downing v johnson? p jones!!!

[Bridge'srightfoot]

Never do the press or Utd's publicity machine, miss an opportunity to get a player totally over-hyped. Jones of course being the new Duncan Edwards, Welbeck - who as someone pointed out on Twitter, runs like Phoebe out of Friends, Cleverley who apparently is an England lynchpin despite barely raising a murmur in 30 odd games for Wigan last year etc etc.

Mind you its always been the case, as I remember Russell Beardsmore being the next great thing in midfield, Darren Ferguson being a player to "build around" etc etc.

As for Downing? He's the most overrated player in the Premier League bar none. One footed, one paced, cant tackle, concedes possession for fun, doesnt score enough goals, weak in the air for his size, and has the stamina of a 18 year old Labrador. Apart from that, I rate him.

All of that can be said of AJ.

[dazby]

WTF? Don't you know Capello picks players on form? Like er Glen Johnson.

[Wonderwall]

it happens at every club, comparisons of legends gone to current up and coming players. We have our very own Colin Bell playing for Leicester who has made a whopping 3 league appearances since his loan move.

[Esky]

Admittedly I've not seen either of them for England, but I was impressed with Jones at Blackburn. Ditto Downing in the few Liverpool games I've seen.

Re Downing vs AJ, if AJ were to get picked, it'd be everything many on here riled against a few years ago - a starter for a mid-table team being outed by a squad player for the team at the top.

Also, while the scum hype machine can't be understand, they do have the best wide players in the league.

[Wonderwall]

Admittedly I've not seen either of them for England, but I was impressed with Jones at Blackburn. Ditto Downing in the few Liverpool games I've seen.

Re Downing vs AJ, if AJ were to get picked, it'd be everything many on here riled against a few years ago - a starter for a mid-table team being outed by a squad player for the team at the top.

Also, while the scum hype machine can't be understand, they do have the best wide players in the league.

sorry mate thats bollocks, downing has done fuckall since his move to Liverpool, his form was 10x better last year at villa and AJ was still ahead of him then

[branny]

Downing was behind Johnson in the pecking order until he signed for Liverpool. Seems to be that way with Capello. Sign for a decent team and automatically jump to the head of the queue. Same with Smalling and Jones. He obviously doesn't consider us as a big club at the moment.

I don't watch England at the minute because of the players he keeps picking. ie G Johnson (and half the premiership ahead of Micah), Walcott, and as for the strike force, Bent and Zamora. Do me a favour. No chance in the Euro's.

[Ted Hughes]

Downing was behind Johnson in the pecking order until he signed for Liverpool. Seems to be that way with Capello. Sign for a decent team and automatically jump to the head of the queue. Same with Smalling and Jones. He obviously doesn't consider us as a big club at the moment.

I don't watch England at the minute because of the players he keeps picking. ie G Johnson (and half the premiership ahead of Micah), Walcott, and as for the strike force, Bent and Zamora. Do me a favour. No chance in the Euro's.

THIS.

And AJ was playing perfectly well for England so did nothing to lose his place to Downing, Walcott or anyone else. People make the excuse that his club form is the reason, but Downing & Walcott have turned in lots of indifferent performances for their clubs, Glen Johnson doesn't even play & Phil Jones was fucking awful in midfield for Utd so Capello isn't picking players on club form.

AJ was asked to play for England, did so, a was one of England's few successes; a player who looked at home in an England shirt. Then he was dropped.

[mr_nool]

Downing was behind Johnson in the pecking order until he signed for Liverpool. Seems to be that way with Capello. Sign for a decent team and automatically jump to the head of the queue. Same with Smalling and Jones. He obviously doesn't consider us as a big club at the moment.

I don't watch England at the minute because of the players he keeps picking. ie G Johnson (and half the premiership ahead of Micah), Walcott, and as for the strike force, Bent and Zamora. Do me a favour. No chance in the Euro's.

You're saying City isn't a decent team? Top of the league begs to differ ...










;-)

[branny]

Downing was behind Johnson in the pecking order until he signed for Liverpool. Seems to be that way with Capello. Sign for a decent team and automatically jump to the head of the queue. Same with Smalling and Jones. He obviously doesn't consider us as a big club at the moment.

I don't watch England at the minute because of the players he keeps picking. ie G Johnson (and half the premiership ahead of Micah), Walcott, and as for the strike force, Bent and Zamora. Do me a favour. No chance in the Euro's.

