Newcastle fan here. We're not playing so well at the moment. We've gained some points but we're not doing well. We've played some decent footy at times, but most of the time we seem to be playing long balls up the pitch for most of the game to Demba Ba or Shola. You guys have played some fantastic football, and I remember the time when you guys had Peter Crouch in your side. I just want to know, can you play long balls to a target man and play technical football at the same time? Our manager wanted Andy Carroll back so he could have the perfect target man, so I assume that's his plan. I'm stumped guys, and I'm a Toon fan sat here worried about our future. We played awesome football towards the end of last season in a 4-3-3, now we're playing 2 big men up front and playing hoofball?
It encourages long balls but Spurs seemed to come to terms with it in the end. You need a manager who insists on a type of play rather than just go out and play which was Harry's way. Personally I think Carroll has a greater potential than Crouch but I have never been a Crouch fan.
Are you the same Tash that laughed and wummed us when we lost to Chelsea? And are you the same Tash that crawls all over the gooner board sucking up to them and referring to us as spuds?
A big target man can be an advantage against certain teams that are difficult to break down. Essentially, if they are big and strong, like Carroll, knowing what they are going to do, and stopping them doing it, are two very different things. Crouch's problem was that he wasn't strong enough and would frequently get taken out before he could get to the ball. Having said that, the guy is still scoring goals, so he must have something going for him.
Crouch is useful to have regardless of the style of football you play. With us we prefer a more grounded approach by knocking the ball about in the hope of finding a killer pass or a deadly cross from the wings. Though when you have the option of Crouch and chasing a goal, he's a great asset to have to hoof the ball up to and then hope that either he can score from the header/ control it down and finish or knock it on to those around him for them to do the business. I liked Crouch and was happy to have him at Spurs providing we never made our game around him which for most parts we didn't, also came in very, very handy in Europe (bar Madrid away!!!) as European defenders aren't accustomed to dealing with giant bean poles. In regards to Carroll, when he was at you guys, I'll be the first to admit that I would happily have had Carroll at Spurs and wouldn't have been bothered if the club shelled out £20m on him (no more than that though), I felt not only was he a beast and a bully in the air but he had decent technical ability for a big lad. I can't remember who your opponents were at the time but it was when he got a hat trick in the Prem and I remember him pinging a cross field ball from about 30 yards and I was thinking "f*ck me, this guys good", unfortunately he made a poor move to Liverpool for a HUGE price tag in which it was hard for him to adapt as 'Pool played more to Suarez's strengths than his and so his confidence initially shattered and now looks a fraction of the player from his Geordie days. Perhaps a move back to you guys would do both him and your team good. If Spurs could get Carroll for say £5m-£10m, I think I'd still have him if I'm honest, he hasn't lost his ability, just his confidence.
Tash is getting whipped I wouldn't worry mate. Carrol is stopping with his best mate Nolan down here anyway.
We played some fantastic technical football with Crouch, especially in the Champions League, the two wins against the Milan teams stand out in that repect, but also other vital wins as well in the competition. We also played brilliantly at City where Crouch scored the goal that got us CL in the first place.
One of the problems that faces us when Adebayor's not in the team is that a lot of our opponents are happy to sit back, pack the area around the box and let us try and play through them. With Crouch in the side, that often wasn't a sensible option, as he's capable of winning any ball played into that area, even if he's only going to knock it down for someone else. Pairing him with Defoe also made playing a high defensive line a very dangerous thing to do for our opposition. Perhaps Pardew wants to have the option of using a 4-4-2, but doesn't think that Ba and Cisse work well enough as a pairing to do so? He seems to have relegated Ba to the wing since signing Cisse, for some reason. Perhaps he'd feel more comfortable with one of them combining with Carroll? Ben Arfa and Gutierrez or Marveaux out wide, Tiote and Cabaye in the middle and those to up top? Might be risky against some teams, but would probably scare a lot of sides. I wonder if anyone will come in for Ba in January? That £7m clause activates again, doesn't it? He doesn't seem very happy, to me.
