What are the best partnerships we never saw?

Matt Stead

Send your thoughts to theeditor@football365.com.

 

Create your own Frankenstein – the Chelsea version
Increasingly happy/smug Chelsea fan here.  The idea of combining two of our players to create my very own awesome Frankenstein grabbed me.  I considered combining Oscar’s tackling ability (2.4 tackles per game according to everyone’s favourite stats trackers WhoScored) with one of our actual defenders, specifically Victor Moses (0.9 – 181st of all players) but instantly dismissed the idea as that’s not his main gameplan which he is carrying out to a level nobody thought possible apart from one Mr Conte.  No, not even you Chelsea hipsters.

I eventually decided on combining Terry’s leadership and reading of the game with Zouma’s youth, pace and tackling ability.  That would sort out the one thing I feel we’re missing in this team; leadership.  Nothing against Cahill, I actually think he’s been very good for us down the years but if there’s a weak link in that back 3/5 then it’s definitely him.  Zouma will be taking his place on talent alone when he’s fit but if he had Terry’s leadership then he’d be taking the armband too.  As it is, it won’t be long until this season’s big redemption story – David Luiz – takes his place at the captain’s table.
BlueLuke

 

An obvious choice from a Chelsea perspective for two players to combine would be to simply combine our two best players, Hazard and Costa, to create a SuperForward. Thing is though, we already benefit from the immense talent of these two on the pitch at the same time and I suppose the point of this is to create something awesome and new for the team.

There was a piece on this site not long ago about the improvement of Nemanja Matic to fit into Conte’s system, at the expense of Cesc so far this season. This was something that the piece alluded to at the time, but to combine the skillset of these two would be to create the perfect central midfield prototype. A swashbuckling interceptor with the vision of a hawk and sumptuous technical ability, this player would dominate midfields up and down the land. With his mate N’Golo next to him, Chelsea really would be unstoppable.

If only there were a fictitious transfer market where such a demon exists.
Sean, CFC, Sussex.

 

The Tottenham version
Regarding Harry from Devon’s fun idea of combining players,

My mad science experiment would be a melding of Mousa Dembele and Luka Modric. The strength, dribbling, defensive nous, and rugged looks of Dembele with the passing and vision of Modric to produce midfield perfection. I dub my creation Dembelic and command him to rise and lay waste to the midfields of the world!
Duncan in sunny, warm Ottawa

 

In answer to Harry, for Spurs his namesake Harry Kane plus Kyle Walkers pace = The original Ronaldo.

That was easier than I thought!
Mark, Germany, Cold.

 

The Arsenal version
Harry, TeamFonte, Devon’s letter (Which two players would you combine?) got me thinking. As an Arsenal fan I’m going to go for Cech and Sanchez (pronounced Chanchez I guess).

He’d be able to make a world class save and then immediately play it out from the back (to himself), go on a mazy run through the opposition midfield, drive into the opposition penalty area and score a world class goal.

It might leave us a little vulnerable to the counter attack, but Chanchez would have the stamina to get up and down the pitch all day long.
Ben Ghirardani, North London

 

The Liverpool version
I am going to go back a few seasons with my combination, and choose the skill, footballing ability etc from Suarez, with the passion, commitment to the club and not being a bitey racist idiot from Carragher.

99% of the time this ends up essentially just being Suarez, but it would mean he would still be playing for us without also embarrassing us at the same time
Stephen Baines

 

Miscellaneous
Quick thought on combing players, I imagine quite a few people, assuming others participate, will combine players with disparate qualities – say, Eden Hazard with N’Golo Kante – to create some sort of footballing ubermensch. But I think a better strategy would be to double down on a player who already excels at a particular skill. Imagine an Eden Hazard and Alexis Sanchez hybrid (not on the same team, I know)? He’d be an absolute whirlwind. Or Costa and Drogba (ok I’m starting to take liberties here)? Untouchable. A John Terry/Vincent Kompany hybrid would have the slow imperiousness of a cruise ship. An Anichebe/Heskey hybrid, good lord. A Kante/Makelele hybrid would remove the need for a defence. A Gary Lineker/Robbie Fowler hybrid would score in the triple digits. A Berbatov/Le Tissier hybrid would produce outrageous skill while covering a couple of km a match. Ok, I’m getting carried away, but you see my point – far more exciting than James Milner mk II.
Mark, Warwickshire

 

Partnerships that never happened
Following up from Harry,TeamFonte,Devon’s publication about ‘combining’ players, I’d like to extend the discussion and ask this question that has always given me amatory dispositions. And here it goes-which partnership(s) would you have relished most that never happened?. I’m a Liverpool fan,and still dream about the Suarez-Torres partnership. I believe we’d have won the league had they played together for even a season. The condition is that the players mentioned should be fit and playing at their highest levels.
Bright(Liverpool fan) Ntow(Ghana).

