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barry'sboots

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Everything posted by barry'sboots

  1. It seems that this site tends to polarise people when trying to make their point. Some tend to defend MON and his tactics (or in my view lack of them) to the hilt whilst others tend to view him as a complete fool. If we look at the season's results it has been good - domestic cup runs (although we only beat teams below us in terms of spend, wages etc.) and challenging for fourth, but with a Plop side that have been appallingly managed, a Spuds side that have been turned around over a 12 month period by Arry but have still invested more heavily than us and a Citeh side that have spent a lot of money but have had to put these players together and compete instantly. We have probably been the least entertaining side in that top 7 but our resilience (in defence and with Milners energy) IMO has carried us through. MON has done some things really well - built a very resilient side with a good defence and some very good young english talent. Equally, IMO, he has done some things poorly - his lack of flexibility, inability to rest players and inability to use his bench. If he could have been a bit more adventurous on these latter points I think I would have enjoyed this season much more EVEN IF we had not as close to fourth position, although I do think it would have helped get us there. This is obviously speculation/a personal view and no-one can say whether it would OR INDEED wouldn't have enabled us to make fourth spot.
  2. Or maybe, if the team had been rested/rotated and subs had been used, we would have secured 4th spot by now. We have had a run of games playing teams, with the exception of Everton, that we would expect to be beating given our resources. I think in all of these games we have looked a bit turgid but our resilience, strong defence and Milners energy have carried us home. Certainly, at the weekend, we looked second best for most of the second half against a poor, but also dogged, Blues side but that resilience carried us through. Football at the top level is about fine margins and I feel a bit more energy and a capability to play a consistently higher tempo could have carried us into 4th spot this season. The resilience and doggedness may still get us there. Whatever, the end result (for this season) will have been good BUT it could, I believe, have been better.
  3. Agree 90%. Would love to NRC and Milner play a couple of games. I don't think the Chelski Makalele would be any good in a 4-4-2 as he is too slow and needs to be in a 3. We need a more athletic counterpart for Jimmy if MON is going to insist on 4-4-2.
  4. Great piece on Vital Wigan site, particularly like the quote from McLeish: Moaning Brum Bitten on the Bum I don`t usually comment on decisions in games that don`t affect Wigan Athletic, I usually just watch and enjoy but the Aston Villa Birmingham game has left me a trifle confused. Late in the game (82nd minute) with the score at 0-0 Agbonlahor races into the Birmingham box with the ball at his feet, Birmingham defender Johnson slides in from behind and brings down Agbonlahor, the referee gives a penalty 1-0 Villa. A spot on decision but what a fuss that followed!!! First off the Birmingham players surround the referee, Johnson screaming at his face about his innocence, mind you it`s the same Johnson who screamed at a ref at the DW Stadium earlier this season in an attempt to get Hugo Rodallega sent off for an innocuous challenge, so shouldn`t be too surprised. At the final whistle the Birmingham players were at it again pointing their fingers at and surrounding the referee and his assistant and Brum boss Alec McLeish had a go as well. After the game Sky pundit Andy Gray tried his best to convince the world that Johnson had got the ball and it wasn`t a penalty, what? Gray slowed the replay down, moved the camera angle from the front to the side to the back and still it looked 100% a penalty, then he brought up the referees position which was directly in line and said `if he isn`t sure he shouldn`t have given it`, again what? He got the ball says Johnson, Brum skipper Carr, boss McLeish and pundit Gray, I say Johnson`s stud almost brushed the ball and he got Agbonlahor, the ball neither sped up or changed direction and he bundled into the Villa player who was heading towards goal, a stonewall penalty. I must admit I enjoyed watching the Birmingham players anguish and I felt a little retribution for what happened at St. Andrews when the Latics visited in February and got done by the dodgiest of dodgy penalty decisions after Mario Melchiot was adjudged to have brought down Fahey when it was clear that he was at least a yard away from the Irish Olympic diving champion I remember McLeish at the time saying 'even if there was no contact Melchiot should know better than to challenge there`, well back at you, though there was definitely contact today. Birmingham have won many plaudits this season for the way they have played, thuggish bullying tactics that have seen them spoil their way to 9th spot in the table and scoring just a paltry 35 goals along the way, revenge is a dish best served cold, nice one Villa and Mr Attkinson. Read more: http://www.wigan.vitalfootball.co.uk/article.asp?a=196469#ixzz0mCQtQrmC
  5. Friedel was exellent today. All of the defence played well. Carlos was very strong defensively BUT his distribution was appalling. Please bring Luke back!! Millie was awesome. Petrov was poor and the game just passed him by IMO. Ferguson looked a better player. Wingers were okay. Gab was good and worked really hard. Carew was ineffectual BUT was made to look good by Heskey? The referee was crap. He let the SHA players get away with murder in the first half with overly heavy tackles and constantly sliding through our players. He should have gave cards to Larson and a few others at a minimum. I could see an argument that it wasn't a pen as he got a touch on the ball first BUT I would make two points: - you go to ground in that position and don't make it clear then you are risking it big time. - Gabby would have got to the ball before it went out if Johnson hadn't gone straight though him. Very careless tackle got what it deserved. MON was MON. No surprises with the team and the same really poor impact on the game when we were being bettered in the second half. Sub was very poor! His tactics made a vastly inferior SHA look a lot better than they should have. Agent Gardner did his job well. He was really poor and can't believe he stayed on the whole game.
