Perfect Davids replacement

[jonni39]

wot better oppurtunity is there to find a perfect replacement for davids than TRANSFER LISTED steed malbranque!! hes a proven class act in the premiership, a ball winner and comes up with plenty of goals.

What do you guys think??

[SurreySpur]

Steed Malbranque is a good player with great vision, an eye for goal and some pretty handy skills but there is no way he's a ball-winner. I'd like to see him at spurs as he would add something different but not as a direct replacement for Davids if he goes.

[highlander]

i dont really consider malbranque to be a ball winner, he has undoubted quality and does way in with his fair share of goals. he doesnt inspire or really lif anyone else on the pitch. plus Fulham offered him £50,000 a week and he thinks he is worth £70,000..................he's not.

[Keanoldinho]

Malbrawhatever is another arrogant french ****** and nowhere near as good as Davids, but Diably the young Lens midfielder is class as was Nigel de Jong but we missed out on him

[Jol's Yid Army]

What about Mark Van Bommel at Barca, he doesnt play that much and we may be able to get him quite cheap. He is a good leader, great at free kicks and i do remember him kicking Arsenal around the park when he was at PSV in the Champs league. I think MJ wanted him last season but he went to Barca instead. What do you guys think?

[highlander]

true, he would be a very good addition. did u mean as an addition or in place of davids. he'd be good at both, maybe not as driven as davids but still strong mentally

[Aussiespur]

When Malbranque is good he is pretty good, but more often than not he is quite awful. He would want in the region of 50k per week too & I just don't think he's worth it.

Van Bommel would be an excellent aquisition or we can continue to groom the promising Huddlestone for that role.

[Jol's Yid Army]

I forgot about Huddlestone, what i've heard is that hes pretty good. I think it may be worth giving him a go in the first team.

[Spur]

Apparently van Bommel wants to leave Barca after becoming part of the back-up team, if we can pull that one out the bag then i'd be as happy as when we got Edgar. MVB is a great player, a ****ing world-class player to put it lightly.

Steed ain't worth two-bob, no way is he a ball winner.

I don't think we need any midfielders anyway, except for a left-winger, but still i'd be over the moon with MVB.

[shoot_ffs]

he's an attacking mid unlikely to make a tackle all season. he's a talent no doubt but he'd be in competition with jenas and tainio and probably another. With high wages i can't see it happening. I would have thought murphy could go forward from right mid if we needed jenas out wide to stem a full back. Jol doesn't seem to like murphy on the right side and he looks hopelessly lost on the left. Be surprised if he's there next year.

[Danishspurs]

Shoot_ffs- i don't know if you ever seen Van Bommel play, but he's a very gifted midfielder... Works hard, great on the ball, has a great shot, and he's a real leader. He's biggest weakness in my opinion is that he lacks in pace...

[highlander]

yer MVB's got it all except pace but i think shoot-ffs was talking about Malbranque, he should have meant malbranque otherwise he has very little player knowledge

[shoot_ffs]

well spotted highlander, i was referring to to the orig post about malbranque, who definitely isn't a ball winning midfielder. Yer mvb has got it all, you'd still have to decide who he plays instead of, bearin in mind we've only been able to fit davids in at left side when carrick and jenas are fit.

I think there might have been some truth in the taylor rumour (pompey) in january. not seen much of him to be honest. There's a lot to be said for someone who can crunch some full backs down the flanks, rather like jenas does on the right, but for me his runs are missed if we take him away from his best position. Bridge could fulfil both roles and in both left sided positions so would be a bargain at £6m for me. It could be he'll push lee up to play left mid, and buy an all aout attacking winger too. Bit of a shame we let ethers go really. Noticed the quick guy from lyon malouda was announced in france's squad so he's gonna get plenty of limelight. Must be pretty good to dump pires out of the squad.

[neilmcnab]

ive goto reply to this bridge thing .. now bridge is good goin forward but he aint a defender is he every challenge you dont know if he gona be injured. very injury prone. no real pace, some guys think he fast he looks pacey goin forward runing onto passes, for me bridge isnt an option .. well c over comin season. the davids case now van bommel as som1 pointed out too slow, speciallyly for prem. look at sissoko, thats the type of player we shold be seekin,covers every blade, challenges for 90 mins, even wen he team leading, competitive, uses ball well still only a young boy gona get beter..

[Chinaman]

I'd really like MVB.

[Spur]

I would much rather Mark van Bommel than Sissoko anyday of the week. That is any week of any year.

