Darren Bent

[barrysleftfoot]

  So to get the best out of Bent we play play the same team/system that we played yday.

  Personally, in our current position, with no money, no depth, no variety i would sell and as Shrek said earlier buy some young up and coming players.Long, Cissokho and Capoue could all be bought for the money we would get for Bent.That would be too tempting for me.

 

[pedro25]

Bent needs a strike partner and 2 wingers that actually cross the ball. Simple as that.

Don't necessarily disagree but where does that leave Ireland and Bannan, as to play either as part of a central midfield two with 2 wingers and two strikers would leave us very lightweight indeed.  It's also a tough ask to introduce Gardner into a central midfield 2 rather than 3.  I think on balance I would play Clark and Petrov (with Herd/Delph/Gardner as back up) Bannan/Ireland tucked in behind Bent/Gabby, but there is then no cover for Albrighton/N'Zogbia.

[KRS]

The only reason to sell Bent would be is if he is shit. He may lack technical ability, he may not be able to create his own chances, and he may not track back or hold up play vey well...but he's not shit.

What he does do is provide a constant threat for the opposition to worry about, he plays off the shoulder of the defence better than most other strikers in the PL, he has great positional awareness in the box and has a natural eye for goal. Most teams below in the PL are crying out for a player like Bent.

When you have someone like Bent in the team who can score goals then you MUST play to his strengths otherwise he becomes a very expensive waste of space and you may as well be playing with 10 men. Lets not forget that winning football matches is all about putting the ball in the back of the net, and if you consistently provide the correct service then Bent will do that time and time again.

It makes no sense whatsoever to get rid of Bent in order to bring in a few more average £5-6m players. Getting rid of Bent would be the biggest mistake that Randy and AM could do, and the only thing that it will bring is relegation.

[monkeyboy]

The only reason to sell Bent would be is if he is shit. He may lack technical ability, he may not be able to create his own chances, and he may not track back or hold up play vey well...but he's not shit.

What he does do is provide a constant threat for the opposition to worry about, he plays off the shoulder of the defence better than most other strikers in the PL, he has great positional awareness in the box and has a natural eye for goal. Most teams below in the PL are crying out for a player like Bent.

When you have someone like Bent in the team who can score goals then you MUST play to his strengths otherwise he becomes a very expensive waste of space and you may as well be playing with 10 men. Lets not forget that winning football matches is all about putting the ball in the back of the net, and if you consistently provide the correct service then Bent will do that time and time again.

It makes no sense whatsoever to get rid of Bent in order to bring in a few more average £5-6m players. Getting rid of Bent would be the biggest mistake that Randy and AM could do, and the only thing that it will bring is relegation.

Agree with this.

Re: Bent it depends upon viewpoint - he was brought into a team last year that had a lot more creativity and he did very well, we should not be surprised that he's not as effective this - his service has more or less dried up. He is not going to pick up the ball on halfway and go on mazy runs a la Messi - so you have to provide, if you do he'll post a very good return - he's proven to do so. So saying he's lazy and doesn't offer much is to miss the point in my opinion - he was bought to score goals, he's done this when supplied - not track back and break up play when we are being overrun in midfield, which we frequently are. This is why i ascribe to the views of KRS above

From another viewpoint - we have no money and we are deficient in a number of areas - Bent is one of only a few players we have who can generate any money, so selling him makes sense if we want to marginally improve in other areas of the team/squad. His stock is still high enough that we would get a good price for him. With this said Hutton was $4m wasn't he, so 20m(ish) or so will not go far in terms of strengthening and numbers - factor into this McLeish's ability to attract folk to the football club - what would we really get for the money realistically - especially if Lerner decides not to use all the money generated for reinvestment - 3 or 4 players of Hutton standard, No Thanks!

Finally there is the Bent himself angle - does he really want to stay with a club like ours just now at his age with his England position less than cemented. Think we all agree that we will not be bringing in players just now (or likely in Summer) who are of the quality of Barry/Milner/Downing(twat)/Young etc - so Bent's stock may well continue to fall, he and his agent are not blind to this - so even medium term is Villa Park really where he wants to be?

Hope he stays and that we can build something around him - he is the only natural goal scorer we've had in years - would be a sad indictment on our club if after 12 months we'd shown him enough lack of ambition / investment to make him think that the grass is greener elsewhere - however looking dispassionately, it probably is for a player of his calibre just now with the way we are setting up and the players we have at our disposal.

Sad state of affairs really

UTV

[N'ZMAV]

For years we was all crying out for a player who taps the ball in the net, who doesn't do much else, as long as he scores. Now we've got one, we're all getting on his back.

[Rick_avfc]

For years we was all crying out for a player who taps the ball in the net, who doesn't do much else, as long as he scores. Now we've got one, we're all getting on his back.

This is what I have been saying on twitter to the DB haters on there.  We just need to know how to supply the man so he can get back to scoring goals.  Yes he will miss some but what striker doesnt?  People saying we should sell him and buy 3/4 other players. Im sorry with the market the way it is, you will get Hutton (very average or just plain shite) type players for like £4/5m.  is that what we want?  isn't that what MON did with some of his signings? BEYE?? HESKEY?? 

