Daniel Sturridge

[Las7 951]

Ramires and Mikel should effectively balance the team then because they play the same roles as Essien and Makalele. Ramires in Essiens role (box to box) and Mikel in Maka's role (defensive mid). You have to defend as a unit, the whole team, whether thats everyone behind the ball, pressing the other team to try and force them back and win the ball back or whatever.

This type of comment is a farce, I like Mikel but with his footballing brain alone a one legged Maka provides so much more in terms of interception that it's not even funny. Maka is the best defensive midfielder we will EVER have, and it is not even close.

The Biason in his hay day was a force both defensively and offensively that Ramires can only hope of reaching sometime in the future. The energy he had; the brute physical presence; the passing capability and the drive at his hay day he was as good as any two way midfielder you would find in the the last two decades - guys like Keano; Vieira are in his bracket on top form.

Comments like this really make me want to force you to rewatch the seasons when we had those two in the squad together so you can get it through your skull that as decent as Ramires and Mikel are they aren't ever going to be on that level.

[Muzchap 8,964]

Or we could have just signed Falcao when he had a mere £24m release clause

That's my point above - he wasn't a 'Star' so wasn't considered...

Bah... I'd have him just so we start playing as a Team again - 50 million is cheap for that... Just feel Torres is dragging whole team down...

[Tomo 21,681]

That's my point above - he wasn't a 'Star' so wasn't considered...

It wasn't so much that as he just won the treble with AVB's Porto at the time, it was more to the fact we still had Drogba on the wage bill and the board were still convinced Torres would come good, ooopsss.

[Muzchap 8,964]

This type of comment is a farce, I like Mikel but with his footballing brain alone a one legged Maka provides so much more in terms of interception that it's not even funny. Maka is the best defensive midfielder we will EVER have, and it is not even close.

The Biason in his hay day was a force both defensively and offensively that Ramires can only hope of reaching sometime in the future. The energy he had; the brute physical presence; the passing capability and the drive at his hay day he was as good as any two way midfielder you would find in the the last two decades - guys like Keano; Vieira are in his bracket on top form.

Comments like this really make me want to force you to rewatch the seasons when we had those two in the squad together so you can get it through your skull that as decent as Ramires and Mikel are they aren't ever going to be on that level.

Lol little harsh but those DVDs are ALWAYS worth watching

Hmm no work tomorrow might have to watch them from 2003 onwards

[Muzchap 8,964]

It wasn't so much that as he just won the treble with AVB's Porto at the time, it was more to the fact we still had Drogba on the wage bill and the board were still convinced Torres would come good, ooopsss.

Yup, but why did we sign an out of form Torres?

Because he 'was' a Star...

Same old Shit or Bust mentality

Why can't we just get another Eidur + Jimmy - they were so awesome together - always remember Eidurs goal against Utd, little dink in mid air over the keeper and Jimmys rifled in shots with no backlit (big ass and no knee bend)...

Even Flo would be awesome!

[Corner 456]

This type of comment is a farce, I like Mikel but with his footballing brain alone a one legged Maka provides so much more in terms of interception that it's not even funny. Maka is the best defensive midfielder we will EVER have, and it is not even close.

The Biason in his hay day was a force both defensively and offensively that Ramires can only hope of reaching sometime in the future. The energy he had; the brute physical presence; the passing capability and the drive at his hay day he was as good as any two way midfielder you would find in the the last two decades - guys like Keano; Vieira are in his bracket on top form.

Comments like this really make me want to force you to rewatch the seasons when we had those two in the squad together so you can get it through your skull that as decent as Ramires and Mikel are they aren't ever going to be on that level.

While you are right and I agree with you, it's never going to get you anywhere comparing Ramires and Mikel to Essien and Maka in terms of ability. There are two of the best players we'll ever have. Unique and a one-off.

To extend on what Ryan was trying to say: you can only make do with what you've got (not taking anything away from Ramires or Mikel). And in a 4-3-3 like we played back then under Mourinho, Mikel would play a similar role to Makelele and Ramires would play a similar role to Essien.

