What to do with JJ..

[talkshowhost86]

If we play two up front then personally I think JJ can't play in the centre of midfield. For me he's already not looked like a good partner for Modric and JJ and Zokora hardly set the world alight together last season.

Zokora has looked better this season so maybe we should try him in the middle with Modric. Or Corluka and Modric. Or O'Hara and Modric.

I just don't think we can wait too many more games for Modric and JJ to sort it out. I think JJ could work in a 5 man midfield but I certainly don't think we should be building a formation to fit around JJ.

 

[stemark44]

I have been extremely disappointed by his performances so far and he is such a frustrating player.

Jenas has all the attributes required to be a top man in midfield but he bottles it most of the time and does'nt seem to want the responsibility of driving the team forward. Perhaps the boo boys have ruined him completely and now he just keeps passing the responsibility back on other players.
He needs to be given licence to push forward and support the attack a lot more than he is doing and I would play him in a 4-2-3-1 like this;

.................................Corluka............................Zokora.....................................
.........Bentley................................Jenas........................................Modric..........
..............................................Pavlyuchenko....................................................

With two DM's behind him his sole purpose will be to get forward as much as possible and score goals,this is something that he can actually do quite well!

I know playing Modric on the left is not ideal but he can play there and it is a system that suits Bentley as well,both of them can pick out the runs of Jenas and Pav can hold the ball up waiting for support!

 

[DC_Boy]

If we play two up front then personally I think JJ can't play in the centre of midfield. .

I think JJ can play in a 4-4-2 - but we have to have 3 proper mids

hence Bentley JJ Mr X modric -

pav bent

is my preferred option

 

[Michey]

somehow if (or when) we sign a DM i see the end for JJ

Do you promise...

 

[ginol@14]

has never been good enough and proves it nearly every game he plays
i have always reffered to him as the "invisible man" because when you need him he is no where to be seen!!!

cant pass , cant tackle , breaks down our counter attacks all the time by either slowing down play or poor control !!!

seen every home game and most away he has played in a spurs shirt and this player frustrates me more than any other in our history inc iverson and edinburgh

the only positive i have ever said is that he does pop up every now and then with a goal but the rest of his game is well below par .... id rather have modric AM and either hud or zok DM

 

[Kendall]

I think the Jenas & Modric will soon become our version of the Gerrard/Lampard problem.

Jenas, imo, is restricting Modric from playing his best and vice versa. However I'd obviously have Modric ahead of JJ.

 

[Adam]

Funnily enough, i think he could do a job as the defensive midfielder that we have all been crying out for. He's not the most creative player ive ever seen and through balls clearly arent one of his strengths, and whilst he does chip in with a fair few goals, if we got another creative midfielder in to play with Modric then we wouldnt be so reliant on him to score as we would have other midfielders to do that job instead, whilst you'd think that the strikers would be getting more chances with two creative players behind them.

The way i see it is that he is a very strong tackler, good in the air and tidy enough with the ball at his feet and, whilst people will argue that his best attribute is his fitness and ability to get from box to box, i dont think that he would have to be so constrained that he could NEVER go forward, he would just have to pick his moments to go forward and would probably get a few goals like that anyway as he would never be picked up. An example of this is Steven Gerrard's best game in an England shirt, 7 years ago vs Germany when he played a deeper role but still managed to pick up loads of scraps when we were attacking and of course got himself a goal out of it.

Before we splash a load of money on a foreign DM to come in and maybe fail to get to grips with the tempo of the Prem, i think we should give Jenas a chance as i think it will fit his attributes perfectly.

 

[Dr Know]

I think the sooner we get a replacement for him the better, just think the transfer window came and gone and not one mention of any interest in him not even a rumour!!

I got nothing against the guy and I think on his good day he can play but we are trying to take that step to the next level and the odd good day can't cut it, most good player have the odd bad day he just has the odd good day, not good enough get rid of him!!

As mentioned before we got enough money we don't need the fat arabs but what good is the money if we don't spend it? I think finacialy Levy has done an amazing job for us but we need to move on. All that talk about breaking into the top 4 and champions league needs us to spend on players that can take us there, don't get me wrong I don't want us to spend money for the sake of it but we still have a few weak links Jenas being one and that money should be spent to strengthen them.
No room for sentiments

 

[yiddotilidie]

Zokora instead of JJ - i feel physically sick that some of you think that....

