Karim El Ahmadi CONFIRMED (Reply #278)

[pestria]

Hes a very right footed player so wonder whether he will be used on the right side of midfield or central...or may be even as part of a central midfield duo if PL reverts to 4231 formation.

El Ahmadi - Makoun
Albrighton - Ireland - N'Zogbia
Bent

He may well do but 5 out of those 6 are either unproven or underperformers.

Good to see us looking to solve the problem positions though - useful start from Lambert

It was just an example mate...there are a number of options to fill any of those positions which has to be a good thing for PL and the squad as a whole. Hopefully we'll see a few more transfers soon and give us more options at the back too.

There may be a number of options but they mostly comprise players who as I have said are either inexperienced or serial under performers, which is why I'm surprised to see people getting excited about the sort of line up you outlined.

Anything relying on Makoun and Ireland as central midfielders is fraught with danger, as we saw last season when we relied on Petrov and Ireland. 

This is why I said lambert had made a sensible/good start but obviously there's still a very long way to go to transform the shambles of last season's midfield.

[pestria]

Hes a very right footed player so wonder whether he will be used on the right side of midfield or central...or may be even as part of a central midfield duo if PL reverts to 4231 formation.

El Ahmadi - Makoun
Albrighton - Ireland - N'Zogbia
Bent

He may well do but 5 out of those 6 are either unproven or underperformers.

Good to see us looking to solve the problem positions though - useful start from Lambert

Disagree. I don't know why Marc is in that line up but throw in Gabby or Holman and all six of those players are experienced veterans.

you seem to,have missed the point.  they may be veterans, but they have they seriously under performed last season in particular and in certain cases over a number of years. 

[KRS]

If we're going to judge the players based on being unproven or underperforming under AM last season then we're going to need to replace the whole squad mate. Under new management I'd rather be optimistic and think that we will see the likes of Ireland, N'Zogbia and Bent playing to the best of their ability, and seeing unproven players such as Makoun and Albrighton to fulfil their potential.

Personally I dont think either Makoun or Albrighton are or will prove to be good enough, but their are a number of youngsters and potentially more transfer targets that may strengthen those positions making a more competitive squad challenging for first team places...which in itself is another thing we've been lacking for a few seasons.

Regardless of what we think, on paper 2 holding defensive midfielders who can tackle and distribute the ball out wide to the wingers or through the centre to Ireland, should make us more likely to supply Bent with enough chances.

[hawkeye]

I was hopeing it was an Arab investor, dissapointed to find out he plays football

[tomd2103]

Lets see how players like Albrighton do with Lambert. I'd like to thing he'll have his confidence boosted and will thrive. For the first half of Houlliers season he was superb. He ran out of steam. Under McLeish, like a lot of our attacking talent, he looked ill at ease and just lacking in confidence completely.

I'm not gonna write him off just yet. When he's on it he's a good player. He likes taking people on and is capable of delivering real quality from out wide. The thing with Marc too is he'll try his luck at taking people on a lot. An attack minded manager will encourage that, where-as McLeish probably kept track of everytime he gave the ball away and tore into him. I'm guessing, but it may have been that way in part. He seemed to be a little shackled as did all of our attackers.

Like England's wide players in the Euros, I always got the impression McLeish emphasised that defending was the priority for our wide players.  Anything they produced going forward was a bonus, but being solid defensively was the number one requirement.   

[Monty]

I was hopeing it was an Arab investor, dissapointed to find out he plays football

And isn't, technically, an Arab.

[Phil from the upper holte]

Has the fecker signed yet?

[Mr Speedy H]

Has the fecker signed yet?

Doesn't look like it.

[pestria]

If we're going to judge the players based on being unproven or underperforming under AM last season then we're going to need to replace the whole squad mate. Under new management I'd rather be optimistic and think that we will see the likes of Ireland, N'Zogbia and Bent playing to the best of their ability, and seeing unproven players such as Makoun and Albrighton to fulfil their potential.

Personally I dont think either Makoun or Albrighton are or will prove to be good enough, but their are a number of youngsters and potentially more transfer targets that may strengthen those positions making a more competitive squad challenging for first team places...which in itself is another thing we've been lacking for a few seasons.

Regardless of what we think, on paper 2 holding defensive midfielders who can tackle and distribute the ball out wide to the wingers or through the centre to Ireland, should make us more likely to supply Bent with enough chances.

I am (or at least would like to be) optimistic about a new manager getting the best out of all the players in the current squad.  As you suggest they're not as bad as last year's results under TSM suggest.

However, the midfield still needs a lot of work (as I'm sure Lambert knows) and I wouldn't want us to be in the same position as last season - having to rely on Ireland and AN Other in the centre of the park.

In addition, I don't think a triumvirate of, say, Ireland, Gabby and N'Zogbia in support of Bent generates enough goals. Historically speaking the 4 of them in total score just over a goal a game.  So I'm not sure the 4-2-3-1 option with the current squad works.

[Mazrim]

Depends. Who is behind them? How much support are they getting from the full backs and midfield? How much more are the midfield winning the ball back for them? How much commited to attack can they be under this manager? Is Gabby fully fit? Are the tactics now about getting the ball to Ireland for him to find the other 3 in good positions etc...

[KRS]

Yeah I agree with that pestria. I think we would be all be very naive to believe or to forget that the current state of the squad is not good enough to see major improvements in results and performances under new management...yes, they will improve but not drastically. The defence needs wholesale changes and additional players need to come in to reinforce both midfield and attack...hopefully El Ahmadi is just the first of many new players coming in. We need at least 5 or 6 quality players to be challenging in the top half next season.

[Concrete John]

Bent is just under a 1 in 2 striker, Gabby should be good for 5-10 even playing wide and N'Zogbia is capable of up to double figures a season.  I see no problem there, but we would need Ireland to get more goals.  If you add in the subs contributions, plus say 10-15 from the back 4 and two defensive midfielders, we'd be OK.

[N'ZMAV]

Gabby has 8 League goals in the last 2 seasons, and that's with playing wide during that time. I'd rather have Weimann and Bent up front.

[pedro25]

Holman will surely be pushing Gabby/Ireland/N'Zogbia for a starting role, maybe he will be good for a few goals also.  Of our current midfielders on our books I can potentially see Delph and Gardner being good for a few goals, but wont expect many from Makoun, Herd and Bannan.  Albrighton could chip in with a few if he finds form.

[Concrete John]

8 in two seasons with a couple of decent sized injury lay offs and the handicap of TSM.  Barring injury, I'm pretty confident Gabby will score at least 8 this coming season alone.