21st October 2004
 Well,
not quite Solano himself. Although the very thought of the little
Peruvian making a return home would be appealing in itself - hell,
I'd be the first to carry him on my shoulders across the Tyne Bridge
and up Barrack Road, he's small enough. No, we need a player with
all those skills that he possessed and showed at St. James' Park.
Forget Damien Duff, we already have a capable left-winger - it's CREATIVITY,
CRAFT, GUILE, SPARKLE
and CLEVERNESS that we need - and badly. In the form
of a *playmaker. More to the point one Lee Bowyer needs this player
because it is he (and ultimately us) who will benefit most from having
a Solono-esque player in the team.
We don't have anyone capable of spotting a run and having the brain
and deftness to deliver the ball to a runner. Not since Solano was
disgracefully sold for a pittance (aye I'm still bitter). Nobby took
over Peter Beardsley's role at NUFC and although he didn't reach the
heights that only Pedro could, he did make us sparkle, he did create
goals and openings for his fellow team-mates.
Looking at our team now, we don't have that anymore and this, I believe,
is one of the major reasons why we struggle away from home and why
we keep churning out draws. We struggle to kill off teams. To finish
them off. It's not for the want of trying, but when we invariably
take the lead (which we have done 7 times this season), we sit back
to protect that lead - a necessary tactic on the road. This is where
a Nobby Solano can make all the difference as he did down the years
at grounds where we needed that killer goal. The craft, cleverness,
guile and alround creativity I touched on above is what creates openings
in tight games. What can get you a goal out of nothing. What changes
a 1-0 lead to a 2-0 lead. What changes a 1-1 draw to a 2-1 win.
On Sunday at the Valley we had Lee Bowyer getting into great positions,
as he always does and will, but the pass never come or looked like
coming (Bellamy deciding to shoot) or when it did, it wasn't good
enough (Robert's over-hit through ball). Had Nobby Solano or a player
with his brain and execution on the ball been wearing the Black &
White against Charlton, Bowyer would have been found, Bowyer would
have scored, and we would have won. Of that I have no doubt! That's
the difference at the moment in our attacking game. At home, teams
come to the Old Gallowgate and are already beaten before they step
onto the pitch. We haven't played well at SJP for a long time now
yet we keep chalking up these big wins - scoring goals isn't a problem
at home nor is winning. On the road however, it's a different matter.
On both counts.
This is more to do with the attacking side of our game than our defensive
frailties. Of course we need new centre-halfs (quality ones) but even
last season with Woodgate and a pretty decent defensive record, we
still failed to hang onto leads, to kill teams off. Back then, and
to some extent now, the game plan was/is to create from the flanks
- which is so easy to defend against. Most of our goals on the road
last season come from set-pieces which is hard to defend against.
However it is rare to win a game by scoring all your goals from set-pieces,
you need variation and different tactics. Chelsea struggle to break
teams down and to find that killer pass because they don't have any
real creativity in midfield - lots of running but nobody to find that
killer pass. Just like us. They do have a great defence so they will
not lose many leads. Not like us. They won't win the League though
because it's goals that win Leagues, not 1-0 wins and 0-0 draws.
We, as we know, have a crap defence and although our real priority
is to strengthen it with quality centre-halfs, the lack of creativity
from midfield must not be ignored because even with a good defence,
we will still need to kill teams off on the road. Scoring goals is
the only way how.
I can't see Damien Duff spotting the run of Bowyer from 50-yards and
dropping the ball into his path. He of course would bring a different
dimension to our attacking game, mainly getting to the byeline and
that would bring with it obvious attacking benefits, but I'd prefer
a bit of craft and creativity from midfield and so would Bowyer who's
fruitless forays into the opposition box are not bringing him the
goals that's his game deserves. Goals we need from the centre of midfield.
Is it any coincidence that he hasn't scored this season? He will get
goals for sure, but he would get a hell of a lot more if we had some
brains and quality on the ball in midfield. Butt's job is to destroy
and keep it simple. Robert is not a great passer of the ball nor does
he have the vision to spot a run. What he can do is whip in a great
cross and pack a powerhouse shot. JJ doesn't have the vision nor skills
either to deliver a killer pass - nobody at NUFC does. Maybe Kluivert
but he's a striker. We want him getting on the end of things and doing
all his work in and around the opposition's box.
If Souness has the money to splash out on Duff (as well as a decent
centre-half or two), I'd love that money to go to Fulham for Steed
Malbranque who would kill two birds with one stone. He'd
solve what is fast becoming a problematic right-flank (any of JJ,
Dire, Brittain, Ambrose and Milner just isn't good enough long term).
Malbranque has those twinkle toes, that vision, that sparkle and that
creativity about him that we lack. Furthermore he works his socks
off, can play in a variety of positions and chips in with a fair few
goals himself. If anyone needs any pointers as to just how creative
he is, look at the number of goals Saha scored for the Cottagers -
most come via the vision and execution of Malbranque.
He's exactly what we need and I'm sure we could do a deal with Fulham.
Maybe swap Dire plus a few quid? Throw in Ambrose if that's what it
takes. Either way this is one area of the team that needs fixed sooner
rather than later otherwise we will struggle like we are doing, to
kill off teams on the road regardless of just how good or poor our
defence is.
How much did we sell Nobby for again? :(
*Forget Viana as well... (incase you were thinking...) |
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