Brum vs Bolton (League)

[TKIZ!]

I never said Muamba was the worst player to pull on a pair of boots, but he has been carried by Stuart Holden this season IMO. And yesterday really highlighted that.

I'm sure you can see if you really try BWFCI, that Muamba/Holden, Muamba/Davies are two sides of a coin. The have seperate roles to play yet one needs the other. With both Davies and Holden missing Muamba is being highlighted a bit unfairly for lack of a decent partner. Both the other two are link-men and creators with Muamba the defensive aspect/ the break-up man. At that we have few, if any, who are better.

Very sensible post there TD

[BWFC_Insane]

I never said Muamba was the worst player to pull on a pair of boots, but he has been carried by Stuart Holden this season IMO. And yesterday really highlighted that.

I'm sure you can see if you really try BWFCI, that Muamba/Holden, Muamba/Davies are two sides of a coin. The have seperate roles to play yet one needs the other. With both Davies and Holden missing Muamba is being highlighted a bit unfairly for lack of a decent partner. Both the other two are link-men and creators with Muamba the defensive aspect/ the break-up man. At that we have few, if any, who are better.

TD if you note I've been critical of Muamba most of the season even when he was playing with Stu.

I think this whole "attack minded" "defence minded" thing clouds the issue.

We're playing 4-4-2, what you need is 2 mobile, solid midfield players who are neat and tidy on the ball are capable of controlling the game and decent at winning it back, and most importantly have good engines, read the game well and are quick of thought. Thats what we have with Holden, he's not bloody Fabregas, he's not a great scorer or creater but what he is is a proper central midfield player.

Muamba has the engine and pace to do it and a good tackle. But he lacks all the other basics required. I can never imagine him running a game from the middle of midfield. With Holden out there was a chance for him to stamp his mark. But he didn't. And let Ferguson and Gardner dominate us for long periods. Then he failed to press the ball effectively, then failed to read the game and follow the run, then fell over and left Gardner free to score. He's a cracking stopper then?

If he imposed his physicality on games but struggled to pass a ball that'd be one thing. But he struggles to pass, shoot and rarely do you see him physically dominate a midfield.

Yes he had Cohen alongside him but still he was poor and has been for most of the season for me, and IMO Holden has carried him a lot of this season!

[HMX]

Did anyone see Taylor's miskick corner yesterday?

[officer_dibble]

Did anyone see Taylor's miskick corner yesterday?

Yeah he slipped on turf, not his fault! We'll be blaming him for Holdens injury next!

[officer_dibble]

On the Muamba debate where I am at is that he is a shadow of the player we had last season.

Alright he isn't the best passer, can't shoot and will never be the answer to our prayers.

But last season he buzzed round, won loads of tackles and generally gave the ball to one of our other midfielders (reasonable pass completion rate IIRC). No fuss.

Right at this moment in time he isn't doing the running around part. Look at that second goal! HE fails to track his man.

Lads not right, and we really, really need Owen to have a word, tell him that he's top midfield dog for the run in and we're depending on him to go back to the player he can be. I'd be a hell of a lot more comfortable if he was performing to somewhere near his capbailities. I'm not in the 'Muamba can pass/trap a bag of cement/shoot/isn't Holden' camp, far from it, but his form now is really worrying.

[HMX]

Did anyone see Taylor's miskick corner yesterday?

Yeah he slipped on turf, not his fault! We'll be blaming him for Holdens injury next!

[officer_dibble]

So it was Taylors fault then? The bastard!

[HMX]

I know these things happen, and I've hardly made a scene about it but everyone else managed to take a corner without giving the ball back to a brum ball boy. Nevermind.

[t_o_molloy]

I don't like Taylor but the turf totally came away from it.

[HMX]

I guess it's much worse when you're sat a few rows away. Just feels like another lost opportunity, pitch was a bit sh*t last time anyway.

