ewerk 26703 Posted March 21, 2009 Share Posted March 21, 2009 Martins on his own will be headless. If only King Khris didn't start him against Hull when he wasn't fit... He worked well with Peter, the first 20 mins at Man U game was the best we'd played all season. I'd stick to that rather than change it now. Owen added nothing against Hull. If we pay Lovenkrands and Guti in mified then we might have a chance, if we're playing one up front then we certainly need pace on the wings. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Big Onion 0 Posted March 21, 2009 Share Posted March 21, 2009 Owen played his best football here when Keegan played him deep. In several games I thought he was actually arguably our best midfielder - very tidy in possession and using the ball intelligently. And the goals he was scoring arriving late were instrumental in getting us out of trouble last season. Why they don't even seem to be contemplating employing a similar system again is beyond me. It worked. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Park Life 70 Posted March 21, 2009 Share Posted March 21, 2009 Well at least he's doing something. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hadrian 0 Posted March 21, 2009 Share Posted March 21, 2009 Owen played his best football here when Keegan played him deep. In several games I thought he was actually arguably our best midfielder - very tidy in possession and using the ball intelligently. And the goals he was scoring arriving late were instrumental in getting us out of trouble last season. Why they don't even seem to be contemplating employing a similar system again is beyond me. It worked. that was because he was out of the way , we had two strikers upfront that the oppositions centre backs had to deal with , leaving owen to drift into the box unmarked and unnoticed , trouble is we have to give up a centre midfield spot to let him do it , and he's bloody useless on the ball imo , cant remember the last time i seen him beat a man . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kojak 0 Posted March 21, 2009 Share Posted March 21, 2009 We're out the bottom three on goal difference, potentially in it by kick off. Nine games to go. We need to be winning football matches and we need to have our best footballers playing. Simple as that. Owen, regardless of his match fitness, needs to be starting. Martins up front on his own... we'll never see the ball. Same as last week, just when you manage to convince yourself that the team can get a positive result out of a game, Houghton manages to crush your hopes in one team selection (witness the ludicrous decision to play Geremi at Hull). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JaMoUsE 0 Posted March 21, 2009 Share Posted March 21, 2009 as much as i think we should be playing 2 up top, the 5 in midfield could work. Nasri and arshavin on the wings dont like tracking back, so if we have an attacking style of 4-5-1 it might work. Only if the 2 wide men actually stay on the touchlines and attack with speed to the bye line. The 3 in midfield would allow for that. Very much doubt this will be the case tho Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Big Onion 0 Posted March 21, 2009 Share Posted March 21, 2009 Owen played his best football here when Keegan played him deep. In several games I thought he was actually arguably our best midfielder - very tidy in possession and using the ball intelligently. And the goals he was scoring arriving late were instrumental in getting us out of trouble last season. Why they don't even seem to be contemplating employing a similar system again is beyond me. It worked. that was because he was out of the way , we had two strikers upfront that the oppositions centre backs had to deal with , leaving owen to drift into the box unmarked and unnoticed , trouble is we have to give up a centre midfield spot to let him do it , and he's bloody useless on the ball imo , cant remember the last time i seen him beat a man . I can't agree with you there. Owen rarely gave the ball away during that spell he played deep and was getting a lot of praise for it at the time. 'Useless' on the ball is wildly over the top. Of course his main asset these days is getting in the right place at the right time and finishing, both of which he still does well, but he's not a complete mug with a ball at his feet. You don't see that side of his game when he's playing up top though. Not that I'm suggesting he's a silky-skilled playmaker of course, but he cerainly kept possession well when he was more involved last season. The bottom line is that it worked. That 7/8 game run from Birmingham till we got safe was the best we've played in two seasons. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Park Life 70 Posted March 21, 2009 Share Posted March 21, 2009 We must have saved up a tidal wave of luck by now. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Big Onion 0 Posted March 21, 2009 Share Posted March 21, 2009 If we have I hope the fucker arrives to wash away Ashley and co. come summer Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest alex Posted March 21, 2009 Share Posted March 21, 2009 Owen played his best football here when Keegan played him deep. In several games I thought he was actually arguably our best midfielder - very tidy in possession and using the ball intelligently. And the goals he was scoring arriving late were instrumental in getting us out of trouble last season. Why they don't even seem to be contemplating employing a similar system again is beyond me. It worked. that was because he was out of the way , we had two strikers upfront that the oppositions centre backs had to deal with , leaving owen to drift into the box unmarked and unnoticed , trouble is we have to give up a centre midfield spot to let him do it , and he's bloody useless on the ball imo , cant remember the last time i seen him beat a man . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hadrian 0 Posted March 21, 2009 Share Posted March 21, 2009 Owen played his best football here when Keegan played him deep. In several games I thought he was actually arguably our best midfielder - very tidy in possession and using the ball intelligently. And the goals he was scoring arriving late were instrumental in getting us out of trouble last season. Why they don't even seem to be contemplating employing a similar system again is beyond me. It worked. that was because he was out of the way , we had two strikers upfront that the oppositions centre backs had to deal with , leaving owen to drift into the box unmarked and unnoticed , trouble is we have to give up a centre midfield spot to let him do it , and he's bloody useless on the ball imo , cant remember the last time i seen him beat a man . I can't agree with you there. Owen rarely gave the ball away during that spell he played deep and was getting a lot of praise for it at the time. 'Useless' on the ball is wildly over the top. Of course his main asset these days is getting in the right place at the right time and finishing, both of which he still does well, but he's not a complete mug with a ball at his feet. You don't see that side of his game when he's playing up top though. Not that I'm suggesting he's a silky-skilled playmaker of course, but he cerainly kept possession well when he was more involved last season. The bottom line is that it worked. That 7/8 game run from Birmingham till we got safe was the best we've played in two seasons. we will have to agree to disagree , he's good at short simple passes , has a few long distance ones up his sleeve aswell , but watch him put his foot on the ball , he falls over half the time . im a big fan of micky owen , just dont like seeing him anywhere else but poaching(he reminds me so much of liniker these days) , and dont think we have the team to suit that atm , we cant even get the ball in the box these days . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OTF 6274 Posted March 21, 2009 Share Posted March 21, 2009 Owen is safe on the ball and rarely turns over possession, particularly when he gets it with Newcastle players in front of him (ie. not as the last man). He doesn't take many chances with the ball - eg. instead of trying to beat his man he'll take the safer option and will dribble away from him and look for a safe passing option. In comparison: - Martins would try to beat his man and will lose the ball a fair bit - Ameobi would rise above his defender to head the ball on, despite being the last man - Xisco would caress the ball lovingly then lick it and take a snap - Smith would slide tackle their centre back, even though they don't have the ball - Notice Viduka is not in the list. Owen in midfield would not be a bad option. With Nolan back we'll be playing Nolan and Butt. Even though they're vastly different I'd put Owen in over Butt. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tinofbeans 86 Posted March 21, 2009 Share Posted March 21, 2009 We are going down. Simple as that. thats the truth. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ketsbaia 0 Posted March 21, 2009 Share Posted March 21, 2009 I was looking at the positioning of players post-Hull and Owen was practically playing as a midfielder. He can't score goals if he's having to come and pick the ball up off the midfield but we've got no one capable of playing defence splitting balls to him. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
peasepud 59 Posted March 21, 2009 Share Posted March 21, 2009 I was looking at the positioning of players post-Hull and Owen was practically playing as a midfielder. He can't score goals if he's having to come and pick the ball up off the midfield but we've got no one capable of playing defence splitting balls to him. FYP Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fop 1 Posted March 22, 2009 Share Posted March 22, 2009 I was looking at the positioning of players post-Hull and Owen was practically playing as a midfielder. He can't score goals if he's having to come and pick the ball up off the midfield but we've got no one capable of playing defence splitting balls to him. He won't have to put up with that next season. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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