[Dante Lavelli]

Everyone keeps saying we should play to his strengths which I guess appears logical enough, but what that invariably also means is that we have to nullify other player's attributes.  We can't play wingers, two up front AND have creativity in the middle of the park.  Teams would walk through the middle of us. 

We also have to consider the team dynamic, if every player is instructed to service Bent then I can understand when they get pissed off if he misses chances.  I'm not sure it's wise for the team to be so one-player-centric and I think we should demand more of Bent, just like we're asking gabby to work the channels, Clark to play midfield etc etc. 

It also unfair pressure on Bent to expect him to be our sole talisman.

[Hookeysmith]

The problem with DB (and this is evident with the teams he has played for previously) is that in the modern game you defend from the front. If DB is not there to do the 6 yard tap ins (of which there is probably no one better at being in the right place since Ian Rush) you are effectively playing with 10 men.
To explain better look at how Gabby led the line against Chelsea, he harried and ran at the back 4 all day when he did not have the ball - he would come deep to get it and his strength held it up for the midfield to join in.
Now look at DB against Swansea - they played six / seven passes from keeper to full backs under no pressure at all - in fact Ireland did most of the running at them to cloase them down.
DB is a master goal poacher - he is not a great footballer, hence my comment about 10 men.
We either have to change our shape to accomodate him (but i dont think we have the right personal to play a flat 4 across midfield or if we continue with a 5 then we have to have total mobility and footballing ability for it to work - in that formation then Gabby should get the nod every time

So for me - as poor a bit of PR as it would be i would sell him and use the funds elsewhere - full backs would be my choice

[glasses]

The problem with DB (and this is evident with the teams he has played for previously) is that in the modern game you defend from the front. If DB is not there to do the 6 yard tap ins (of which there is probably no one better at being in the right place since Ian Rush) you are effectively playing with 10 men.
To explain better look at how Gabby led the line against Chelsea, he harried and ran at the back 4 all day when he did not have the ball - he would come deep to get it and his strength held it up for the midfield to join in.
Now look at DB against Swansea - they played six / seven passes from keeper to full backs under no pressure at all - in fact Ireland did most of the running at them to cloase them down.
DB is a master goal poacher - he is not a great footballer, hence my comment about 10 men.
We either have to change our shape to accomodate him (but i dont think we have the right personal to play a flat 4 across midfield or if we continue with a 5 then we have to have total mobility and footballing ability for it to work - in that formation then Gabby should get the nod every time

So for me - as poor a bit of PR as it would be i would sell him and use the funds elsewhere - full backs would be my choice

I agree. I wish we had the personnel to utilise him, but we don't.

[MarkM]

For years we was all crying out for a player who taps the ball in the net, who doesn't do much else, as long as he scores. Now we've got one, we're all getting on his back.

The problem is we now no longer have the players to service him.

We have no money to buy the type of players we need in order to offer him the service that he will benefit from.

I also think that we have a manager who will not be able to get the best from him.

I have said before that the club need to decide if they want to play the type of football that Bent can play along with [in which case they need to spend some money] or they don't.

If they don't / can't spend the money to build the team around him, then it may be the best option all round to sell him and start to rebuild a new team.

[Dante Lavelli]

The problem with DB (and this is evident with the teams he has played for previously) is that in the modern game you defend from the front. If DB is not there to do the 6 yard tap ins (of which there is probably no one better at being in the right place since Ian Rush) you are effectively playing with 10 men.
To explain better look at how Gabby led the line against Chelsea, he harried and ran at the back 4 all day when he did not have the ball - he would come deep to get it and his strength held it up for the midfield to join in.
Now look at DB against Swansea - they played six / seven passes from keeper to full backs under no pressure at all - in fact Ireland did most of the running at them to cloase them down.
DB is a master goal poacher - he is not a great footballer, hence my comment about 10 men.
We either have to change our shape to accomodate him (but i dont think we have the right personal to play a flat 4 across midfield or if we continue with a 5 then we have to have total mobility and footballing ability for it to work - in that formation then Gabby should get the nod every time

So for me - as poor a bit of PR as it would be i would sell him and use the funds elsewhere - full backs would be my choice

I agree up to the point about selling him.  I'm just not sure there are the players out there who are available and that would come to us.  Personally I do not think we'll get relegated so I hope we use this season to blood a few more youngsters.  Then in the summer we'll have a better idea of exactly what we need.

[Can Gana Be Bettered!?!?]

Why would anyone want to sell their best player?

With a player like Bent you give him the service and he scores.

Can't believe there are people who would sell him.

If we sell him in January, I am cutting up my season ticket.

[KRS]

The only way I could justify the sale of Bent would be if all the funds generated were spent on a more technically gifted and hard working forward than himself plus a very good midfielder. It's unlikely we'll get either or both for the £20m we'd get for him, so the sensible, cheaper and most viable option is to accommodate him properly in the team.

[monkeyboy]

Why would anyone want to sell their best player?

You are aware that you support Aston Villa :-)

[Can Gana Be Bettered!?!?]

The "he doesn't do anything but score" comment makes me laugh.

For anyone not aware of the game of football, the idea is to score more goals than the other team.

Gary Lineker and Andy Cole, for example, didn't do anything except score goals.