MikelBlue, on 22 February 2012 - 02:46 PM, said:
I bet Usain Bolt has adequate speed to interchange in midfield should he choose a career in football but sadly for Usain, a footballer requires more than mobility. I see Merieles as a jack of all trades but master of none which just about renders him incompetent against credible opponents as we saw last night. Not Raul's fault but the fault of the man who sent him out there and watched him chase shadows for 70mins before learning the hard way 3 goals later (like an inexperienced manager) that competent midfielders were required for the task. His positioning was non existent (literally MIA in midfield), passing was amateurish and marking was nil. He's not better than Essien or Mikel as DMs and doesn't touch Lampard's effectiveness today. All three were on the bench in a game were you needed hardmen in midfield to do the dirty job of grinding out an away result. These are the guys we have. We don't have 'interchangers' but we have guys that know how to win.
Problem is AVB is petty and near childish in his man management approach. Swallow your pride and work with all the players. He's really making a fool out of himself with the way the team is rapidly crash landing under his leadership.
If you wish to see it that way, sure. Mobility is just as important though, you have someone who is more cumbersome and you're going to have just as many issues. You're right, Meireles is a bit of a jack of all trades sort of player, but again that's through no fault of his own. He's been relied upon too heavily for the sort of player he is, which wouldn't have been the case had we managed to sign Modric. But alas, we didn't and Meireles has had to take up some of that extra slack. More so when Essien's been out for much of the season, Mikel has had his injury issues and Lampard quite inconsistent and on the decline himself. Leaving Romeu, who came in and done well at times, but others also showed his inexperience. So it's not like we're brimming with choices. Raul might not be the best passer, the best tackler or the biggest goal threat but he works hard and as mentioned, he offers a better dynamic in midfield, which allows for more balanced transition and fluidity in the middle. In general, he does read the play well and has shown that during the season, but he also done something that basically none of the others do- which again relates back to being more dynamic. He makes forward passes to break the lines, but then follows it up. He did it a few times against Napoli, where he'd pass the ball forward and then rotate through the middle. You don't get that with the others who can play that deep role. They usually just play short backwards or sideways passes. This is the exact reason why Raul plays as often as he does. He actually isn't as horrendously bad as people here makes him out to be- they just tend to see what's on the surface and not the little things inbetween the lines.
You say AVB is petty and near childish, but what about some of our players? Shouldn't quite a few of them swallow their own pride and egos and work with the coach? It goes both ways. And at the end of the day, the coach picks the side. It's then the players job to execute their roles on the pitch. Something that's only every been done on a collective level a handful of times this season.
steve morgan, on 22 February 2012 - 03:18 PM, said:
Dynamic the new word in soccer the truth is he can't trap can't pass and definetly can't tackle so the only dynamic he has is that he can run as long has he dosen't have a ball at his feet .
It's hardly a new word, but more what best explains it all. He's not the best player we have, but he does have qualities that others in his position don't. I'm sure people would still criticise and pick faults if it was Mikel in that role or even Romeu, showing his inexperience and inconsistency too. Meireles is just the go to man because he's the one on the pitch at the present. Weather that's fair or not, is down to the individual I guess.
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