  6. becuase "the majority" of us believe we have a better right back sitting on the bench week in, week out, without the chance of getting a game, for no discernable reason. Spot on. He should have bought Luke Young when he first moved to Boro and we were playing Olof out there. That cost Randy £3-4m and the chance to see a Melberg Laursen CB pairing! He should certainly be playing him now. And Beye must wonder what he has done. As must Randy - we have a third choice RB who hasn't played since I don't know on £40k p.w. whilst MON continues with a CB out there. It is not Carlos' defending that is the problem, it is not even necessarily the loss of Luke's crosses to set up goals, it is the lack of balance in the team, the lack of threat to the opposition - they will funnel the ball over to Carlos at RB as they know his distribution is poor from there and they do not have to track his runs in the same way that they would with Luke thus it does not create space for the RW. C'mon, own up! It's really because it's seen as another chance by some to beat MON around the head for another perceived "failure"/"stubbornness", etc. If he was playing Young or Beye instead of Cuellar, we would then have a CB on £40k a week who wasn't playing regularly, so it would make no difference to randy Lerner whatsoever. The serious point here is that MON clearly believes the first job of a defence is to defend, and selects players who are strong at doing that over and above fancy runs up the wing, etc. (for which he probably thinks he's got A. Young and Downing) I can assure you that I am not the sort of individual that takes pleasure in "beating someone around the head". I was really excited by MON's arrival and think he has done some very good things BUT I think he has made some fundamental errors - playing people out of position, not utilising his squad (for games and subs) and sticking rigidly to a 4-4-2. I haven't been as frustrated at Villa games for any season during my last 15 or so as a ST holder than I have been this year, and that is not down to potentially missing out on 4th spot but due to the turgid performances driven by MON's inflexibility. I think it is a real mistake to be playing Cuellar out at right back when we have someone as good, IMO, sa Luke Young, available to play right back. To me the team would have much better balance with a RB at RB and without Heskey playing in CM. I can accept that there may be times when injuries, or even the occasional tactical decision although I think these are few and far between, dictate that players get played out of position but not for the length of time that CC has played out there. Sorry to disagree with your views but this is how I feel.
  7. Might take issue with this - Stan was sweating buckets after 15 minutes. That's Saturday (Chelsea), Wednesday (Everton), Sunday (Pompey), Wednesday (Hull) and one of our biggest games of the season coming up on Sunday (5 games in 15 days) with virtually the same team playing 90 minutes of every game!! It's no wonder we tire after 60 and this just cannot be a good thing for the first XI or the squad. Not surprised the performance looked a bit turgid and lacking in energy. Lets hope none of our players get to play in the World Cup because they will all need a bloody good rest after this season is finished!
