De Jong

[Stillsy]

He was scared and rightly so. He got hammered in the papers and the ref wouldnt have thought twice about sending him off.

He slid in once but it was a no brainer that he was going to win the ball.

2 weeks and he will be back to himself.

 

[unexpected item]

 

[big gaz]

3 points away from home and De Jong has a quiet game I can live with that.Reports out of London is that little Ces will be starting at weekend and if big Nige gives him the amount of time and space he afforded to the Blackpool midfield we could have a rough afternoon.
Before any one starts I,m a big fan of De Jong and that was a fair challange the bust leg one of those things, but I thought he looked subdude on sunday.
Hope he starts on thursday and gives the poles hell, if not Yaya to start against Arsenal for me.

 

[Stillsy]

Is that serious :/

 

[bluemoondays]

Might be a good idea to rest him against the Arse. We played him against Blackpool to prove we couldn't be bullied into not playing somebody because of the media although he certainly wasn't playing like the NDJ we know and I'm pretty sure that was under instructions.

Have him on the subs bench for Arsenal and have Viera take the Def Mid role.

After Arsenal a few weeks will have gone by since the Ben Arfa tackle and most of the witch-hunting should be over and he can hopefully go back to what he does best.

 

[unexpected item]

Is that serious :/

According to the Guardians Chalkboards it it. The City player who won the most tackles was Bridge, any guesses as to who was the second most successful tackler?

http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/chalkboards/create

 

[rjohnston26]

Is that serious :/

According to the Guardians Chalkboards it it. The City player who won the most tackles was Bridge, any guesses as to who was the second most successful tackler?

http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/chalkboards/create

doesn't really mean anything, the way these analyst softwares work means that many "tackles" in the game that de jong may have completed will actually be reported as interceptions. I'm sure if you saw a graphic of his interceptions you will see he was still quite effective - although nowhere near his usual standard. a calmer performance was a smart move by nige and bobby given the recent hype. be interesting to see what happens on sunday, really need big nige at his best.

 

[Pride_In_Battle]

No big surprise that the first game he restrains himself from playing his usual game is the first game we ship 2 goals. Just goes to show what a vital player he is for us

 

[gafferdanny]

Wasn't the usual no nonsence De Jong and if he has been told to calm it down then his game is ruined. You shouldn't take the bite out of his game because this is what he his all about.

He seemed to be reluctant to make a tackle and in the back of his mind he will feel he is now a target for referees.

If this carries on it will be a massive loss to us.

That's a fair point...are we all still sporting Orang tops for Sunday's game in support of NDJ, or I'm guessing Malcolm Allison tributes have taken priority?

 

[trotsky]

Just shows the quality of the man. He knew he was under scrutiny, and adapted.
Look at the same map on his pass completion - only one went astray.

Superb Nigel.

(plus he had the most interceptions - along with Vinny!)