Is it time for Jonas to move on?

There seems to be a general feeling that Jonas is now a spent force in our team.
I just thought I'd create a poll to see what you guys think.

Personally I think it is time for him to move on, and move on with dignity.

I'd like to remember him as the hard working 110% giving, loyal servant he is and not a player who get's into our team on past performances alone and one who may be holding up the development of our team by keeping more agile players (Marv etc) out of our side.

So... what do you think?

 

Stay. Really, Jonas is little different to the Jonas we've always had. Good at dribbling and running vast distances and not much else. In the first half he at least put a couple of ok balls into the box. For the first 3 seasons of his career with us he couldn't cross at all.

He offers more defensively which is why Jonas plays. The largest part of Pardew's tactic goes unnoticed by many, and it involves out running the opposition. Seriously, how do any of you think we can even play 4-3-3 against teams who now more often play with 5 midfielders?! Tiote, Jonas, Cabaye put in so many km it's like having an extra midfielder in there, which frees up room for another attacking option. If we just lazily place in Marveaux instead, who runs much less and is less inclined to track back, we lose that advantage and the tactic does not work. We need another man in midfield at least, then. The trade-off is attacking intent vs hard-work and defence. What do you think Pardiola prefers?

The reason I don't like Jonas, and never have liked him in our starting line-up, is because he's frustrating. Unfortunately for the longest time he was a necessary evil, to implement hard-working tactics, but anyone who doesn't get their information from watching 3 seconds worth of clip on MOTD knows Jonas has always been a football player second to his athletic ability. Thankfully, I think we have brought in a couple of players who can now replace him. Anita and Gouffran can run large distances during games. Unfortunately Anita prefers CM, but I think in the short-term he should be moved to LM/RM if we are not going to change our style.

So I say stay, not as a first team player, but a squad player for depth. He can still run those distances.

 

Yes, we all know what Guti brings to the table.

However he's playing so poorly now... We already have Perch, Cabaye and Sissoko running the show, The Gouf and Cisse up front, and we ARE playing a 4-3-3. I just don't see what Marveaux or Anita can't bring to the team that Jonas does. And 90 minutes no less as well!
Haven't we always advocated picking players by form(when the player isn't miles better, like a Ben Arfa)? This is in direct conflict to that.

 

I'm pretty sure he's on 50k+ a week. We now have a number of holding mids, and he's playing very poorly at the moment. Dreadful passing and touches.

I think we've just run him ragged with the few seasons we've asked him to be pretty much a box to box mid. He's been up and down the pitch more times than the football has!

His legs have gone.

 

He's in poor form at present, but that's not exactly miles from his best either. As far as I can see, there's two groups;

People who have loved Jonas, who now for some strange reason think his legs have gone and he can't possibly be the same player. To them I say check the stats. His poor form is related to two things, his lack of being fouled because he's given less opportunity to dribble these days (Santon bypassing him) and his lack of control of simple passes, which is a variable to be honest. He's occasionally decent, occasionally good. Always has been thus.

People who have never loved Jonas, bar the odd Barnsley or Wolves moment (that's right, there's been two brilliant moments from Jonas in what, 4 seasons?), and have always advocated his replacement. The championship season, for me, was cringe-worthy. Seeing Jonas get the ball in acres of space on the edge of the area and fail to do anything with it the vast majority of the time showed me he has limited capacity/potential as a footballer.

If you think we played 4-3-3 yesterday (or the majority of the season), I'm not sure what I can do to help you. We clearly didn't. And if you think Sissoko or Perch run as far as Jonas, I think you'll find you're way out on that front also. Jonas gives us the option of actually playing 4-3-3, and would be useful to keep on as a replacement to Anita should we ever want to play that style again.

If we're going to play 4-4-2, Santon either needs to be pushed forwards and somebody to play LB, or we play Marv who can actually cross the ball, but we will have to have a deep-lying DM to counter threats when the opposition counter, meaning less pressure up the field. With Santon bypassing the LM, it's going to be of benefit if he finds himself in trouble that he can pass back to a decent left-foot, not Jonas, who can also only dribble into danger. What happens if Santon gets injured and we've sold Jonas though? Exactly nobody running forward with the ball. Can you rely on Marveaux covering the distance required to link attack and defence? Nope.

For tactical flexibility and squad depth, Jonas really needs to see out his contract with us, unless we sign another player who can run almost as far and provide better quality in attacking situations for back-up, or else have Pardew change the system he plays to make better use of the attacking talents of Marv and put emphasis on ball retention etc.

 

Should Jonas move on?

Yes, he's ****e...

 

Only to the fringes of the squad until his contract runs down. He no longer warrants a first XI place.

 

Mr Bruce you should do a poll regarding Williamson
But at a guess that would be as useful as a chocolate tea pot
Anyway Jonas still worth keeping but not a first teamer now

 

Don't often get my Sunday name on Wednesday's.

Think we all know what a result a poll on Willo would be.

 

As much as I love Jonas his attempted overhead kick last night sums him up at the moment

 

Massively ****e yesterday and for a while now. Gives his all but come on, he cant even beat a man or pass effectively. Why did he even attempt that overheadkick lol

Unfortunately, Time to go Spidermag.

Ps. Although the did save a goal yesterday which would have made it 2-2 but nevermind

 

Pretty much agree with Gandalf ...Not a First XI player anymore.. but a useful squad player (but is going through a really rough patch form-wise atm)

But last night could see Santon gettign frustrated occasioanlly with him, expecting him to move into space etc. He does seem ..less greyhound, more spaniel this season.

 

Get rid, he is a waste of a player on the pitch. He at only 29 has lost everything that made him resemble a footballer.

 

Well, guess I was bamboozled by the teamsheet that Pardiola put up(or the one the league put on TV), which put Jonas as the left attacker in a 4-3-3

I do think Jonas does well in defending for us in midfield..But let's face it, he's totally lost his confidence in dribbling , but has never lost his confidence in his passing ( which is a terrible thing, considering his passes are ****e ) I think he is still a decent squad player, but we should look to replace him the next window.

I'm not an advocate of him gone now, I voted for him to stay, but that doesn't mean I don't think he's ****e. We have to keep him and look to find someone better next window, if we lose him now our other wingers don't seem to be ready in one way or another.

 

Stay - until end of season. We need squad depth so would keep him as back up. Think he only played last night as we've little or no cover for HBA in the attacking right mid position.

 

When Ben Arfa is back he can slot where Jonas is and the latter can have a nice long stay on the bench. He is beyond wretched. Losses the ball far to often, never beats his man and is just a waste having him on.

Good clearance of the line though last night it has to be said

 

We should keep him as a Squad player, he has struggled this season but Pardew seems to stick with him.

 

" He does seem ..less greyhound, more spaniel this season "

I have categoric proof this is absolutely true. I've got two Springer Spaniels and have just held their leads up in front of them and said " come on boys, let's go for a Jonas " and they both wagged their tails and got very excited.

 

Proved beyond doubt.

 

You'll have to repeat your experiment at least one more time with the same results to win over the sceptics like myself.