Frank De Boer Praises Anita.

VURNON ANITA is more than capable of stepping in at right-back for Newcastle United in the weeks ahead – according to his former Ajax mentor Frank De Boer.

The 23-year-old was forced to drop back into the right-back spot against Aston Villa in United’s last outing.

And he is one of the leading candidates to fill it again when Newcastle head to Everton on Monday night when the Premier League action resumes once again.

With Danny Simpson struggling with injury, it could be Anita who is given the nod to step in at right-back again.

Anita performed in this role for the Dutch giants on several occasions during his stint at the Amsterdam ArenA.

His versatility was one of the main reasons United were prepared to bring him from the Dutch champions to Tyneside, and just a few weeks into his Toon career he now finds himself showing he is prepared to muck in outside his natural midfield slot.

De Boer told the Chronicle from Amsterdam: “Vurnon is a great player because he just changes position without complaining.

“He will drop into defender at left-back or right-back and just do the job for the team.

“He did that for me on many occasions with Ajax. I’m sure it will be the same at Newcastle.”

De Boer was devastated to lose the Holland international when he quit Ajax last month.

But he indicated that while his ambition to play in the Premier League proved a bitter pill to swallow, his professionalism is there for all to see.

The 112-times-capped Holland international and former Barcelona ace said: “We know with Vurnon that whatever job you ask him to do he will give you every ounce of sweat he’s got.

“Newcastle have a great player on their hands.”

From tonights Ronnie.

 

Anita's first few performances haven't been that good, but while watching in the sportsbar across the Atlantic, he showed some promise at right-back in my opinion. CM might be his favoured position, but when we were pressing, Anita was a danger down that flank and caused Villa some problems. For once his pace was actually evident.

I know it'll take time for him to settle here, but it may be the case that Anita is played right-back more and more often as the season goes on. If I was Pardew, I'd consider starting Jonas at left-back, Marvy at LM/LW and Santon on the right, but I suspect Alan will keep the team as is and just keep Anita there. Overall I do think we'd benefit from introducing him slowly though like Ben Arfa, and using Amalifitano and others in the same sort of fashion for squad rotation.

 

One thing that was evident is that the guys as keen as mustard.

I think he'll do well for us and become a fan's favourite.

 

It'd be a nice problem when it gets to christmas and I decide which player will be across the shoulders on match-days and eventually inducted to my closet hall of fame...

 

Frank de Boer praising Anita is nothing new, but I do agree with JPF about his current form. Side note though: I think that if Pardew were to switch back to the 4-3-3 system, Anita would be a lot more comfortable on the pitch instead of this 4-3-1-2 or the 4-2-2-2 formation he fielded last couple of weeks.

 

Hell, anyone apart from Simmo doing some attacking is going to show some promise. Anita's technically one of the best on the team, he's bound to look good given that he has a lot of pace and stamina as well.