why not insua ?

[Red Yoda]

we seem to have had a problem at left back for an eternity . we have tried player after player after player and for one reason or another we never seem to get the whole package .

 

they never seem to be capable ( to the standard we require ) of defending and attacking .

 

we have had warnock , who is now gone , riise who is now gone , arbeloa played a few times and is now our 'first choice' right back , dossena has arrived this season , going forward he can offer a bit , but defensively he is really lacking in pace , other teams have worked this out already , hull played mendy against him , specificly because of this and he caused dossena no end of problems . aurelio is a talented played but he is so vunerable to injury its ridiculous .

 

insua has played well in any of the games that he has been tried in , so why has he not been given a run of games . i would have thought that playing insua regularily would at least allow the back four to get a steady understanding , rather than continually having to adjust because a different player is stepping in at left back ever second or third game .

 

what do the rest of you guys think of insua ?

 

have any of yous seem him regularily at the reserves games ?

[Hassony]

Rafa showed that he trusts him enough to have started him in our biggest game for 19 years, I am sure he will get a few more starts this season, and properly challenge for the position next season (depending what happens with Dossena and Aurellio)

[richwilks]

We have to bare in mind that Dossena is Italy's regular left back and when fit Aurelio is a top player. That's why his chances are limited and Dossena will generally get the nod.

[Earl Hafler]

We have to bare in mind that Dossena is Italy's regular left back and when fit Aurelio is a top player. That's why his chances are limited and Dossena will generally get the nod.

 

Aurelio's never fit for long enough though so why not give those starts to Insua and help him progress.

 

We seem to cotton wool players until they're 21 by which time they've stagnated.

 

Hopefully we'll see Insua again before January

[Eskimo]

Aurelio's never fit for long enough though so why not give those starts to Insua and help him progress.

 

Er, what about letting our £8m signing get established first...

[Earl Hafler]

Er, what about letting our £8m signing get established first...

 

I'm talking about when Rafa rotates Aurelio in, or are you at Rafa

[Hassony]

I'm talking about when Rafa rotates Aurelio in, or are you at Rafa

 

 

Wow, I agree with Earl Hafler!, I really can't see the point in playing aurellio when he doesn't offer reliabilty, look at the CL semi final last season when he got injured!

 

Is this aurellio's last year or did he sign a four years contract?

[fabfive]

I think Insua will be a tidy left back and even a backup at LM.

 

But don't we already have one of the tightest defenses around. Rgardless of who's played LB or RB, even Carra was given a go at RB, we still concede few goals.

 

So I think some supporters are looking for perfection from each position. Dossena isn't as bad as some make out. Even defensively. He's saved us a few times and yes he's been beat for pace a few times as well. But as a unit we're fine.

[Chili Palmer]

Wow, I agree with Earl Hafler!, I really can't see the point in playing aurellio when he doesn't offer reliabilty, look at the CL semi final last season when he got injured!

 

Is this aurellio's last year or did he sign a four years contract?

 

 

I am of a different view, I think he is by far our best left back and should play when fit, even if he only manages 20-30 games a year he should get the nod.

[mally]

can anybody help me out a bit here. can you point out what it is that dossena is actually good at. i'm not being sarcastic here. i just really can't see it.

[Red Yoda]

I think Insua will be a tidy left back and even a backup at LM.

 

But don't we already have one of the tightest defenses around. Rgardless of who's played LB or RB, even Carra was given a go at RB, we still concede few goals.

 

So I think some supporters are looking for perfection from each position. Dossena isn't as bad as some make out. Even defensively. He's saved us a few times and yes he's been beat for pace a few times as well. But as a unit we're fine.

 

 

to say that perfection is the target would be right . now i know that there are some incredible players and teams , but no perfect ones , but it is still the target .

 

aim for the stars and all that , you know know the rest ........

 

at the minute we are doing brave and well result wise , performance wise isnt so appealling , but its good because rafa can at least use that as a way of getting more out of the players .

 

'' yes guys , congatulations , we are still top , but we need to sharpen our passing and be more clinical infront of goal , in that way , we will finish teams off sooner in matches and our confidence will improve as a result .''

 

the team are doing well , yes , but we can and need to improve . one way that you can do that is by clearing the way for a young player who has talent , so that he can become a valuable member of the squad .

 

aurelio is a good player , yes , is insua capable of doing as good a job in the team or squad at the minute ................ i think yes , which player is likely to develope better over the next 3 or 4 seasons ............... insua must surely the better option with that in mind .

 

if finnan can be seen as surplus to reqirements down the right side , then when we have just spent £7.5m on dossena and we have insua coming through , surely would it not make sense for us to move aurelio on getting maybe £2m for him and freeing up wages for other players who we might go for to improve other positions ?

[Hassony]

can anybody help me out a bit here. can you point out what it is that dossena is actually good at. i'm not being sarcastic here. i just really can't see it.