[whistler9027]

I think a ball winner is essential for the way we set up..but wouldn't class malbranque in that league..he is quality..but I think we need a proven 'warrior' in that position..someone with a hunger for it..I don't think malbranque has that and would only b looking for an extra few quid...like him or hate him someone like a robbie savage..I'm not suggesting him..but he certainly bites in midfield.....who tho..I dunno...

[Chinaman]

MVB is an all rounder. He can tackle as hard as Davids.

[mjbmedia]

Tommy Gravesen from Real Madrid , uses the ball well normally when he wins it and scores a few, and if he plays in the EPL he wont give away as many fouls and cards as he does in the poofier Primera Liga

[Spur]

MVB is an all rounder. He can tackle as hard as Davids.


Well said, perfect player and a great one at that. MVB could be our box to box player getting stuck in then leading forward on the attack. Great passer, great everything.

[Chinaman]

I'll say that he is perhaps 85% of what Ballack is.

[JJ]

I don't think there is any direct Davids replacement in the world, except maybe Gattuso. The energy levels that he plays or (or used to) were phenomenal.

[shoot_ffs]

so now that everyone wants to replace davids, where the hell do you see the replacement playing? jenas is box to box and tackles well enough for me, carrick needs to get forward more and will tackle, but he's not really there to break play up. Which of these two or their qualities do you want to lose?

you might find a fit tainio will do the job, but again he has to be picked and played in a position for it to work.

[Spur]

Teemu could do the ball-winning but with JJ and Carrick in middle everything will get muddled up. We buy a left-winger then its left-winger and Lennon starting, with Carrick sitting back and playing out ball after ball. So what do you have beside him?

JJ is not what i would call ball-winning, granted he is box to box but, in my opinion, this season he has neither demonstrated a willingness to jump in aggressively or get forward a lot to make up for Carricks lack of movement...?

In Keane you have a player dropping back to become the link from midfield to attack. JD has drifted alot to the left to make up for lack of width. We currently play with a very, very unorthodox approach. Either we completely re-define the team and their playing roles and buy to accomadate this or stick with what we have and buy around it. Changing would mean playing one less centre. JJ or Davids if he leaves as I think you cannot take Carrick out. Unless Carrick leaves which I am beginning to think he might.

Very complicated I think.

[shoot_ffs]

i agree about the unorthodox team, but not about jenas. He shouldn't have to cover for carricks lack of forward runs. It doesn't matter who the players are if we only have 3 midfielders willing to go forward, we ain't gonna win many games.

Jenas has 6 goals in 30 appearances in the prem, and another goal in the FA cup. I think for his first season he's done bloody well, especially as he's been played right wing a few times. He also missed a few sitters ie chelsea and newcastle, so he gets forward, nobody else in the team has that kind of return from midfield so it's tough to single him out. If anything we need more like him.

[mjbmedia]

JJ could do with being a bit quicker when hes on the ball tho. too many times he dallies and gives it away or is tackled, hustled out of possession.

Also we DEFINITELY need to pass then move into space, jeez its pisses me off how slow we are , pass , stand still and admire my pass, o then i get it back and weve gone nowhere , meanwhile the defence of the other team has now retreated and any advantage we had is lost arghhhhhhh

[Houdini logic]

I like JJ alot, was a bit funny about the amount of money we put on him, but he tries hard, scores goals and is an excellent aquision, in my book.

[Welsh Spur]

I don't think we'll see a direct replacement for Davids, if he leaves. The club has many quality midfielders, not to mention ones who haven't played yet, so I think maybe they've been bought with his departure in mind. The Carrick-Jenas partnership gets the thumbs up from me, I think we'll see it blossom this year.

[Chinaman]

But surely the acquisition of MVB will give us some Gerrardesque shooting from way beyond our normal shooting range. This is one of the most lethal weapons we are lacking.

[Welsh Spur]

I was gutted he chose Barca last summer. Amazing player and from the looks of it, should have come to WHL...aint played much at the Nou Camp has he?

[Chinaman]

If we had him this season, we'd have qualified for the CL. Of course I expect the Arse to lose the Final.

[Welsh Spur]

So if we are aiming to progress next year, is 4th the target or are we looking even higher?

[Jol's Yid Army]

If we finish 5th again next season and get to at least 1/4 finals of the Uefa cup i'll be pleased, anything else would be a bonus. I know what your all thinking "why not top four" but i just think the balance of the league and europe is gonna be a strain on the players.

[Welsh Spur]

Yeah I'd be happy with that, depending on the quality we sign this summer.