:duh::shake::bs:

 

[SpurSince57]

Funnily enough, i think he could do a job as the defensive midfielder that we have all been crying out for. He's not the most creative player ive ever seen and through balls clearly arent one of his strengths, and whilst he does chip in with a fair few goals, if we got another creative midfielder in to play with Modric then we wouldnt be so reliant on him to score as we would have other midfielders to do that job instead, whilst you'd think that the strikers would be getting more chances with two creative players behind them.

The way i see it is that he is a very strong tackler, good in the air and tidy enough with the ball at his feet and, whilst people will argue that his best attribute is his fitness and ability to get from box to box, i dont think that he would have to be so constrained that he could NEVER go forward, he would just have to pick his moments to go forward and would probably get a few goals like that anyway as he would never be picked up. An example of this is Steven Gerrard's best game in an England shirt, 7 years ago vs Germany when he played a deeper role but still managed to pick up loads of scraps when we were attacking and of course got himself a goal out of it.

Before we splash a load of money on a foreign DM to come in and maybe fail to get to grips with the tempo of the Prem, i think we should give Jenas a chance as i think it will fit his attributes perfectly.

Doesn't the range of suggestions (the sensible ones, that is) underline the problem?

 

[InOffMeLeftShin]

JJ and Zokora are different players and it is a case of balance in the team rather than preferring one over the other. If Zokora can play in the same way as he did for the last 75 minutes of the Chelsea game every week then he has a massively important role to play for us. Whether or not the added freedom he will get when we play some lower teams will make him less disciplined or not we will have to see.

As for playing Modric on the left, I think it would be a monumental disaster. We need to be having him in the centre where he can use his passing to unlock defences. His ability to see players and play through balls is superb (albeit we haven't yet seen it to its full extent yet at Spurs). He would be completely lost on the left and whether he has played there before or not is immaterial to me, it would just offer the wrong balance.

On the left I would actually play JJ as an inside left midfielder. Yes, I know, square pegs in round holes and all that, but I actually think he could be more effective there than in the centre. He doesn't have great passing or vision and it seems he is never entirely sure of his role in the middle. Moving him out to where Steed was playing he would have a very defined role and he would be able to use his ability of getting into the box to help us score more goals, much like Steed did. He has a great engine and he could easily get up and down and he would offer us the experience in front of Bale that would balance up the left side. I know some such as B-C hate the idea because it is playing a right footer on the left, but I honestly feel he would be far more effective in that position than in the centre and so it wouldn't just mean shoving someone in there to make up the numbers.

 

[SpurSince57]

The only thing with that idea is that whilst it's one thing playing a good player out of position instead of a crap player in position, we've now got genuine alternatives at LM.

 

[DC_Boy]

as has been said the range of views indicates the problem

to me it has to be 4-4-2 most of the time unless it flops

and then there is no one mid that we will agree on here -

I understand the resistance to Modric on the left - tho he's played there plenty of times - but I honestly think that's the best compromise and any mid will be a compromise

let's see what JR does and how it works

 

[InOffMeLeftShin]

The only thing with that idea is that whilst it's one thing playing a good player out of position instead of a crap player in position, we've now got genuine alternatives at LM.

We have some options for LM, but none outstanding. In terms of what is best for the balance of the team, particularly with Bale continually on the offensive I would still stick JJ there. I imagine he can give a bit of the work rate and discipline Davids/Tainio put in there, with the energy and attacking threat of Steed.

as has been said the range of views indicates the problem

to me it has to be 4-4-2 most of the time unless it flops

and then there is no one mid that we will agree on here -

I understand the resistance to Modric on the left - tho he's played there plenty of times - but I honestly think that's the best compromise and any mid will be a compromise

let's see what JR does and how it works

Absolutely. I'm sure Ramos knows what he is looking for out of the midfield unit and will pick the side he thinks is best against each opposition.

 

[DC_Boy]

We have some options for LM, but none outstanding. In terms of what is best for the balance of the team, particularly with Bale continually on the offensive I would still stick JJ there. I imagine he can give a bit of the work rate and discipline Davids/Tainio put in there, with the energy and attacking threat of Steed.

