Riise

[Imy]

le tallec and pongolle

They chose the wrong team, had they been at Arsenal i honestly feel they would have been much more successful, They just weren't developed correctly after they joined us AND both players were pretty small in size which as a striker is not very helpful.

for the full back position, height does not matter much (it would help), pace, strength, good tackling, passing ability and footballing brain is needed for the modern full back.

[AFII]

le tallec and pongolle

U17 world cup, not U20.

[Rocket]

for the full back position, height does not matter much (it would help), pace, strength, good tackling, passing ability and footballing brain is needed for the modern full back.

fella, i'm not doubting he might have ability, but what is the point in bigging him up to be a future world beater, when we clearly don't know.

if he's good enough, throw him in the team.

people like bale have been playing since they were 16

[PTP]

Better left backs in our squad.....Aurelio, Arbeloa and Insua.

Aurelio - will never play more than five games in a row - totally injury prone, i'm sure i read a stat when we signed him that he has never played more than about 20 odd games in a season due to injuries. Good player like

Arbeloa - granted - he looks good at left back, but he looks good at right back and wasn't too bad when he filled in at centre back he will prob play most games put always in a different position filling in left right and centre

Insua - i have only seen him a couple of times and looked good - but come on, he is a young kid - why do people seem to cream their pants over some of these lads who can play well in the reserves, fair enough he might be the best young left back in the world - but if he was that good or good enough/better than riise rafa would play him he and would be getting games NOW - such as Lucas.

[AFII]

fella, i'm not doubting he might have ability, but what is the point in bigging him up to be a future world beater, when we clearly don't know.

if he's good enough, throw him in the team.

people like bale have been playing since they were 16

Rafa looks more what is best for the player long term than short term. He won't gamble with a young player if he don't need to do it.

Tottenham gambled with Bale and he is now injured, just one example.

[dww]

Aurelio
Arbeloa
Insua
Evra
Bale
Clichy
Gallas
Barry
Cole
Warnock

Just in the PL.

Well for a start Insua hasn't proved himself in the PL and Aurelio is rarely fit so even if they are more talented they are not necessarily a better option that Riise.

Warnock tried and failed to displace Riise when they were both here. He is good for a less good team as he is not good at defending opposition breaks and there is less pressure in general. I like him but he has found his level.

Barry hasn't played left back for years on any sort of consistent basis.

Bale is part of the Tottenham defense which has looked shocking all season - not a lot of evidence of quality defending there. He is better at set pieces than Riise though and is probably a more refined player but really we want a LB who can do the basics of his job and Bale needs to develop in those areas.

So really we have Evra, Cole, Clichy and Gallas. Of which precisely none are available to us and Gallas is debatably not that good for our formation as he is not as good at getting up and down the flank which when we play our wide midfielder who nearly all like to cut in is important.

Cole suffers from injuries in nearly as bad a way as Aurelio.

So we are down to two. So basically Riise is a decent option even if I think it is somewhere we could develop the team. I think he is currently an under rated member of our squad even if I think we will look to replace him in the coming few seasons.

[Darth Marty]

Aurelio - constantly injured
Arbeloa - yesI agree but i see him as right back
Insua - how the **** have you reached that decision?
Evra - bollocks
Bale - yes & he could be the future
Clichy - yes but only just
Gallas - unsure
Barry - definitley not at left back
Cole - yes but hes not without flaws is he?
Warnock - **** off, we sold him you daft idiot!

Just in the PL.

[Rocket]

Tottenham gambled with Bale and he is now injured, just one example.

shut up will you.

players get injured all the time.

bale has been at southampton, Wales and spurs

[Imy]

fella, i'm not doubting he might have ability, but what is the point in bigging him up to be a future world beater, when we clearly don't know.

if he's good enough, throw him in the team.

people like bale have been playing since they were 16

My argument is he will not get a chance because (1) he has fairly low down in the seniority pecking order (2) Risk - Bale played from a young at Southampton because and with all due respect they were not playing for much, If Rafa bloods a youngster in an important match and something goes wrong? he as the manager will take the blame.

I agree we need to see how good he is, but as someone who can step in, kind of like Hobbs at this moment in time he is good. What we really need is not a squad player for the 1st team but the finished article, maybe if given the opportunity Insua may prove that he is good enough and thus saving us money (which is why we've bought hundreds of these youngsters, no?)

[PTP]

Ye cant say that after a few reserve games


Why do you think he's better? I dont

Not a hope in hell

agree with u here - tho i liked warnock a lot - he played ok, he prob wasn't good enough. Granted he is playing every week and playing well for blackburn - but thats blackburn ****ing rovers - people seem to forget that overall the ability of the top four is miles ahead of everyone else - if riise signed for another team in the prem(outside top four) he would be a first team regular, play well and look good and we would all be saying we should never have sold him

[Imy]

Aurelio - will never play more than five games in a row - totally injury prone, i'm sure i read a stat when we signed him that he has never played more than about 20 odd games in a season due to injuries. Good player like

Arbeloa - granted - he looks good at left back, but he looks good at right back and wasn't too bad when he filled in at centre back he will prob play most games put always in a different position filling in left right and centre

Insua - i have only seen him a couple of times and looked good - but come on, he is a young kid - why do people seem to cream their pants over some of these lads who can play well in the reserves, fair enough he might be the best young left back in the world - but if he was that good or good enough/better than riise rafa would play him he and would be getting games NOW - such as Lucas.

Would Lucas have been given so many games to prove himself had Alonso not been injured?

[Marky]

I'm still a fan of Riise. I don't understand why he gets so much abuse around here.
Ok he's not the best as Nic says but he's also not the worst, far from it.
Overall he's a very useful member of the squad and should be given a new contract.

[tommyg]

watch him smack one straight into row z from 35 yards and there were 2 or 3 better placed team mates more like...

Yup.

[AFII]

shut up will you.

players get injured all the time.

bale has been at southampton, Wales and spurs

It's very difficult for a young player to get a chance in the PL because the refs allow very much on the pitch.

That means that it will take a few more years for a young player in the PL to break through because the body isn't ready to play in the PL.

Look at Rooney, Owen, Fowler, Lennon, Cole, Shearer, Van Persie for example and you will get my point.

All of the above players started to play week in week out in the PL to early.

You can't do that until the player is physically ready to do it.

[PTP]

Would Lucas have been given so many games to prove himself had Alonso not been injured?

no the real question is - would he have been given as many games if he wasn't ready or good enough. The answer is no, if rafa didn't thing he was he would have picked someone else/changed the system to accomodate till alonso was.

If he wasn't good enough to play in the first team - momo would have played more - as it is lucas is a very good player and even better prospect and there is a strong arguement he has over taken sissoko in the pecking order.

This is different - Aurelio is consistenly injured, Arbeloa is more of a right back/cover for everyone else - Riise according too some is ****e/not good enough etc etc - so if Insua is so good why is he not playing more. The answer is either a) he is not good enough b) rafa doesn't think he is ready for the premiership or c) he is not as good as riise.

or probably it is a bit of all three