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Post by The Toxic Avenger on Oct 7, 2017 21:29:41 GMT
Absolutely burgling a living. Easiest position on the pitch to play. Was Claude Makelele ‘burgling a living’? If it’s such a piece of piss, why couldn’t anyone other than Whelan make a half decent job of it for years?
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Post by PotterLog on Oct 7, 2017 21:31:28 GMT
Yeah it's piss easy, that's why we've been so successful in getting great players there over the past decade 🙄
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Post by PotterLog on Oct 7, 2017 21:31:53 GMT
Absolutely burgling a living. Easiest position on the pitch to play. Was Claude Makelele ‘burgling a living’? If it’s such a piece of piss, why couldn’t anyone other than Whelan make a half decent job of it for years? Haha snap
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Post by Pugsley on Oct 7, 2017 21:32:23 GMT
Absolutely burgling a living. Easiest position on the pitch to play. Was Claude Makelele ‘burgling a living’? If it’s such a piece of piss, why couldn’t anyone other than Whelan make a half decent job of it for years? I knew you'd like that one.
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Post by The Toxic Avenger on Oct 7, 2017 21:36:09 GMT
Was Claude Makelele ‘burgling a living’? If it’s such a piece of piss, why couldn’t anyone other than Whelan make a half decent job of it for years? I knew you'd like that one. Always got time for your greatest hits.
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Post by Gods on Oct 7, 2017 22:17:55 GMT
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Post by JoeinOz on Oct 7, 2017 22:30:11 GMT
The holding role defensive midfielder used to be a sweeper playing behind the defence until 1992. The backpass rule change meant it became a deep midfielder role.
To play it well takes lots of brain and lots of stamina. Paul Scholes did it well for the shit after Roy Keane left because his long passing was so good.
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Post by The Toxic Avenger on Oct 7, 2017 22:31:53 GMT
Barney’s a brilliant writer, but without a Kante the Hazards of the world don’t get that freedom to express themselves.
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Post by Gods on Oct 7, 2017 23:01:46 GMT
Barney’s a brilliant writer, but without a Kante the Hazards of the world don’t get that freedom to express themselves. Yes, I think to be fair he recognises that fact. I can read his stuff all day long, whether I agree with it or not, his left field, satirical, peripheral route really appeals to me!
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Post by Deleted on Oct 8, 2017 0:01:10 GMT
Nobby Stiles was a master of this position and Sir Alf believed Nobby had the best football brain he had ever encountered. Waddo had similar players like John Mahoney. It's not a new concept. Was about to post the same thing when I read your post. link
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Post by trout-licker on Oct 8, 2017 1:47:08 GMT
Roy Keane - hard cunt with a bit of ability
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Post by thedarkknight on Oct 8, 2017 7:45:17 GMT
The holding role defensive midfielder used to be a sweeper playing behind the defence until 1992. The backpass rule change meant it became a deep midfielder role. To play it well takes lots of brain and lots of stamina. Paul Scholes did it well for the shit after Roy Keane left because his long passing was so good. Except Scholes didn't do it well as his tackling was a weak part of his game. Plus there really was so, so much more to him as a player. Phenomenal, and an honour to have watched him life. Now Gattuso, or Di Rossi, they're 2 fantastic examples.
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Post by noustie on Oct 8, 2017 7:57:05 GMT
Paul Lambert v Germany 2003 is the best performance I have seen on a football pitch. He was 3/4 fit and was playing with Daily, Colin Cameron and Paul fucking Devlin in midfield with Pressley, Wilkie as centre halves. Germnay were playing 3-4-3 with Ballack and Finks Centre mid, Neuville in the hole and one of the strikers dropping deep.
Lambert managed to mark the space in front of the back four and cover for every time Daily lost Ballack which was every couple of minutes. His reading of the game was unreal - Germany would pass it about a bit and when they tried to spring a runner Lambert was just stood there. I have honestly never seen anything like it, to start I thought it was luck but then it was every time - like he could see 3 seconds in to the future. Essentially he marked Neuville, a deep lying striker and Finks and Ballack out of a game almost on his own.