 

Crossing, being a constant option on the left wing

 

he has struggled a bit to fit in as part of the defensive unit, but he has improved a lot since the spurs game

[Red Yoda]

can anybody help me out a bit here. can you point out what it is that dossena is actually good at. i'm not being sarcastic here. i just really can't see it.

 

 

he is aggessive ,a good workrate and team ethic , has good positional sense , and can put a good cross in , but his major flaw is his lack of pace , he can and does get opened up especially at home when we are pushing up and thus leaving large areas of space behind our defense .

[Hassony]

he is aggessive ,a good workrate and team ethic , has good positional sense , and can put a good cross in , but his major flaw is his lack of pace , he can and does get opened up especially at home when we are pushing up and thus leaving large areas of space behind our defense .

 

I don't know where this has come from, I don't he is slow at all, seems to struggle against quick wingers but its not because he is slow

[Red Yoda]

I am of a different view, I think he is by far our best left back and should play when fit, even if he only manages 20-30 games a year he should get the nod.

 

 

if we work on that theory , then we need another player who is going to have to be content with stepping out of the 1st 11 at any given time , surely it would be easier and better sense to develope a young player to take that position or goi out and get a better player who is not injury prone ?

[Red Yoda]

I don't know where this has come from, I don't he is slow at all, seems to struggle against quick wingers but its not because he is slow

 

its not that he is SLOW as in snails are slow , but that he is not quick enough to compete with the wingers who he plays against . any team at any level , if the know anything about tactics are going to use things that to their advantage , if the can do that , then it makes us vunerable .

[Hassony]

its not that he is SLOW as in snails are slow , but that he is not quick enough to compete with the wingers who he plays against . any team at any level , if the know anything about tactics are going to use things that to their advantage , if the can do that , then it makes us vunerable .

 

I don't think he is any slower than Riise, and Riise always did very well against the speedy wingers

[Sion]

I don't know where this has come from, I don't he is slow at all, seems to struggle against quick wingers but its not because he is slow

 

His biggest weakness by far is his height

shortest player in the PL isn't he?

Not good if we play the likes of Villa and they put Harewood or Carew on him

[Red Yoda]

I don't think he is any slower than Riise, and Riise always did very well against the speedy wingers

 

 

maybe i have just seen him in games when he has been caught flat footed and the other player has got an edge over him , i hope that his performances show that my point isn't accurate .

 

by any chance did you see the game against hull ?

[Hassony]

His biggest weakness by far is his height

shortest player in the PL isn't he?

Not good if we play the likes of Villa and they put Harewood or Carew on him

 

Shorter than lennon and SWP?

 

His heading is not the best, another thing that riise was actually very good at (well most of the time anyway!)

[Sion]

Shorter than lennon and SWP?

 

His heading is not the best, another thing that riise was actually very good at (well most of the time anyway!)

1 Emiliano Insua Liverpool 165 cm

2 Aaron Lennon Tottenham 165 cm

3 Shaun Wright-Phillips Manchester City 166 cm

4 Shaun Wright-Phillips Manchester City 166 cm

5 Steed Malbranque Sunderland 168 cm

6 Paul Scholes Man Utd 168 cm

7 Miroslav Stoch Chelsea 168 cm

8 Carlos Tevez Man Utd 168 cm

9 Jermain Defoe Portsmouth 169 cm

10 David Di Michele West Ham Utd 169 cm

[Hassony]

1 Emiliano Insua Liverpool 165 cm

2 Aaron Lennon Tottenham 165 cm

3 Shaun Wright-Phillips Manchester City 166 cm

4 Shaun Wright-Phillips Manchester City 166 cm

5 Steed Malbranque Sunderland 168 cm

6 Paul Scholes Man Utd 168 cm

7 Miroslav Stoch Chelsea 168 cm

8 Carlos Tevez Man Utd 168 cm

9 Jermain Defoe Portsmouth 169 cm

10 David Di Michele West Ham Utd 169 cm

 

I find that surprising

 

doesn't look like he is the shortest in the picture

 

[Sion]

Another interesting stat

Arbeloa has the 2nd highest amount of yellows, at 7

but has made only 19 fouls, which puts him 52nd on the list of players who've committed the most fouls

whilst Carlton Cole is 3rd on the players who've committed the most fouls list with 39 fouls and has only one yellow card

Edited December 18, 2008 by Sion

[smithdown]

Reina's very small for a goalie, innee?

[Suth]

We have to bare in mind that Dossena is Italy's regular left back and when fit Aurelio is a top player. That's why his chances are limited and Dossena will generally get the nod.

 

No he's not. He didn't get picked for last summers euro squad at all and he hasnt played in any of their recent full internationals. Hes shown some glimpses going forward but is awful defensively. Insua deservers a crack.