He is what he is. There are dozens of quotes from pundits comparing various young players early in their careers to greats they'll never become. He's been a good signing for us IMHO.
I think Tom's form has improved quite dramatically over the last few games and (obviously just my opinion) I named him in my best three against QPR. He may not be the best player in the world but he is a player of rare quality and at his best is the compass through which the whole team structure gets it's direction. I'm glad we've got him.
Huddlestone came here because Bruce wanted to build a team around his game. 352 Does suit a deep lying ball playing CM. Bruce knows and Huddlestone knows he hasnt got the legs to run all day, but in that position his distribution is more important. We have had a bad run of injuries which have not helped Huddlestone out, not saying he hasnt been crap but not playing the right formations and tactics make it s lot harder to play that position. With a settled 352 we will see the best of him.
I agree with this, now that we have two forwards that create movement up front it gives Huddlestone somewhere to hit the ball to, but it still doesn't alter the fact that our central midfield is still lacking, whether that's solely down to Hudds is open to debate.
Tom Huddlestone is a class act. He is an extremely rare type of player he's 6'4 and has the build of a rugby player yet has such great technique and on his day (admittedly hasn't been often this season) he is a fabulous footballer. At £5.25m we have more than got our money's worth as he has had some fantastic individual performances. He just imo cannot play in a 2 man midfield as he is not mobile enough and he starts to look poor as he struggles to cover the ground that a Livermore or Meyler could cover. People seem to be forgetting this is our most succesful squad ever and Tom Huddlestone has been a massive part of it. He's had a few poor months but as they say form is temporary, class is permenant. Last 3 games he's been looking to be getting back to the level we know he can play at and let's hope that continues. People calling him fat over twitter and questioning his heart and desire are quite frankly embarrassing.
The comparisons to Hoddle are also spot on imo. Very similar player, just not as good. Which is no shame on Tom, I don't think many players will ever be as good as Hoddle.
This might sound strange as I agree with you, yet I am totally underwhelmed by him as I was Cameron Stewart. There is a skilful player in him, but he, or Bruce seem incapable of coaxing it out with any consistency. He seems a tad fitter under the Phelen factor, but he certainly is being played way too deep. He should be a threat and, instead, he is a weak barrier and passing post; that alone will change his mentality for the worse. He is certainly not as good as many say.
Footballing brain limited?? Bollocks. Technically he is up there with the best, which is said by a lot of experienced people within football. But he is limited by his mobility, something which the modern day top class footballer must have.
I think a lot of people are wanting him to be something he is isn't. He is never going to be box to box or tearing into tackles. I disagree with the football brain. I think he has a excellent football brain. Some of touches on Saturday where excellent. As for Youtube compilations. They're pointless. You could take the highlights of the last three years of a poor player and make him look really good.
Easily our best Cm, he knows exactly where everybody on the pitch is before he even gets the ball. Most of the time he doesn't even have to look up, he can just ping a Ball out to anybody, it's fantastic. He went through a rocky patch earlier this season but he still wasn't the worst player on the park, it's testament to his start at city that he can get so much criticism for not being quite as good as he was last season. Still the first name on the team sheet for me.
Remember that daft **** that kept plugging his "haw haw more like tom hundredstone haw haw" line. God he annoyed me.