I Want de Jong Out of The Team Part II

[Happy Kundays]

Nige was Nige!

 

[Danamy]

Most football fans i speak to would love a De Jong in there side yet a lot of our own fans can't see what he gives to the team?
I think Bizarre is the word i'm looking for?

Posted this on another thread just now but thought i'd transfer it here as it's more relavant..............

 

[Joycee Banercheck]

I saw him pass it forwards over 20 yards! I'll always stivk up for NDJ coz he's quite simply sublime. He won balls that he shouldn't have. I've bigged up Yaya tonight (and rightly so) but Nige is the guy sitting back and letting it all happen and then sticking the boot in when it isn't. Top quality, and if it weren't for AJ, Yaya, Barry et al, he'd be MOM.

 

[hilts]

its called the makele affect some people just dont realise what he brings to the team, he probably prevented at least a dozen scouse attacks tonight, if he werent there and they scored from two of those its a different game, this role is always undervalued by many, cantano the nutter described it well when he called deschamps the water carrier

 

[Damocles]

He played very well tonight, fair play to him.

That said, I'm predicting him to go. As I have said, he's my favourite City player behind Johnson, but I just don't see Mancini keeping him long term. Hope I'm wrong, here's a previous post on him from me that I'd like to reiterate:

De Jong is a terrier in midfield, he always puts a shift in and plays with his heart on his sleeve. He's also the proverbial 'hardman', and more than a few people who have hit AJ early on in the game have had a De Jong ankle snapper to deal with a few minutes later, to put them in their place. They didn't do it again.

He is the player that we love to love, he dies on the pitch every game, protects the tricky players and stands tall in front of the back four looking midfielders square in the whites of their eyes and challenges them to come and have a go. He's our version of the 300 Spartans.

All that is great, but as a player, he is lacking in some departments. His shots are WAY off, he hasn't got much pace and his passing isn't great. Hell, his tackling isn't inch perfect (or it is and he's the best tackler ever).

But it doesn't matter. That's the scientific aspect of the game, the German, methodical, ultra-professional, ultra-chiselled mould of a midfielder. We have that in Gareth Barry, the guy who is the footballer that every footballer likes, the perfect technician.

De Jong brings the heart of the Kippax onto the pitch, he is everything that has always been great about City, he is Buzzer on the wing without his shinpads, Kinkladze taking it round 5 players, Goater rounding Neville in the Derby. He is a bit shit, not really the most sophisticated of players, but he is the living, breathing fight of the team. Let's face it, City are a bit shit, City aren't the most sophisticated European club, but WE are the living and breathing heart of Manchester. De Jong personifies this as a player, the belief that true effort, desire and the spirit of a warrior can outdo all of the fancy tricks put in front of it. He is Rocky to Barry's Ivan Drago.

There is something fundamentally likeable about De Jong, about his attitude off the pitch and about the way he plays on it. All this Abu Dhabi stuff is great, and the Torres', Messi's, and these cultured, continental midfielders that will come in will be lovely to watch, but we are not Real Madrid, and we are not the Harlem Globetrotters. There is something different about City and no matter who we bring in to the club we MUST not lose that identity. Not for all of the trillions of dollars that the Sheikh has.

Is he overrated? Probably, but that's besides the point.

De Jong sums up the spirit of the City. Not technically the greatest thing ever, but by pure determination we fight our way to the top table of football.

 

[Joycee Banercheck]

He played very well tonight, fair play to him.

That said, I'm predicting him to go. As I have said, he's my favourite City player behind Johnson, but I just don't see Mancini keeping him long term. Hope I'm wrong, here's a previous post on him from me that I'd like to reiterate:

De Jong is a terrier in midfield, he always puts a shift in and plays with his heart on his sleeve. He's also the proverbial 'hardman', and more than a few people who have hit AJ early on in the game have had a De Jong ankle snapper to deal with a few minutes later, to put them in their place. They didn't do it again.

He is the player that we love to love, he dies on the pitch every game, protects the tricky players and stands tall in front of the back four looking midfielders square in the whites of their eyes and challenges them to come and have a go. He's our version of the 300 Spartans.

All that is great, but as a player, he is lacking in some departments. His shots are WAY off, he hasn't got much pace and his passing isn't great. Hell, his tackling isn't inch perfect (or it is and he's the best tackler ever).

But it doesn't matter. That's the scientific aspect of the game, the German, methodical, ultra-professional, ultra-chiselled mould of a midfielder. We have that in Gareth Barry, the guy who is the footballer that every footballer likes, the perfect technician.

De Jong brings the heart of the Kippax onto the pitch, he is everything that has always been great about City, he is Buzzer on the wing without his shinpads, Kinkladze taking it round 5 players, Goater rounding Neville in the Derby. He is a bit shit, not really the most sophisticated of players, but he is the living, breathing fight of the team. Let's face it, City are a bit shit, City aren't the most sophisticated European club, but WE are the living and breathing heart of Manchester. De Jong personifies this as a player, the belief that true effort, desire and the spirit of a warrior can outdo all of the fancy tricks put in front of it. He is Rocky to Barry's Ivan Drago.

There is something fundamentally likeable about De Jong, about his attitude off the pitch and about the way he plays on it. All this Abu Dhabi stuff is great, and the Torres', Messi's, and these cultured, continental midfielders that will come in will be lovely to watch, but we are not Real Madrid, and we are not the Harlem Globetrotters. There is something different about City and no matter who we bring in to the club we MUST not lose that identity. Not for all of the trillions of dollars that the Sheikh has.

Is he overrated? Probably, but that's besides the point.

De Jong sums up the spirit of the City. Not technically the greatest thing ever, but by pure determination we fight our way to the top table of football.

I remember and liked that post, but think that just because someone wins the ball and puts their foot in that it doesn't mean they aren't technically gifted. He played balls today that most gifted players would have loved to have played.

 

[Nelly's Left Foot]

Nigel was immense tonight and he wasn't on his own. Yaya had more of a quietly effective night but his big days will come.

 

[GStar]

We'll play one central striker and 3 CM's all season i think, so NDJ will consistently be one of the first names on the team sheet.

Tonight he again showed why. We get the best out of Barry, we'll get the best out of Yaya, we let of flair players create and keep our base strong.

A huge asset to our team and our formation.

 

[pee dubya]

De Jong and Kompany are my favourite players. Both hard as fuck, but not in a flashy way, they just are. De Jong's footballing ability is well underrated too, he's not just a tackler, he plays simple passes, but he's always willing to accept the ball, his first touch is always spot on, takes in the direction where the oppo players can tackle him if he's under pressure.

 

[peacefrog]

Between them De Jong, Barry, Kompany smothered liverpool tonight. Putting their tackle in where it hurt. De Jong was superb though and not just at destroying their play. He also did very well with his distribution too.