lionsden

His decline is unprecedented as he's never been a defender that relied on pace. it's fun seeing him struggle.

You must have weird imagination

If someone told me back in 09 that in the not so distant future, kakuta's stock would drop so low to the level where he will be used as a make way shift for a desired target, I had say no chance. where did it all go so wrong for him.

Well the "experts" on this forum says he's the serbian Charlie Adam. so we should take their word for it.

Not for me. I still don't understand the hype or fuss about him honestly. he's no better technically than all the other average youth players of the past like Connor,Billy Clifford et al. the players I listed actually have the look of potentially special players about them. Ake with the composure,calmness and maturity far above his age,his technical ability isn't too shabby for a defender neither, swift with the cultured style that's reminiscent of the great Laudrup, Boga with the explosiveness and impressive close control and RLC with the technical ability not often associated with big players. But football is a funny old game and he might be the one out of the lot that actually makes it with hard work and some luck.

Btw who was responsible for his signing the first time around. was it arnesen or De viser?

Hopefully he gets it right this time unlike the Cavani one.

Oh well and there I was rejoicing that the "imminent" signing of matic would signal the end to our interest in him. I'm still holding out hope that we won't sign him . not over until it's over.

It's all well and good saying that we need him for squad depth but players of mata's stature aren't going to accept a bench role in the long term and if he does then he will be the exception to the rule also it's not as if he's old and past his prime neither. he should do what's best for his own career.

It's a shame it never worked out for him here but he made the right decision for his career leaving. best of luck to him.

So have we signed him or not?

You are the one who needs to chill out because you couldn't recognize a joke for what it is. what was negative or underhand diss about poking fun at Huddlestone? some people are taking this personal now smh. And if you deem my honest, un-blinkered perspective on football as negativity then I will continue to disappoint as that's not going to change anytime soon so you might as well go ahead and put me on your ignore list as that will prevent my "negativity" from appearing your screen.

And rating him on equal level or ahead of one of the greatest and most consistent keepers around when he hasn't proven he could be relied upon in a relatively exposed defensive unit is equally stupid and illogical.

Don;t just jump into a debate if you have no clue what it's about and ease up on the patronizing football manager comment. The argument started when I agreed with laura90 that we would require more than Matic to significantly improve our midfield and elevate it to the highest standard in the long term and that Ramires needs to be replaced as a starter along the way because he's not good enough despite his tactical strenghts. No one is complaining or disputing Matic's acquisition. I don't know what you are on about.

yes they would. arsenal dominated teams defensively with jens lehman as their keeper because they had defensive beast like Viera,gilberto silva,Ashley cole,Sol Campbel and Toure in their prime and a solid defensive tactics to get the best out of those players which made them difficult to penetrate and covered lehmans flaws as a keeper making him look worldly. Once he no longer had that shield as a result of Viera and cole's departure and the dramatic decline of Sol Campbell, toure and Silva, his hidden flaws was laid bare for all to see and wasn't so special anymore. You have to be the worst keeper of all time not to atleast have a decent clean sheet record in a team like leti.

Can't watch the game as I'm at work but how's matic playing so far?

But there as to be a balance though. the lack of balance and overly negative approach against the big teams all the time is what bothers me the most. i have seen the likes of Dortmund, Bayern, madrid et al take a pragmatic approach in some games when they are under heavy pressure from the opposition, they would sometimes sit back and soak the pressure for a couple of minutes during certain games but they never set out to just put 10 men behind the ball in any match. that's small club mentality. It's absolutely possible and has been proven time and again that success can be achieved while playing entertaining football.

Stamina, hardwork and endurance is what the term "donkey" is used for in footballing circuit. everyone knows this so no need to be pedantic.

Donkeys are also by definition hard workers who are known for their stamina and endurance and not much else.

It's a problem for me because football is just as much about entertainment as it's about winning for me. if you are only interested in the end result then carry on.

And I'm saying Matic alone won't be sufficient to significantly imrpove our midfield. all the top teams in Europe have 2 ball playing midfielders as starters. Ramires will still be a starter and our ability to dominate the midfield against top opposition will still be hindered or limited with him as a starter. if you are satisfied with us approaching every big game with stoke city tactics because we can't match the technical quality of the opposition midfield then carry on.

Which would still leave us short of a regista/ DLP in midfield and that was the whole point all along.

Answer these truthfully. would they have been able to dominate the way they did last season and have continued to do so again this season with Ramires as the number one option in their midfield? And the football they played last season was far from mechanical like the picture you are trying to paint. they had one of the best possession stats in europe.

They didn't defend deep with 10 men behidn the ball like we have been doing against every top team since forever though. in fact bayern played barca off the park last season and were able to accomplish such feat because of technicians like bastian and javi martinez controlling their midfield. so you don't have a point.

No but with the amount we have already spent, we should be able to field midfielders that are comfortable on the ball and can do the basics like controlling the ball, passing and intelligent use of space and possession to a certain standard. is that too much to ask for because I'm fed up of watching teams like Benfica,Man city et al dominate our midfield and play us off the park because Lampard can't dictate the tempo and Ramires loses posession when under the slightest amount of pressure. that's simply not good enough for any "top team"