Mails: Sell Rooney and Young, not bloody Memphis

Matt Stead

Enjoy your weekends, you busy lot. Send your thoughts to theeditor@football365.com.

 

Already regretting the Memphis sale
I feel a bit for Memphis and Schneiderlin. They are both good, potentially very good players who have just found themselves marginalised by Jose and his particular ways.

Loved the below statement from Jose but cant help thinking we may have been better off keeping Memphis and getting rid of Young and EVEN Rooney!

“It is a position where we never have problems, we have Mkhitaryan, Rashford, Martial, Lingard, Ashley Young even Rooney”
Plato, MUFC (Memphis could of filled in for Valencia at RB)

 

Aguero-Sanchez swap, yeah?
City prepared to listen to offers for Aguero
? Sanchez seemingly unsettled at Arsenal?

Can we not do a swap?

City get the sort of not really striker but bloody good player that Guardiola loves and Arsenal finally get the striker we’ve been after for ages to bang in all the chances Ozil creates?

What’s not to like? or am I missing something here?
Graham Simons, Gooner, Norf London

 

Bloody hell, Theo
Theo Walcott signed for Arsenal 10 years ago today.

Arsenal signings Pires, Vieira and Henry didn’t manage a decade in an Arsenal shirt – how the f*ck has Walcott managed it?

Anyone got any other examples of players who have managed 10 years at a big club that sure as hell should not have hung around so long?
Graham Simons, Gooner, Norf London

 

More stats on Bravo
I will admit to being a fan of Joe Hart. I also am unconvinced about Bravo. (Can I say those two sentences without being xenophobic?) Hart had a bad Euros but he has been terrific on balance for City. He’s had a lot of stick, but I believe the best barometer of how highly a player is rated come from the club’s own fanbase. Whilst Rooney, Mignolet, Ox-Chamberlain for example get mixed reviews from their own fans, I have not yet met a fellow City fan happy to see the back of Hart. Another example is Milner. Derided constantly by rival (including Liverpool fans) during his time at City but loved by our fans. A lot of Liverpool fans see him differently now.

Anyway, the reason I wrote in was to highlight the OPTA stats on the BBC website regarding Bravo. To summarise, OPTA rates the quality of each chance the opposition has based upon a massive historical database of shots based on placement, angle and distance, giving an expected goals stat. Then the actual number of goals conceded is compared. The data supports what many have seen with their eyes. Bravo is simply not saving the shots he should be, ranking 20th out of 23 keepers in the PL. Joe Hart, whilst not matching the epic figures of Tom Heaton this season (Next England No.1 maybe?) is performing well.

If I wanted to abuse the stats(after all isn’t that what the spirit of the mailbox is all about?), I could argue that we would be 8 goals better off had we stuck with Hart, giving us perhaps 6-9 more points on the board. A point behind Chelsea maybe? Still, there is Bravo’s passing game…but is it worth 6-9 points? I don’t know.

I do hope Bravo turns it around and shows his true worth, but I’d rather see Hart come back, for the same reason I would love to see Kompany back leading the team out onto the pitch. We need these players that really seem to care about the club beyond the handsome wages doled out, especially at City. They are rarer than ever these days.
Nic, Lancaster

 

Palace defenders
I enjoyed Peter G’s latest article.  It’s a great series, and from a personal point of view it’s always good when he uses Crystal Palace players/statistics.  I can only presume that, like me, he’s intrigued by players who should be quite good performing atrociously, in general.  Peter asked for my thoughts, and the short answer is, I don’t know but allow me to speculate for a bit.

Earlier this season, there was a notable change in the tactical culture at Palace, as Alan Pardew wanted the team to play out from the back.  This was a message he reinforced in interviews, even if the team’s statistics sat at odds with Pardew’s preferred style, and left us feeling robbed because we didn’t get a Chunky version of Owen Coyle’s “Zonal Marking whatever” comment.  Who did Michael Cox play for?

The point is, when things didn’t work with short passing, largely because our players weren’t able to make it work properly, the team defaulted to playing it long to the target man.   While this sounds like the actions of desperate fools, Palace’s best group of players are their attackers, so it makes sense to get them the ball as often as possible.