[officer_dibble]

pitch was awful
its why Mavies was sat on the sidelines

[CAPSLOCK]

On the Muamba debate where I am at is that he is a shadow of the player we had last season.

Alright he isn't the best passer, can't shoot and will never be the answer to our prayers.

But last season he buzzed round, won loads of tackles and generally gave the ball to one of our other midfielders (reasonable pass completion rate IIRC). No fuss.

Right at this moment in time he isn't doing the running around part. Look at that second goal! HE fails to track his man.

Lads not right, and we really, really need Owen to have a word, tell him that he's top midfield dog for the run in and we're depending on him to go back to the player he can be. I'd be a hell of a lot more comfortable if he was performing to somewhere near his capbailities. I'm not in the 'Muamba can pass/trap a bag of cement/shoot/isn't Holden' camp, far from it, but his form now is really worrying.

Two points

- he's probably fooked

- he didn't 'not track' he went over as he went with Gardner..whether he was tripped or whether he stumbled, I dunno

[officer_dibble]

as in injured? he cant be tired - hes played less this season than last! im coming to the conclusion it must be some kind of injury.....hope its rightable soon.

havent seen it again but memory was he went to ground, could of caught himself in the pitch i guess, but didn get back up and bust a gut to track back, like he would of done last season.

summats not right, and not off one incident, off matches he's been involved with since about december

[Lord Kangana]

I reckon its just one of those things. Players form comes and goes, I think he's just hit a bad patch.

I'm hoping he can work his way back to form, because him and Holden are a hell of a midfield pair to have. Throw in Lee and in my (minority) view Petrov and its a top eight midfield all the way. As good as we've had for years, probably going back to when Djorkaeff was around (2004ish?)

[BWFC_Insane]

My view was that Muamba fell once Gardner had already gone past him. Slow of thought is the problem IMO!

He can't be tired as he's had Holden doing all his running for him this season.

Perhaps Coyle needs to take him aside and tell him that he's now our midfield general and its his responsibility to control the midfield and run the game from there. He strikes me as the sort of player who perhaps isn't that keen on taking responsibility for things. Perhaps he needs to be forced into taking some.

[Lord Kangana]

He's only 22 for crying out loud, of course he's not used to the responsibility. That will come in time. If I was Coyle, I'd do the opposite. I'd point out his strengths and how useful he is to the team. I'd ask him to keep it simple and concentrate on his own game. He's too inexperienced and out of form to be worrying about the bigger picture. Firstly, he has to work on his game.

[BWFC_Insane]

He's only 22 for crying out loud, of course he's not used to the responsibility. That will come in time. If I was Coyle, I'd do the opposite. I'd point out his strengths and how useful he is to the team. I'd ask him to keep it simple and concentrate on his own game. He's too inexperienced and out of form to be worrying about the bigger picture. Firstly, he has to work on his game.

I know what you're saying. But whatever age he is, he's now our most experienced central midfield player. At this level.

I'm not talking about him worrying about everyone else, but what I mean is, its his responsibility to make sure we're hard to play through midfield. I think with Holden who has such a good all round game, Muamba has often just been in the background, having a good 10 minute spell then dissapearing. A lot of the work we did as a team to stop the other team playing revolved around Holden's tackling and pressing and Muamba played more of a side role.

Well he's now the main man and if we're to do anything much he needs to embrace that role.

[TANGODANCER]

HMX gives his day-out view of the match.

http://www.the-wanderer.co.uk/bolton/a- ... -an-engine" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[CAPSLOCK]

My view was that Muamba fell once Gardner had already gone past him

Watch again

They're side by side, which is why I said it was possible he was tripped

[TANGODANCER]

I guess it's much worse when you're sat a few rows away. Just feels like another lost opportunity, pitch was a bit sh*t last time anyway.

Replays showed quite clearly what Taylor's bemused reaction was about. The corner flag area grass sod under his foot just moved completely as he was hitting the ball. Remeber Bechkam's penalty kick doing the same thing? No way his fault.