Stewart Downing - West Hahahaham player

[JohnDoe]

Whta no Lucas, our very own player of the year?

Gerrard and Adam in the middle together is a recipe for disaster. One will go marauding up the field while the other stands with his hands on his thighs rasping for air. If we lose the ball we'll be very prone to counter attacks through the middle of the park.

Think the potential defensive weakness of Gerrard and Adam in the middle is a bit overblown. I've always thought that offense was more about talent and defense is more about discipline and organization in a team unit. Obviously there are fundamental abilities which are necessary in order to be a great defensive player (i.e tackling), but when it comes to attack/midfield, you can take players with average defensive potential and make them work well in a smart defensive scheme.

Specialist defensive midfielders are a bit overrated, especially when those players contribute very little offensively, which makes them hidden liabilities.

The mancs have been successfully playing without a specialist destroyer in the middle and it has worked very well for them. They are just a relentless unit without the ball. Gerrard and Adam can work, if both players understand their roles and especially when they've got strong defensive players out wide like Downing/Kuyt/Henderson.

I think he's at his most effective coming in from the flank, like David Villa.

With three in central midfield and Carroll leading the line, I'd give Suarez pretty much free reign to roam as he fancies. But I think naturally he'd prefer to 'start' on the wings and drift in....

Except for cannon fodder at Anfield I can't really ever see us playing a 4-4-2 with Carroll and Suarez up top.

I could see him playing more like David Villa for Spain - stationed wide of centre and coming in.

I also don't see an asymmetric team as a problem - width from Downing one side and a relatively narrow setup on the other side (especially with Johnson at right back to offer some width that side.

I don't see the comparison with Villa. They are nothing alike. If anything, Suarez is more Messi than he is Villa, and we saw how Messi blew up when Pep moved him up front from his previous position as a right sided forward. Suarez is superb at working the channels, but it comes from drifting inside out, not outside in. He can't play out wide off the ball effectively, which will be required from him if he plays there, and I certainly don't want to see him chasing the other team's full back when defending. That picture alone makes me cringe. We need to accommodate him, as he's our best player, and not use him to accommodate others.

Yeah im not sure why people keep putting him out wide, it's blatantly not going to happen judging by the fact Kenny doesnt play him out wide and the signings we're making. He's playing upfront with Carroll.

There's no way we'll be playing just two in central midfield, which means we wont be playing two up front.

I see it as the other way around. We've signed two players that basically force us into a 4-4-2. Suarez and Carroll are both strikers, and the only reason people are pushing him off wide is because of his ability to take on players.

[red g]

Go on readytogo.net, I'd be absolutely amazed if you can find more than 3 Sunderland supporters who say he's far better in the centre. Everyone on there says crap in the middle, excellent outwide.

Heres a Sunderland fans opinion from a boxing forum I use :

"Very good player out on the right hand side, never a central midfield player in a million years though. If he stays on the wing I think he'll be a fantastic player in a couple of years time but he'll be another hypejob if he stays in the centre.

So no prizes for guessing where Bruce sees his long-term position.

Henderson has had some very good games in the middle but can only really play there as the right side of a central 3 rather than in a 4-4-2. If Liverpool sign him and deploy him out on the right then I reckon Carroll would score a boatload of goals, Henderson's biggest strength is his crossing in open play, just don't ask him to take a set piece."

The Maccams that I know and a few are season ticket holders and someone on else here said it was the same with the lads he knows.

All say he is better in the centre by a country mile, playing an essien-esque role......his energy is incredible and wont stop running in fact I think in the games against the big teams he did play in the centre, the game against chelsea he covered over 13km which I was told was a record since the premiership began( average 8km).

[wiw]

Pretty much how I'm feeling. Expecting more solid than spectacular. Other than perhaps not being a cock, I don't see what he can add which someone like say, Riera couldn't.

Better mentality, consistency, possibly better in the dressing room...

I think there's a lot to be said for the above, especially mentality.