I haven’t got a concrete theory as to why Delaney plays more passes per 90 minutes than Scott Dann, or more long balls (less accurately), but the alternative to reading my conjecture is working on a Friday afternoon.  The best I can suggest is that it has something to do with the players around them.  Dann plays on the right side of defence and Delaney on the left.  Dann has largely played with the better full-back (Joel Ward or James Tomkins), and has Yohan Cabaye immediately in front of him; they give him viable outlets for a short pass out wide and in front, a variety that makes his passing less predictable.  Since Pape Souare got injured, Delaney has usually had Martin Kelly or Zeki Fryers outside him (and Ward occasionally), and has had either James McArthur or Joe Ledley in front of him.  He’s got options, but whereas Cabaye looks to advance play, his midfield partner is often one to invite the opposition press, meaning Delaney’s long passing is an outlet looking to exploit the space left by the opposition.

Perhaps we could also look at the recipients of the long passes.  Christian Benteke, like all lone strikers up against a flat back four, can often come up against two central defenders, who are also clued up as to the intended recipient because that’s how everyone with Benteke in their team tends to play.  The alternative to this is to look to play the ball wide, to Wilfried Zaha or Andros Townsend.  I like one of these players a lot more than the other.  In light of the situation with his midfielder and full-back, it would make sense for Delaney to pass directly to the winger; this would allow the full-back to push up and receive a pass from the attacker, in a more advanced position, typically just inside the opposition half – a sort of two steps forward, one back arrangement.  This is less necessary on Dann’s side, because of Cabaye’s superior passing ability compared to McArthur or Ledley.

This is largely speculation, but the important thing is I had fun writing it.  That said, I’d be interested to see how it stands up to Peter’s scrutiny in the game this weekend.
Ed Quoththeraven

 

Marco van Genius
Loving MvB’s suggestions for the game, although it won’t suit the games Luddite’s such as Steve, but then who really cares about opinions from La-La-Land.

Scrapping offside – Offside condenses the game into the middle, but the game is now played by superb athletes leaving no space. Scrapping it would create a more expansive game altogether and reduce the midfield tedium evident in so many games today. To avoid long ball hoofing, you could keep offside where the ball is kicked from your own half. All worth an experiment.

Scrapping extra time. Not sure, extra time is generally good as there is more space to play in.

Run-ups instead of penalties – Great idea, adds more skill and tension to the whole affair.

Limiting games – Difficult to see how that would be enforced.

Time to recognise the game has changed and move it forward.
Dave, RFC

 

Forever(Liver)more
Sorry to see Jake Livermore leave Hull City, who I’ve been urging on for survival this year. He was just coming into his own as an all-round midfielder, particularly effective as a deep-lying playmaker, playing better football than he had in years. He also seems completely over his personal troubles, and had rightly earned the respect and affection of the fans. With Tom Huddlestone back in form, and 10 million on offer, I guess it was hard to say no to West Brom.

He should fit Tony Pulis’ system perfectly; I’m guessing he’ll eventually replace Darren Fletcher. In any case, I hope Hull City get a good player for the money and push on.
Peter G, Pennsylvania, USA

 

Love for Peter
​On the subject of Peter Drury, I absolutely love the guy.

It could be Man United vs Liverpool, or Wigan vs Rotherham, Peter would set it up from the first word to the last with some languid alliteration or carefully prepared introductions, like this in the Chelsea vs Leicester game: ‘The reigning monarchs at the castle of those they dethroned’ as ‘the glories of yesterday fade into the ambitions of today.’

Most people I speak with, hate Drury for exactly this reason, that he takes football commentary and turns it into a theatrical monologue, but that is why I like it. Its different. It shows some effort, and you get to hear a guy say ‘A smoked salmon sandwich of a football match if ever there has been one’ or ‘The crowd…a cacophony of colour’

And the only reason Peter works for me, is that he is usually partnered with Jim Beglin. His ahem…different approach to commentary offsets Drury well. All in all a good combination.
Nathan (Drury is football’s commentary poet), Cape Town.

 

Leeds, Leeds, Leeds
I’ve always had a big soft spot for Leeds thanks largely to one man. As an Australian I watched the emergence of one Harry Kewell for the national team in a famous 2-2 draw with Iran that saw us fail to qualify for France ’98 on the away goals rule. Despite that, Kewell became my idol. Only more so when, having been introduced to the Premier League highlights show, I watched him do this against Sheffield Wednesdayhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QhdRR1hj2e4 (cut to 2:30.)