 

Man management? Pah
“Mourinho’s dealing took the whole media hype and initial expectations off Mkhitaryan’s shoulders”

Yes, fantastic man management from Mourinho there.  Mkhitaryan is ‘protected’ by being thrown in at the deep end in the derby despite not being fully recovered from injury, then hooked at half time and publicly hung out to dry, taking the blame for the performance when the lot of them were awful that day.  He is banished for months, until Utd’s performances and results have crumbled to the extent that mutiny is just around the corner and Jose has no choice but to shake things up.

Meanwhile, with no Mkhitaryan to worry about, all that spare media hype and pressure is heaped upon the already overburdened shoulders of the 21 year old Pogba, who is being shunted around multiple positions in an unfamiliar system and playing under the weight of a world-record transfer fee, and as a result of these factors currently looking worlds away from justifying it. Yeah well done Jose, glad you could take some time out from calling Shaw a coward to get that one in.

Alternatively, if we allow ourselves to assume that Jose in not in fact an infallible supreme being, it looks more likely that in classic Jose ‘new fish’ style he’s gone in there, tried to use Mkhitaryan to show he’s the big man on campus like he did with Mata at Chelsea, only to realise that he doesn’t have the array of dispensable talent he thought he did. So now he’s trying to pretend this was his plan all along (hugely helped by Mkhitaryan’s public mea culpa, get that man an honorary psychology degree) and hoping no one notices the tail tucked between his legs.
JG LFC

 

Oh give me a f*cking break Posova Andrew. Ostracising Mkhitaryan was not a piece of ‘good management’ – it was Mourinho’s neatly laying the blame at his feet for the City defeat and stubbornly refusing to bring him in from the cold until he had no f*cking choice. You might have to tacitly back Mourinho because he’s managing your team but don’t start drinking the Kool Aid mate.

If it was such a clever bit of management, why are United so far off the pace in the league and why weren’t Bailly and world record signing dab merchant Paul Pogba afforded the same protection from being thrown in at the deep end? He seems to be doing really well under the weight of media expectations.
Simon CFC

 

Stones is fine
In response to Aravind’s mail this morning, I would suggest that the crux of his point would be what type of defender Stones is being developed into. Admittedly under the tutelage of Mourinho and Terry he would certainly develop a solid defensive base, designed around formations built to be hard to break down, and the committed no nonsense throw everything in front of the ball, last ditch defending that Terry has made into his style. That’s not an over-simplification of his style as a player, he does much more than that, but it seems his commitment and bravery is often his most celebrated footballing trait and very effective it has been for player and club alike over the years too.

Nevertheless, there is more than one style of defender, and clearly Guardiola, whatever you think of his style or philosophy, has a vision more akin to total football, with all players in all positions comfortable with the ball and confident and brave in possession. So he likes sweeper style pass out from the back goalkeepers that we’ve heard so much about since the arrival of Bravo and departure of Hart. Likewise he likes his defenders to be confident in playing out from the back, keeping the ball moving and the game flowing as relentlessly as possible. Oftentimes we’ve seen Stones given reign to carry the ball forward into midfield and transition into a makeshift defensive midfielder/playmaker of sorts – or at least an instigator of attacks from the back. It’s a role that I actually think he can master in time, and as such, if that skill set has been scrupulously scouted as a strength of his game (as you imagine it has been), then I can think of no better coach to be playing under at this stage in his career.