Downing in a way reminded me of Lucas last season - he was never a world beater and very rarely had an amazing match, but both of them were consistently good.

Players who consistently contribute to the team are vital. There were games last season were we did not get going, but Lucas was still performing - Downing was the same for Villa.

Both times we played Villa last season, they were ****; Downing was their best player.

[JohnDoe]

The Maccams that I know and a few are season ticket holders and someone on else here said it was the same with the lads he knows.

All say he is better in the centre by a country mile, playing an essien-esque role......his energy is incredible and wont stop running in fact I think in the games against the big teams he did play in the centre, the game against chelsea he covered over 13km which I was told was a record since the premiership began( average 8km).

The thing with Henderson is that despite him being a central midfielder and I do agree that it is his best position, he has the potential to be a very good complement for Gerrard, Adam and Downing in midfield by playing on the right. His incredible work rate is quite similar to Kuyt, and I could see both of them occupying that role during the season as the right sided, more disciplined midfielder allowing Gerrard freedom to move forward. He's also a very good option in the middle, and with Gerrard being as injury prone as he is, Henderson's work rate can make him a very good midfield partner for Charlie Adam.

[Arn]

Stewart Downing talked the talk of loyalty – then walked

By joining Liverpool Downing will have made few friends at Aston Villa, who have lost four England midfielders in two years


It was April Fool's Day, which, in hindsight, was a clue that it would be dangerous for the reporters gathered at Bodymoor Heath to take everything that Stewart Downing was saying at face value. "Yes, I am happy here," replied Downing when asked whether he would stay at the club irrespective of what division they were in next season. "There is speculation that players are going to clubs all the time but I am happy here."

Downing went on to talk about the debt of gratitude he felt towards Villa because they had paid Middlesbrough £12m for him, two years ago, when he was on crutches and had no chance of playing a game until four months into the season. "A lot of faith went into me when Martin [O'Neill, the former manager] paid a lot of money for me when I was injured," he said. "It was a serious injury but I was over the moon."

A little more than a month later, and on the back of a thoroughly deserved clean sweep of the club's end-of-season player-of-the-year awards, Downing gave an interview to the Birmingham Mail, when he spoke with excitement about the prospect of signing a new contract at Villa. "I think there's been a couple of conversations already with my agent," Downing said. "I've already spoken to the manager who has said he'd like to keep me. I'm enjoying my stay here. I've enjoyed it since the first day I came. It's a terrific football club. It's fantastic they want me ... The important thing in football is, if you're happy, then why change it? I know it's been a disappointing season, but I can see the bigger picture."

Those Villa supporters who expressed their relief on various message boards, describing Downing, quite rightly, as the silver lining in a dreadful season, were in for a shock two weeks later. "My agent had a recent meeting with our chief executive," said Downing in an interview with the Northern Echo. "However, I am 26, and at a major crossroads in my career, so I won't be committing to a new deal at the moment."

Downing might as well not have bothered uttering the last three words. He was never going to sign a new contract. The writing was on the wall and it also appeared on the paperwork submitted to Villa yesterday afternoon, when Downing submitted a formal transfer request. Neither Gareth Barry nor James Milner had felt the need to take that course of action. Villa were left with little option. After all, what is there to be gained from holding on to a player against his will?

Villa did that for 12 months with Barry, who also pined for the chance to move to Anfield, although the circumstances were very different back then. First, Liverpool failed to meet Villa's asking price for Barry, which made it easier for the club to dig their heels in. Second, Villa were starting off the season with genuine ambitions of trying to qualify for the Champions League. Third, Barry had a long affinity with Villa and could be trusted to perform even if he was denied the move that he coveted. None of the above applies in relation to Downing.

It is, of course, easy to see why Downing is attracted to moving to Liverpool. As well as the chance to line his pocket, he is joining a club that appears resurgent under Kenny Dalglish. They have spent close to £100m since the start of the year and are genuine contenders for a top-four finish. Villa, on the other hand, are sliding in the opposite direction. The appointment of Alex McLeish as manager lacked imagination and top-six finishes are a thing of the past.