  8. becuase "the majority" of us believe we have a better right back sitting on the bench week in, week out, without the chance of getting a game, for no discernable reason. Spot on. He should have bought Luke Young when he first moved to Boro and we were playing Olof out there. That cost Randy £3-4m and the chance to see a Melberg Laursen CB pairing! He should certainly be playing him now. And Beye must wonder what he has done. As must Randy - we have a third choice RB who hasn't played since I don't know on £40k p.w. whilst MON continues with a CB out there. It is not Carlos' defending that is the problem, it is not even necessarily the loss of Luke's crosses to set up goals, it is the lack of balance in the team, the lack of threat to the opposition - they will funnel the ball over to Carlos at RB as they know his distribution is poor from there and they do not have to track his runs in the same way that they would with Luke thus it does not create space for the RW.
  9. I agree wholeheartedly with the OP. Cuellar is, IMO, our best CB. Showed it at the start of the season before the signings alongside CD and then again when Collins was injured. He is not, and never will be, anything more than a fill in RB and considering MON has Luke Young, the best English RB, on the bench and Habib Beye (on £40k p.w.) who are both MON signings it is ridiculous that Carlos has played most of the season out there. This stubbornness from MON is only matched by his continual desire to play Emile Heskey as a third CM'er. Heskey is a big target man who, with his physical presence, can manipulate CB's and create space for other attackers and provide lay offs in and around the box. MON has him playing as a link man often in midfield territory. There are a number of problems with this: - at his age and weight he is never going to be able to get up and support Gabby - he is not the most technically gifted footballer and cannot receive, create space and distribute like Delph can! I am personally really fed up with MON's insistence at playing players out of position and it has been our downfall this season, along with his inability to recognise players tiring and make appropriate substitutions.
  10. If Lescott was worth £24m to Citeh, Jimmy must be worth £30m+. They are very flat in their central 3 and don't seem to fancy Ireland - the only player they have that breaks the forward line. Same can be said of ManU now Scholes is approaching retirment. Would be gutted if we sold as he has real potential BUT only if MON can get his head around 4-3-3 or a new manager comes in and adopts this.
  11. Would like to see this. MON is determined to p*** away any chance of fourth spot though by sticking to his rigid 4-4-2 with the same team.
  12. A fairly predictable result. Started well with high energy but got cut open by Everton's central 3 against 1/2. We have to switch to 4-3-3 against top sides playing this formation unless we but a second striker who is capable of dropping in when the opposition have possession. It was way to open for my liking - makes for an entertaining game but I don't think it gets you in the top 4. Friedel: 6. Cuellar: 7 defensively/5 going forward. He is the best defender in our team BUT is not a RB. His crossing is shocking. Warnock: 6. Good defensively, but didn't get forward as much tonight. Collins & Dunn: unsure. Both dealt well with Yakubu/Saha BUT not sure whether they were at fault for the goals until see on TV. Ash: 6. Decent and some good crosses BUT can't seem to beat a man anymore? Downing: 9 for first 20 minutes/5 from then on. He needs three CM'ers to win the ball to get it to him so he can deliver. He is not going to win it back himself. Petrov: 9 for the first half an hour/5 from then on. Great distribution in first half hour but then faded badly and had little impact on the game in the second half. Milner: 8 MOTM. Ran his socks off BUT does too much and MON will burn him out. He drops deep and runs forward BUT needs to do less and do it in the final third for me. Carew: 6. Not sure what he added. Looks a threat when the ball is in at his feet but don't see him and Gabby as a pair. Gabby: 8. Worked hard and got a goal. Fonz: 6. Not enough time and in a desperate scenario. Referee: -6. Crap. First 30 minutes were a joke! MON: 4. Same team. Same tactics. Must be so easy to prepare for a game against the Villa!! Little inspiration again when required, he just looks clueless. Poor sub IMO and clear that no-one on the pitch knows what he is doing when he makes these subs. Would love to have seen Delph from the start freeing up Stan to do more of that distribution and Jimmy to do more work in the final third where he would be more effective than JC IMO. Also, we would get more possession to play Downing in. Its soooo frustrating watching the Villa at the minute!
  13. I think that if Delph comes in and we play 4-3-3 we will win. If Martin sticks with the same of 4-4-2 the best I can see is a draw.
