No Parker in the England squad then? I am not surprised personally. Capello saw enough against West Brom to realise why Parker is a very good Prem player but not true England quality. The modern midfield player has to offer quality both defensively and offensively and sadly Parker does not offer enough going forward.
Upson is presumably fit given his inclusion. That's a strange one. Who pays his wages exactly? Not fit enough for us on Saturday but OK to join up with England the next day? Echoes of Period Pains here who strangely overcame the time of the month for Welsh games but was too bleeding injured to appear for us for months on end! I tell you what, had Upson been at Liverpool or United, he would have played on Saturday and missed the England games.
Delighted to see Cole in the squad. To all those Hammers "fans" who knock the guy and seem to delight in him missing one on one chances, stick that in your pipes and smoke it! (Dear me, am I 12 years old all over again?) If Cole pulls on the Three Lions again, I will be cheering him!
And well done to Green. The performance against Blackburn showed why I still have my reservations about him as an England keeper but I accept that few international sides will test his ability under crosses in the same way as Big Spam did.
Three Hammers in the England squad and a World Cup just over 12 months away...is history about to repeat itself? A Carlton Cole hat-trick in the World Cup Final? Stranger things haven't happened!
Showing posts with label Parker. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Parker. Show all posts
Sunday, 22 March 2009
Friday, 20 March 2009
Zola To Be Drug Tested
Now we know why Zola is smiling all the time, he's been puffing the wacky backy. I don't hold with those who maintain that Parker is a liability because he dwells on the ball too long and pirouettes more than a ballet dancer on a gyroscope, but I do not understand how anybody can seriously suggest that he is currently the best midfield player in the Premiership.
How many goals has Parker scored this season exactly? How many assists? Yes he does his defensive duties well and yes he is all energy, but what does he offer going forward? The opposition penalty area seems like a total exclusion zone for Parker and I could count on one hand the number of passes he has completed over 20 yards so far this season. Do the pulses start to race when Parker picks up the ball? Do you find yourself thinking, "Something special is going to happen here"? I'm sorry, but I don't.
I am not knocking the guy, I think he has been one of our best players this season, but to mention him in the same breath as match winners like Lampard and Gerrard seems absurd to me. Parker does not punch in the same division as these two heavyweights. He can't skin defenders like Walcott and Young, he doesn't have the passing range of Carrick and he isn't as good a tackler or crosser as Barry. The fact is, Parker was pressed out of the game by West Brom and Villa. Each time he collected the ball, somebody was biting at his ankles and Parker looked flustered and hurried. And we all know that the mark of a very good player is that he always appears to have more time than mere mortals.
Capello was at the Villa game and witnessed Parker's discomfort, and Parker has not figured in an England squad subsequently. Capello looked less than impressed at Upton Park on Monday too so I would be very surprised to see Parker adding to his meagre number of England caps any time soon. Zola, of course, is probably just trying to boost morale after that abject performance against the Baggies but Parker is a big boy now and should not be in need of such crude kiddology. Save it for the little uns boss, Freddie Sears might be boosted if you told him he was still worth a place in his school team!
How many goals has Parker scored this season exactly? How many assists? Yes he does his defensive duties well and yes he is all energy, but what does he offer going forward? The opposition penalty area seems like a total exclusion zone for Parker and I could count on one hand the number of passes he has completed over 20 yards so far this season. Do the pulses start to race when Parker picks up the ball? Do you find yourself thinking, "Something special is going to happen here"? I'm sorry, but I don't.
I am not knocking the guy, I think he has been one of our best players this season, but to mention him in the same breath as match winners like Lampard and Gerrard seems absurd to me. Parker does not punch in the same division as these two heavyweights. He can't skin defenders like Walcott and Young, he doesn't have the passing range of Carrick and he isn't as good a tackler or crosser as Barry. The fact is, Parker was pressed out of the game by West Brom and Villa. Each time he collected the ball, somebody was biting at his ankles and Parker looked flustered and hurried. And we all know that the mark of a very good player is that he always appears to have more time than mere mortals.
Capello was at the Villa game and witnessed Parker's discomfort, and Parker has not figured in an England squad subsequently. Capello looked less than impressed at Upton Park on Monday too so I would be very surprised to see Parker adding to his meagre number of England caps any time soon. Zola, of course, is probably just trying to boost morale after that abject performance against the Baggies but Parker is a big boy now and should not be in need of such crude kiddology. Save it for the little uns boss, Freddie Sears might be boosted if you told him he was still worth a place in his school team!
