McFadden Yesterday

[GrandOldTeam]

I personally thought he lead the line brilliantly Yesterday. Am delighted he's finally being given a bit of a run up front and it looks as though hes winning over some of his doubters. Was nice to see the standing ovation he got when brought off.

His sheer determination and hunger for the ball is something Yakubu needs to pick up on. Little things like raising is hand and screaming for the ball every time Howard had a goal kick, compare that to Yakubu who was often either looking at the floor or staring into space.

Opinions on Faddy? Should he start against Metalist if AJ is fit?

 

[daz4matty]

I personally thought he lead the line brilliantly Yesterday. Am delighted he's finally being given a bit of a run up front and it looks as though hes winning over some of his doubters. Was nice to see the standing ovation he got when brought off.

His sheer determination and hunger for the ball is something Yakubu needs to pick up on. Little things like raising is hand and screaming for the ball every time Howard had a goal kick, compare that to Yakubu who was often either looking at the floor or staring into space.

Opinions on Faddy? Should he start against Metalist if AJ is fit?

I,d start with faddy and aj on thursday,its going to be a hard game and we need workers against metalist.
Yakubu needs to up his workrate so i,d have him on the bench

 

[GrandOldTeam]

To be honest Daz I think Yakubu needs to up more than just his workrate.

His first touch Yesterday was abysmal, It was like his body repelled the ball and I must admit, he's starting to worry me a bit. I hope and pray he proves me wrong but so far I've seen little evidence that he'll fulfill his price tag but i've been wrong before and no doubt i'll be wrong again.

 

[Bruce Wayne]

McFadden did pretty well yesterday. Not perfect but showing distinct signs of improvement. Onwards and upwards. As for Yakubu, lets give the guy a chance. I know we like to have scapegoats to moan at but he's barely been here five minutes.

 

[Chris]

I,d start with faddy and aj on thursday,its going to be a hard game and we need workers against metalist.
Yakubu needs to up his workrate so i,d have him on the bench

Spot on. I'd even play Ossy up front with Faddy if AJ is not fit. Yakubu needs to lose about 3 stone.

 

[atrottel]

There was an interesting piece I read somewhere over the past few days, talking about how the balls played in from midfield or the back to the forwards when Arteta is out tend to be far too heavily weighted.

So rather than being able to hold the defender off, look up and play the ball, the forwards tend to have to concentrate on trapping the ball, which makes them vulnerable to being pushed off balance at crucial times.

Of course, our entire stock of forwards could also be crap at controlling the ball...

 

[GhostOfDixie]

To be honest Daz I think Yakubu needs to up more than just his workrate.

His first touch Yesterday was abysmal, It was like his body repelled the ball and I must admit, he's starting to worry me a bit. I hope and pray he proves me wrong but so far I've seen little evidence that he'll fulfill his price tag but i've been wrong before and no doubt i'll be wrong again.

But unlike Beattie who seemed to blind everyone when the sun shined out of his arse, he is scoring goals.

Do you honestly believe he is here to just take a pay packet home and that is it?

I'm not into the big boot by the keeper to the strikers. I would prefer to see us roll the ball out to the fullbacks who then give it to Arteta and Piennar and then onto the strikers. Its called playing football and not just the big hopeful kick which is the lottery of football.

His goal against Sheff Wednesday is the kind of goals I wanted to see AJ score, the run onto the ball and slotting it past the keeper, that impresses me more than the big hoof and the flick on by the big centre forward. Ferguson left a while ago.

 

[daz4matty]

To be honest Daz I think Yakubu needs to up more than just his workrate.

His first touch Yesterday was abysmal, It was like his body repelled the ball and I must admit, he's starting to worry me a bit. I hope and pray he proves me wrong but so far I've seen little evidence that he'll fulfill his price tag but i've been wrong before and no doubt i'll be wrong again.

I agree maybe he needs to settle i understand that but he has to put the work in.

 

[Bruce Wayne]

Patience is the key. The guy hasn't been here very long, lets give him a chance to settle in before we get on his back. New team, new area of the country, big price tag, not exactly great supply and he still has two goals thus far.

I feel it's a lack of patience from us fans that contributes to so much of our problems, both at club and national level. It's better to try something and get it wrong than be scared of trying it due to the stick you'll get from the stands, which we all know comes very quickly. Is it any surprise that McFadden plays so well for Scotland and so poorly for us? Scotland are [Poor language removed] right, no one expects them to do anything. No pressure, no barracking if one of his tricks or long range shots go astray and he performs much better. More confidence, more relaxation, better play.