Whether Villa could have done anything about Downing's departure or not, the reality is that the former Middlesbrough winger has become the fourth England midfielder to leave the club in the last two years. Villa, in other words, are a selling club that serve as a stepping stone for players with greater ambitions.

As long as that remains the case, players like Downing will continue to move on and it is difficult to criticise them for doing so provided they are honest about their position. Downing, however, was happy to lead supporters up the garden path, saying all the right things until the moment he left Villa Park on the final day of the season. It is something he might be reminded of when he returns with Liverpool in the middle of December.

Clicky

[red g]

The thing with Henderson is that despite him being a central midfielder and I do agree that it is his best position, he has the potential to be a very good complement for Gerrard, Adam and Downing in midfield by playing on the right. His incredible work rate is quite similar to Kuyt, and I could see both of them occupying that role during the season as the right sided, more disciplined midfielder allowing Gerrard freedom to move forward. He's also a very good option in the middle, and with Gerrard being as injury prone as he is, Henderson's work rate can make him a very good midfield partner for Charlie Adam.

I did say from the beginning I could see him in Kuyts position, His delivery is better and does have a similar workrate.....He could be definitely more effective in those games where a little more skill and guile is needed and we watch exasparated with Kuyt.

[Neil Young]

Stewart Downing talked the talk of loyalty – then walke...

Hell has no fury like a football fan scorned.

[Exiled_red]

That makes no sense. Are you saying he can go faster, but doesn't?

I'm saying people tend to think he isn't quick because he doesn't just use his pace (like players such as Babel), his game is more about other aspects than just that, so as a result people don't tend to think of him as being fast.

[Alex]

Ahh ok. My head was exploding with trying to get that sentence

[Exiled_red]

Hell has no fury like a football fan scorned.

[Arn]

Hell has no fury like a football fan scorned.

I don't really see any problem. I don't expect any player to be loyal to his club. Continue to pay him big wages and win things and the the player stay in almost every case. If you don't then the player leaves.

Loyalty in football

[Muddled]

Stewart Downing talked the talk of loyalty – then walked
[SNIP]Clicky[/SNIP]

A lot changes in a short space of time in football. It's the common line fed to the media and one that everybody should take with a pinch of salt, similar to the Torres quotes in November last year. Your head gets turned, you then have to make a decision.

I think the dig about cash isn't particularly the reason he has/will leave Villa, I think it's more about an opportunity to join a team pushing at the top, not a team in decline. As for the smart arse comment about Milner and Barry not handing a transfer request in, Villa had to be seen to be doing their best to hold on to their best players ... which they haven't been able to do.

Meh, we'd be up in arms too if it was on the other foot.

[Arn]

A lot changes in a short space of time in football. It's the common line fed to the media and one that everybody should take with a pinch of salt, similar to the Torres quotes in November last year. Your head gets turned, you then have to make a decision.

I think the dig about cash isn't particularly the reason he has/will leave Villa, I think it's more about an opportunity to join a team pushing at the top, not a team in decline. As for the smart arse comment about Milner and Barry not handing a transfer request in, Villa had to be seen to be doing their best to hold on to their best players ... which they haven't been able to do.

Meh, we'd be up in arms too if it was on the other foot.

Torres is a great example of that.

[Neil Young]

A lot changes in a short space of time in football. It's the common line fed to the media and one that everybody should take with a pinch of salt, similar to the Torres quotes in November last year. Your head gets turned, you then have to make a decision.

I think the dig about cash isn't particularly the reason he has/will leave Villa, I think it's more about an opportunity to join a team pushing at the top, not a team in decline. As for the smart arse comment about Milner and Barry not handing a transfer request in, Villa had to be seen to be doing their best to hold on to their best players ... which they haven't been able to do.

Meh, we'd be up in arms too if it was on the other foot.

Not all of us though.

[Lee]

Will Downing be our new scapegoat?