I'd like Sparky to try Denbele at attacking mid. He's big. He moves. He possesses and he-distributes. Then, Gudjohnsen could play the deep striker and link between mid and the attack. BZ would be up top, and sidwell as the more defensive central mid. Murphy has been a long time favorite of mine, but I feel he has had a very average season.
The old man's legs can't last forever of course. However does Dembele have the vision and character to run a game? He doesn't seem to have that spatial awareness that a creative midfielder needs.
Not convinced he has the range of passing to play in central midfield. He has terrific feet but I would say overall his skills represent more of a winger or striker than attacking midfielder. He played wide right in the 2nd half against liverpool and had some success but I still think we need to bring in a new playmaker to replace murphy.
Interesting idea - Hughes had him on the right for Davies in the second half on Monday. I've seen Dempsey in that roll, too, about a month ago when Kakuta came on for Etuhu. Problem for me is that Murphy quickens the tempo of the attack while Dembele (IMO) slows it down. Watch Murphy - he gets ball, takes a touch and distributes quickly, and forward, before defenders can react. Dembele, on the other hand, gets the ball, takes a few touches while looking around for the perfect pass, giving the defense time to closed down his options. Watch how often he's forced to back the ball out or pass laterally. Obviously, this doesn't happen every time, but it happens often enough that Dembele slows down the attack. That's another reason we'll miss John Pantsil - quick distribution. Sidwell's probably the quickest. It's in and out of his feet in a second or less, unless he's got space to run.
The season is coming to a close,lets be like other clubs and be thinking who could we possible buy to move us upwards,not like many of the threads "make do and mend".if its true that MO is putting 10mil+ in the transfer pot and maybe another 3/5mil on our utility players who frankly, are never going to make their mark, we then could possibly buy a couple of half decent squad players. And hopefully they would be the right side of thirty.
The big issue these days rf is players' wages, not transfer fees. I'm all for getting in as much quality as we can, but Mo is right to refuse silly salaries (as if some are not daft enough already). I believe that may have been the problem with Wright-Phillips for example. Good detailed stuff dr. I think unfortunately we're seeing Murphy slowing down a bit, thus losing the ball more often. I believe Sidwell would be more suited in the current squad to take over his role than Dembele. As rf said in another posting, Adam might be a great buy if it were possible to be the midfield general.
Rocky - it is sad that Murphy's getting on. He's been quietly great for us. Gerrard was commenting on the Fulham/Liverpool game Monday and lamented that "Liverpool let Danny go too soon". High praise. Charlie Adam would be great and he's just 25. But I've read rumors linking him with bigger teams than Fulham, so I'm not optomistic. Reo-Coker's going to be available and maybe Scott Parker - OK, Parker's another who will get scooped up by a big club, but Reo-Coker is probably within our reach.
Great discussion. Thanks. I'm now convinced Dembele is not the answer. I do like him on the wing, though. He gives us another look out there. Wouldn't it be great to get Adam or Parker? Just for kicks I wonder if Stuart Holden could be pried away from Bolton. Maybe fellow yank Dempsey could tempt him with cheeseburgers and budweisers.
Not sure that Dembele is the answer to replacing Murphy. Agree with that he tends to slow the movement down, has good ability to go pass players, but maybe not a central midfield creative player yet. Not sure about Charlie Adam, seems a bit of a Bullard type player who tries to get involved in everthing and sometimes does more damage than good. Since West Ham are almost down what about Hitzlsperger, might want to stay in London. Not sure on the injury he had, but seems to have come back strong, and has a vicious, shot, good passing ability.
I agree that Hitzlesperger would be a good addition. I suspect he's on bigger wages than we might want to pay - West Ham are big payers and he was a big name signing for them. Our (sensible) pay structure might put the mockers on that one. I also agree about Dembele's limitations for the centre midfield role. I hope I'm wrong, but I'm beginning to worry that he's going to be one of those players who is almost brilliant, but somehow falls just short of being right for several different roles in the team. He's not a goalscorer (although he scores occasional great goals), he's not a playmaker, winger looks like the best shot, but would you say he was one of our two best options for the wide positions when everyone is fit? I'm not sure that I would. Just a thought, could he play left back? I'll get me coat.
If we're discussing Blackpool midfielders, I think the better shout is David Vaughan rather than Adam. The way we play favours quick, accurate passing midfielders who are comfortable on the ball which is certainly something than fits Vaughan. He may not have the vision of Adam (or Murphy) and his tackling is a bit suspect but I think for the price Vaughan will be a much better buy for Fulham.
I mentioned Hitzlesperger a few days ago on another thread along with N'Zogbia. Both could be quite higly paid which, as the Captain says would probably rule them out of Mo's wage structure. I like Vaughan but would prefer Campbell from Blackpool - I think he could work with Bobby and m less sure Vaughan would fit that role. We probably couldn't get Adam. His head will be turned by Liverpool or Spurs. However, I fail to see the fascination with Parker who IMO is an overrated thug. I watched The Sunday Supplement on Sky a couple of weeks ago and Martin Samuel made a very good point. He said that he felt the writers vote too early for their award (which Parker has won this year) and that It could well be that United go and do a domestic/european double and the football writers have voted as their player of the season someone who plays for a team that gets relegated. Apparently they did the same in 1999 when United won the treble and their footballer of the year was Ginola - makes them look a bit dim, in his opinion. I honestly can't see what Parker has done this year to win that award.
"Parker who IMO is an overrated thug" A bit harsh about a player whose reaction was one of such shock when he was innocently involved in the Bullard knee injury and saw JB's kneecap move 2 inches from its right place. I believe Parker to be an honest, hardworking and talented player.
Hitzlesperger - he's great. I'd take him in a minute. Parker, too, though that seems less likely. Someone mentioned Stuart Holden - I think he's one his way to a big four team. He's probably the best American footballer on the planet - probably Bolton's best player as well. He's vital for them, so they're unlikely to give him up.
I find where to play dembele very confusing. he came to us as a CAM, a position in which he learnt his trade in belgium. However, I agree that we need a player like murphy, to distribute balls, in a sort of paul scholes type manner. however, is this a CAM's role? Dembele possesses great balance, good ball control and a good turn of pace/strength. However, he is prone to loosing the ball, does not look for the quick pass, and isn't fantastic at playing balls. However, he DEFINATELY has a creative spark- some of the tricks he whips out are fantastic. mark my words- he will be a top player come his time. For that time to come, however, i feel he needs to adjust his game, become a quicker thinker and look for the through balls rather than trying to skill every opponent that comes his way. However, for me he is a top player- just where to play him? COYW
Dembele may become a bit of an enigma - I'm not sure of his best position for Fulham in the Prem. Whatever he may have done, he is certainly not in a Murphy role. If (a BIG IF) we get into Europe, then I see him doing well. I've been impressed by Steve Sidwell since he came, but could he become a playmaker? And I have to come to the defence of The Iron's Parker - at times, he has carried the underperforming whole team. COYW
