The garden looks rosy today. A little sun and maybe some vino has got the better of us. On his day , he is good, but remember how useless he was against the Chelsea trio , a class below. If we have no will to improve then keep him but look at our rivals and I am sure he be lucky to be a bench warmer. Nice barnet if you like the hair bear bunch.
I think a central midfield choice of Sandro, Parker (or Livermore) , Dembele, Holtby, Carroll and Huddlestone would give plenty of options for next season and they should all get some decent game time. I think our defence is fine too. I'd much rather we sold some of Dempsey/Defoe/Adebayor and spent on some better strikers (although I stand by my view that actually getting someone better than Ade or Defoe is not easy).
please log in to view this image The Hair Bear Bunch were cool and smart. Huddlestone can pass the ball; he can't defend and he isn't exactly mobile, but he can pass and that's a very useful commodity as he showed on Sunday.
Not really, I'm just saying that his closing down and general ability to cover ground on the pitch are the issue, which can be countered by using 2 of the 4 midfielders mentioned as they get around the pitch much easier and can prevent him being relied upon for both defensive duties and taking players on in attack. I was never saying that he couldn't operate in the deeper role either, just that it wasn't necessarily the only way of compensating for the parts of Huddlestone's game that are weak.
He's gone from an afterthought to the key to our best football in a few weeks--in my mind, anyway. Holtby and Dembele playing with him seem to form a reasonably well balanced three, with each doing a bit of the holding role while offering differeing threats going forward.
I agree, and would even add in Dempsey, being the card-carrying pessmist that I am. We all seem to agree Dempsey is about as dull a player as we have. The thing is, he scores at a decent clip, and huge goals too (3 versus the Mancs), and may score at a better one if he's played in 4-3-3.
I think he needs to prove himself over a sustained period before we can safely say that he's up to scratch. I hope so, because he has always been a favourite of mine, prior to his injury.
As much as I hope Hudd continues to play well (along with holtby and dembele that is), I hope it doesn't backfire for AVB in the sense that Levy says "well, i don't think you need any new midfielders now. How about we stick with what we've got? We seem to be doing very well"
Ah, wasn't quite sure what you meant. thats why I thought your comparison to a Pirlo type was pretty good, he's not exactly all over the pitch getting stuck in either, he just looks for small pockets of space to receive the ball and move it on...accurately! Now if the likes of AC, Juve, and the Italian national team can find room for such a player...
That's the formation I wanna see us play when possible. I think it would be the best and to have Holtby too, to provide energy when needed.
Seemed? if only his plan A's could produce 3 goals in half an hour and blow the ex but current at the time champions away. United away excepted, we usually moan at most first halfs...including the last one!
The lesson we learned against £ity is that, for most of the time, Bale is more effective for us out wide, where his pace and dribbling can hurt the opposition most.
We'll never know in that game Hiag whether he would have been effective in the middle or not, the problem was Dempsey and Sig were crowding his space not only with themselves, but by bringing City players in with them, compounding the issue. Cut in by all means, but don't stay there!
I was saying it on Sunday in the final minutes. I was going to mention it on here but one minute you're somparing Huddlestone to Pirlo in terms of how he could line up for us and having a similar skill set, the next you're on the "laugh at Spurs" thread for saying Huddlestone's as good as Pirlo I guess if Hudd's our Pirlo though, that makes Sandro our Gattuso. He'll need to work on his beard whilst he's out injured.
In my view, given time, space, and a team on the front foot, he will pick almost any side apart with his vision and precision passes. My concern about him is when we are on the back foot, when he is denied time & space, then he is prone to making silly mistakes and his lack of any pace is exposed. Having said all that, I'd love to see him prove me wrong. He is a highly talented, but nevertheless flawed, player at the moment.
