Siem de Jong

I will start by saying that I have no insider information or anything like that. This article is simply my hopes with regard to who I would like us to buy and why.

The best front pairing I have seen in all my time spent watching the Toon and waiting for glory or dare I say it trophies is Shearer and Ferdinand. Two players who appeared to be very similar in style but somehow (unlike Gerrard and Lampard) managed to work together to make a defenders nightmare.

Bear with me.

The second best pairing front pairing I have seen .......etc..... is Cole and Beardsley.

From my limited watching of S d J and from what I have heard I think/believe/pray he would/could make an excellent partner to Cisse along the Andy (Andrew) Cole and Peter Beardsley style. This should also play to other strengths we have with the type of players we have been buying eg more passing and skilful as opposed to "le hoof". I do accept that Pardew didn't last year seem to instruct the team to play to a passing style but I am looking at what I would like as opposed to what I might expect. I also would accept Cabaye being sold if S d Jong was purchased to replace Cabaye with the balance of monies being used to purchase Remy ( loan to Jan and then purchase or even 1 year loan with fixed purchase price with our option as to buying or not.

On that basis I would be in St James Park (heaven) if we would simply go out and buy S d Jong. I don't need a "big" man up front. I have seen us play various styles up front in my time and save for the Shearer/Ferdinand pairing have always preferred 2 skilful players as opposed to a bigman/littleman combo. Waddle Beardsley first time round springs to mind.

Anyones comments appreciated. If you are not in agreement say who you would prefer and why.

Hope this counts as a constructive article Tash. couldn't resist.

 

Undoubtedly Cisse is crying out for someone to work off. I believe you need all sorts to get some variety, but I do think a Beardsley type is the ideal for him. I do think he could work feeding off scraps from a big man too, but I think he'd be less successful. I don't think he is an intelligent striker basically. Cole was the same (although his game did develop at Man U). That's why the ideal for him was intelligent footballers like Beardsley or Yorke. I know many thought Carroll/Cisse would work. I think they could have some success but in a big man little man combo, the smaller guy tends to need a fair bit of intelligence. Phillps/Quinn or Keegan/Toshack is a good example. The smaller guy in those partnerships had poacher instincts but also a good footballing brain to read flicks, lay offs, and create space.

SDJ is class act but I suspect a little far fetched for us after last season. However there are other similar types, and we need a genuine number 10 type. I still think you need a stronger type too though. You need balance in a strikeforce. In games where you face superior opposition or physical centre backs with pace, a strong centre forward can be beneficial to make the ball stick. Against weaker opposition or slow centre backs you probably want to be more on the front foot and have players who can strethc and pull them around.

As an alternative number 10 I was going to suggest Tarrabt who is likely to leave QPR on loan. The problem is though that he is very inconsistent, and pretty darn lazy. When we have had number 10 deeper forward types we have been spoilt with work rate. Beardo and Bellers spring to mind.

If we did get balance though we'd have the raw pace of Campbell, the intelligence of a Beardo type, the power of a Ba type, and the poaching instincts of a Cisse. That is what the club should be looking for, and looking to pick different combos to suit opposition and keep people fresh......in an ideal world of course!

 

The mere mention of the name Beardsley / Beardo, makes the mouth water.

If only ...........................

 

Yep, if ony someone had an "l"

If ony, if ony

 

Andre Ayew has a £15m release clause. L'OM may sell for less.

 

Couldn't Ben Arfa play in the number 10 role?

 

I think it may be worth giving it another go. He has been poor when tried there for us or Marseille but he is a bit more mature now. The only problem is you can't really afford to have injury prone players like him or Marveaux as the fulcrum of your team. It just ends up hurting you when they break down again.

I think it would be safer to purchase one. Problem is there are not many quality number 10's around.

 

Ever Banega was linked with Southampton, is he out of reach?

 

This.

I feel HBA is easily the most talented player we have ( in the flair department ) but he hasn't played often enough or consistently enough to base the team around. Hence looking to the likes of S d Jong.

 

Not really a number 10 though, plays mainly as a central midfielder. I think the manager at Southampton would have a lot to do with that deal if it took place. Canny player though.

 

So does Cabaye....so looking at Motherwell, although only the 1st pre-season, I wonder if we're aiming for a 4-2-3-1/4-3-3 hybrid this season, with Cabaye in the hole, Benny and "new guy" right and left, Cisse or "other new guy" up top. That way, as it's quite attacking on the wings, and Cabaye is a little more midfielder than number 10, we can kind of transition within a game from one to the other. Cabs could surely do a job at number 10-ish, with Marv being his sub, assuming we sign someone who's going to start ahead of Gouff.

Blimey - do we have the semblance of an identity forming???

 

The Southampton board had talk of 14m euros, that's a lot for a player who turned up to training drunk several time last season and missed a lot of games after running himself over. He seems to have some issues shall we say.

 

I'd like to think Cabs could play 10. Everything is in place for him. Bottom line is though he has just disappeared off the face of the earth when played there. Now we can try and pin this on Pardew, tactics, style of play or some other fairytale, but the reality is he hasn't performed. I like him as a player and think he should be able to do the 10 role.

However I'm not letting that blind me to the fact he was ****e last season - and it was mainly down to him. Having to play deeper to cover injuries, our style and his fitness were other factors but the main one was him playing badly. Hopefully he can come back freser but I have my doubts. I would have asked Cabaye to miss the confederations personally. He has been on the go non stop for 2 and half seasons with the world cup, adapting to a new more physically demanding league and now this. No wonder he looks paggered and is injured so much.