jonno_2004 Posted August 7, 2011 Share Posted August 7, 2011 What most of the fans don't realise is in his good season at city he wasn't playing just off the front man, he actually played right of a 3 man narrow midfield with a license to go up and down which he excelled at as his fitness was excellent. Contrary to belief his tracking ability is actually ok and although he doesn't smash into tackles like delph etc he has a decent ability to nick/intercept possession as he reads the game quite well. Any player will struggle to play off the front man in our squad for two reasons 1. Bent doesn't take the ball to feet, he plays off the shoulder of the last man making it hard for the player in the no 10 role to link with him 2. The gap between the midfield and man supporting bent is to large and the ball doesn't come to him fast enough as gabby found out yesterday. Anyone who watched the game yesterday could see Ireland was playin on the left of a 3 and not directly off front man and both aspects of his game benefited from this. An added problem he has is his head drops when he hasn't strong a couple of passes together and his mind goes wondering so it is important to have his closer to the action early on, and maybe push him on later on as his confidence grows. Playing in "the hole" can be very deceiving to fans because from experience you usually spend half if not more the game closing down defenders in a game of 4 v 2 possession, most defenders worth there salt won't be dispossesed in this situation, plus our defenders have a habit of bypassing midfield and banging it long. hence it's a fruitless position. All said I don't think this is the right position for him or any player in our squad but have no doubt about the players abilityGreat post and typifies the situation Young found himself in last season. The one time I've seen it work in the Premier League was Crouch and VDV, with a hoof up to Crouch followed by a knock-down seemed to be the foil of Redknapp. If we're going to have a 3 man midfield it needs to be a half-diamond shape and they need to move as a unit. Otherwise, a standard two up front. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
macandally Posted August 7, 2011 Share Posted August 7, 2011 Having watched the game last night, plus read the last few pages on here I am glad that there are others that can see what the problems is with fitting Ireland into our team. In a nutshell, it comes down to possession to some degree. We generally do not keep the ball well enough and that means our football is still a bit "kick and rush". That does not suit Irelands game. We need to hold the ball better. I would suggest the gap between between midfield and attack is because we do not have ONE player who is energetic and strong enough to be our midfield enforcer. Instead, both Makoun and Petrov have to sit deep which unbalances the whole team. We need to win back possession quicker so that we are in a position to transistion defence into attack further up the pitch, we have Makoun & Petrov sitting too deep to do that. We desperately need a Palacious or McCarthy in there which will really improve the contributions of Makoun, Ireland, Delph and Bannan. IMO of course. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dchitz Posted August 7, 2011 Share Posted August 7, 2011 Having watched the game last night, plus read the last few pages on here I am glad that there are others that can see what the problems is with fitting Ireland into our team. In a nutshell, it comes down to possession to some degree. We generally do not keep the ball well enough and that means our football is still a bit "kick and rush". That does not suit Irelands game. We need to hold the ball better. I would suggest the gap between between midfield and attack is because we do not have ONE player who is energetic and strong enough to be our midfield enforcer. Instead, both Makoun and Petrov have to sit deep which unbalances the whole team. We need to win back possession quicker so that we are in a position to transistion defence into attack further up the pitch, we have Makoun & Petrov sitting too deep to do that. We desperately need a Palacious or McCarthy in there which will really improve the contributions of Makoun, Ireland, Delph and Bannan. IMO of course. Scott Parker springs to mind and is available Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dakid007 Posted August 7, 2011 Share Posted August 7, 2011 ---------- DM ------ DM ------- Gabby- Ireland - N'Zogbia ----------------Bent---------- Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rob182 Posted August 7, 2011 Share Posted August 7, 2011 Having watched the game last night, plus read the last few pages on here I am glad that there are others that can see what the problems is with fitting Ireland into our team. In a nutshell, it comes down to possession to some degree. We generally do not keep the ball well enough and that means our football is still a bit "kick and rush". That does not suit Irelands game. We need to hold the ball better. I would suggest the gap between between midfield and attack is because we do not have ONE player who is energetic and strong enough to be our midfield enforcer. Instead, both Makoun and Petrov have to sit deep which unbalances the whole team. We need to win back possession quicker so that we are in a position to transistion defence into attack further up the pitch, we have Makoun & Petrov sitting too deep to do that. We desperately need a Palacious or McCarthy in there which will really improve the contributions of Makoun, Ireland, Delph and Bannan. IMO of course. Credit where it's due macandally, excellent post Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Willy_Evergo Posted August 7, 2011 Share Posted August 7, 2011 I think Makoun could fill one CM slot as we still need someone to get that ball out of our half and start our attacks, however we do ideally need a defensive minded (agile) player, which we haven't got. Somebody like NRC unfortunately. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bannedfromHandV Posted August 7, 2011 Share Posted August 7, 2011 I think Makoun could fill one CM slot as we still need someone to get that ball out of our half and start our attacks, however we do ideally need a defensive minded (agile) player, which we haven't got. Somebody like NRC unfortunately. .......but better. Hence why he isn't here anymore, look at where he's ended up - that tells you everything about how good he is. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
