Jermaine Jenas

[Legend10]

Carrick carried Jenas. I remember that season well and people were still saying Jenas was shit. Why, if it was such a great pairing?

Yeah of course you do.

People were saying he was shit? Or do you mean people like you were saying he was shit?

 

[Legend10]

I don't know about the rest of you but i don't even remember there ever really being a Jenas and Carrick partnership? I am fairly sure that apart from when TT was injured that the midfield in 2005-2006 was

Jenas (Lennon sub) Carrick.......TT(Brown/JJ).........Davids (TT)

Correct me if I am wrong but he scored 7 goals that season from the right wing?

I think that Jenas has alot of talent but is not naturally a leader, he is not able to change games with his performances. He would be much better if he had the right partner and played in the right system. if he has a player who can sit behind him and cover for him he will thrive.

Whether Ramos agrees is another story.

He spent some of the early part of it out wide but Lennon actually made more Prem appearances in this season than he did last year.

He spent plenty of games and time alongside Carrick.

 

[batigol]

Of course it is, you've agreed with me without even realising it.

It's about balance, complementing and pairs, which is why I've harped on about Carrick and in other threads I've harped on about Gerrard & Alonso, Carrick & Scholes last year and even Sidwell and Harper, they are all balanced and complimenting pairings. I also bang on about football being played as pairs because it is all over the pitch. Central defenders operate as a pair, RB & RM operate as a pair, forwards operate as a pair and so on. If that pairing is unbalanced and 1 player doesn't complement the other you have problems in that area and even more so if 1 half of it isn't good enough. And unfortunately JJ doesn't complemet or balance any of the other sub quality midfield players that we have.

IMHO it would be exactly the same but worse for Lampard at Spurs because he wouldn't get the support, protection or quality of CM player he has around him at Chelsea.

I'm not exactly agreeing with you. Not totally anyway. Maybe I should elaborate on the stuff part. Besides tactics, it also depends on the kind of player really. If we have Essien or Gerrard (all action) playing for us, somehow I think if its shit players around them in midfield they can still shine and carry the team. The point is that JJ has the potential to be such a player who can carry the team forward but somehow, somewhere, he lacks something that can take him above those average/ good performances to world class performances. I think he can but he doesn't seem to agree with me if you get my point.

 

[walworthyid]

He spent some of the early part of it out wide but Lennon actually made more Prem appearances in this season than he did last year.

He spent plenty of games and time alongside Carrick.

Where did TT play then? He played alot of games that season and most of them were in the center of midfield.

Like I say I could be wrong but I am fairly certain that JJ and Carrick were never the first choice pairing or the pairing that spent the most time on the field.

 

[lukespurs7]

Work rate means nothing if he cant do nothing to help make vital chances for the strikers or pull of a decent shot him self. I can run around the field for 90 mins but dont mean im a class player. See my point ?

Are middfield sucks

thats bullshit mate. Workrate is everything! the n.o1 thing you ask from a player is for them to work as hard as they possibly can. It also doesn't mean he's always out of position or anything like that, more that if he does infact give it away or we as a team give it away then he tracks back to help and if we break away he tracks forward to help.

He is a very good player and if he improved a few aspects of his game he could become a top class central midfielder. He's tall, can tackle fairly well is a good and intelligent passer of the ball and alot of the time sideways is the best option, shame we don't always have wingers who then use it well. He can score goals when playing well and he does alot of defensive work, even though he scored 2 vs Wigan and scoring is not nesseccarily his job, he could improve his finishing he did take his goals very well but generally his finishing and shooting could be improved a bit aswell as his left foot but generally he's a talented player and now and then shows how shit hot he can be- do it more often and he'll be top class. One thing he certaintly has is great stamina and work-rate and there isn't anything bad about that whatsoever you don't know what you're saying!

 

[TopSpurMan]

I have to say when Jenas joined I thought Newcastle had done us up like 'kippers' to say the least. I have never rated Jenas but you cannot doubt his workrate and that boy can certainly run fast, he is certainly an athlete the only question is, Is he a footballer?

Against Wigan he played great, I have never seen him play the ball forward so many times in a game, he has improved and I think he will continue to improve.

So from me at least JJ, I'm sorry you proved me wrong and lets how you continue to prove me wrong and wrong again.

 

[worcestersauce]

I have to say when Jenas joined I thought Newcastle had done us up like 'kippers' to say the least. I have never rated Jenas but you cannot doubt his workrate and that boy can certainly run fast, he is certainly an athlete the only question is, Is he a footballer?

Against Wigan he played great, I have never seen him play the ball forward so many times in a game, he has improved and I think he will continue to improve.

So from me at least JJ, I'm sorry you proved me wrong and lets how you continue to prove me wrong and wrong again.

Maybe that's because we passed the ball through midfield more, much less bypassing them with Robbo kicking up to the strikers.

 

[Bonjour]

I didn't really get the Newcastle fans' booing of Jenas, seeing as they seemed pretty happy to see him go.

It would be kinda like us booing Sean Davis when he played at the lane.

 

[Stavi]

can anyone remember who jenas played alongside at newcastle in central midfield when he looked really good? perhaps it will add to the debate re. partner (which i feel is the important factor concerning the boy).

