goodrobotusses

"INTERNATIONAL FOOTBALL ACTION-ACTION-ACTION!"

Welcome to the world of British football journalism. To think these c**** get paid for what they're doing...

Well, yeah. The classic 4-2-4 winger is dead, but I guess it's just easier to still call a ball-carrying wide player a winger. We're still short in that area - Babel has potential, but seems happier coming inside, Pennant isn't really good enough for a challenging team (IMO), and Kewell seems to have lost his old yard of pace, though he's still a good footballer.

Three separate statements, dude. Potential OR lesser OR not really a winger. Not all three together. Way to jump the gun and miss my point. Again. Next time I'll draw diagrams. Going back to what others were saying... Capel has been touted as a talent, aye - not seen him much myself though. Silva is good, but again not really a winger-winger.

That's the problem, really. There aren't any great wingers out there who're available. If you think about the best wingers over the last few years... Ronaldo - no chance Vicente - crocked Figo - too old Duff - all-but crocked Kewell - never likely to regain his early 20s form Ribery - next to no chance Robben - next to no chance; injured a lot; t*** Simao - unlikely to be prised from Atleti So then you drop into the lower tier of 'potential', lesser wingers, and players who aren't really wingers... Ribery - next to no chance Schweinsteiger - not really a winger; next to no chance Quaresma - unconvincing; t*** Drenthe - s**** Messi - not a winger; absolutely no chance Mancini - unconvincing Alves - probably a more effective attacking RB; expensive Joaquin - never lived up to potential A bit annoying, really.

Aww. I thought Newcastle, its fans, and Allardyce all deserved each other.

Carragher/his family, at a guess.

Milan's second goal in the CL final last year - not to mention their entire first half performance in the 05 final - showed just what can happen to a Gerrard-Alonso central-midfield. When we subbed Masch, it was the first time all night Kaka got any space (friggin' acres of it) and the next thing he's putting it on a plate for Inzaghi to score their second - game over. Getting rid of him would be madness. Gerrard should be told to play wide and be done with it - if it was good enough for Zidane at Madrid and Nedved at Juve, it should be good enough for him. Playing RM/LM doesn't restrict you to that role, no matter what English media "experts" say. As long as your team has players who can provide width - whether they be full-backs, another winger on the other side, or your forwards - Gerrard doesn't need to be restricted to staying there for every minute of the game. Top teams can nullify Gerrard in the middle, especially as one of a two man midfield - he'll either be disciplined and be stuck deep all game, or he'll go roaming and big gaps appear. I guess another solution is to stick him behind a sole striker, but I can't remember many games he's played well there, if any. He did, however, have an entire season playing very effectively from the right of midfield.

Well yeah, I was maybe under-egging that particular pudding. Shame we can't just mash the other three together - Crouch's touch, Voronin's position play, and Kuyt's industry. Ah well.

I think that's why Rafa wanted Alves so bad. I can't remember who, but someone mentioned a while back Rafa wanting a left-back who could tuck in almost as a third centre-back, and that he'd tried Riise in this role but it didn't work. It kinda makes sense when you think of Rafa's top (missed) transfer targets... --------------Reina ---Alves Carra Agger Heinze Gerrard Masch Alonso Malouda --------(whoever) Torres You've got one full-back who operates like a winger, another who's more naturally a centre-back but can do a steady supporting role down the flank. Then in midfield you have a marauding player on the right who will drift inside, and a natural winger on the left who will hold shape - with two deeper centre-mids who between them can regain and dominate possession, while covering gaps defensively when we attack. It almost becomes an 3-5-2 in attack I guess. Shame we're never going to see it, mind.

Can't agree. A midfield of Gerrard on the right, Alonso and Masch in the middle, and a proper quality winger on the left, would dump on most midfields in the world. A top quality second striker alongside Torres would be the cherry on top.