steve-67 Posted August 7, 2011 Share Posted August 7, 2011 I think Makoun could fill one CM slot as we still need someone to get that ball out of our half and start our attacks, however we do ideally need a defensive minded (agile) player, which we haven't got. Somebody like NRC unfortunately. .......but better. Hence why he isn't here anymore, look at where he's ended up - that tells you everything about how good he is. I agree with you to a degree about NRC, but, he hasn't been replaced. He wasn't a great footballer by any stretch but he has a physical presence that Villa currently lack. Malouda's shot, for Torres to score, Alan's goal yesterday for Braga will become a common theme unless the central midfield position is addressed. We simply do not close down quickly enough and have no physical presence in there. Delph might grow in to the role over the next couple of years but we need someone to teach him. Parker? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rob182 Posted August 7, 2011 Share Posted August 7, 2011 I think Makoun could fill one CM slot as we still need someone to get that ball out of our half and start our attacks, however we do ideally need a defensive minded (agile) player, which we haven't got. Somebody like NRC unfortunately. .......but better. Hence why he isn't here anymore, look at where he's ended up - that tells you everything about how good he is. If we can lose someone from the wagebill and bring in a face then any of Palacious, Parker, De Jong? (though probably out of our pricerange), Huddlestone?, Mulumbu? or someone from abroad could fill a gap to play alongside Makoun & bring Delph through (with Petrov providing some experience to see out the last half an hour of a game). Though, unfortunatly, I think that Petrov will be one of our starters and he will provide a calming influence until his legs go and players roam past him. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AVFC-Prideofbrum Posted August 7, 2011 Share Posted August 7, 2011 considering De Jong is a regular at Man City, I somehow don't see that happening, as Huddlestone is a regular with Spurs.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dudevillaisnice Posted August 20, 2011 Share Posted August 20, 2011 McLeish seemed to have preferred to play Bannan, Albrighton and Clark instead of Ireland against Blackburn. I presume he will get his chances over the next few weeks as we have or will get injury concerns. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CI Posted August 21, 2011 Share Posted August 21, 2011 Ireland will only get a game by default IMO. Dont think he has the desire to FORCE his way into the team Lazy, aloof, multi millionaire idiot Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dchitz Posted August 21, 2011 Share Posted August 21, 2011 Ireland will only get a game by default IMO. Dont think he has the desire to FORCE his way into the team Lazy, aloof, multi millionaire idiot And I'm sure when he does you will eat those words. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChrisNichollsToe Posted August 21, 2011 Share Posted August 21, 2011 Ireland will only get a game by default IMO. Dont think he has the desire to FORCE his way into the team Lazy, aloof, multi millionaire idiot And I'm sure when he does you will eat those words. Any evidence for this? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dchitz Posted August 21, 2011 Share Posted August 21, 2011 Ireland will only get a game by default IMO. Dont think he has the desire to FORCE his way into the team Lazy, aloof, multi millionaire idiot And I'm sure when he does you will eat those words. Any evidence for this? No but I think he is the most talented player in this squad and realises his career is in the twilight zone so will be hungry once the chance arise Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChrisNichollsToe Posted August 21, 2011 Share Posted August 21, 2011 Ireland will only get a game by default IMO. Dont think he has the desire to FORCE his way into the team Lazy, aloof, multi millionaire idiot And I'm sure when he does you will eat those words. Any evidence for this? No but I think he is the most talented player in this squad and realises his career is in the twilight zone so will be hungry once the chance arise Well, hes got the chance on Tuesday to show the gaffer that. Lets hope he does, because i agree he has talent. Its just his application, and he wont be the first promising player to burst on the scene and then stuggle to cope with the added pressure and expectations that brings. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dchitz Posted August 21, 2011 Share Posted August 21, 2011 Ireland will only get a game by default IMO. Dont think he has the desire to FORCE his way into the team Lazy, aloof, multi millionaire idiot And I'm sure when he does you will eat those words. Any evidence for this? No but I think he is the most talented player in this squad and realises his career is in the twilight zone so will be hungry once the chance arises Well, hes got the chance on Tuesday to show the gaffer that. Lets hope he does, because i agree he has talent. Its just his application, and he wont be the first promising player to burst on the scene and then stuggle to cope with the added pressure and expectations that brings. Yes hopefully he can put in a good shift and make the gaffers decision harder in future, Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CI Posted August 21, 2011 Share Posted August 21, 2011 Thats if he bothers to turn up for the Hereford game I somehow doubt it I'd much rather we focus on Gary Gardner and send Ireland out on loan to somewhere like Cardiff or West Ham Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChrisNichollsToe Posted August 21, 2011 Share Posted August 21, 2011 Thats if he bothers to turn up for the Hereford game I somehow doubt it I'd much rather we focus on Gary Gardner and send Ireland out on loan to somewhere like Cardiff or West Ham Use him has part of any deal for Parker! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CI Posted August 21, 2011 Share Posted August 21, 2011 agree CNT, West Ham need Ireland IMO Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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