One bloke after the game said Lambert was a waste of a shirt and he was pretty much paraded around the bar like the village idiot - 40,000 folk came away thinking 'wow'.
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Post by JoeinOz on Oct 8, 2017 8:48:31 GMT
The holding role defensive midfielder used to be a sweeper playing behind the defence until 1992. The backpass rule change meant it became a deep midfielder role. To play it well takes lots of brain and lots of stamina. Paul Scholes did it well for the shit after Roy Keane left because his long passing was so good. Except Scholes didn't do it well as his tackling was a weak part of his game. Plus there really was so, so much more to him as a player. Phenomenal, and an honour to have watched him life. Now Gattuso, or Di Rossi, they're 2 fantastic examples. But tackling isn't the focal point of the role. Anyway, physical challenges aren't the way to win the ball for several reasons. And after three barren years the shit won 3 leagues in a row when Scholes moved into the holding role. Champions League too. Scholes wasn't the only factor but his passing & intelligence was a huge factor.
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Post by Pretty Little Boother on Oct 8, 2017 9:06:32 GMT
Put it this way, I fucking wish we had a decent defensive midfielder.
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Post by foxysgloves on Oct 8, 2017 18:15:26 GMT
I get what you're saying. But as good as Kante is technically I think it's his mental ability that sets him apart. Rather than trying to do everything he is economical in his approach and seems to judge perfectly when to be defensive, attacking or simply kill a game. And it's that mental ability that Fletcher seems to have and hopefully we will continue to benefit from. It's a position of great responsibility and you have to be happy to do the dirty work and allow others to grab the headlines. My favourite player of all time was Roy Keane and like Kante he was so much more than a CDM. That said, just like Kante, he absolutely controlled games from a similar position. If Kante scored as many as Keane he could well become my new favourite! My favourite non stoke players were always Bryan Robson and mark Hughes Hughes was a fantastic player. Seemed a right grumpy sod but incredible hold up ability and the hardest shot ever. If only he could find a young version of himself for us!!!!
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Post by foxysgloves on Oct 8, 2017 18:16:33 GMT
Absolutely burgling a living. Easiest position on the pitch to play. Put the rod away Pugs....
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Post by djduncanjames on Oct 8, 2017 18:22:13 GMT
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Post by pottersrule on Oct 8, 2017 18:46:00 GMT
Kante is probably the best around right now. So much more to his game than the OP is suggesting. Idrissa Gueye At Everton is another one who could go on to become a top class player in that position. He was fucking immense against us in that first game at Goodson. Not forgetting another Frenchmen Claude Makelele, there was no better defensive midfielder,and he was a pleasure to watch.
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Post by trickydicky73 on Oct 9, 2017 21:36:22 GMT
I still think he'll come good.
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Post by JoeinOz on Oct 9, 2017 21:39:45 GMT
These Roy Keane passes many of which, in addition to keeping the ball, initiate attacking play.
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Post by kustokie on Oct 10, 2017 1:20:45 GMT
Nobby Stiles was a master of this position and Sir Alf believed Nobby had the best football brain he had ever encountered. Waddo had similar players like John Mahoney. It's not a new concept. Was about to post the same thing when I read your post. linkThanks for the link. This is a very sad story about a true legend of English football. I know "it's the Mail", but it raises some interesting questions about why the FA is dragging its feet on investigating brain damage in (Association) Football players. A study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association (https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jama/article-abstract/2645104) published in July of this year showed 87% of the 202 brains of former (American) Football Players examined had brain damage, including 111 or the 112 former NFL players examined. Makes you wonder if the FA is afraid to look.
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Post by bayernoatcake on Oct 10, 2017 21:53:21 GMT
We miss a real quality one massively.
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