Aye, that's a much more succinct way of putting it than I managed. And just to dip back into the drama that's been ensuing for the past 3 pages (very amusing), I reckon that Kaizer is John Arne Riise and has finally flipped out after months of being berated on here in two different guises. You're all just jealous of his uncanny ability to harrass women by text, run in straight lines and kick a ball really really really hard.

Yep. Good football (hopefully!), and no endless media "Ingerland will definitely definitely definitely win it" b******s. The only downside might be having to deal with tv pundits probably jabbering on about how every team there would have been no match for England had they qualified, etc.

Carra is fine. Gerrard just needs to stop trying to force chances with over-ambitious passes (a relic of the Houllier era that it seems he'll never outgrow) and trust his team mates more. Too many times when we're chasing a goal he's trying to play the final pass too early rather than keeping the ball and trying to work an opening patiently. It's the biggest weakness in his game.

Ah, cool. Think it might be worth being in that neck of the woods for the atmosphere anyhoo. Hmm.

I was hoping to catch a game in Klagenfurt in Austria (Croatia v. Germany being the most attractive) because my girlfriend's mum owns a guesthouse in a village an hour or two down the road from there. Unfortunately, I have no idea about procuring tickets after UEFA already did their ballot thing.

Way to miss the point, champ.

I wouldn't judge Kewell's ability to beat a man in a straight run by yesterday. Onohua is one of the fastest players in the PL. What Kewell does have is guile - the sort of guile that allowed him to beat said defender a couple of times in the first half yesterday, despite being no match for him in terms of speed. I honestly think people should give Kewell the chance to regain full fitness - he's been out for ages and seems to be feeling his way back still. A lot of players come back from long term absences have an initial burst of form then hit a dip as their body gets used to playing regularly again and work their back over a longer period of time. I appreciate it's difficult to be patient when we need results now, and yeah there's a chance that maybe the injuries mean this is as good as things are going to get with Harry, but the guy is playing for his LFC future and should be allowed til the end of the season to get his full form/fitness back if possible. Long term, being 29 and having had a career wrecked by injury, he may not be 'the answer', but if he can find his way back to a decent level of form/fitness, he's definitely worth keeping as a squad player on a reduced contract (let's face it, no other club is going to offer him £65k a week given his injury record - well, maybe Newcastle). His ability to play as a 2nd striker shouldn't be overlooked either, if we offload a striker at some point. As for diminishing pace, that hasn't kept players like Figo or Giggs contributing to their clubs over recent years - technique and skill are pretty important for wingers, not just speed... lest we have a world of Shaun Wright-Phillipses.

I'm not doubting his injuries have wasted his talent for us, not at all. It's a crying shame that his career has been so blighted, but now he actually appears to be getting fit again and playing for his future with us, I can't think of many better options than him at left-mid who'd be a) available, or b) affordable. It's something about good left wingers being permanent crocks though... Kewell, Duff, Vicente, Robben to an extent...

Who? And for how much?

Your two most defensive midfielders, given none of your front four is going to track back much.

He was absolutely awful. More so than normal. I particularly liked the part when England were 2-0 down but Andorra-Russia was still all square and he was building up Andorra's chances. He was on a par with Wayne Bridge last night, the idiot.

Exactly what the FA deserve, that.

When you give Riquelme a team and a style of play tailored to his specific needs (slow possession build-up football, everyone else working on his behalf), he can be a genius. But the guy is also a massive bottler in big games. If you ever were to create the perfect template for an anti-Rafa Benitez type of player, he would be it.

The sticks people usually beat Rafa with in terms of his buys (Josemi, Nunez, Pellegrino, Kromkamp) are usually cheap stop-gaps needed to bolster the squad at minimal expense. Morientes was a flop, yeah, but no one ever doubted the guy's quality - it was just a shame he couldn't adapt to English football. It happens. I guess Paletta is another, but he was young and could not be afforded the chance to grow up and adapt in the glare of the Premier League. He may yet go on to become a good player back in Argentina and move back to Europe someday.