Bridge'srightfoot wrote:Ted Hughes wrote:Bridge'srightfoot wrote:Ted Hughes wrote:Bridge'srightfoot wrote:AJ will never be a top class winger whilst he's played on the right. He's so easy to defend against because his right foot is so poor the defender can allow him to go down the wing. 99/100 times he'll cut in. Predictable.
He's already a top class winger, that's why he plays for the current top team in the country.
If he's getting criticised now, what will it be like when he's not actually scoring or creating chances every time he sets foot on the pitch ? (He set Nasri up for a golden opportunity today in spite of barely getting a pass). There's never actually been a winger in the history opf football who creates & scores at a rate better than AJ has been doing in his last few games, they are by nature a mercurial breed, yet all he's getting is shit for it. Even by City fan standards this is fucking bizarre.
Oh so were Brown and OShea, Kelberson, Djemba Djemba etc all top class because they played for United when they were the top team in the country.
It's not his fault, he's being played wrong.
There is no point in him being played as a conventional winger as the team is not geared up for it; the strikers don't even make the runs. We play in the overlapping fullbacks instead.
He's learning to be a better player than he was & be more adaptable. Bob showed his hand yesterday when he played all 3 creative mids in the same team. I said a few weeks ago that I thought he was trying to adapt AJ so that he could one day play all 3 together in some games & I recon it's another part of our evolution as a squad. Nasri & Silva do it better than AJ but he can learn it & still go wide.
The runs AJ makes across the defensive line are on another level to the plodding unimaginitive toss the likes of Downing etc serve up & if Bob can develop him as he wants, even Capello will be forced to pick him. He is too talented to just stand out wide, he is a much better footballer than just a wide man & if he listens to Bob it will come out. With the rules regarding home produced players he will become more important if he does as he's told. If he doesn't he'll be replaced.
A one footed left footer playing on the right is always going to cut in. All you have to do is show him the line because his right foot is that useless.
Try watching the game. He went past the Newcastle defender on the outside every time & left him for dead several times.
