- Mar 7, 2005
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I can't agree with any of that I'm afraid, leaving aside my Riquelme comparison (which I fully accept is open to mis-interpretation. I'm not making a direct comparison ability:ability, but slowcreativeAM:slowcreativeAM, that said I'm not sure either that Riquelme is quite the player others seem to think he is/was (a lot seemed to be on the back of one good World Cup, if you'd watched him before or since you might have a different view), or that Thudd can't grow into a better player than Riquelme is/was. So much for leaving aside Riquelme, lol, but... leaving aside Riquelme comparisons), your implication that Thudd lacks versatility, efficiency and energy is not correct imo.But Yanno, composure isn't necessarily the most important ingredient for a CM in a CM 2. Energy, versatility and efficiency are probably more important.
There are times when if Huddlestone was any more "composed" you'd have to wheel out a chaise longue and light a Montecristo No5.
If you watch Huddlestone does need time to play his passes and doesn't have that Riquelme ability to play clever short/medium passes quickly along the deck. Invariably when Huddlestone tries this he gives the ball away.
He's young, he should improve, but I don't think he'll ever be that kind of player. As I have said for quite a while, for me it's not just his physical mobility that is his problem, I think his biggest problem is that his thought process is not quick.
Technique ad passing range are superb, no question. But his thought process isn't.
He is not as energetic as DZ and JJ, nor as athletic or mobile, once passed he's much slower than the other two to recover and his size makes it easier to wrong-foot him. But he is energetic.
He's very efficient in his use of the ball playing very many short, quick passes and little one touch one-twos.
And he's very versatile able to play a variety of positions. I suspect that he may have just landed his ideal one however.
What he has in abundance however and what you haven't balanced against your perceived lacks, is vision, creativity and the skill to utilise it.
I note your point about a midfield three and before the last couple of matches would have agreed with you, but playing Huddlestone as the forward of the two CMs with DZ behind him opens up a host of previously unconsidered (at least by me) possibilities.
He's almost Yin to Carricks Yang if you get my drift. Carrick was a conventional creative CM which Jol converted into a deep-lying quarter-back style DM, it was almost counter-intuitive to play a player like Carrick there, it turned out to be the making of him though. Thudd is your more typical DM/CB and that's where he's always played, but because he's a bit cumbersome when/if he's bypassed he becomes a liability, played at the front of a CM two however his tackling skills honed at DM and CB, his defensive brain and all the work he's put into reading the game comes into it's own. He becomes the first line of defence in the way your traditional AM never would be. He's not all fluff and no grit. His game's not all about the glory ball or the stupendous shot, he's not a fantastic luxury when we're attacking but an expensive one once we're on the back foot, he can get stuck in the best of them, is used to doing so and will think nothing of doing so. But he can also do the things you'd want your creative CM to do as well.
Finally the point I most disagree with is what you say about his footballing brain. I think he's very sharp and other than Berbatov probably the quickest thinker in the side. I've no idea why our perceptions differ on this.