Vurnon Anita - Forgotten man?

Anita is a good player, but it does smell of being a panic buy.

 

That's clearly the choice. I don't see anmything wrong with treating the majority of his first season as a period of aclimatization to the league, however.

 

I don't get the "I'd play Anita over Tiote" argument as they're totally different types of players, if we play Anita we have no holding midfielder to break up play. We need either perchy or Tiote in there.

As for Anita, I think he started to show what he's about midway through the season after a poor start. My only criticism of him seems to be he goes missing in games, many a time I've noticed he's hardly touched the ball for a long while.

I almost think he would have done better with us if he'd been happy to play right back at the beginning of the season.

Hopefully he'll continue to develop with us though and we'll see the best of him soon.

 

You don't actually need a holding midfield in the modern game though. I mean Man Utd have just won the league, with carrick as their deepest midfielder (been arguably their best player) and he doesn't break play up, he just never gives the ball away. Anita is perfect for a 3 man midfield for us,with Cabaye and Sissoko he can keep things ticking over and sit the deepest of the three, with Cabaye and Tiote and can play as a normal box to box CM and with Tiote and Sissoko he can play the link role between midfield and attack where Cabaye would normally play.

If Pardew knew how to rotate our team this season then maybe Cabaye and Sissoko wouldn't look so dead on their feet at the moment.

 

Just needs patience and time. He had a ropey start, then a good spell and he has been a bit poor of late. Been used a lot in Europe, and I think he'll come good in time. He happens to play in the one area where we are rich with talent. This "drop Jonas" idea is baffling to me I have to say. Drop a wide left man for a central midfielder. We all know Jonas needs replaced. If Marveaux could get himself fit more often and display some consistency, it would help. I suppose if Benni was fit then The Gouf would have moved over.

Back to Anita though, I think he'll prove a valuable player for us in time. I do think Pardew made a mistake not resting Sissoko or Cabaye for him in that murderous run to allow them to continue their good form. I think having Cabaye, Sissoko, Anita, Tiote, Perch as our central options for the midfield three will serve us well next year. It makes it even more important to get that natural number 10 to unlock Cisse's potential as well as getting another striker to provide some competition. You could of course look to offload Jonas and get a long term option to compete with The Gouf and Benni in the wide areas (they'll need to be good enough to start because Benni will get injured)

 

He does break up play, he just intercepts the pass rather than having to tackle for it - his positioning is world class.

He's just an excellent player... Fergie has played him at CB when needed.

He's the best Geordie player currently...

 

Agree regarding Carrick, phenomenal player. Just a shame Freddie Sheppard made Sir Bobby sign Nicky Butt all those years ago instead of this lad!

Hard to believe he's been overlooked for England in the past!

 

I think its due to the fact mate that Tiote has been wretched for a long time now, always makes mistakes at critical moments. My heart is literally always in my mouth when he is on the ball as I know he is about to lose it. He is clumsy, lack awareness, passes poorly and I think since the Arsenal game thinks he is a world class midfielder and he most def isn't.