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Bramble
Would Be Great In Serie A Or La Liga - Seriously! |
Newcastle-Online comment: August 2nd 2004
An observation...
Have you stopped sniggering like a little school kid yet? OK! I have
a theory regarding Bramble, I believe our often maligned centre-half
would excel in Italy's Serie A or Spain's La Liga (stop it...) and
why he may never ever fully become the top-class Premiership defender
that performances like yesterday, where he was the best player on
the pitch by some distance, suggest he can be. Lets look at his two
very good but very contrasting performances over the weekend against
Rangers and then Sporting Lisbon.
Against Rangers Bramble put in an alround decent performance where
for the majority he did everything right, however as is often the
case with the man nicknamed Shambles, he produced one or two moments
that had me reaching for my Angina tablets. I don't have Angina nor
any heart problems, I'm young fit and healthy (except weekends) but
I took the liberty of ordering some for the coming Season as I feel
I may well need them, especially when the Tank (as he was yesterday)
plays.
The Rangers game was a fast, frenetic high octane affair - a typical
Premiership game you could say.
Now against Sporting Lisbon Bramble never put a foot wrong all game,
not once, he was a colossus. His tackling is as good as any I have
seen in my time supporting the Toon. He is like a tank and I like
to see thundering tackles just as much as I like to see Shearer banging
one in at the Gallowgate End. When Bramble goes charging in with all
his might and considerable weight a burning passion enrages inside
me that lifts me up from my plastic grey seat shouting and screaming:
"Go on Bramble, bury the bastard!" It's not pretty nor very
nice but I love it.
Yesterday goes down as the worst 'football' match that I have ever
saw yet I left St. James's with fond memories of those blood curdling
thunderous tackles from Bramble. I also left with fond memories of
his coolness on the ball, his excellent 50-yard passes to Milner out
wide on the left, his two mazy runs where he evaded the trailing legs
of pukey green shirts. I left thinking: now if only he could play
like that every game...
Then it dawned on me...
The Sporting game was a sloooooow, one-paced, no tempo affair - so
far removed from the epitome of a Premiership match that it could
have been a Serie A or a La Liga match where the emphasis is on ball
retention not pin-ball.
What is Bramble's biggest weakness? His decision making and his concentration.
In a fast game you need to think quick and act quick otherwise you'll
get caught sleeping - a phrase that could have been invented for Bramble
as time and time again he gets caught napping, mostly in split-seconds
after having a good game. This poor decision making and poor concentration
levels will always always be his undoing - and ultimately Newcastle's
undoing.
In a slow game, like against Sporting Lisbon players have all the
time in the world to think, to make decisions and to act as Bramble
did yesterday - to great effect. In a slow game Bramble looks assured
yet in a fast game he looks erratic.
Basically Bramble is better suited to the more relaxed, slower continental
League's such as Serie A and La Liga where defenders tend to drop
off the forwards and the build up play and attacking is more composed
and measured.
What does all this mean you ask? Nothing, just thought I'd mention
it... |
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