In footballing terms, European football has always held a slightly different relationship with the central defender than English football. Generations of kids brought up with the defenders “kick it long”, “if in doubt, kick it out” mantra, which is an effective form of defending, will also no doubt be aware that it is not the only way to build a defence, see Franz Beckenbauer, Paulo Maldini, Ruud Gullit et al. So perhaps, rather than being concerned about his development under the maverick Guardiola, we should as English fans be embracing young defenders coming through playing a different style built upon the successes of other European nations that we so often fall short against in international competition. Let’s give Stones some more time to develop and see what time under Guardiola’s tutelage may achieve. He may not develop as he could, then again maybe he’ll flourish, maybe he could have become a better defender at Chelsea, but methinks club loyalty may have been just a tiny bit on Aravind’s mind when questioning Stones’ develop at this stage in his short career at Man City.
Jamie AVFC (I know, a Villa fan talking about defending. The irony’s not lost on me)

 

Aravind, Chelsea Fan says that Stones would have been better off joining chelsea last season so he could have spent settled training time with JT and learn how to defend under Mourinho, but instead has ended up at the wrong club at the wrong time.

Bare in mind that the absolutely tragic season Chelsea had last season is widely understood to be players downing tools on Mourinho, and just not caring anymore. Imagine Stones, a young lad who moved for huge money against his clubs wishes (more so when Chelsea tried to sign him as by the next summer Everton seemed resigned to loosing him), being panned every week for the collective omnishambles Chelsea served up each week conceding goal after goal.

I know there’s been a lot of talk about what people think about Chelsea, and City are a club that people criticise too for the money these young player are being paid, but I think spending the season with Sterling level criticisms from the media (although as he’s white maybe not…though conversation for another time) would have wrecked him.

And claiming Chelsea would have been the best place for him to learn from JT as Kompany is perma-crocked is a bit pot calling the kettle black (although JT would probably call it something worse). Mourinho a better manager for a young English defender whose stands out through their ball playing or attacking ability? A young Mr Shaw may have a few words of warning for any young defender thinking of that route.

I don’t think any City fan would claim Stones is anywhere near the defending level he needs to be, but he is young and is in his first full season at a big club. Maybe the timing wasn’t ideal as he is now in a back 4 without Kompany, and 4 full-backs the wrong side of 30, but I do think Pep is the right manager. He will allow Stones to play his own style of defending, will allow him to make mistakes, and concede soft goals, but he will always back him up if he is playing the philosophy that Pep wants.

The difference between Stones under Martinez and Pep, is Roberto didn’t care about clean sheets because he wasn’t interested in defending. Pep is interested in defending as a mode of attack, and Stones is the rock (sorry…) that he wants to build that from.
Dave (Southerner in Manchester) MCFC

 

Southampton nonsense
Absolute and utter nonsense from Tom Saints in this morning’s Mailbox.

Having a go at Puel for having a go in Europe makes absolutely no sense to me. What would Tom prefer? Continued 8th place finishes with nothing to show for it forever more? Why qualify for these tournaments if you’re not going to try to take part?

Best not win that cup, we don’t want to qualify for Europe and have memorable nights against Inter lest it slightly impacts our league form.

Best throw the last 3 or 4 games of the season ‘cos we’re only a handful of points off 5th place – having to deal with Europe would surely impact our ability to not qualify for Europe next season too…

Southampton are 12th with 17 points. After the same number of games last season, they were 10th with 20 points. It really hasn’t hit ye too badly, lads.

I can’t fathom it, I really can’t. And Southampton aren’t the only side guilty of it (nor Tom the only fan – he just got me on a bad morning, sorry Tom!) – English sides routinely don’t show up in the Europa and we’ve even seen abysmal showings from Spurs and Liverpool in the CL in recent years.

I’m a Liverpool fan (of the 90s onwards, so I’ve never enjoyed persistent success) and my favourite memory of my club in the last few years is our Europa League run last season. Manic results against teams better than us (Dortmund…), it was so unpredictable and so much fun.

The trade off was an 8th place finish and no Europe this season – if that’s what it takes to play cup finals and have those crazy memorable nights, then I’ll take it.