Wednesday, 4 March 2009
Wigan 0 West Ham 1; Reason 0 Attwell 5
If ever a referee did his best to destroy a game of football then it must surely be Attwell last night. This is the clown who gave the "goal that never was" when Watford played Reading; and for his follow up party piece, he showed a red for "a foul that never was" at the JJB last night. Poor Carlton Goals, he was dumbfounded that the referee had blown up for a free kick in the first place and before he knew what was going on, he was looking at red. And for what exactly? From what I could see, for keeping his eye on the ball and then getting his foot on the end of it. That foot which made contact with the ball did not connect with a Wigan player and no actual foul was committed. Yes I can accept the argument for a free kick for a high foot, but a red card? Dear God, on that basis Crouch should have been sent off for those overhead bicycle kick goals! I bet this guy is only a referee in his twenties because when he was a kid, nobody would pick him to play in the teams at lunchtime. He was the one left at the end of the selection process, fat and spotty, waiting for oft repeated words, "You're left with Attwell then. We have kick off". From what I have seen. he doesn't understand the first thing about football because he's never actually played the game. On the evidence of the Watford debacle, he doesn't even know that the round shaped thing has to go into one of the funny fishing nets for a goal to be awarded!
And what a shame because until Attwell's risible intervention, this was shaping up to be a cracker! What a goal! Yes you will see goals thumped in from long distance but this, for me, was the goal of the season. Six one touch pinged passes, Cole pulling off the shoulder of the last defender and curling in a beaut of a finish. Carlton has his critics, and sometimes he does look lumbering, like when through one on one with Kirkland, but some of his goals this season have been sublime - against Newcastle and Stoke in particular. This swivel and strike style of finish suits him perfectly, he gets a lovely bend on the shot as it curls into the net. In fact, the finish tonight was Zolaesque and there aren't many bigger compliments than that! How absurd that his glory was tarnished by Attwell's bid for the spotlight.
And it's not as if that was all the clown with the cards got wrong. Luckless SHOULD have gone. His foul on Cattermole was a would be leg breaker and, of course, set up the Wigan player's retaliation on Parker which rightfully led to his red. As soon as Neill did him, you knew there would be a reprisal, and Parker played his part to perfection, going down as if hit by a dumdum bullet and rolling in agony for maximum effect. Ten out of ten Scotty for sealing the decision!
Beyond that, there's not a lot to report. Defensively we were superb, the banks of four marshaling Wigan into blind alleys all evening. Tomkins got under a couple of crosses but, apart from that, was superb; Neill gave away possession in the centre circle and two unnecessary free kicks outside our box in the first fifteen minutes but was otherwise disciplined - except when apparently trying to break Cattermole's leg (Brown should have been the target Luckless!); Upson was his usual unfussy self; Ilunga was back to his best; Noble ran his heart out and twice nearly pinched a goal; Kovac has a problem when players run at him but was otherwise impressive, picking up bits and pieces in front of the back four and releasing short simple passes; Collison played one brilliant pass to Cole and was involved in so much neat, high speed interpassing; and Di Michele ran himself into the ground for the team. One player, Cole apart, has not been mentioned. Parker tonight was a giant. I have no time for Turds but the signing of both Parker and Upson were absolute masterstrokes. Tonight Parker tackled, covered, passed, drove forward, shot on target and signed the contract on Cattermole's dismissal. It truly was a midfield masterclass and we were so good in that crucial midfield area that Behrami was not missed at all!
Sadly, however, the night will be remembered for two cruel blows - the dismissal of Cole and the carbon copy of the Behrami injury suffered by Collison. I joked when Curbishley was in charge that he had refused to buy a sprig of lucky heather off a gypsy outside Upton Park and brought down a curse upon our club. Well Turds came out this week and bleated that Zola had been lucky with injuries. I bet the sad eyed bastard has been back to that gypsy, bought up the whole of her heath and asked her to extend the curse to Zola!
And what a shame because until Attwell's risible intervention, this was shaping up to be a cracker! What a goal! Yes you will see goals thumped in from long distance but this, for me, was the goal of the season. Six one touch pinged passes, Cole pulling off the shoulder of the last defender and curling in a beaut of a finish. Carlton has his critics, and sometimes he does look lumbering, like when through one on one with Kirkland, but some of his goals this season have been sublime - against Newcastle and Stoke in particular. This swivel and strike style of finish suits him perfectly, he gets a lovely bend on the shot as it curls into the net. In fact, the finish tonight was Zolaesque and there aren't many bigger compliments than that! How absurd that his glory was tarnished by Attwell's bid for the spotlight.
