For me, it seems Wanyama was brought in to stop us being so vulnerable to counter attacks - both West Brom games and Newcastle away last season come to mind - and I think for this purpose he is perfect, and that strikes me as his benefit over Cork, which is partly demonstrated by the loss to Aston Villa at home, as they counter attacked us with ease. Although I do think we sacrifice a little technical ability in midfield when Wanyama's playing, the defensive solidity we gain is worth it due to the technical abilities of those around him.
which is partly demonstrated by the loss to Aston Villa at home _______________________________ He played the first half of that game. That said, we had quite a few bad performances that day, Yoshi & Gazza made everyone seem nervous, even Shaw struggled to get forward & take a player on.
Do people think that Cork is currently playing better than he did last season? If so, could the fact that Wanyama provides direct competition be part of the reason that he's raised his game?
I think he has always been as good as he is now in patches, but needed the extra motivation plus coaching from MP to play this well consistently.
Hang on a cotton picking minute!! REVELATION ABOVE!!!! At last, a sensible post on the subject. Bringing in good players in any position increases competition and according to some bloke who studied the odd plant and creature, could bring about a change in performance of the current species ... or in this case, midfielder. For all the "best midfield in the league" stuff last season, it didn't prevent our back four from getting a battering. I do believe they are playing better this season as a unit.
I'll take that as a compliment as I mentioned it earlier in the thread myself. Dammit..! No I didn't. I mentioned it in another thread about players being good enough for England. Still valid though.
Cork was quite good last year. He should have been seeing more minutes all along. And he is still quite good. I don't know that he's particularly elevated his game because of Wanyama's presence. I'm not seeing him suddenly becoming better on offense, for example. Still not the greatest in the air. Still not the world's greatest tackler (though he is a smart defender). But he's still quick, with a high work rate and can be pretty clever with the ball at his feet. He just looks like the same old hard-working, box-to-almost-box Cork to me. It's quite possible he's gotten better, I just can't say for sure. Nor would I attribute that to competition as opposed to a natural progression due to experience and/or a better GK and better backline than he enjoyed for parts of last year. We have a bunch of very good midfielders. They all play slightly differently, so that might lead us to play one over the other depending on the situation. But the majority of the time, it really won't make a difference. And if MP gets it wrong, he can always make a substitution. I'm more concerned with how we can figure out a way to get JWP and Reed first team minutes than the Wanyama/Cork non-controversy.
Darwinism on the football pitch. If cork doesn't play well, cork doesn't eat. Or someone copulates with his wife.
That's brilliant, you are so right, now he's playing so well, lets drop him & play the guy who has made him raise his game. Problem solved. (we surely all realise there is now no longer a right or wrong, whoever plays has to play well...................................................unless its Wanyama)
Some people attach themselves to one player to much. People need to realise we now have 3 very good defensive midfielders. So each will take their turn to play. Yes Cork is playing very well atm but it still doesn't mean you can't rotate now and again. Wanyama came in because Pochettino thought he would suit the game better ( he admitted he was wrong to play a unfit Wanyama). It's a good problem to have being able to rotate in a few areas, just a few people don't see this.
