James Milner

[Ray78]

I am going to stick my neck out on this. If he doesn't sign his contract extension although it will disappointing he will have to go it isn't the end of the world imho.

I hope you're right, Ray. Six years work down the pan for what, a tyke signature? Don't bare thinking about.

The club has done all they can to get him to sign the new deal. He has been a very useful player to have but Roberto Mancini and Manuel Pellegrini doesn't see Milner as a regular starter. And with the trophies they have won you can't argue against their judgement.

 

[Gaylord du Bois]

I am going to stick my neck out on this. If he doesn't sign his contract extension although it will disappointing he will have to go leave it isn't the end of the world imho.

I hope you're right, Ray. Six years work down the pan for what, a tyke signature? Don't bare thinking about.

He has been a very useful player to have but Roberto Mancini and Manuel Pellegrini didn't see Milner as a regular starter. And with 4 trophies between them you can't argue against their judgement GdB.

How right you are, R78, how right you are.

 

[Ray78]

I hope you're right, Ray. Six years work down the pan for what, a tyke signature? Don't bare thinking about.

He has been a very useful player to have but Roberto Mancini and Manuel Pellegrini didn't see Milner as a regular starter. And with 4 trophies between them you can't argue against their judgement GdB.

How right you are, R78, how right you are.

I am just being honest. Although you cannot completely guarantee it will work but the CFA will be doing what Leeds had done and start producing our very own.

 

[OB1]

I agree with your comparison between the two players. So you suggest to take a far more equipped midfielder out of his natural position rather than one who is less equipped?

The situation as I see it is, were possibly in need of another option to Pozo. My opinion is that Milner not only would be better suited to the role but him being employed there would have less of an affect on the midfield too.

Personally I'd give Pozo an hour against Palace and see how we are. He should have scored against Everton and I wonder had he have scored his chance, would more blues be positive about him being up front.

I have also not once accused yaya of being lazy. However I cannot see him being the best option for a position that's going to require him to put constant pressure on defenders when were out of possession.

Nope, I'm not suggesting we move Yaya out of midfield even though I think he would be a better striker than Milner. I have said elsewhere on this subject that because Yaya is the hub of the team, I would be reluctant to disrupt things by moving him; much as I would love to see Yaya have a go up front and prove just what he could do in that role.

As to question marks over him putting pressure on defenders, did you see the game against Everton and how he kept going and putting pressure on Gaz Baz when he got the ball; just the sort of thing he would need to do to centre backs!

Yes I watched the game and it didn't stand out to me that Yaya applied any more pressure than I'd expect to see from one of our midfielders.

I watch Yaya every other week and for me he wouldn't be the best option to lead the line. He has bursts where he closes down or blasts through the heart of a defence. His closing down is usually done in a far tighter area too which will also have other midfield players to help out (Fernandinho, Fernando etc). Being in a centre midfield unit and closing down isn't the same as being the lone striker and closing down. The striker has far more ground to cover and generally has less help.

Milner would, in my opinion, be a better option but like I said, I'd give Pozo another go.

As I said, Aguero and Dzeko cover less ground in a game than Yaya, a fact you can check by looking at their UCL stats, so I think Yaya will have enough in the tank to do the closing down of a striker.

 

[RACHACE]

Nope, I'm not suggesting we move Yaya out of midfield even though I think he would be a better striker than Milner. I have said elsewhere on this subject that because Yaya is the hub of the team, I would be reluctant to disrupt things by moving him; much as I would love to see Yaya have a go up front and prove just what he could do in that role.

As to question marks over him putting pressure on defenders, did you see the game against Everton and how he kept going and putting pressure on Gaz Baz when he got the ball; just the sort of thing he would need to do to centre backs!

Yes I watched the game and it didn't stand out to me that Yaya applied any more pressure than I'd expect to see from one of our midfielders.

I watch Yaya every other week and for me he wouldn't be the best option to lead the line. He has bursts where he closes down or blasts through the heart of a defence. His closing down is usually done in a far tighter area too which will also have other midfield players to help out (Fernandinho, Fernando etc). Being in a centre midfield unit and closing down isn't the same as being the lone striker and closing down. The striker has far more ground to cover and generally has less help.

Milner would, in my opinion, be a better option but like I said, I'd give Pozo another go.

As I said, Aguero and Dzeko cover less ground in a game than Yaya, a fact you can check by looking at their UCL stats, so I think Yaya will have enough in the tank to do the closing down of a striker.

I'm not interested in stats on ground coverage, I watch yaya toure live every other weekend and for me he'd not be a good option to lead the line. Just my opinion.

