Marvelous Nakamba - gone

[Footy-Vill]

Time to step up to speed Marv.

[Footy-Vill]

Gerrard on Marv
"the big frustration was that Marvelous Nakamba couldn't carry on because he asked to be changed We knew he would run out of steam at some point and Douglas went into the middle and, obviously, the ball got stolen off him. Maybe with Marv that might not have happened but, look, it is what it is and we have to look after Marv and his body. That's the most important thing"

For me Nakamba good old sort and trier but he's not top level and his passing is ropey as heck. Sloppy on the ball and was lacking composure at times when in possession.
He's ok as back up but I can tell SG wants an upgrade.
Would also put him in part fault for the equaliser in being far to keen to get to the ball his lack of balance saw him tackle and kick ball right off Mings who if left uninterrupted would have atoned for his initial slip/tread. This comes with players being more in kin with another Marv there did not favours and contributed as does his giving ball away to opposition Keita I think nearly scoring from edge of area.

Now he doing basics right at times and coaches looking to improve him but he's not really a good enough football player for us starting next season against top half teams in the way Gerrad wants to play.
Place in the squad yes and marvellous chap by nature and name. Just how I see him.

[eamonn]

Agreed, 100%.

[Footy-Vill]

I notice he's 28 and 29 in January. I don't know how much more he can improve may have given some benefit even if he was at 26 but no not even sure he belongs in squad now. Rather see Iroegbunam and Chambers as back up to new signing DM And 5 sub opportunity. And so imperative we bring in a number 6 to take his place.
At a push let him have one last season and be one of the back up but Iroegbunam could fulfill that role and good example of pathway to first team by integrating Tim. Marvelous can go by my reckoning.

[colin69]

I thought he played very well last night apart from a couple of wayward passes. We were definitely better with him on the pitch that off it.

[Risso]

I agree. His first start in months against arguably the best team in the world. I thought he did really well.

[LeeB]

He made the 10 yard box in front of the penalty area his own personal killzone, no Liverpool player that entered it came out with the ball.

He's limited, but he's a fucking brilliant ball winner.

[supertom]

A bit of ring rust certainly, but we looked weaker when he was off. I like Marvelous. He's a perfect back up option in that 6 to what I hope will be the inevitable new signing we need. Conversely, Douglas is much better in the 8 position and clearly prefers it.

[Taylor]

It’s no surprise that both SJM and Doug play so much better with Marv in the team.

[john e]

I don’t reckon there’s a better ball winner in the prem
You just laugh sometimes at some of the things he does because they seem a bit unbelievable

He’s the best at ball winning but unfortunately he’s not the best at anything else
That bit last night in the first half where he wins the ball absolute class bit of play moves forward looking accomplished and passes it straight to one of theirs who nearly scores with a shot is Nakamba in a nutshell

You can’t help but love him

[PeterWithe]

Maybe we should train him to kick for touch as soon as he wins it. Might cause us fewer problems.

[Toronto Villa]

The fact that we look better with a proper DM shows how valuable the position is to the way Gerrard wants us to play. Nakamba has done very well for us but in truth he should be no more than the back up DM. We need to get ourselves a really good one.

[Sexual Ealing]

I notice he's 28 and 29 in January. 

Tempus doesn't half fugit these days, Footy!

[Louzie0]

It was lovely to see him back where he belongs and I thought he played well too, hopefully to start again on Sunday.

[Nelly]

Before he got injured I was really surprised at how good Nakamba's passing was, in Gerrard's early games. I'd not really seen that in him before. I'm not trying to make out he is world class or anything but he can definitely do a job. He seems to really ping it with pace which can sort of force the tempo a bit. He sent one at Watkins in the Liverpool game, which of course Watkins failed to control: Some of Nakamba's wayward passing in that game I think was down to players not being on the same wavelength.

We have obviously been linked with a fair few DMs now - I'd be more than happy for Nakamba to stay and be back up.