Ok i was wrong i apologise, was Looking at GS obvioulsly the wrong section.
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http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/foo...-contract.html
Theo has contributed absolutely nothing so far this season (admittedly it's early doors) and he is maddeningly inconsistent. But if he goes I make that 3 first teamers out and 3 in, only one of whom has shone so far although I have hopes for the others.
:ilt:
This is sliding from a pretty decent summer to another massively frustrating one, another season of rebuilding.
:(
Cesc's season was much like his one for us in 07/08, great in the first half, not much there in the second. He became less and less of a starter as the season wore on - Pep citing him as being 'anarchic' mid-way through and criticising him fairly publically in the Valencia game for missing too many chances. They changed it to a 3-4-3 to try and accomodate him when he first came but it didn't really work how they would've liked.
He was absolutely anonymous against Osasuna this weekend more pertinently and I would be very surprised if he started tomorrow.
On Theo, at least there are only a few days until this crap is sorted.
even in his last few years his influence was waynig in midfield...this is not his fault but the fact he was being played as a number 10...
Cesc was best in the true CM role...who remebers the Barnabau against madrid in 2006....he ran the show...
He is an awsome footballer either way, and very versatile, but i still believe he would be best suited in the middle as his vision and short game can thrive in this role
True :(
Walcott's always been inconsistent though. His stats are actually pretty decent but they could be much better if he was more consistent. Frustrating player and IMO not worth the big payrise he was apparently offered. But someone out there will pay it and he knows it.
:(
tbf barca play a completely different system to us.
Cesc is NOT a deep-lying playmaker ala xaxi contrary to popular belief. That is what barca want him to be when he is actually more similar to iniesta; hence his goal tally. He is a lot effective driving forward and i think it will take time --- barca are actually a very well oiled machine. And i did not expect cesc to actually perform as he did last season tbh
And that was fine up until about December but after that, the effectiveness he had with Messi waned (Messi's effectiveness did not). When Guardiola needed to change his role slightly from what it was because of the goals they were conceding it was then that it slid towards where they're at with him now (even though it should be taking with a huge grain of salt as the article is by Marca). From then on he found himself on the bench more often.
It won't take time simply because he won't be given time, just like their patience is probably wearing thin with Sanchez. He'll have a role to play but it's mainly going to be from the bench in bigger games - he started against Osasuna but it wasn't until Cesc went off they started to click again.