[Chinaman]

If we strengthen properly, that is with at least one tall striker, a leftie midfield and 2 full-backs who are all better than the incumbents, we could even challenge for 3rd place as the Arse will be weakened and I do not see Liverpool improving a lot.

[Welsh Spur]

To be honest I see Liverpool challenging Chelsea next year. And us keeping up with United in third/fourth while Arsenal watch the season pass them by, Henry-less.....

[chazzayid]

riquelme he has proved hes quality with champions league experience.murphy is a waste of space and money.

[Chinaman]

Don't think Riqelme will go. But would love to see MVB at the Lane.

[highlander]

riquelme wont go, MVB could definately happen. my main concern about being in the UEFA cup is the players being tired and underperforming in the league, like boro have this season.

[Chinaman]

That's why we need to further strengthen our squad.

[chazzayid]

riquelme he scores goals tackles heads and shoots and he has european experience,but i reckon he would cost about 10mil so we need a clear out (murphy,hudds,bunji,jackson,ziegler,barnard,defoe)

[singapore spur]

riquelme he has proved hes quality with champions league experience.murphy is a waste of space and money.


agree about murphy ( as i am sure most will)




( hows stortford nowadays btw , born and raised there )

[Chinaman]

Would retain Hudds and if possible Defoe.

[Keanoldinho]

http://spaces.msn.com/worldcup-nl-uk/

appydaze lads the pitbull is staying.

[Chinaman]

It's great news. We need his expertise in Europe.

[proto]

yup good news indeed, although if he was at the early stage of leaving he'd still be taking that line. my fingers are crossed we don't lose him. he'll be instrumental for another season yet at least

[Chinaman]

It is said he took Lennon under his wings. Notice the vast improvement in the latter?

[Welsh Spur]

Davids is great.

[Chinaman]

Don't really want him to go. He needs to play the big games.

[mjbmedia]

not as a replacement then, but as a left winger Nicolae Mitea from Ajax , ive heard and seen his hot but not sure what his current situation is , im sure MJ would know about him if he was that good tho being at a Dutch club an all

[Chinaman]

As I said earlier, the Dutch have a way of turning out good wingers. They must have some factory specializing in them.

[highlander]

riquelme he scores goals tackles heads and shoots and he has european experience,but i reckon he would cost about 10mil so we need a clear out (murphy,hudds,bunji,jackson,ziegler,barnard,defoe)
Riquelme has never made a tackle in his life and rarely heads the ball

[Chinaman]

But he would be perfect working alongside a ball-winner who feeds him and he can then weave his magic through the middle or spray the ball about.

[highlander]

but in that respect he would be too similar to carrick

[Chinaman]

Carrick doesn't have his quick feet and his quickness in recognizing an attacking option. In fact Carrick is a poor man's version of Anderton, i.e. sans shooting ability.

[highlander]

carrick can pick out a pass like no other and makes attacking plays a lot of the time, granted hes not the fasted in the premiership but he is the best passer and possibly has the best vision

[Chinaman]

Carrick takes too much time before making a pass, a la Anderton. Actually he telegraphs his intentions to the opposition just like Anderton did. You never see the first time through ball from them.

[Welsh Spur]

riquelme he scores goals tackles heads and shoots and he has european experience,but i reckon he would cost about 10mil so we need a clear out (murphy,hudds,bunji,jackson,ziegler,barnard,defoe)

Defoe's sale would raise 10M itself, and I really don't think we are a club in Villa's state (sell to buy)

Also, why do you want to sell Huddlestone? He has a huge future and the fact he's frustrated now at not getting in the side shows the kid's ambition. I can't wait till he's given a run in the side.

[highlander]

yeah the hudd will be a great player for us and will hopefully get some more premiership experience be it at spurs or out on loan at a club like watford.

[Spur]

Selling Huddlestone would be stupid. He's shown that he's got a great pass on him, just like Carrick, and he has a thunderous strike on him - remember a few for Wolves that didn't go in, but they were damn close and if they had gone in there would be a hole in the net.

[Welsh Spur]

carrick can pick out a pass like no other and makes attacking plays a lot of the time, granted hes not the fasted in the premiership but he is the best passer and possibly has the best vision

Agree, Carrick is a top-quality player, I always thought Anderton was over-rated.

[Aussiespur]

i dont really consider malbranque to be a ball winner, he has undoubted quality and does way in with his fair share of goals. he doesnt inspire or really lif anyone else on the pitch. plus Fulham offered him £50,000 a week and he thinks he is worth £70,000..................he's not.

Completely agree with all points.