  14. This Disgrace. yup He was obviously annoyed that Milner hadn't tired after 60 minutes!
  15. Didn't say he was today, my comment was meant as a general view. I thought Stan was probably our best player in the first half but had no influence second half. I don't blame him, I think MON just has to recognise that he hasn't got the engine and either needs more help in there (3 man CM) or subbing after he has run his heart out. Especially when he is up against a central three the quality of Chelski's three (or Man U or Everton on Wednesday).
  16. Desperate to see 4-3-3 to match up to Everton with Carew off the bench if needed in the last 30. Our very unimaginative is unlikely to do this though and not play one of the big lumps from the start. I'm getting really frustrated with this!!
  17. Blimey, I didn't think you'd come out with more tosh to defend your position than you already had but you did. Yes, well done, you can come up with any kind of excuse to defend any kind of position (which you have done); sorry that it doesn't run with your Petrov campaign. It's a shame that you don't actually appear to appreciate what you think of some of our players but you actually went today so... Don't see why he should have to defend his position. If he thinks Stan tires, like many including me, then thats his view. You might disagree and your perfectly entitled to it. Its not a Stan campaign its just a view on our team from someone who seems like a pretty died in the wool supporter to me. I would prefer to see NRC start because I would much rather have his energy. Many wouldn't but it doesn't mean they are on a campaign it just means that they view the game differently. Why do you have to have a go at him because he has a different view to you. Why don't you try and counter him with you view and evidence of how he didn't tire in the last 30 and how Milner didn't have to drop in deep because Stan was dominating in there?? We all wanted Villa to win today and break the top but football is subjective and there will be many different ideas of how to achieve it. Thats why discussion forums work supposedly.
  18. Did you switch off at half time?? Didn't think he was playing second half when Jimmy had to keep dropping in to pick the ball.
  19. Good first half. Friedel looked solid. Carlos was good defensively (until the second goal) BUT is absolutely hopeless going forward. Warnock was excellent. CBs did well apart from Dunney's header for the first goal. Petrov had a good first half but tired massively in the second half and should have gone off or been supplemented. Milner worked his socks off and was great but had to drop too deep in the second half because Stan had gone. Ash was lively but ..... Downing had a good game with some excellent delivery. Gab worked his socks and but should have had a penalty. Really needs a partner that can play with him. Carew showed for me that he is a flat track bully and will never really challenge the top sides. To see him in CM is a joke for me. Webb was appalling. Should have been a pen. Terry should have gone. How Mikel didn't get a yellow until that late on was a scandal. O'Neill was very poor IMO. Felt it was the wrong decision to play 4-4-2 but it seemed to work in the first half although I think it probably took too much out of us judging by the second half. We needed energy and drive with 30 minutes to go and he made no response. Delph and the Fonz should have been on BUT he leaves it to 80 mins to swap Heskey for Carew. So glad I didn't go down to see us not try to win another game at Wembley!
  20. What a surprise - 4-4-2 - glad I didn't go down to see Fat Frank get the run of Wembley!
  21. Carew is a flat track bully IMO and its not worth giving Fat Frank all the room in the world so he can score 4 goals just to see JC score 1? Bring him on for the last 20-30 if we need to chase/score but I think we have to start with the 4-5-1 side that most have highlighted. If Dunney is injured at least we will, hopefully, see a RB play, although knowing MON he will probably squeeze Curtis in instead! I think a proper right side - winger + RB - could get at Zhirkov. He started 4-5-1 against Chelski last time - even though Carew on his own ip front doesn't work IMO - and we matched them. It really went to pot when we switched to 4-4-2?
  22. Toyota would be a fantastic choice for a sponsor. Surely, there'd be no stopping us with them involved!
  23. I really hope your first team is selected. Carew of the bench with a switch to 4-4-2 late on if needed. Like you I expect MON to go with the 4-4-2 and Frank Lampard to have a field day!
  24. 3 quick points in response to yours. I said that NRC should have got a longer run in the side after the last Bolton game. I know he is injured and cannot play at the minute so am confused as to what point you think you are making? In response to your second point, I didn't see that much style in Bolton today? And to your third point, JT might not be a master on football tactics and may be a complete tosser but, IMO, he was spot on with his assessment of Villa. Your response didn't really address my main point ... that Stan tires and becomes less effective after 60 minutes. Do you think this is incorrect?
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