pablopicasso

while debate of that kind is not encouraged on this thread, i think i might add to your "strong comment" and back it up 'from the terraces'... i think pace all round in the central midfield will always be a danger, even if the players dont necessarily have the technical ability to go with it... portsmouths pace and strength a few seasons ago was always dangerous... barry does not have any pace at all... having two snails in the centre of the park, doesnt really help when we play a pacy counter attacking game... nor does it help if we hoof the ball long, and the two central players dont have the pace to support the attack quick enough... he does the simple things really well, but his lack of pace, and the fact that we relied on him to open up defences, and lets face it, he is never going to do that either with his nice neat and tidy sideways passing, or his lack of pace, meant that we were pretty one dimensional, and leant itself even more so to our midfield being over run, and then us ending up hoofing it, over and over... we have still hoofed it this season, especially when carew and heskey play, but we have been forced to change our game to adapt, and after the wigan game, we have been a much better side for it, despite actually having less quality in the centre of the park... fabian delph is the long term replacement for barry, and he has all the attributes to be a much better all round player than barry ever was... in the short time he has been on the pitch, he has shown glimpses albeit in fits and starts, of being an absolutely wonderful player with creativity, vision, tenacity, technical ability and pace... so in the long term, i believe we will have improved on barry... in the short term, we have not... dont think downing is his replacement, as i think he will play left wing, with milner coming into the centre with young moving either wide right or playing behind the striker... they could all switch positions, and make us hard to mark, and good movement, which allows for options for the player in possession, is what i have been waiting for in the centre of the park for ages... which is why i am not too bothered about barry leaving... while a fine and tidy player, he wasnt our best player, and wasnt suited alongside petrov, to our style of play... good luck to him at city.. he has players around him to suit his game, so they will see consistantly nice neat and tidy things from him... i will add a disclaimer in though, this is purely my personal opinion and is in no way factual...

average and a bit flat...

you just know that with all these new "features" that it will make it easier for the so called bigger teams to rape the smaller teams... this thing about the defenders being able to get back at the strikers, just smacks of allowing slow but "rated" cloggers like john terry, the excuse to catch up with speed merchants like agbonlahor... il try the demo, but it it does the same thing of deciding the results before kick off, then i am not buying it... (i had a game on 09 the other day where i had 30 chances and could not score for love nor money, despite trying everything, and the opposition scored with the most dubious penalty in the 107th min and their only chance to win the game 1-0...

yea, baker... his potential really excites me... even more so than clark... and clark has a lot of potential..

we were much better and i was pleased with the performance.. we closed them down, played posession football and passed the ball on the deck... that suits us better.. as does the 4-5-1 / 4-3-3 formation, as the extra man in midfield in midfield allow reo-coker and sidwell to harrass the opposition, and support the attack, while still offering protection to the back line... and if they lose it, then petrov is there to clean up.. suits us much better... gabby seems to suit the lone role too, especially with his new bulky frame... his pace scares the crap out of defenders, and when he runs wide, he creates space for the likes of sidwell and reo-coker to come through the middle... his lack of brains actually helps im here, as his pace and forest gump like running do the damage, and he doesnt have to read his striker partner... he worked really hard yesterday too... thought nicky shorey was superb... looked good on the ball, put through some lovely passes, and generally looked like a proper player... best i have seen him in a villa shirt... maybe a bit of competition can do him the world of good... stand out player for me yesterday though, was ciaran clark... a 19 year old kid thrown in at the deep end, and he looked like he had been there all his life... composed on the ball, brave in the tackle and header, and most importantly for me, aware of everything around him... liked his left foot too... a superb debut from the young kid... most exciting thing for me, is he isnt the best defensive prospect at the club!

could not agree with you more about barry general... still dont think that we have anyone, at this moment in time, who has "replaced" him though... which therefore makes us weaker in that area... fabian delph, in the future, will be a far superior player than barry ever was, however, at this moment in time, he is not... and in the short term, we could suffer for that, unless someone comes in to replace him...

in defence of dom_wren, he coaches over in the states, and i imagine that is where his interest comes from...

best player was reo-coker for me... gave us some dynamism in the centre of the park, while working so hard to close down the opposition... davies was superb too, even with his shoulder injury... delighted with a result i never expected.... liverpool played the better football overall, but we worked hard, played a good away day tactic and took our chances... i do however, hope it doesnt paper over the cracks... martin o'neill has a LOT of work to do in terms of building the squad over the next week...

i agree with this...

we were utter garbage...

utter utter garbage...

it wasnt just "one game" though general... this poor form has been since february and we are arguably weaker than we were last season... what is it, 3 wins since february? that is relegation form in anybodies language... now i understand that the transfer window is open for another two weeks, however, we have had a few months to sort out the squad issues that martin o'neill highlighted quite regularly in his own defence last season... the season started yesterday... not in two weeks time... we should have had the majority of our squad sorted by the start of the season... and the "tired" excuse yesterday from the manager, was just an insult... i save for a long time for my season ticket and it is a financial burden i can barely afford, and could do without, and to hear the manager trying to make excuses like that, because he has messed up the transfers this summer, absolutely disgusts me...

tired, my arse... i am sick of hearing his excuses...

i share this opinion..

have to say general, that walking up the holte steps, and seeing the holte suite all done out, (and the fact that the k5 sign has been straightened ) was fantastic to see... fully appreciate these sorts of things being completed around the stadium... however, i really didnt have the "buzz" i usually have when going back "home" to the first game of a new season yesterday... i was fully expecting to get turned over by wigan, and i am fully expecting to get turned over by most teams this season too... thats not a defeatist attitude, its realism based on our form since february, and the fact that we are a weaker squad in the 4th year of the managers charge than we were last season... i am dreading match days, and even before the kick off yesterday, i cannot wait for the end of the season so that the manager can dissappoint us all again next year in the transfer window... big year for him in terms of fan support, and i think he is already losing a lot of fan support... the attendance numbers and boo'ing at the final whistle, already an indication of how fans thoughts are going... sad, but reality is often not all about candy floss grass and lollipop trees...

very concerned now... shocking performance, and there was no one to come off the bench and change it.. delph showed glimpses of his ability, and beye did ok, but apart from that, we were shocking... our form since february, is relegation standard, and we are a poorer squad than last year...

very concerned...

as it stands, 8-10th.. we dont have a strong enough squad to get any higher, in my humble opinon...

i too am sick of that cretin... he has as much chance of signing ashley young as he does of winning a mr handsome competition... i would really like it if we spoke out about the irritating cockerney barraboy...

some superb performances from the youngsters against very good opposition...

good result... decent performance... some of the younger players looked superb...

delph had an excellent debut against good quality opposition... quieter second half, but albrighton sort of took over the opposite side and he saw less of the ball...

penalty to fiorentia for the ball being smashed into davies arm from close range... good stop by guzan... i really like him...

good chance for delfouneso... who was that who put the ball in? came through a number of players... great play...

he looks fantastic again... loves to run at players, and his delivery is always superb...