[OneMoSalah 8,611]

This type of comment is a farce, I like Mikel but with his footballing brain alone a one legged Maka provides so much more in terms of interception that it's not even funny. Maka is the best defensive midfielder we will EVER have, and it is not even close.

The Biason in his hay day was a force both defensively and offensively that Ramires can only hope of reaching sometime in the future. The energy he had; the brute physical presence; the passing capability and the drive at his hay day he was as good as any two way midfielder you would find in the the last two decades - guys like Keano; Vieira are in his bracket on top form.

Comments like this really make me want to force you to rewatch the seasons when we had those two in the squad together so you can get it through your skull that as decent as Ramires and Mikel are they aren't ever going to be on that level.

I never said they would ever be as good but that they have the same fucking roles! Which they do basically. If you try and deny that you're crazy. Mikel was signed to be groomed to replace Maka imo and Ramires probably signed to be groomed to be a replacement for Essien too imo due to their similar physical and technical attributes. There are differences in quality but they are in the team to effectively do the same roles.

I think you totally misunderstood what I wrote...

[zolayes 14,489]

Let's be honest here, you weren't joking. You were trying to argue for no reason.

Anyway, pointless discussion.

[Muzchap 8,964]

Lol how did a Sturridge thread end up as Mikel / Ramires debate ROFL

Back to Studge! Pllllease don't go... (What was that song by the same name) remember it when I was around 14-15.. James?

[Slam Dunk 1,442]

An absolute farce. Sturridge deserved his chance to have a run of games leading our attacking line. Cause call me crazy but the other English winger-who-wants-to-play-striker that certain fans want got his opportunity and is on fire right now.

It's shameful how we're selling him for a reported £12 million and buying another for £33 million more when we might not even need to. Fuck sake.

You have to ask though, if he 'deserved' them, why didn't he get them? Actually, why did he 'deserve' them in the first place? Maybe that's something we, as fans, will never know the answers to.

The Welbeck/Sturridge comparisons are interesting. Welbeck is far better though imo. His work rate/all round game is much better than Sturridge's. Saying that, do you/anyone ever see Welbeck being 1st choice striker for a club like United? Because I don't, and it's the same with Sturridge. I don't think he'll ever be at a level where he's our first choice striker. In an idea world, Sturridge would be our 3rd choice CF, but you can't keep everyone happy. A shame, because he's a talented footballer (footballer, not striker). He'll do well at Liverpool, because they can afford to nurture unproven talent, something that we can't do, unfortunate as it may be.

And for the record, £12m is good business on our end imo.

[Muzchap 8,964]

You have to ask though, if he 'deserved' them, why didn't he get them? Actually, why did he 'deserve' them in the first place? Maybe that's something we, as fans, will never know the answers to.

The Welbeck/Sturridge comparisons are interesting. Welbeck is far better though imo. His work rate/all round game is much better than Sturridge's. Saying that, do you/anyone ever see Welbeck being 1st choice striker for a club like United? Because I don't, and it's the same with Sturridge. I don't think he'll ever be at a level where he's our first choice striker. In an idea world, Sturridge would be our 3rd choice CF, but you can't keep everyone happy. A shame, because he's a talented footballer (footballer, not striker). He'll do well at Liverpool, because they can afford to nurture unproven talent, something that we can't do, unfortunate as it may be.

And for the record, £12m is good business on our end imo.

Sound post - agree on the Studge+Wellbeck never being first choice - think Wellbeck loses the ball a bit too much.

12 million is a good price - but think the OP was saying we're now having to chuck an extra 33 million at it, instead of being able to 'test' it out - just spend money, without putting in the hours?

Well that's my take on it anyway?

[Slam Dunk 1,442]

Sound post - agree on the Studge+Wellbeck never being first choice - think Wellbeck loses the ball a bit too much.

12 million is a good price - but think the OP was saying we're now having to chuck an extra 33 million at it, instead of being able to 'test' it out - just spend money, without putting in the hours?