It was then that I fell in love with Premier League and in particular Kewell and his Leeds Utd. Basically every shirt I owned was a Packard Bell Leeds knockoff with 19 on the back and I’d run around the backyard banging in match winners against Utd on the garage wall. Things only got better when another Australian legend Mark Viduka signed and I laughed hysterically at his sharp “they should call us Leedseroos” wit. I loved that team and I don’t think I’ve loved the Premier League more than when they were playing. Then of course Kewell went to Liverpool, Leeds got relegated and I was left to pick up the shattered pieces of my heart.

I still follow English football quite closely, though have no real affiliation with any team. But I’m always aware of how Leeds are doing and would think it was ace if they finally found their way back to the Premier League. Especially if they worked out how to clone Harry Kewell…

Any other good stories of how you fell in love with football?
Owen Davidson

 

The Phoenix
Evening. Actually, probably morning. Always hard to tell with the time difference (it switches between 11, 12 and 13 hours during the year).

Anyway, long time reader and occasional correspondent a few years ago checking in from my now home in New Zealand.

I’ve noticed a few references to my ‘local’ side the Phoenix on the weekly watch but was disappointed not to see us this week. Sure, we’ve been terrible at times but a change of manager and dropping our fancy-dan Brazilian marquee signing has revitalised the team to back to back wins and a shout at a play-off spot.

Phoenix are unique as a team – the only team to play in a different confederation to the country they reside in, as well as the club with the longest league trip ( the Distance Derby with Perth Glory is a 10 hour flight). We struggle with a ambivalent populace (All Blacks or you can fuck off, mate) and a 35,000 seater stadium for our regular 6k fans. But we have the best chants, best beer and best hot dogs (I was on national news for eating one at the last game I kid you not) that I’ve experienced.

I love Spurs, my team for life, but pay attention to the Phoenix. We’re what football should be about. Expect to lose, revel in a win, have a laugh either way.

Mucho respect for all your work 🙂

Gareth Poulter (was Juan King on the forum a long time ago)
P.S. If you ever want articles on the weirdness on NZ football then let me know. Two confederations leagues in onw country!

 

Monkey tennis
I feel that Mr Stead was being unduly harsh on Guardiola in the Big Weekend feature. If Guardiola had said “into the net” then fair enough. However, it seems to me  that the phrase “inside the net” was more likely a reference to landing the ball in your opponent’s side of the Court within the width of the net. English is not his first language remember.

Yours pedantically
Chris, MUFC (Great to see R-Fed back in form today)

 

Stereotype-busting footballers
Surely the most stereotype busting player in history must be Matthew LeTissier. He has none of the attributes normally associated with an English footballer.
Paul (Carroll got whiplash??) B’mth Hammer

 

Ross McCormack gets his eyebrows done and he’s from Scotland.

For me, that beats Kuyt.
Dave, (He’s from, Glasgow as well) Ireland

 

I’ve always thought Wes Morgan was the least English English player I’ve ever encountered.
Will

 

Back off of Dirk
I will not have Kuyt besmirched on my watch. No siree.

Contrary to what was said in the earlier mailbox Kuyt has typical Dutch technique. Controlled the ball well and had a crisp shot on him. Good vision and passing range too.

He scored plenty of goals for the reds and important goals. The hat trick against the old enemy and knocking them out of the fa cup immediately spring to mind. I think he also scored to knock Chelsea out of the Champs League. Good times.

I admire him for the lung busting effort and commitment to the team he put in to every match.

He may not have been the best player on the pitch but he certainly worked his damnedest to make up any gap in talent with hard graft. That wins you lots of credit with the fans.

A (significantly) less handsome Lalalalanananana if you will.

Maybe the Dutch should be a bit more Kuyt. They might win something. Or at least qualify…
H, (he was tarred with the ugly stick though)

 

Restraining orders
Chris ITFC – you’ll be pleased to know that if Storey ever does a book signing for Portrait of an Icon I’ll be whipping out the F365 outfit again. It’ll be tighter than before.
Barney

 

Nutters XI
Whoa whoa whoa, all these apparent Premier League nutters and there’s still no mention of Stig Tofting? Look at his face. I bet his cornflakes try to crawl out of the bowl! I wouldn’t even enter the same room as him let alone face up against on the pitch!

If you’re scared of publishing this in fear of retribution from Mr Tofting himself I completely understand.
Al (with thanks to Bernard Black) Williams