IMO this guy has saved our season. Put him alongside Zakora with Malbranque and Lennon on the wings and Jenas in reserve and we are looking good! Everything he says is about improving himself and working harrd, People questioned how he would do away from home against a top class player like Joey Barton, I think they got your answer! Dyer up next! doent get any easier in this league.

Its Zokora!!

Quoted for emphasis. :bang:

The Hudd is as good on the ball as Carrick with the added benefit of being able to score a few. This guy will go on to get 5-10 goals a season which is what you want/need from your midfield men.

If this is what happens when Tommy practices something then we have got a real talent on our hands here - he is improving at a rate of knots.

Sod Carrick - he may even be the new hodd!?

On the other hand, if it took him 2 or 3 seconds to work out he wasn't offside, he's not the sharpest tool in the box.

:lol:

hee hee - good point! did you see the beeb post-match interview? He didn't exactly come across as an intellectual heavyweight no.

Huddlestone does look class, but he's only 19, so don't get the hump with Jol when he rests him/drops him to the bench for a few games, its not like Jenas is crap.

im going to heap the biggest amount of praise onto hudd"themanof"stone. I think if he really applies himself, and keeps his feet on the ground were looking at another Franz Beckenbauer. To me they have similar attributes, and huddlestone did say he wants to emulate the great kaiser.

the future is bright for this kid anyway

Still havent seen the goal!!!!

Egyptian players link didnt work, Sky + has gone kapput and I am totally gutted!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ysZYh4bwEak

there you go mate, enjoy. other than v.persie goal vs charlton its is the most technically perfect goal so far this season.

Van Rapists goal came off his shin... fluke.

Tommy's is the best!

alright then mate if you say so :roll:

Sorry, I'm probably not taking this in the spirit in which it was intended, but I didn't get the impression that he's short in the intellectual department. What you saw was a nervous young 19 year-old in front of BBC cameras. End of.

So do I mate, sorry but you can see CLEAR AS DAY that the ball came clean off his shin! I'm not disputing that it was a good goal but there was a huge element of luck with it pingin in the top corner like it did.

But hey, if u wanna kiss Van Persie's little winkler then you go ahead :wink:

The whole of City's defence was in front of him when he scored, and the lad is checking if he was offside! Perhaps it's time for Jol to give the lads a little lesson on the basic rules of the game...

Seriously though, that was a marvelous shot and hopefully the first of many. In some discussion about a year ago, I described Carrick as the "modern libero", meaning a player who otherwise plays a lot like tradional liberos, but plays in front of the defence-line unlike the tradional ones who played behind it. In other areas, such as helping central defence, starting attacks with creative and often quite long passes and occasional runs up the field, the playing styles of these two roles are very similar. I used the word "libero", because the English term "sweeper" doesn't do enough justice to the creative abilities of some of the great classic liberos, like Beckenbauer and Scirea.

Now, when I look at Huddlestone, in terms of style and grace he looks even more like those world-class liberos. He is like a combination of Franz Beckenbauer, Michael Carrick and Brick Shithouse. The guy is going to be a legend.

His shots of late have reminded me of how a certain Glenn Hoddle used to shoot

The problem is now that hes announced his shooting abilities to the world, opposition defenses arent going to give him space to shoot around the area.

That's not a problem. It's exactly what we want them to do and it's the reason why it's so important that Huddlestone - or someone in midfield has discovered his shooting boots.

Earlier this season, our attacking-block players were spending interminable periods prowling outside the penalty box, trying without success to thread a through ball through a packed defence. At the same time, many of us were observing that not one of our players was trying shots from outside the box, whereas we had conceded goals to at least three impossibly hard-hit screamers from somewhat unlikely players (Campo, Barry and Makelele).

These facts are related. Once the opposition figured out that we weren't a threat to score from distance and were also short on wingers, they just packed the area in front of goal and dared our midfielders to pick the lock. Over and over, we would keep the ball for a minute or two, passing it back and forth, exerting pressure and looking for a nonexistent opening, until eventually, someone, often Jenas, would run out of patience and try a through ball that would bounce off a defender's hip or back or head and we'd lose possession.

Now they can't do that. Every time Huddlestone advances toward the box, someone is going to have to come out to close him down - perhaps two, considering his size. And that will leave gaps for Lennon, Malbranque, Jenas, Defoe, Berbatov and Keane to run into - and for Huddlestone to pass through.