Momo - Unbelievable.

[paulc]

I don’t understand it either.

I was a better passer of a ball than Momo when I was 10. Not joking either.

How can a footballer not pass? It’s the first thing you do – get a ball, pass it. Football is all about passing. Passing IS football. How can a professional not do it?

Football seems to be all about speed these days

Athletes more than skill full players seem to prevail as you got to be fast you got to be workhorse more than skilful.. sad state of affairs

[Imy]

Football seems to be all about speed these days

Athletes more than skill full players seem to prevail as you got to be fast you got to be workhorse more than skilful.. sad state of affairs

The top players combine speed and skill, a la Henry and Kaka.

[barnes10]

he had a bad game and the incident in question was a mistake. all players do it frm time to time. to be honest, he would have been subbed but there were sh1t performances all over the park from our lot so rafa was problably struggling to see who was playing worst. we only have 3 subs remember.

we all just have to write off last night and hope its the kick up the arse we need based on recent performances. personally im glad it was in the CL groups and not the prem and not CL knockout. it'll be good for us.

I wouldnt sell momo for 6 as i think he's drastically improved already this season. its impossible for any player to play well when the 10 on the pitch with him are having a mare. to isolate momo last night is totally unfair. they were all sh1t

[IanTatt]

Pace movement and skill = talent. And we have not got enouygh of that, can only think of a handful of players you would describe as class - not including the back five. It used to make me laugh when Houllier came and said that he was lookig for players with pace, pace, and skill, when he left, there was f all of these types of players. Look at Arsenal, all quick, with movement and skill. I'd be happy to face Kuyt, voronin and crouch because they have non of the qualities u need at this level..

[paulc]

Pace movement and skill = talent. And we have not got enouygh of that, can only think of a handful of players you would describe as class - not including the back five. It used to make me laugh when Houllier came and said that he was lookig for players with pace, pace, and skill, when he left, there was f all of these types of players. Look at Arsenal, all quick, with movement and skill. I'd be happy to face Kuyt, voronin and crouch because they have non of the qualities u need at this level..

was Fowler a speed merchant aka Cisse?
No

[IanTatt]

Fowler was fairly pacey in his prime, exceptional touch, awareness and the best finisher of his generation, Ciise had pace but none of the other fowler atributes. 4-1 to fowler

[Tee]

Guys, we need to cut them a little slack last night because it was very wet and the ball was very very quick and difficult to control. We all know that technically Momo is not the best, even on a glorious day in perfect playing conditions he cannot control or pass the ball!!

Stevie needs to get a grip and start wanting the ball alot more than he did last night. Momos job should be to win it back and let the others play!

[Pablo]

Guys, we need to cut them a little slack last night because it was very wet and the ball was very very quick and difficult to control. We all know that technically Momo is not the best, even on a glorious day in perfect playing conditions he cannot control or pass the ball!!

Stevie needs to get a grip and start wanting the ball alot more than he did last night. Momos job should be to win it back and let the others play!

I know what you mean but they didnt seem to struggle zipping the ball around when they scored thier goal did they? Conditions were bad for both teams, it affected us much more than it affected them seemingly.

[paulc]

Fowler was fairly pacey in his prime, exceptional touch, awareness and the best finisher of his generation, Ciise had pace but none of the other fowler atributes. 4-1 to fowler

exactly my point

what I am getting at is that a lot of players not the world class ones of this world but your standard player seems to be more of an athlete than a footballer.

[Imy]

exactly my point

what I am getting at is that a lot of players not the world class ones of this world but your standard player seems to be more of an athlete than a footballer.

And bloody Houllier stocked up on them at our club

[Tee]

I know what you mean but they didnt seem to struggle zipping the ball around when they scored thier goal did they? Conditions were bad for both teams, it affected us much more than it affected them seemingly.

Yes - most of their players clearly had far more naturally technical ability.

I just hope Momo is not crucified over 1 bad game - he does a job for us and normally plays his part very effectively - remember Barca away last season?

Unfortunately Momo is not the ideal player for home games when you expect to be the dominant team and have more possession.

IMO Rafa got the team selection wrong - no big deal now - lets just move on.

[Pablo]

Agreed, overall I am a Momo fan, played in the right type of game he can be extremely useful, he was hardly the only player that had a shocker last night either.

[Imy]

Yes - most of their players clearly had far more naturally technical ability.

I just hope Momo is not crucified over 1 bad game - he does a job for us and normally plays his part very effectively - remember Barca away last season?

Unfortunately Momo is not the ideal player for home games when you expect to be the dominant team and have more possession.

IMO Rafa got the team selection wrong - no big deal now - lets just move on.

Rafa underestimated them, hence Leto in the team.

When asked before the game he did not expect any surprises from Marseilles, they certainly gave him one.

Last night i felt many players thought they just had to turn up to win and were thus piss poor adding that to the Marseilles ingredients of a new coach and probably playing their best football in ages we got our arses handed to us.

Bad night all in all.

[peekay]

As I posted in another thread:

When Momo's in exceptional form his passing is average.
When he is normal form, his passing is below par.
When he is out of form, his passing is downright abysmal.

Dunno what the reason is, maybe it is just the mentality, maybe he gets nervous and screws up. But we cannot afford to have such a poor presence in our central midfield. It destroys the balance of our game.

And the worst part is it stifles the creativity of our midfield partner as he has to sit back to make up for his defensive deficiencies.

and I agree he is tailor made for games like Barca. But if we cannot handle Barca with a midfield of Mascher, Gerrard, Alonso and a strike force of torres by retaining possession, I guess Rafa's coaching will have to be questioned.

I would seriously like to see Jay Spearing tried out for our central midfield in one of the Carling Cup matches. He may be invisible but I am confident he will not be the oppositions 12th man.

[FatTony]

I just hope Momo is not crucified over 1 bad game

1!