Zokora and Jenas in the middle....win ratio with these two playing?

[Stoof]

Zokora has far more use than Jenas.

Probably the most ridiculous comment I've seen for a while, nic.

As a substitute right back, and stand-in centre half - Zokora is great.

He will never prosper as a central midfielder in a midfield two. He hasn't given me an indication he will. He's flattered to deceive on a number of occasions, but to say he offers less than Jenas in central midfield does a huge disservice, and is plain wrong.

 

[Conando]

If all Jenas is asked to do is sweep up in midfield and give the simple ball to the back 4, then he is sufficient.

The problem is that isn't what he is there for, Zokora can do that job better, what we are lacking at the moment is the link between the midfield and the forwards (I am including Modric as a forward), with Jenas, the move to attack is too slow and cumbersome, he doesn't have the ability to pass the ball forward, as soon as he receives the ball in a forward role, he looks to get rid of it, anywhere, he is the only player in the team who plays with his hands outstretched constantly asking for someone to make it an easy ball, simply because he can't play anything else, he concedes possession constantly, if not directly, then by giving the ball to someone when they are certain to lose it, this is the only reason he can be achieving the aforementioned statistics!

With Hudd sitting in the "Pirlo" role, and Zokora covering it gives us the ability to break quickly because of his passing range, Hudd passes the ball over distance, as opposed to humping the ball forward, which is what we are doing, because the centre of our midfield is incapable of bridging the gap be it with short or long passes!

I don't know if the stats will match my opinion, but I think if you could look at the chances created ratio, it would sit firmly in the zokora/hudd camp, or even jenas/hudd, as long as Jenas isn't being asked to do anything forward thinking!

Hudd gives himself time on the ball, Zokora seem to be able to create time on the ball, Jenas seems to be under pressure at all times.

----------------GOMES
CHARLIE--WOODY--KING/DAWS--BAE
-------------HUDD--ZOKO
---------------MODRIC
LENNON--------------------------LW
--------------PAV/BENT

 

[DC_Boy]

good post conando

have some rep

i may not agree but this is insightful

 

[Bus-Conductor]

I'm sorry but a load of you don't understand the simplicity of football.

Jenas hasn't got a very good passing range. But he doesn't need one. Patrick Vierra and Roy Keane didn't either.

Jenas and Zokora just need to be given roles and stick to them. Which, by and large they do week in week out. They are two of our most competant and consistant performers. Bettering them with new players would be amongst the hardest realistic replacements we could make.

And yet here we are still having this ridiculous (mass)debate about who is shittest.

IGnoring the fact that we have the worst strike force in my living memory. A 16 million striker who has the technique of a player I would try not to put on my side when I played 5 a side every monday.

A 15 million winger who can't take a decent free kick, can't cross a ball without taking seventeen touches and can't seem to beat a man.

Another winger who is fantastically quick and great at beating a man but can't fucking cross a ball.

A sublimely gifted passer of the ball with the turning circle of elephant and the speed of thought of a snail.

One centre back who can't train and one who is so fucking dopey he loses his man every single set piece and refuses to pass the ball less than 60 yards straight ahead.

Jenas and Zokora are the very least of our problems right now.

 

[Krafty]

I dont think Zokora and Jenas can play together, especially not in a 5 man midfield, which is what we ar eplaying. Gives them too much scope to hide in each others shadow, means no one takes responsibility, no one is in charge of covering the defence and no one is repsonsible for getting forward and creating/scoring.

 

[Stoof]

I'm sorry but a load of you don't understand the simplicity of football.

Jenas hasn't got a very good passing range. But he doesn't need one. Patrick Vierra and Roy Keane didn't either.

Jenas and Zokora just need to be given roles and stick to them. Which, by and large they do week in week out. They are two of our most competant and consistant performers. Bettering them with new players would be amongst the hardest realistic replacements we could make.

And yet here we are still having this ridiculous (mass)debate about who is shittest.

IGnoring the fact that we have the worst strike force in my living memory. A 16 million striker who has the technique of a player I would try not to put on my side when I played 5 a side every monday.

A 15 million winger who can't take a decent free kick, can't cross a ball without taking seventeen touches and can't seem to beat a man.

Another winger who is fantastically quick and great at beating a man but can't fucking cross a ball.

A sublimely gifted passer of the ball with the turning circle of elephant and the speed of thought of a snail.

One centre back who can't train and one who is so fucking dopey he loses his man every single set piece and refuses to pass the ball less than 60 yards straight ahead.

Jenas and Zokora are the very least of our problems right now.

For such a well-respected poster that you are BC, and rightly so (most of the time), this is a shocker of a post.

I mean talk about rolling up every forum's exaggerated stereotypes, adding a bit of personal bias and getting a bit wrong, and you get this behemoth of befuddlement.

What are you saying exactly, that Jenas and Zokora have been playing well? Good God man. They've been seriously not good together. A football team is just that, a team, and beneath that a series of partnerships working through the spine of a team, centre backs, central midfielders, wingers and full-backs, strikers.

I'd say the partnerships that we lack are in the middle of midfield, and that (as you of course know) has a knock-on effect for the partnerships up top and the partnerships behind.

Dawson has been really good in the last month or two, and Lennon's end product has dramatically improved since he burst on the scene, and Huddlestone may be slow of foot but he sure as hell ain't slow of mind, I'm not sure you can be with the gifted passing feet he has.