Quick, fast, up and at 'em, getting stuck in, running all day. They're typical English football attributes. Show a bit more patience and we may get the best out of Yak, and may even produce a few more English Arteta's.

 

[GhostOfDixie]

Well I am sure he will put the work in, but I think we need to remember that it has taken McFadden long enough to settle in. I don't believe all that pony that he wasn't given a fair run. One game doesn't make a player, and he had to have been consistent in training. Moyes didn't think he was good enough for the side all the time, and that's why he never played him.

If he starts performing like Arteta, then fair enough. But the amount of times I saw him lose the ball cheaply far out weighed the great parts of his game.

Now obviously I would like to see all our players firing on all cylinders, but it gets my back up when people have already made there mind up about Yakubu. Even before he played a game. There was no excitement because we never got Fernandes, Yakubu kind of slipped in to the club with very little noise.

Then all the pundits were saying I don't know about him, doesn't seem to be a good player, yet he all these people who were saying this didn't have a better scoring record then him. So they can shut up, especially Sharpy (who was a hero of mine) he should take responsibility for his club and realise that fans are going to listen to what he says and go yes, Yakubu isn't a good player.

I remember Alan Kennedy defending Crouch when everyone else slagged him off, well Crouch has done well for Liverpool and England.

Then Beattie has quite possibly the worse season as a striker since Garry Birtles put on the Man U shirt. Again he can stop his moaning about being frozen out, he wasn't regular because he was out of shape and lacked cutting edge. Yet he was celebrated here like a [Poor language removed] legend.

Yakubu has already scored more goals then Beattie did last year and already we are berating Yakubu. Maybe we should back him more, give him encouragement. The boy is class and has proven it at every level. Maybe he is just finding it difficult to settle, maybe he doesn't like the ball hoofed to him, maybe he likes the ball to run onto?

So just like everyone defended Kilbane and Beattie I am going to defend Yakubu, even if I am doing it on my own.

Now with a partner in crime, thanks Bruce.

 

[Bruce Wayne]

Like I said, English fans (by and large) will defend a player if he puts effort in, regardless of if he's rubbish or not. Kilbane is widely liked despite being poop because he was an honest battler. Unsworth likewise.

We're less than 10 games into a long season, lets just relax a little and see where things go.

 

[bluewoo]

I think the urgency for him to "prove himself" comes along with the price tag.

Its unrealistic like, but if the club pays out big bucks then the fans want instant results.

I agree that those getting on his back need to ease up a bit. I dont think he'll need defending in the long run

 

[Namdrater]

We bought Yakubu to score goals, and hes already scored two in about +-5 games. I'm quite pleased with that. Johnson didnt find himself in those two positions in the last how many games? Obviously I'm not attacking Johnson because I know he is class and performing a different role, but lets give the Yak a break.

Theres room for improvement, lets give the man some time!

 

[Great Dane]

Patience is the key. The guy hasn't been here very long, lets give him a chance to settle in before we get on his back. New team, new area of the country, big price tag, not exactly great supply and he still has two goals thus far.

I feel it's a lack of patience from us fans that contributes to so much of our problems, both at club and national level. It's better to try something and get it wrong than be scared of trying it due to the stick you'll get from the stands, which we all know comes very quickly. Is it any surprise that McFadden plays so well for Scotland and so poorly for us? Scotland are [Poor language removed] right, no one expects them to do anything. No pressure, no barracking if one of his tricks or long range shots go astray and he performs much better. More confidence, more relaxation, better play.

Quick, fast, up and at 'em, getting stuck in, running all day. They're typical English football attributes. Show a bit more patience and we may get the best out of Yak, and may even produce a few more English Arteta's.

Spot on Bruce - we're so quick to **** of new players.

 

[FCConnecticut]

Back to the topic on hand. I like the McYak combo even though this game wasn't exactly a highlight reel for them. What I like about Faddy is can be the target man or create with the ball on his foot. IMO he is better at that than any other forward. Anichibe, once he gets over his sense of entitlement and immaturity mey yet one day be our best player in this respect but today he just demonstrative as soon as the ball goes just a bit too far or off course.