Not everyone gets to play in the Champions League lads – make the most of what cups you do get to play in, it really makes everything an awful lot more fun. And I say that as someone whose side has won just one cup in the last decade…

And, finally, the only thing f*cking worse in that mail…

Repeat after me Tom: “I’m slightly BIASED” or “I have BIAS”. You can’t be bias. Ffs.
Kevin, LFC, Cork

 

The ‘teams who got an unlikely win over Southampton’ derby
Alan Pardew has been Manager to Watch in Big Weekend two weeks in a row, and with good reason, ahead of the “teams who got unlikely wins over Southampton” derby.  It would be just typical of the man and his club to shoot themselves in the foot spectacularly, by losing to Hull City after a good win over Southampton.  Like must be pretty sweet for Pardew, what with last week’s victory being followed up by Steve Parish at pains to tell people Pardew’s job is safe.  It’s a bit like a hangman’s reprieve, followed up by the hangman himself pointing out that he should never have been up on the gallows in the first place.

With thanks to HLTCO on Twitter, sitting through Pardew’s press conference so we don’t have to, we know that Chunky made the following comments:

*Loic Remy is still 2-3 weeks from full fitness

*Palace have been vulnerable “at times”

*Palace need new players

I make that two “thanks Captain Obvious” and one “Loic Remy has been 2-3 weeks from full fitness for most of the past few years, it’s quite sad really”.  I also make that two things that can be dealt with at another time, and then the middle one, where it’s imperative this doesn’t become a problem tomorrow.

The big selection dilemma for Crystal Palace comes in midfield.  Yohan Cabaye’s suspension necessitated the inclusion of Joe Ledley, although this had the upside of defensive solidarity for a game in which the Eagles played on the counter.  However, against City, the shoe will be on the other foot and Palace will be expected to dominate possession.  How this fits in with a goalkeeper who isn’t particularly suited to playing the ball out from the back remains to be seen.  Passing football suggests Cabaye might return, giving the Eagles a bit more creativity going forward, but could leave the Eagles more exposed to a counterattack.  The alternative is to play Cabaye behind Christian Benteke, at the expense of either Jason Puncheon or Andros Townsend, but this isn’t Cabaye’s best position.  Ultimately, I think Cabaye will be on the bench, and then come on at half time, because Palace have made a ridiculous number of changes at the interval.   Still, it’s reassuring that there are a couple of options available to the team.

I don’t expect it will be a particularly good game, as both teams will be quite cagey, and it could come down to who is best able to punish their opponent for a mistake, even though it will probably seem from the outside that fortune would have favoured the brave.
Ed Quoththeraven

 

A Toon preview
Really starting to tire of how ingrained betting is in football culture. Those odds Colm just quoted don’t mean jack. Betting companies don’t dispassionately analyse football whatsoever, they produce odds which are likely to tempt people into parting with their hard earned cash. Those odds simply mean that the English public need less of an incentive to bet on Spurs to finish top four than to win the Europa League. I don’t understand why people feel the need to use odds in lieu of a proper argument.

Anyway, onwards to the weekend and an absolutely crucial game for NUFC. Three defeats in a week have put a slight dampener on spirits on Tyneside. A none performance against Blackburn being followed by the disappointment of a League Cup exit to Hull and the week ending with a farcical game away at Forest.

Forest are hands down the worst team i have seen us play, utterly dreadful. Yet with the assistance of two penalties, two red cards, one own goal and one goal wrongly ruled out they staggered over the line to record a 2-1 win. The FA have subsequently seen sense and rescinded both red cards. Which means that Shelvey and Dummett will be back on Saturday to do what they do best. Namely spraying excellent crossfield passes and failing to intercept long diagonal passes from opposition full backs respectively. Forest was a real seminal game for Hayden and Ritchie looked to be something approaching his tenacious best. Exactly the sort of qualities we’ll need for a tough Christmas run in.

This Saturday won’t be easy. The job Gary Rowett has done at Birmingham has been absolutely remarkable. Any side with Lucas Jutkiewicz and Clayton Donaldson up top has absolutely no right to be in the playoff places.  We got lucky with Brighton fluffing their lines last weekend and can’t afford any dropped points here.

Shouts to Peter G for living the absolute dream.
JC ( McLaren v Henri Lansbury lining up for Derby v Forest, hope they both lose) NUFC

 

Respect to Harry Arter
Just read a really moving article this morning and thought I’d share it with the Mailbox. It’s about Harry Arter and how he’s coped with the loss of his daughter after she was stillborn a year ago. He’s shown incredible openness to speak out about a topic that has sometimes been considered taboo in the past, especially from a male perspective. It makes you realise that however rich and successful these guys are, nothing can prepare you for a tragedy like this. Huge respect to him and his wife, who are now expecting another daughter in the new year. Hopefully she brings them the happiness they deserve.