 

[Bill]

Yes I watched the game and it didn't stand out to me that Yaya applied any more pressure than I'd expect to see from one of our midfielders.

I watch Yaya every other week and for me he wouldn't be the best option to lead the line. He has bursts where he closes down or blasts through the heart of a defence. His closing down is usually done in a far tighter area too which will also have other midfield players to help out (Fernandinho, Fernando etc). Being in a centre midfield unit and closing down isn't the same as being the lone striker and closing down. The striker has far more ground to cover and generally has less help.

Milner would, in my opinion, be a better option but like I said, I'd give Pozo another go.

As I said, Aguero and Dzeko cover less ground in a game than Yaya, a fact you can check by looking at their UCL stats, so I think Yaya will have enough in the tank to do the closing down of a striker.

I'm not interested in stats on ground coverage, I watch yaya toure live every other weekend and for me he'd not be a good option to lead the line. Just my opinion.

i think he would do a job tbh but i'm with you on the stats shit. they can fudge them all they like i prefer to see with my own eyes.

 

[coleridge]

As I said, Aguero and Dzeko cover less ground in a game than Yaya, a fact you can check by looking at their UCL stats, so I think Yaya will have enough in the tank to do the closing down of a striker.

I'm not interested in stats on ground coverage, I watch yaya toure live every other weekend and for me he'd not be a good option to lead the line. Just my opinion.

i think he would do a job tbh but i'm with you on the stats shit. they can fudge them all they like i prefer to see with my own eyes.

I don't even think he'll do a good job as he wants the ball in front of him. With respect, OB1, comparing coverage between a forward and a midfielder is simply irrelevant.

 

[RACHACE]

As I said, Aguero and Dzeko cover less ground in a game than Yaya, a fact you can check by looking at their UCL stats, so I think Yaya will have enough in the tank to do the closing down of a striker.

I'm not interested in stats on ground coverage, I watch yaya toure live every other weekend and for me he'd not be a good option to lead the line. Just my opinion.

i think he would do a job tbh but i'm with you on the stats shit. they can fudge them all they like i prefer to see with my own eyes.

Fair enough Di Niro, he's a top class player so maybe he could.

Stats on goals or a teams attacking performance are useful, I use them from a betting perspective all the time but stats that say player A has covered 0.6km more than player B are generally useless.

It's like saying that arsenal had 480 passes compared to stokes 230 passes. The result finished 3-2 to stoke though so does it actually matter?

 

[dobobobo]

As I said, Aguero and Dzeko cover less ground in a game than Yaya, a fact you can check by looking at their UCL stats, so I think Yaya will have enough in the tank to do the closing down of a striker.

I'm not interested in stats on ground coverage, I watch yaya toure live every other weekend and for me he'd not be a good option to lead the line. Just my opinion.

i think he would do a job tbh but i'm with you on the stats shit. they can fudge them all they like i prefer to see with my own eyes.

Thank fuck i'm not the only one who thinks this!

 

[OB1]

As I said, Aguero and Dzeko cover less ground in a game than Yaya, a fact you can check by looking at their UCL stats, so I think Yaya will have enough in the tank to do the closing down of a striker.

I'm not interested in stats on ground coverage, I watch yaya toure live every other weekend and for me he'd not be a good option to lead the line. Just my opinion.

i think he would do a job tbh but i'm with you on the stats shit. they can fudge them all they like i prefer to see with my own eyes.

Ah the old I'll rely on my eyes cliche; especially popular when facts get in the way of people's opinions (even if you do seem to be agreeing with me on this).

It's utter bollocks that stats are not useful and anyone who does not use them in conjunction with watching matches just is not seeing the whole picture.

It is easy to dismiss stats (lies, lies and damned statistics) and it is unfortunate that they are even referred to as stats due to the negative connotations the word often has. They would be much better be described as performance indicators, which are an essential part of running any professional operation and most top managers in football will pay them a lot of attention these days.

The absolute fact is that the eyes play tricks and people can be swayed by their bias. Whilst the stats recording for football are not always perfect, they are totally objective measures and used sensibly are very useful.

I have an excellent seat at the Etihad and I like to combine watching the match in person with going home and, preferably, seeing a recording of the whole game plus MotD, Goals on Sunday and a good look at the stats and chalkboards that are available. It helps to get a rounded perspective on things (a balanced scorecard approach, if you will) and definitely helps to spot people who are talking rubbish (that comment is not directed at Bill; at least, not this time ;-) ).