De Jong, it pains me

[blumoonrisen]

De Jong has been very impressive in the last four games, all of which he's started after struggling for a place beforehand. To me he looks pretty much back to his best now and our aggregate score in the last four games has been 10-1, which might open the eyes of those who say he kills our attacking game. Mancini is visibly acknowledging his return to form by continuing to play him while Milner remains sat on the bench a lot.

Agree with most of that. It kills me sometimes that even the "Heavyweight" posters from the Forum try and pick a best Eleven.

It's a squad game these days -Like most I prefer Clichy to Kolorov but how good was Kolorov today, and AJ - the Forums other whipping boy.

correct. the days of the 1st eleven are gone. love the way bobby rotates and gives players opportunities to show their worth.
no complaints from any player about being in/out of the team. they accept his decision and dont sulk.
the contributions of milner,johnson,kolorov and zabba have been invaluable to the title push..they all get plenty of game time and appear ready to step up to the plate when called upon. great squad management.

So true, and when we win the league... as we will, every member of our squad that has played an important part in it, will ALL be deserving of legend status..

 

[Akira]

I think it's simple.

A De Jong midfield:

-----De Jong-----
-- Yaya ---- Silva/Barry/Pizarro --

Silva, Barry, Pizarro, etc forming the third midfielder depending on the amount of balance we need in the team. With De Jong as the fulcrum, our attacking players are given more creative freedom to attack when there is a reliable man shielding the opponent's final third.


A De Jong-less midfield:

--- Yaya --- Barry/Pizarro/Nasri---
-Silva/Johnson ------ Nasri/Balotelli---

This formation is what I like to call, "all guns blazing." I believe Mancini played this formation earlier to play towards our vast array of attacking talent, thus allowing us to surprise many teams and subsequently trash them.

However, it is heavily reliant on our attacking players tracking back efficiently, which is often vulnerable to good counterattack.



Simply put, De Jong brings back the balance in the team. But this is Bluemoon, so wait till some shit to happen again and we can all start to blame De Jong for it again.

 

[NathanC]

The last month do Jong has been much better. Much less backwards passing, and the most advanced he has been in some time.

I think he can pick a pass, but in his true DM role, he is coached not to.

 

[Terra Passenger]

The last month do Jong has been much better. Much less backwards passing, and the most advanced he has been in some time.

I thought that De Jong had a very good game Saturday - and he was forward looking in his passing on several occasions.

I'd like to see Pizzaro start against weaker teams with De Jong providing defensive cover. Pizzaoro can help break down the opposition when they park the bus against us (for example, his excellent pass to Kolorov to then set up Dzeko).

 

[Bazzmand Show]

For me De Jong is still ahead of Barry all things being equal.

 

[True_Blue69]

I think it's simple.

A De Jong midfield:

-----De Jong-----
-- Yaya ---- Silva/Barry/Pizarro --

Silva, Barry, Pizarro, etc forming the third midfielder depending on the amount of balance we need in the team. With De Jong as the fulcrum, our attacking players are given more creative freedom to attack when there is a reliable man shielding the opponent's final third.


A De Jong-less midfield:

--- Yaya --- Barry/Pizarro/Nasri---
-Silva/Johnson ------ Nasri/Balotelli---

This formation is what I like to call, "all guns blazing." I believe Mancini played this formation earlier to play towards our vast array of attacking talent, thus allowing us to surprise many teams and subsequently trash them.

However, it is heavily reliant on our attacking players tracking back efficiently, which is often vulnerable to good counterattack.



Simply put, De Jong brings back the balance in the team. But this is Bluemoon, so wait till some shit to happen again and we can all start to blame De Jong for it again.

Bit harsh not even including Milner in there think he has been class at times this season. I have to admit that I was one of those questioning whether De Jong would ever win a starting place back but its with hige credit to him that he has. Not once has he spat his dummy out in public and has just got his head down and worked hard. Hope he signs a new contract.

 

[BlueAnorak]

He's playing really well at the moment. His partnership with YaYa is working beautifully at the moment and is probably the reason for the high number of Clean Sheets of late. He still needs to improve his game, however, as (for me) there are far too many sideways or backwards passes when we have posession.

 

[dannybcity]

Horses for courses.

 

[tolmie's hairdoo]

Nige back to his best over last month.

Putting his foot in a bit more and some of his forward passing yesterday proved he can do it when required.

Adam Johnson, on the other hand, not taking his opportunities.

Would rather Nasri came in off that right hand side, similar pace to Johnson, but more end-product and correct decision making.

 

[Luke The Blue]

He was absolutely what we desperately missed against Bayern away, but definitely not what we needed last night. de Jong will be the most important player on the pitch in many games. Even in the opening game against Swansea, a team you'd think we wouldn't need de Jong for, he was the best and most important player on the pitch for an hour as Swansea were knocking the ball around for fun and he alone was breaking their play up to set us up to have our own possesion and territory.

For me the "we play better without de Jong" posts are a huge over-gerneralisation.