Anita in general

How has Anita been playing now that he is a surefire starter in the team?

Admittedly I haven't been following as closely as I normally would with me being busy at work and all, and seeing the way the season is starting to turn into...

But how has he really been playing?

Judging solely on the game against Crystal Palace, I'd say he has finally aclimatised to the EPL pace of play. And he is starting to repay his transfer fee with each passing game.

I wonder am I correct to say so?

 

He's a tidy player. Around the start of the year people were raving about him every time he was played. I personally like him a lot. He has a decent bit of pace on him and his general passing range is pretty good. He's versatile too, so even if he was not an automatic starter he's the kind of utility man you need to have in your team in order to plug any gaps through injuries/suspensions.

Though I like him, I don't think he's a stand-out star around which you build your team. Ideally he should have a bit more creativity about him, as he often seems to lack that real killer pass that splits defenses and opens up a chance for the strikers. That said though, this was never his role at Ajax where he was usually a more defensive midfielder, linking up defence with attack with speed and precision. For us he seems to have now been asked to fill the void left by Cabaye as the midfield playmaker, which I would argue is not his natural role.

 

Been well managed by Pardew who has gradually allowed him to get up to speed with the game here. It was always gonna be a challenge for him because of his height in the role he plays (box to box). He definitely encourages us to keep the ball on the deck. Him, Cabaye and Tiote was a great trio for us, Tiote smashing and sitting, Anita box to box and all round energy, Cabaye dictating and creating. It has certainly been tougher on Anita since his departure. People are looking to him to become the creator which is unfair because its not his game. It is not his or the managers fault we are understaffed in certain areas.

We are very lucky to have him in my opinion. He is the perfect foil for Tiote at the base of the midfield. We need to add a couple of creative midfielders to ensure we do not get in this scenario again. Ideally this summer will see Grenier or Siem De Jong, and Cabella (replace HBA but can play central) arrive or players of that ilk. If we could then bring in Ryan Gauld ( sorry I had to) or a similar young attacking midfield option, then we should be better equipped for the future.

All in all I'm very happy with Anita. He has adapted well, been well managed, improved our play, and showed patience/maturity when some would have just huffed off.

 

He's always been a trier if nothing else, prepared to give his all every moment he's on the pitch.

 

As has been said, Anita does well being one of two DM's, essentially, though not necessarily as the 'destroyer'.

Best thing we could do this Summer is add an attacking midfielder/number 10, because the way Pardew plays - rightly or wrongly - relies heavily on a breaking midfield and a hard work ethic, so playing 4 + 1 across the middle with 2 slightly narrower players wide, which we do, seems to be our best identity. I'd like to see Anita kept in that first team, as he's perfect alongside Tiote - his energy, neatness and availability works well with Tiote's ability to break it up. The pair have more and more seemed to be on the same bandwidth, so I'd like to see them continue.

 

Cracking little player and vital to our team.

Granted he isn't the "destroyer" that Tiote is but he never gives the ball away and set's us on our way as an attacking threat by playing the ball a good couple seconds quicker than Tiote does. It also goes unnoticed by his positional sense is second to none and this is very important to the team.

Need to build our team around him and Tiote as our two holding midfielders as the compliment each other perfectly. As has been stated, add a number 10 to them and we once again have a very nice trio in the middle of the park.

 

I honestly considered him the stand-out performer of the last two games. During my nonsensical frustrated rants/moans loosely based around our inability to make moves for a pass, my anger would peak when i'd see Anita trying to run directly with the ball to free up some space and get people running. It peaked because i had to watch the statues standing there as Anita had no option but to turn and pass it back to square one (Tiote).
I think when remys back in and suddenly the whole team miraculously starts moving in attack anita will be able to prove a worthy foil for our lack of a cabaye.

 

Not quite the silky skills of Cabaye but his work rate is unquestionable.

 

He works great along side Tiote. He's not the destroyer type player, but he's great on the ball, a good ball player, can read the game well and works hard.

 

Always puts his all into it. If everybody had the same pride and passion in their game we'd be a lot better off than we are.

 

Great player. Never drops his head, passing is usually excellent and controls the ball well when in possesion. Bit slight in stature but then lots of good little 'uns including Beardsley, Alan Green, Benni Arentoft etc.
He'll hopefully be with us a lot of years along with Cheik who is a good foil for him.

 

He's in good company.

 

I was surprised at how much everyone was raving about Anita on this thread yesterday. He wasn't very 'tidy' tonight. Utter ****e in fact, to be fair. Not strong enough to be an influential Premier League player and doesn't really do a lot (1 goal and 1 assist in 27 league appearances this season). Good enough to be a reserve CM for us next season but I don't want him as a first choice. Sell in summer 2015 as we have too many players to replace already this summer.