Guest Post by Rugby Irons
Back to the footy and one of the areas that I felt contributed positively and negatively last season. And that’s having leaders on the field. We seem to have two captains at the club, Noble and Reid, but in terms of leaders it seems to be Noble and Collins.
A lot has been said about the quality of Mark Noble’s performances this season and in particular his negativity in going backwards and sidewards but as the captain there can be little argument he makes a difference to the others. I’ll leave you to decide if individual poorer play, but better output from your teammates justifies his inclusion. But before you decide you have to consider when he’s not been there. I accept I don’t have the facts (cue Paul Smith) of when Reid is captain but I have seen little to suggest he is leading the team. His own performances have been fine but when called upon to be the leader has he actually done this? For me on a par with Noble the answer has to be no. And then there is the Ginger factor. I don’t think anyone would argue he was our best and most influential player in the run in. His tackles, blocks, headers and commitment have forced the others to get stuck in too. For me he was the catalyst for the Spurs win. He and Noble set the tone on the night and they just couldn’t handle us. Now I think the other player to surprise in the tackle was Lanzini. He certainly doesn’t shirk a tackle and chasing back for a skinny guy and has made us more competitive in the middle third.
So the question going forward has to be can Zabaleta add leadership to the team? You have to hope that his undoubted quality will help bring on both our fullbacks but his influence may be more than just defending. This could possibly have us field three leaders, himself, Ginge and Reid in the back line, which might just tighten us a bit and turn draws into wins. In the middle Noble and Lanzini can compete well enough and I still feel that Ayew and Snodgrass have more to offer. Currently up top Carroll is a great leader of the line and he does commit the problem as always is how games will be play?
Now, and perhaps being a bit optimistic here, but if you add Rice, who is a clear leader, Burke, Holland and Dobson plus Martinez, all of these lads have a presence about them. Now the club are going to make two more ‘Quality’ signings , whatever that means but for me I hope they pick players with a bit about them and not just their ability . For example Benteke is a proven centre forward but when he’s crap he’s not worth being on the field. If you take our Ayew, who came with a big tag, you always get a good shift from him and once he got a run going he looked better each week. As there is no guarantee that AC will even with us next season, it’s a fair bet he won’t play much, and for me Sakho is a spent force, so this leaves us needing a quality centre forward. Now I’ve asked the question before of what is a centre forward in the Premiership these days and frankly I’m not sure. From the Carrol, Benteke mould, we now have all sorts of main strikers. Small, skilful, fast, gormless, and allsorts. For me I just want our striker to be primarily fit enough for long enough to lead the line. We have a lot of players who can score and as I certainly don’t see us signing a 20 goals a season player, then a more rounded player who can contribute to the whole team, rather than the attack focus may be a better option in the long run.
Now if you ask me who I am thinking off, quite frankly I don’t know. Our own Martinez has the attributes but perhaps not the experience, same for Iheanacho. If SB is looking at surplus top six players then is Giroud mobile enough? Sturridge isn’t fit enough, Rooney not good enough now, Bashuayi is probably the one good fit, and so we won’t get him! The relegated teams have nothing, which leaves the likes of Deeney, King, Long but I don’t think these can be counted in the ‘Marquee Quality ‘bracket.
So what’s my point? Well, with Zabaleta having joined us, we have two to come. I am hoping that the two that come can add to the team and not just for their ability. My feeling is the squad is better than it looks. Eleventh ultimately was excellent considering the shenanigans early doors and if the two to come can offer quality and leadership, even in their own way, then we may be the surprise team next season. The ability is there, it just needs guiding in the right direction. So for me I am hoping the two signings are what we really need.
Who they may be I leave you to guess on!