And it's not as if that was all the clown with the cards got wrong. Luckless SHOULD have gone. His foul on Cattermole was a would be leg breaker and, of course, set up the Wigan player's retaliation on Parker which rightfully led to his red. As soon as Neill did him, you knew there would be a reprisal, and Parker played his part to perfection, going down as if hit by a dumdum bullet and rolling in agony for maximum effect. Ten out of ten Scotty for sealing the decision!
Beyond that, there's not a lot to report. Defensively we were superb, the banks of four marshaling Wigan into blind alleys all evening. Tomkins got under a couple of crosses but, apart from that, was superb; Neill gave away possession in the centre circle and two unnecessary free kicks outside our box in the first fifteen minutes but was otherwise disciplined - except when apparently trying to break Cattermole's leg (Brown should have been the target Luckless!); Upson was his usual unfussy self; Ilunga was back to his best; Noble ran his heart out and twice nearly pinched a goal; Kovac has a problem when players run at him but was otherwise impressive, picking up bits and pieces in front of the back four and releasing short simple passes; Collison played one brilliant pass to Cole and was involved in so much neat, high speed interpassing; and Di Michele ran himself into the ground for the team. One player, Cole apart, has not been mentioned. Parker tonight was a giant. I have no time for Turds but the signing of both Parker and Upson were absolute masterstrokes. Tonight Parker tackled, covered, passed, drove forward, shot on target and signed the contract on Cattermole's dismissal. It truly was a midfield masterclass and we were so good in that crucial midfield area that Behrami was not missed at all!
Sadly, however, the night will be remembered for two cruel blows - the dismissal of Cole and the carbon copy of the Behrami injury suffered by Collison. I joked when Curbishley was in charge that he had refused to buy a sprig of lucky heather off a gypsy outside Upton Park and brought down a curse upon our club. Well Turds came out this week and bleated that Zola had been lucky with injuries. I bet the sad eyed bastard has been back to that gypsy, bought up the whole of her heath and asked her to extend the curse to Zola!
Monday, 2 March 2009
Kovac
I saw flashes on Sunday that suggested this guy can play with Parker. He isn't quite up to Prem speed yet but he has a physical presence that I think could intimidate opponents and release the other midfielders, Parker included, to break forward more. I counted twice that Parker ran beyond Cole on Sunday, actually trying to get on the end of the ball in the box. If Parker is to earn his massive salary he has to be more than a holding midfielder, he has to become a box to box player and offer us more going forward. There were glimpses against City that Kovac will release him to do this. Noble has been disappointing recently so I would like to see Zola persist with this pairing, teamed with the pace of Savio and Collison on the flanks.
I have also liked the way Di Michele has been linking play, filling up the midfield when we don't have possession and picking passes when we do. His turn and cross for Cole in the first half against City was pure class - and a more instinctive goal scorer would have either taken that on the volley or launched himself into a diving header. I'm not Beano's biggest fan because of his injury record and selfishness, but I think he would have scored that one, as he did against United at Old Trafford last season.
So, I suspect Kovac could be a key piece in Zola's jigsaw. If we ever get DumptyDyer and Beano Ashton fit, we could have a team to reckon with. And remember, Faubert will be back in the summer!
I have also liked the way Di Michele has been linking play, filling up the midfield when we don't have possession and picking passes when we do. His turn and cross for Cole in the first half against City was pure class - and a more instinctive goal scorer would have either taken that on the volley or launched himself into a diving header. I'm not Beano's biggest fan because of his injury record and selfishness, but I think he would have scored that one, as he did against United at Old Trafford last season.
So, I suspect Kovac could be a key piece in Zola's jigsaw. If we ever get DumptyDyer and Beano Ashton fit, we could have a team to reckon with. And remember, Faubert will be back in the summer!
Saturday, 1 September 2007
Dreamland
In a state of shock! Secretly I fancied us at Reading, but to win 3-0 - that surpassed by wildest hopes! At this rate, Turds might keep his job! Delighted to see Etherington scoring. He was a key player in our first triumphant season back up and we missed him more than was acknowledged last season. He lacks that extra yard of pace and clearly has stamina issues but the lad can cross and has a very good range of passes. When Etherington is confident and buzzing the team suddenly has width and the pitch opens up. Good to see Ashton taking another positive step back and Bellyache seems to have the bit between his teeth. And maybe, just maybe, Bowyer has his hunger back. Parker must be wondering if he'll get in the team! I think Turds was actually smiling genuinely (as opposed to ruefully) in the post match interview!
As for Tevez - does he only start playing in January?
As for Tevez - does he only start playing in January?
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