 

[Bonjour]

Gary Speed?

 

[smithym]

lets give the chap 1 more chance to impress!! Englands future star midfield general!!!!

 

[Has1978]

If Jenas were a boxer who would he be? Frank Bruno?

Knockout power.
Sound technique.
Extraordinarily fit
Much promise.
Freezes on the big stage
Mental barriers when faced with genuine competition.

Still, that wouldn't be too bad, Bruno finally had his World Championship.

 

[Adam456]

Great point, and that there is the problem with watching it on the box, you do not get the full picture.

Let's be honest, you don't get the full picture either way actually. At the ground only about half of the upper tier can get any real depth perception to the other side of the pitch. That means the majority are probably missing a host of glaring missed opportunities for through-balls or gaps in our defence.

I should imagine that those who constantly berate Jenas (who is still only 24) and praise the likes of Malbranque or Tanio have pretty crappy seats :wink:

 

[tony0379]

hes got till jan to save his tottenham career

 

[barry]

Yeah of course you do.

People were saying he was shit? Or do you mean people like you were saying he was shit?

A hell of alot of people said he was shit. You're deluded if you think otherwise. Even today people think he's crap. This thread wouldn't be seven pages long if everyone rated him

For your information I was prepared to give him the benefit of the doubt that season because, as many said, he was a young lad with a lot of supposed "potential". Saying that he was still crap. Now I'm tired of waiting for this supposed "potential" to materialise.
We are Tottenham hotspurs FC, We are not a bus, and we can't afford passengers.

 

[ChRiStOpHe]

We are Tottenham hotspurs FC, We are not a bus, and we can't afford passengers.

No we're not

 

[gibbs131]

A hell of alot of people said he was shit. You're deluded if you think otherwise. Even today people think he's crap. This thread wouldn't be seven pages long if everyone rated him

For your information I was prepared to give him the benefit of the doubt that season because, as many said, he was a young lad with a lot of supposed "potential". Saying that he was still crap. Now I'm tired of waiting for this supposed "potential" to materialise.
We are Tottenham hotspurs FC, We are not a bus, and we can't afford passengers.

He is the current Opta MVP for Europe

He scores for us all of the time, is good on the ball and is tireless.

 

[donny1013]

He is the Marmite of THFC some like him some hate him and that will never change. Bottom line is he is a decent cm, one of the best outside the top 4. put a proper dm behind him and he will put in more performances like Wigan. Zoko is neither a dm or an am and doesnt score goals or assist and him and JJ dont work IMO

 

[joey55]

If Jenas were a boxer who would he be? Frank Bruno?

Knockout power.
Sound technique.
Extraordinarily fit
Much promise.
Freezes on the big stage
Mental barriers when faced with genuine competition.

Still, that wouldn't be too bad, Bruno finally had his World Championship.

That is actually a really good analogy. Though I don't think it's when faced with tough competition. He's shown in the past when the shit hits the fan, JJ's the man. He had the nerve to out the FK in at Old Trafford, he was the one who kept a calm head when scoring a great winner at Goodison last season and he rescued a point against the Scum with a great late strike. So it isn't the big satge or pressure that is the problem, as with Bruno. JJ's problem is that he doesn't seem to have that instinct to grab the game by the scruff of the neck, like Gerrard. The only time I've seen him do it was when he come on at the Emirates last season and he really took control in midfield, though the game was lost by then. It seems he needs a reason to perform, whilst the likes of Gerrard have the mental attributes to go out and take the game to the opposition every week.

 

[DogsOfWar]

That is actually a really good analogy. Though I don't think it's when faced with tough competition. He's shown in the past when the shit hits the fan, JJ's the man. He had the nerve to out the FK in at Old Trafford, he was the one who kept a calm head when scoring a great winner at Goodison last season and he rescued a point against the Scum with a great late strike. So it isn't the big satge or pressure that is the problem, as with Bruno. JJ's problem is that he doesn't seem to have that instinct to grab the game by the scruff of the neck, like Gerrard. The only time I've seen him do it was when he come on at the Emirates last season and he really took control in midfield, though the game was lost by then. It seems he needs a reason to perform, whilst the likes of Gerrard have the mental attributes to go out and take the game to the opposition every week.

I agree, but I think Jenas just needs more time to mature.

Some players like Gerrard, Owen, Shearer or Rooney seem to be born old. They walk onto a football pitch as kids but play like men and I don't think that Jenas quite has that mindset.

But I do think he is capable of it. You mention a couple of instances and there was one this season against Everton. He, as well as the rest of the team, was playing poorly. He was getting booed every time he touched the ball and the game was a lost cause. But with quarter of an hour left he was charging up the pitch with the ball, trying and unfortunately failing to distribute it, and then charging back to make tackles at the other end.
In that short time he proved to me that he could lead the team, he could drive us forward, and he could 'run through walls for us'.

The central midfield area is a place for men and youngsters who can dominate such as Gerrard and Fabregas are a rarity so to compare Jenas with those is unrealistic and unfair.
At 24 Jenas is a kid compared to most Premiership players, let alone CMs, and I still think that if he was given the captain's armband, then in another season or two he could be our Viera.