Humble Pie? Give Me The Spoon!

[Adam456]

As one of the defenders of Zoko I'm glad to hear people saying this. If he can just improve his distribution a little more and (hopefully) get that first goal then we may have our Viera.

On the performance of the team - I'm pleased so far, we're unbeaten and the only way is up but......we see this happen all the time after the appointment of a new manager. The players are playing for their spots and there's no particular reason to suggest that Ramos is suddenly coaching the best out of this or that player.

So in the words of Mr Wolf from PF, "Let's not start su*king each other's di*ks quite yet."

 

[bubble07]

he was my MOTM. Still cnat believe the acrobatic clereance he made midway through the second half. That would have been a clear goalscoring opportunity

 

[walworthyid]

There is no question that the entire team has begun to play better since the whole Jol fiasco has been cleared up. To be fair though dz has been playing well for a while now.

He gets alot of bad press on here when there are players who have played at least as bad and often worse. He is limited in his talents but that does not mean that he lacks talent as many claim.

 

[joey55]

He proved yesterday what i've been saying since he came here, that he is no way a CM in a 442. In the first half we created virtually nothing, then when he moved Steed into the centre and played Zokora as a spare CB, even I thought he played very well. He needs to be given less repsponsibilty and a smaller, more clearly defined role. When he doesn't have to fulfill his the CM duties expected of a proper CM, he can concentrate on covering and plugging gaps. Playing deeper givies him more time to read the game and his pace makes it very difficult to play in behing our line. He made a couple of fantastic covering tackles yesterday, when West Ham had got in behind the defence. Hopefully thats the last we've seen of him in midfield, certainly in a 442.

 

[idlepete]

Hopefully thats the last we've seen of him in midfield, certainly in a 442.

I really, really doubt it. Roll on January and the transfer window.

 

[AngerManagement]

He proved yesterday what i've been saying since he came here, that he is no way a CM in a 442. In the first half we created virtually nothing, then when he moved Steed into the centre and played Zokora as a spare CB, even I thought he played very well. He needs to be given less repsponsibilty and a smaller, more clearly defined role. When he doesn't have to fulfill his the CM duties expected of a proper CM, he can concentrate on covering and plugging gaps. Playing deeper givies him more time to read the game and his pace makes it very difficult to play in behing our line. He made a couple of fantastic covering tackles yesterday, when West Ham had got in behind the defence. Hopefully thats the last we've seen of him in midfield, certainly in a 442.

Ok so assuming Zokora needs to play as a 3rd CM sweeing the other two and infornt of the CBs, what system would best accomadate this (i.e. which persoanal would best suit this?) and would it benefit our team as a whole, rarther then simply allowing Zokora to be a better player?


possibly

.......................Robbo

Chimbonda.....Dawson....King......Bale

......................Zokora
..........Jenas...............Malbranque
.....................Lennon

............Keane............BErbatov

 

[roguepsi]

I always imagined humble pie to be sweet, not savoury. :shrug:

 

[joey55]

Ok so assuming Zokora needs to play as a 3rd CM sweeing the other two and infornt of the CBs, what system would best accomadate this (i.e. which persoanal would best suit this?) and would it benefit our team as a whole, rarther then simply allowing Zokora to be a better player?


possibly

.......................Robbo

Chimbonda.....Dawson....King......Bale

......................Zokora
..........Jenas...............Malbranque
.....................Lennon

............Keane............BErbatov

I've never really seen that formation used successfully in the Prem. Ultimately it just leaves you a man down in CM. You have to have more width in an attacking sense than what can be provided by overlapping fullbacks. I think it'll just get exploited in the way we exploited Chelsea's lack of width last season at WHL. It doesn't take away responsibility to our midfielders, but adds it. I think he's best suited to a sub role, if we are chasing a game, he can come on and play as he did yesterday (or prefferably as he did in the last 10 mins of the league Cup 1/2 final), allowing the 2 CMs to push up. He in effect would play as a cross between a CB and a DM.

 

[SpurSince57]

That's essentially the formation that we played at the Bridge in the Cup, with Jenas and Malbranque replacing Ghaly and Tainio, and Bale in for Lee.