You're saying City isn't a decent team? Top of the league begs to differ ...










;-)

Well we're not one of the "big four" are we? ;)

[Dameerto]

Part of the problem for our England players is rotation - Capello wants his England players to be regular features in their teams but Milner has suffered in the past and AJ is suffering at the moment - Micah could play every match for us and seemingly there's nothing that will get him in the squad never mind the England team.

[Bridge'srightfoot]

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.

[Ted Hughes]

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.

[Slim]

Downing was behind Johnson in the pecking order until he signed for Liverpool. Seems to be that way with Capello. Sign for a decent team and automatically jump to the head of the queue. Same with Smalling and Jones. He obviously doesn't consider us as a big club at the moment.

I don't watch England at the minute because of the players he keeps picking. ie G Johnson (and half the premiership ahead of Micah), Walcott, and as for the strike force, Bent and Zamora. Do me a favour. No chance in the Euro's.

You know if only there was a direct way we could prove this, maybe if at one point they both played for the same club in the same position and one was picked ahead of the other. Oh wait, there is....

Are people really so clueless as to how Johnson even got the opportunity in the first place in Middlesbrough's team?

[guv111]

It seems these three clowns play for England purely because they happen to play for Liverpool. Only to be expected from a manger who refuses to select Micah Richards, though. Further proof that the man doesn't select players on quality of performances is that John Terry regularly blunders around in an England shirt as his captain.

[Slim]

It seems these three clowns play for England purely because they happen to play for Liverpool.(WRONG) Only to be expected from a manger who refuses to select Micah Richards,(I HAVE A THEORY HERE, IT'S SLIGHTLY BAFFLING BUT WALKER IS A GOOD PLAYER) though. Further proof that the man doesn't select players on quality of performances(IS THIS WHY MILNER, BARRY, HART AND LESCOTT ARE ALL MAINSTAYS IN THE SIDE?) is that John Terry regularly blunders around in an England shirt as his captain.(I WONDER AT THE LAST TWO PERFORMANCES FROM CITY BY OUR CAPTAIN AND WONDER IF GLASSHOUSES APPLY)

[guv111]

Never do the press or Utd's publicity machine, miss an opportunity to get a player totally over-hyped. Jones of course being the new Duncan Edwards, Welbeck - who as someone pointed out on Twitter, runs like Phoebe out of Friends, Cleverley who apparently is an England lynchpin despite barely raising a murmur in 30 odd games for Wigan last year etc etc.

Mind you its always been the case, as I remember Russell Beardsmore being the next great thing in midfield, Darren Ferguson being a player to "build around" etc etc.

As for Downing? He's the most overrated player in the Premier League bar none. One footed, one paced, cant tackle, concedes possession for fun, doesnt score enough goals, weak in the air for his size, and has the stamina of a 18 year old Labrador. Apart from that, I rate him.

Usually said by people who can only have ever seen a few minutes of him (if even that much exists) on YouTube. Why Edwards is used for comparisons I have no idea, apart from it being yet another opportunity to use Munich as a publicity tool. There have been so many great players - midfiellders, defensive midfielders, old fashioned wing halves - in the last fifty-plus years that make comparisons with Edwards completely pointless. Anyway, if Phil Jones is touched by greatness he's doing a fine job of hiding it.

[guv111]

It seems these three clowns play for England purely because they happen to play for Liverpool.(WRONG) Only to be expected from a manger who refuses to select Micah Richards,(I HAVE A THEORY HERE, IT'S SLIGHTLY BAFFLING BUT WALKER IS A GOOD PLAYER) though. Further proof that the man doesn't select players on quality of performances(IS THIS WHY MILNER, BARRY, HART AND LESCOTT ARE ALL MAINSTAYS IN THE SIDE?) is that John Terry regularly blunders around in an England shirt as his captain.(I WONDER AT THE LAST TWO PERFORMANCES FROM CITY BY OUR CAPTAIN AND WONDER IF GLASSHOUSES APPLY)

Good points, Slim, if strangely delivered. I read the thread as Downing and (Glen) Johnson. And saying that Jones plays for Liverpool is proof that I probably shouldn't comment on here when still drunk (and bewildered) from the night before.

[Bridge'srightfoot]

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.

[Ted Hughes]

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.

[Bridge'srightfoot]

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.