Well that's my take on it anyway?

Well the board have backed themselves into a corner by risking Torres coming good this season without a genuine alternative. Now, we're forced to buy in the January market which is going to drive up the already-inflated price tag of any player having a good first-half of the season (not necessarily Falcao btw, I don't buy the 'done deal' reports one bit). We're desperate and other teams know it.

Sturridge is not the answer to our striker problems. Frankly, I think half of the opinions on here about how good Sturridge is stem from how bad Torres is. Neither are good enough to be leading our line imho.

To be honest, we (the fans) kind of knew this was going to happen (I remember saying it ages ago), obviously the board didn't.

[Las7 951]

I never said they would ever be as good but that they have the same fucking roles! Which they do basically. If you try and deny that you're crazy. Mikel was signed to be groomed to replace Maka imo and Ramires probably signed to be groomed to be a replacement for Essien too imo due to their similar physical and technical attributes. There are differences in quality but they are in the team to effectively do the same roles.

I think you totally misunderstood what I wrote...

No I said that Robben; Duff and J.Cole never had to be criticized or scrutinized because in the system we had we had two world class players who provided cover for them and Lampard. You said we have the same type of players right now - something we clearly don't we are not talking about roles we are talking about quality. We don't have a World Class defensive midfield - not many clubs do. We don't have a World Class box to box player - not many clubs do. If you stick Robben; Duff and J.Cole of old into this system they will also not provide defensive cover, because you can't expect a player who plays a certain way to adopt to a philosophy which has not been groomed since very early on. The way Barca have a system which grooms offensive players into knowing how to constantly pressure the opposition from a very early age. Stick Sturridge or Hazard in the old system where they had defensive cover and only had to worry about creating chances and you would end up with a lot more effective players because they would only need to concentrate on what they excel in rather than be expected to get "stuck in"

[OneMoSalah 8,611]

No I said that Robben; Duff and J.Cole never had to be criticized or scrutinized because in the system we had we had two world class players who provided cover for them and Lampard. You said we have the same type of players right now - something we clearly don't we are not talking about roles we are talking about quality. We don't have a World Class defensive midfield - not many clubs do. We don't have a World Class box to box player - not many clubs do. If you stick Robben; Duff and J.Cole of old into this system they will also not provide defensive cover, because you can't expect a player who plays a certain way to adopt to a philosophy which has not been groomed since very early on. The way Barca have a system which grooms offensive players into knowing how to constantly pressure the opposition from a very early age. Stick Sturridge or Hazard in the old system where they had defensive cover and only had to worry about creating chances and you would end up with a lot more effective players because they would only need to concentrate on what they excel in rather than be expected to get "stuck in"

I was on about the roles, I know the quality of both pairs isn't the same. Robben and Duffs defensive work back in the days is also extremely underrated I see. Mourinhos teams were always defending as a unit, Inter defended deep as a unit, Chelsea did, Porto did and the only team really that hasn't is really his Real Madrid side.

Just because certain players weren't groomed in tracking back and defensive work, doesn't mean they should have to avoid it, if your two wingers aren't tracking back that gives the opposition a whole load of space to expose as the full back has two players to deal with. He can either go with their full back if he overlaps or go to the player with the ball to prevent a cross/dribble to cut inside or ultimately stand still like a spare prick allowing one of them things I just said to happen.

[Las7 951]

So Robben's defensive qualities are underrated now, I've read all I needed to read from you. You're obviously having a laugh at my expense

[Sheva. 5,373]

Random but does anyone think Sturridge is better than Walcott? I'm not sure.

[Muzchap 8,964]

Random but does anyone think Sturridge is better than Walcott? I'm not sure.

I think about even IMO

Walcott is hit and miss and so too has Studge in the past - but they both have bags of potential... And pace

[Corner 456]

Random but does anyone think Sturridge is better than Walcott? I'm not sure.

Ability-wise I think they're fairly even, in my opinion. But I think Walcott has a slight edge as a player because he has more experience and his attitude is better.