Hi IOMLS - I can see your idea re JJ - but it's pretty much the same idea I have with Modric

Davids and TT were never left wingers they did a job and allowed Lee to overlap

I see the same with Bale/BAE if Bale is unavailable

instead of Carrick playing deep to plug the gaps we'd have zoko/Corluka whoever

it isn't perfect but it's the best I can think of

maybe JJ on the left is better - i'm open to different ideas

what I don't want are players like GDS Lennon on the left - we need 3 proper mids

 

[Adam]

Doesn't the range of suggestions (the sensible ones, that is) underline the problem?

Are you saying that you dont rate Jenas as a tackler? If you are, i dont buy that argument at all. In the big games when Jenas has performed really well, one of the highlights has been our solidity through the middle, personified by Jenas. Obviously there will be those that disagree, but i cant believe that anyone who rates Jenas (as i do) will highlight his tackling as anything but one of his strong points-he has held our midfield together for two years now and saved us from absolute capitulation in the centre of the field, something that would simply not have been possible had he been weak in the tackle

 

[DEFchenkOE]

Sometimes he seems a little lost, ie not knowing if he should be attacking or defending. Maybe this is why some games pass him by. I think to see the best of him he needs to be given a defined role, so maybe Ramos play him as either a defensive midfielder or attacking midfielder.

Despite what some think, I believe he is an important team member, shouldn't be guaranteed a start like it seems he is but he does have quality when he puts his mind to it. Also when he's not in the team we seem to miss him. I remember when he was injured and we either lost a few games or weren't playing well and everyone was saying we needed him back.

 

[SpurSince57]

Are you saying that you dont rate Jenas as a tackler? If you are, i dont buy that argument at all. In the big games when Jenas has performed really well, one of the highlights has been our solidity through the middle, personified by Jenas. Obviously there will be those that disagree, but i cant believe that anyone who rates Jenas (as i do) will highlight his tackling as anything but one of his strong points-he has held our midfield together for two years now and saved us from absolute capitulation in the centre of the field, something that would simply not have been possible had he been weak in the tackle

No, although I don't rate his tackling as particularly strong—it's OK, but not up there with the very best. In fact he does a lot of things well, but perhaps no one thing outstandingly well, or as well as you feel he reallly ought to. But what I meant was that the divergent range of opinions as to how best to employ him (obviously, I don't include 'Sell him, he's shit', etc.) surely reflect a widespread uncertainty. For me he's at his best using his pace and strength to get in the box in support of the striker(s). If he were to be employed at DM, as you suggest—and I'd agree it could be worth a whirl—would he really have sufficient liberty to get forward?

 

[Adam]

No, although I don't rate his tackling as particularly strong—it's OK, but not up there with the very best. In fact he does a lot of things well, but perhaps no one thing outstandingly well, or as well as you feel he reallly ought to. But what I meant was that the divergent range of opinions as to how best to employ him (obviously, I don't include 'Sell him, he's shit', etc.) surely reflect a widespread uncertainty. For me he's at his best using his pace and strength to get in the box in support of the striker(s). If he were to be employed at DM, as you suggest—and I'd agree it could be worth a whirl—would he really have sufficient liberty to get forward?

Probably not, but to be honest, if he was used as a DM behind Modric and one other player of that ilk, eg Arshavin then i think that would be a worthy sacrifice and you would also be getting the most out of his strength and fitness. For me, this is actually a better trade than the situation that we currently find ourselves in where we are wondering whether you are going to see Jenas turn up on a matchday or not; i feel that he would put in a lot more solid/good performances as a DM than he currently does as an AM and that for starters has to be seen as a good thing. Also, at 25, he is certainly not too old to change his game so i think its worth a shot. It'll probably a massive failure now after all my efforts but what the hell, it may just work!

 

[InOffMeLeftShin]

Thought he looked pretty good on the left last night. He actually seemed more effective there than Joe Cole (admittedly we had an extra man). He did well when he kept his position on the left side and had plenty of energy there. He linked up pretty well with Ashley Cole as well and of course his assist came from bursting in from that side and playing a superb cut back.

A number of times he found a great position coming in at the back post late from crosses from the right and he would have undoubtedly scored one if Heskey had managed a flick on. It was also interesting that he and Rooney swapped positions, Rooney taking up the left role and Jenas going into the middle. He looked more comfortable when he was on the left bizarrely.