this problem? Maybe you don't think theres a problem at all I don't know. Maybe I'm jumping the gun a bit.

What do you think?

 

Personally i think we should play 4-3-3 against Everton (Ba, Cisse & Benny). Dropping Ba on the last game of the season will knock his confidence going into the summer, making it more likely for him leave if a offer comes in for him.
Might be looking to much into it, but just my opinion.

 

Back to the proven 4-3-3 for me like.

 

Couldn't agree more.

 

Marveaux for the left flank?

 

Agree with what your saying and I really wouldn't want to see Ba dropped really, but if hes not putting in the high standard of performances that we're used to then maybe, to be fair, he should have to earn his place like the others, don't you think?

Also a player who wants to leave after being dropped for one game isn't a one I'd be keen on having around, generally speaking.

This is all hypothetical of course.

 

Anyone else really have high hopes for Fergie. Everytime he comes on he makes stuff happen and he is so quick across the ground. I remember toward the end of last season he was getting a lot of game time and I thought he was our stand out attacking player.
He's come back into the fold again toward the end of this season and has looked good again

 

I think people are being very harsh on Ba - He's no more selfish than Ben Arfa or Cisse are. A lot of the shots he's taken were from places where it just wasn't possible for him to make the pass.

 

4-3-3

 

Fergie will get more game time next year. Plus we have Sammy back.

 

Hoilett or Moses in the LW spot in the front 3 for next season anyone?

 

Would potentially have Hoilett on a rotation basis, but Moses is too inconsistent for me.

 

Strikers are supposed to be selfish where scoring goals are concerned. Shearer anyone?

 

Quite frankly Ba has been incredibly unlucky not to score on many occasions over the last few weeks. I am not sure how we can say the formation isn't working when we have won 7 of the past 9 games.

Remember Ba has been playing on the Wing a lot, he comes in when needed and it is not as if him and Cisse have been running into each other - they are gaining understanding quickly.

His work rate is good and he is still a threat. Remember defences will have to be wary of Benny, Cisse and Ba - if they forget to watch Ba then they will regret it, he can still strike when you least expect it with decent shots.

 

Pre-season is when we should experiment, for now let's just keep it how it is. Upsetting players at this stage is risky. I do think Ba's been rather unlucky not to score rather than his performances dropping dramatically.

 

I agree that he should have to earn his place, but think picking the last game of the season to prove this point would be poor timing. Let him have the summer off, hopefully come back fresh at the start of next season, with some serious competition for his place waiting in the wings and see how he gets on then.

 

If we play 442 Ferguson deserves a place over Jonas whos been awful last few weeks

 

All good points, and well made.

Just from what I've seen, over the course of next season I can't see Ba being happy play LW and I cant seem him offering a huge deal in that position, I just hope we might play a bit of 4-4-2 aswell and see Ba and Cisse click.

 

He was average against City but I disagree fully with him being awful, he was fantastic against Chelsea in a defensive role and has been consistently great all season, hes a better defensive player than he is attacking IMO.

Possibly the most under rated player in our team.

 

Jonas is great defensively but gives next to nowt in attack his crosses always hit the first man