- Feb 16, 2004
- 843
- 826
I agree with your comments on Malbranque. In my view he has generally played well this season, the Fulham game being a notable exception, and I suspect his best position would indeed be in central midfield.I am really quite stunned at some of the anti Steed and Zok posts I read. mg: Golden balls Huddlestone had one of the worst matches I have EVER seen in a spurs shirt on Sunday, he is not athletic, mobile or fit enough for the Premiership (which the new coach will hopefully be able to change) and it is reaching the point in his career when he needs to start producing the goods more consistently or he will end up discarded.
Zokora has been much improved this year, for anyone to suggest he puts Huddlestone under pressure is ridiculous as his passing success rate is MUCH superior and he covers far more ground. He has obviously never been given the strict role that many fans wish he had been or seem to believe he has been and as such he has never played that kind of role. When he plays with Jenas and Hudd they tend to cover for each other when one goes forward. It may not be the most popular system on this board but that is how it has been.
Malbranque has been our best midfielder this season, despite appalling stamina and he showed in the first half that even when playing out of position he will be creative and link with the front two. It is painfully obvious he is a central midfielder and should be feeding the strikers much as it is painfully obvious that Lennon should be on the right so it is a bit much to write him off.
I struggle to see what Kaboul and Zokora get the stick they do when Dawson and Huddlestone have not been any better, in my opinion much worse, this season. I can't help but think it is because of the Comolli link that these players get a hard time. :shrug:
I also think that Zokora has improved this season. But he still has a way to go in my view. Superficially his passing my appear to be good, because generally it reaches its target, but it is rarely anything other than lateral, and more often than not puts the recipient into trouble because he doesn't judge the pace of his passing at all well. So some of his passes come up short so the recipient has to fight off an interceptor, and some of his passes reach their target having been hit too hard in the general direction of the recipient, needing them to be controlled, thus making his involvement in one-touch movements very rare. However, it is generally the recipient who is blamed by the crowd when this happens, be that Jenas, Huddlestone, Lennon, Tainio or Malbranque. Also, though Zokora does get through some good work, his running is often reminiscent of Steffen freund's play, running alongside the game rather than taking part. He also has the habit, which admittedly he is beginning to tone down, of flicking the ball up when he receives it, thus slowing down the team's momentum while he then re-controls the ball, goes five yards in one direction and then turns 180 degrees and moves off in the opposite direction.
With regard to Kaboul, I can't understand why you struggle to see why he gets so much stick. He is obviously very talented, with a good first touch. But, apart from the Blackburn game, when it seemed to me he reacted well to specific instructions, he invariably tries to dribble his way out of defence, and is often caught by an opponent and thereby puts the team under pressure. Similarly, he gambles with regard to his positioning, in order to try intercept rather than cut off the route to goal. Ledley King had these same faults earlier in his career, and it was when he realised that there are times when you just clear your lines, that he became the class act he is now.
With regard to Huddlestone, we'll just have to agree to disagree, though you might ask yourself why he more often than not had two or three men closing him down every time he received the ball against Blackburn. I don't doubt your answer will be it's because he's so slow, but if that were the case, one would do. In my view, the reason was that Blackburn regarded him as someone they could not allow any time on the ball to. Notice they didn't bother with Zokora.