[quote author=LeTallecWiz link=topic=47803.msg1439806#msg1439806 date=1323279082]
[quote author=Wizardry link=topic=47803.msg1439767#msg1439767 date=1323272872]
[quote author=LeTallecWiz link=topic=47803.msg1439737#msg1439737 date=1323270645]
[quote author=Wizardry link=topic=47803.msg1439719#msg1439719 date=1323268901]
[quote author=Tinto link=topic=47803.msg1439705#msg1439705 date=1323267516]
Anyway...... so, the top 4.
Loads of people are saying Spurs can't any play better than they are currently and will have a dip. I think that might apply to us too... we're playing far from badly at the moment. 11 matches unbeaten before Monday... our back 4 is very sound, Adam and Lucas (before his injury) were very good indeed and Suarez is Suarez.
I think there's might be more to come from Caroll and Henderson but is their improvement enough to propel us into the top four? Unlikely, I would say now. So, how else are we going to get there? Downing? Nope! There's Gerrard of course, our best goalscorer, but nobody seems know if he is the same player now or even if he will be back.
To have a chance of qualifying for the CL, I think Henry and co and will need to dip into their pockets and find us a player in January that will have the same impact as Suarez did. Otherwise I don't currently see who will provide the improvement that we need.
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People are over complicating it IMO. Our performances this season haven't been near the level they were under Kenny last season. Ming is a (major) reason for this but the rest of the team is underperforming in key areas. [/quote]
I seriously cannot believe how much value you place on Ming. We haven't been winning games - be it against the Shitties or the Sunderlands - not because we're missing a midfielder. We've been losing games b/c we're not scoring enough goals. Meirless, bar one lovely run of 5 goals in 6 (I think), wouldn't have helped us in that department. We aren't winning games because we have no one to share the workload up front with Suarez. If we had one goalscorer, as you mentioned, we'd be fighting with Spurs for 2nd, if not 1st. If we had one Raul, we'd probably be exactly where we are now ...
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Yeah, no chance there's a link between our good play with goals and our good play without goals and his departure.
I know you're one of those guys who just doesn't rate someone like Ming LTW but here's the basis of it; Raul could find space in a phone box and as such he kept dragging players out of position. The fact he'd score a few goals increased the need for the opposition to stay with him which, in turn, increased their efforts to follow him. The result is more space for everyone else in the forward third and the opportunity to move the ball forward more quickly because the midfield always had a forward outlet.
I'm not saying Ming was the best thing we've seen but his strengths complimented our needs perfectly.
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a) I do rate Ming, just not the way you do (and the way you go on about him mate, it does seem like he was some Beardo or Alonso like player)
b) Maxi, and or Bellamy, can do just what Ming does - and score more. You concur, right?
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Not really, Maxi can to a degree but has had barren spells, Bellamy is a completely different type of player. Wizardry is right, he wasn't a brilliant player but he found space off the ball and it worked both ways, he would pop up with late darts into the box and he would also occupy one or two of the opposition players. Like Garcia used to do, like Scholes and Ljungberg used to do. You always need a player like that, because as it is, we're otherwise very flat as a midfield, holding positions and isolating Suarez.
