What we're missing - Wingers

-------------------Krul-------------------
Simpson --- Saylor --- Coloccini --- Santon
Obertan --- Cabaye --- Tiote --- Jonas----
----------------Ben Arfa------------------
-------------------Ba---------------------

The actual spine down the side - from the keeper to the striker - is very good, and is easily what we need to be pushing for the 7th and 8th spots on a consistent basis. Some of those players wouldn't even look out of place in a top 5 side, so to have them in our team is a great foundation, one of which many teams couldn't claim to have themselves.

However, one major, glaring issue is our wingers. Almost every other team has a set of wingers (or at least one) who can create attacks and get quality crosses into the box, but it's something we simply don't seem to have in a good enough capacity. Even teams with some fairly average players in positions like centre midfield can play well because they have one or two quality wingers to take the ball up the flanks instead.

Our style of play is based quite a lot around the use of the wings in a 4-4-2 formation. It's not like we always play it through the middle al la Arsenal or Barca, so a lack of wingers who can do the business really puts us at a disadvantage - especially when we face good teams who will make it too difficult to attack through the centre.

In my opinion, I would like us to, for once, ditch the experiements, ditch the 'potential' and simply bring in two decent wingers. No one amazing, just two experienced wingers who can beat their man and put balls into the box.

We must literally be the only team in the EPL who has TWO wingers which struggle to have any actual end product. I know Jonas has other uses, but both him and Obertan have trouble with the simplest of tasks, i.e getting to the end and putting in a well-aimed cross or pass. In that respect, they are two of the poorest wingers I know. Last season at least we had one in Barton, and personally I didn't even think he was THAT good. He just knew how to do what a winger is supposed to do.

So lets skip the games and bring in two experienced wingers who can get the ball down the flanks, put crosses in and track back. It's three simple responsibilities of a winger, and someone who is capable of doing all three in some capacity isn't going to be that expensive.

Until we do that, I think our very strong spine down the side will never be seen at its full potential.

 

We should have bought Moses, hes class

 

Santon will come good I hope.

Wishingly

Cissokho - LB
Hoilett - RM
And once Marv comes back, he can go LM and voila

 

Ober is **** and Jonas has done **** all since the Stoke game so bringing in wingers would be more than welcomed but there are other areas we need to focus on i.e defence and another striker

 

Hoilett looks a good player but while we have no class wingers, Steven Taylor is the biggest miss in our team.

The lad's strong, good header of the ball and can get forward when needs to.

 

We need to buy a LB and a RM at the very least to push on. Santon will show his class when he is fully settled and played on the correct side. I know Jonas has been pretty poor this season, but IMO he has not been helped by the lack of a natural LB. Also hopefully we can get Marv back to full fitness and let him and Jonas battle it out.

 

And moses scores

 

Honestly, I wish we signed Larsson.

I don't even think he's THAT good of a player, but he's a winger who can simply do the job properly, and that immediately makes him better than someone like Obertan or even Jonas.

 

I didn't want Larsson while we had Barton. But being left with Obertan on the right, i'd rather play me.

 

Under O'Neil think Larsson will shine.

 

There's just no intelligence to Obertan's play. At all.

Any good and experienced winger will be planning ahead and figuring out what sort of cross or pass to make to create a goalscoring opportunity. Obertan's thought process stops dead at how he's going to get past the first man he faces. If he actually manages to do it, then he just wants to get the ball away and into the box as quickly as he can.

Whereas most teams would save their praise for when a winger makes a pinpoint cross, we save our praise for when Obertan actually manages to beat his man. It's ridiculous when you think about it. In the EPL, stuff like that should be a given.

 

The key thing that Enrique gave us was Jonas. Without Enrique, Jonas looks lost, and against Liverpool - who should be given credit for closing every attack down very well - he just ran into brick walls, constantly.
Jonas most urgently needs to work on his distribution and keeping his head UP. Tries to hang onto the ball too often when Cabaye is screaming for it.

As for Obertan - paradoxically, he needs dropping to get his confidence back. Apparently he's injured which will be good only if someone takes over from him and forces him to fight his way back into the side from the bench.

I want us to sign at least Hoilett in January to provide us some cover. It's extremely frustrating therefore that Marv is just sitting there on the treatment table... we might need to look at the loan market but I think there are no options available!

 

A fair anaysis

 

Sorry but that's harsh on Jonas. He hasn't been fantastic recently, but he's been a vital part of the team for a while now. He can go forward well, and defend well.

 

Completely agree, a RM/RW is of utmost importance.

Even if we got a player like Alex Oxelade-Chamberlain on loan, though I'm not even sure they'd let him go.

 

RW, LB, CB cover, Striker cover. That's what we need in my opinion. LB and RW to come straight into the first XI and a CB to cover Saylor and then provide competition.

Get Marv back to provide competition for Jonas and I bet he'll step up..

 

When was the last time Jonas had a dramatic impact on our attacking play leading to a clear-cut chance? That goal in the Wolves game is the last I recall.
We also need him to develop chemistry with Santon if Santon is to be our long-term LB - in recent games Jonas has become known for his tendency to ignore players around him, which works if he has an LB releasing him but when he charges into brick walls it doesn't.

 

Totally agree Chappaz. The spine of our best 11 is brillant, but if we are to push on we need better wingers and a lot more stregth in depth.

 

As already stated, name the situations where Jonas has got the ball towards the box and put in an accurate cross or pass? This is one of the most BASIC winger tasks which both of our wingers seem incapable of doing anywhere near often enough.

Jonas offers a lot, but if he offers everything apart from the basic duties of a winger, then we have a problem. We're playing a gameplan which relies on crosses and passes in from the flanks, but we're not getting them from Jonas or Obertan. You can bitch about 'going forward' (whatever that means), but where is the end product?

 

Completely agree Chappaz.

When is Marv due back anyway? edit: April 2012 :/