What yesterday did show was that if we're going to have the full-backs spending as much time in the opposition half as our own we need a CM staying back to help plug the gaps, or to attempt to retrieve dreadful mistakes like Kaboul's.

 

[yanno]

I've never really seen that formation used successfully in the Prem. Ultimately it just leaves you a man down in CM. You have to have more width in an attacking sense than what can be provided by overlapping fullbacks. I think it'll just get exploited in the way we exploited Chelsea's lack of width last season at WHL. It doesn't take away responsibility to our midfielders, but adds it.

I agree. I think Ramos used that system as a firefighting, desperation, strategy yesterday because Kaboul had lost all confidence, and we needed a spare cover defender at the back. Btw for my money, Zokora was playing as a spare CB in a back three, not as a DM sweeper.

However, if we were to use a player in the hole, it would be Berba, not Lennon. And that means there's no room in a 3-5-2 (or 3-2-2-1-2) for Lennon, because I can't imagine Ramos would risk starting him as a RWB in the EPL. Our logical RWB is Chimbo, with Bale as LWB.

 

[Beni]

I know 3-5-2 System never seems to succeed in the Prem. but on paper the below looks really good, and could bring out the best in not just Zokora, others aswell (Malbranque)

....................Robinson.....................

........Chimbonda..Dawson..Kaboul........

Lennon.............Zokora................Bale

..............Jenas..........Malbranque.......

...............Berbatov....Keane...............

 

[joey55]

I agree. I think Ramos used that system as a firefighting, desperation, strategy yesterday because Kaboul had lost all confidence, and we needed a spare cover defender at the back. Btw for my money, Zokora was playing as a spare CB in a back three, not as a DM sweeper.

However, if we were to use a player in the hole, it would be Berba, not Lennon. And that means there's no room in a 3-5-2 (or 3-2-2-1-2) for Lennon, because I can't imagine Ramos would risk starting him as a RWB in the EPL. Our logical RWB is Chimbo, with Bale as LWB.

He definitely was. He just stepped up every now and agin, but Leds and Rio do the same thing. Dawson definitely moved over more to the right and Zokora dropped into a back 3.

 

[Real_madyidd]

Would you eat pie with a spoon?

Humble pie was savoury, made with scraps wasn't it?

 

[tRiKS]

I prematurely ate Humble pie after the first few months of Chimbonda who's signing i furiously apposed... Post Chelsea at home however it seems that my instincts were right and i needn't have wasted good eating time and energy on humble pie when I could have feasted on "i told you so" cake with a cold thick "smugshake".

Put down that *spoon for a few more weeks. You'll thank me for it.

*although you should be using a fork

 

[dirtydave]

I bet Spursking enjoyed this thread...

personally for me the jury is still out on Zoks.

chimbo is worth his dip in form though, id rather an on form chimbo to an on form hutton right now.

 

[rez9000]

I always imagined humble pie to be sweet, not savoury. :shrug:

I was that far <holds up thumb and forefinger very very close together> from asking to be passed the custard.

 

[sloth]

I prematurely ate Humble pie after the first few months of Chimbonda who's signing i furiously apposed... Post Chelsea at home however it seems that my instincts were right and i needn't have wasted good eating time and energy on humble pie when I could have feasted on "i told you so" cake with a cold thick "smugshake".

Put down that *spoon for a few more weeks. You'll thank me for it.

*although you should be using a fork

And I'm trying to resist those delicacies right now for precisely the same reason, lol.

 

[joey55]

And I'm trying to resist those delicacies right now for precisely the same reason, lol.

So Zokora (unless you are talking about Chimbonda) plays well for half a game at CB and you are trying to resist saying "I told you so." You said he'd be one of the best CMs in Europe this season. You also said Man City would be in a relegation battle. I'd continue resisting if I were you. :wink:

 

[Real_madyidd]

http://www.phrases.org.uk/meanings/eat-humble-pie.html

 

[rez9000]

http://www.phrases.org.uk/meanings/eat-humble-pie.html

Ah, so mash it is, then!