One word of warning though – if you read the article at work, be prepared for people to ask you what’s wrong with your eyes.
BR, NCFC

 

For anyone who hasn’t read it, there’s an amazing interview with Harry Arter in The Guardian this morning, one year to the day that his daughter was stillborn.

Amongst all the greed and flash, it’s so easy to forget that footballers are human beings just like the rest of us, suspect to the same random tragedies and agonies the rest of us have to endure, and they deserve for their wellbeing to be taken seriously. For Arter to have gone through such torment, all whilst being in the public eye, and continue with his usual professionalism iis remarkable and for him to speak so openly and candidly about his resultant issues is bravery beyond my comprehension.

He’s doing a truly important thing here and deserves unanimous support and respect; he certainly has it from me. All my love to him, his loved ones and his unborn daughter, who’s due in February.
-Adrian (Coventry Fan)

 

Aguero and the PFA Team of the Year
An oft-reported curiosity come May is that Sergio Aguero has never made the Premier League Team of The Year. Now, personally, on a case-by-case basis I’ve never found any of his omissions to be particularly egregious; and, in fact, this year, on the basis of the season to date, I wouldn’t have him in either (Costa in front of Hazard, Sanchez and probably Mane?).

I just wonder if this will be one of those things, much like Schmeichel only get into the PFA Team once, while Nigel bloody Martyn (good as he was) got in five times!
D Loughrey (Hot-lanta is colder than Dublin!)

 

Lawro caused Brexit
Having seen his track record laid bare in Mediawatch today, it’s obvious that Mark Lawrenson is the reason why people don’t believe in experts anymore.
KM, London.

 

Peter G
Great response from Peter G revealing the background to his love of English football. I always enjoy his mails but when I misread the line “a wife of 22 years” as “a wife of 22 years old” I momentarily hated him. Sorry Peter, once I read it properly I loved you again.
Mark Jones, LFC, Liverpool

 

Wow – that is a lot of commitment to football! I’m not sure I’ve heard of such dedication! Could we include him in the Portrait of an Icon series?
Horse

 

Thanks Peter, and thanks F365.  I wouldn’t go as far as some people and call it a family but we’re definitely a community and with all the shit going on in the world, that can’t be a bad thing.
Matt, AFC

 

The actual Ed
Sorry to shatter TGM’s illusions but seeing as how everyone is so fascinated with me (rather than by me), allow me to introduce myself.

My middle name is Quoththeraven.

6’ tall, long dark hair with increasing about of grey, sometimes tied up depending on hat.  Dark beard – regularly tidied and trimmed, but no use of wax or oil.

Married for 7 years, father to a 5-year-old boy.  Somehow managed to be 5+ years younger than most of my friends and 5+ years older than most of the others.  Work in an office where I’m largely left to my own devices, yet still copy F365 articles into Word.

6Music listener throughout the day, because the mix is best.  I like a lot of non-mainstream (for the UK) country music.

Haven’t been to Dulwich in about 25 years. Grew up in the Medway Delta and then moved away to Nottingham for university.  More likely to be found in a toy shop or pub in Nottingham, Newark or the surrounding area.

Fond of a hat.  Hockey Canada tuque in the winter, Stetson rest of the time.  Yes, really.  Jeans and checked shirt, or band t-shirt.  Dark running shoes.

Not averse to craft beers but prefer real ale, as befits a CAMRA member who sits on a national committee. Most important thing is how it tastes.

Only buy the Guardian on Saturday.  Crosswords the first port of call.

Most of what I would want to write down I take a photo of.  This is mostly which beers are available in a pub.

Not the only person from my family to have been in the mailbox.

TGM does have a point about being well known, I do get recognised a lot, and not always as me.  I was once mistaken for Richard Herring, at a Richard Herring gig.  It was in the bar before one of his gigs.  Once they saw how big my hands were they realised their mistake (reference for Daniel Storey and Jeremy Aves, there).

So there you go.  Anyone else fancy being brave and putting their own profile out there?
Ed