Thudd

and then there's paul mcshane and alex bruce behind them :D

i am wounded, wounded. it will never really heal.

much like hudd's ankle

http://www.hullcityafc.net/cms_images/news/tom-huddlestone-signing-4-3116-992054_478x359.jpg

I'm excited for him, although it may mean I like Spurs less

Jake Livermore is also going from the north Londoners to Humberside - on a season-long loan in his case - and Huddlestone questioned Spurs’ policy of off-loading English players.

“The first few years I was there, the philosophy and policy were to buy young British players, such as myself, Aaron Lennon, Gareth Bale, Michael Dawson, Jermaine Jenas, and players like that,” said Huddlestone, who will make his debut at Chelsea on Sunday.

“Now Steve Caulker has gone sold to Cardiff], they’ve let me go, Jake has left and it has gone the opposite way - buying more established international players. I’m not sure if it is good for the club.

“It will be difficult [for Tottenham]. They’ve let a few players go who were used to the Premier League week in, week out. Bringing players in from abroad, as we’ve seen in the past, can take them a while to settle.

“You could see it happening last season. David Bentley left, Jermaine Jenas left [for QPR in January] and they were ready to accept a bid [also from QPR] for Michael Dawson.”

Woeful casemaking there

www.stevegleiber.com/news.htm

Paul Merson has admitted he is heartbroken at Arsenal's decision to sell him to first division Middlesbrough for £4.5million. "I thought I would end my career at Arsenal. When they said I could leave I felt terrible," he told the News of the World.

The news was delivered to Merson by Gunners manager Arsene Wenger yesterday. The Frenchman has made several major signings in the close season and feels he can do without Merson, one of the fans' favourite players. Merson said: "Arsene Wenger came to me and said 'We have been offered £4.5million for you'. "I asked Arsene 'Aren't you going to try to keep me?' and he just said 'No'. He kept saying it was a lot of money for a 29-year-old and he had to take it. "My 15 years with Arsenal was over in 15 minutes. I felt terrible. They didn't make any effort to keep me."

Dennis Bergkamp has cushioned the blow for Arsenal fans with a contract extension which should keep the 28-year-old Dutch international in north London for the rest of his career.

This guy's blog ends here btw, obviously never got over losing Merse

http://www.estadao.com.br/fotos/Willian_Shakhtar_StefanWermuth_Reuters_07112012_292_280.jpg

http://www.hullcityafc.net/cms_images/news/tom-huddlestone-signing-4-3116-992054_478x359.jpg

stay off the pies kids

iirc merse was at the zenith of his pissheadery at that point, probably had the whole conversation with a hatstand in wenger's office

i mean i know thudd is carrying timber but he doesnt look in bad shape there imo

yeah his 40yard dash time should be inching under 5.8 seconds

the line about huddlestone that he was a 16st xabi alonso cast before the swine of english fitba is about as accurate as those sentiments usually are

his notable skill is being able to drop well weighted passes over 20-60 yards with minimal backlift and a lowish trajectory but with a slight backspin so it sits at the feet of the recipient

it's a neat trick to have but it's also the most common such talent for an english midfielder or pseudo midfielder to have, gerrard, carrick, twp &c

his control and short passing are not especially good

disagree obv

his first touch some ways better than most english midfielders

he's considerably better on his second foot than most english footballers

his weighted passes are consistently better, and at their best far better, than other english players

the epl is 70% non english and creative midfielders are probably more like 80% so it's scarcely worth comparing him only to his reliably lumpen compatriots

it is when he's not getting a game in that lumpen midfield imo

but then he was getting one for ours either i spose

interesting to see if he makes international squad with a run

I think Gerrard has a tendency to put too much on those long low passes and Carrick doesn't have Thudd's passing range or cunting ability. Both make up for those shortcomings by being able to move.

Both significantly older fwiw

in terms of ability to move that's not a positive

but hey i love Thudd too and i am having weirdly ambivalent feelings about Steve Bruce lately. i think City will be alright.

the epl is 70% non english and creative midfielders are probably more like 80% so it's scarcely worth comparing him only to his reliably lumpen compatriots

― Nilmar Honorato da Silva

u will oblige, tbh, by listing the furriners in england who surpass our lad thudd in the metrics suggested btw

He's made a perfect career move. Midfields have to be built around him, and at Spurs this was not the case. He's looking absolutely imperious at Hull. Obviously an England recall would be out of the question as Wilshere is his more-mobile equivalent, although I think Thudd's deep-lying style is more suited to controlled possession football - perhaps Wilshere will develop in this regard. Thudd's a better passer and dead-ball striker. Let the love-in continue!

wilsheres best skill is carrying the ball between the lines with lil bursts then playing off of the attacking midfielders / forwards like ilkay gundogan with a feltham YOI demeanour and haircut

can see other teams looking for similar skillets

huddlestone isnt really like that at all

veratti should be better than wilshere or ilkay because he can do everything wilshere can do but with real playmaking intelligence

yeah but wilshere is the player england are looking to build their team around

a wilshere - huddlestone CM would be an interesting experiment though

i dont really care about england

huddlestone wilshere is quite a complementary central midfield

i dont rate huddlestone that highly but id like to see what he does with a few months starting for hull, the epl lacks interesting players in those sort of teams

cleverley & milner though. keepin it solid bruv

england won't select thudd so this is moot. let's talk about hull. ridiculous flair quotient for supposed lumpen relegation trash

di canio getting rid of one of the only interesting players in that tranche and giving him to wba was probably not the best decision

what else are hull doing, is meyler playing, is gamelad brady still being game, who is aluko, why is aluko

when Sunderland signed Giaccherini I thought it was the wing-back who played for Italy in the recent Euros and was excited, but I'd gotten the name wrong

?? that was Giaccherini

gamelad brady scored a game finish & assisted the 2nd goal, so steve bruce subbed him off for flair merchant supreme george boyd who set up the winner quite brilliantly

bruce deserves quite a lot of credit for this & how he's set up hull to retain possession and build slowly

elmohamedy (sp?) is a speedy winger/fullback with a decent cross & brain, but thudd & aluko alone make hull worth watching. aluko is like a little buzzing bee who pops up everywhere doing impressive things & skinning opponents. and occasionally thwacking in amazing volleys

this Giaccherini is a striker, maybe they're brothers, Italian football does brothers more than any other major nation I think

oh it is the same one

paolo you're a shit. play him where he's supposed to be

I haven't really watched him tbh, but for some reason in my head he's not a million miles away from Weimann in terms of skillset. That could be way off the mark though

hes mostly played in attacking midfield in italy i think

he is i would guess about 8" shorter than weimz

low centre of gravity scampering sub-giovinco supra-stephen hunt lateral utility drone

yeah that may not be far off, i'm always taken aback by weimann's heigh when i see him in the flesh. usually imagine him as quite a diminutive chap

haha xp

he scored a headed goal in the first game, assumed he was a standard CF

attacking midfield in italy rarely = attacking midfield here, especially when playing alongside conor wickham

kinda want to discuss steve bruce's unlikely being a good manager tho

weimzi was playing #9 vs germany the other week

what are weimann's obvious attributes

i don't notice him much until he's popped up in front of goal. gather he must have pace & awareness as primary skillset

hes quickish for his size, not especially skilful but can find space and is a good finisher

not dissimilar to the way podolski plays for arsenal or the german nt

someone compared him to dempsey on here not so long ago, seemed kinda otm - not necessarily a good footballer but an effective one. works hard, makes good runs, which makes him look quicker than he actually is. as a result he often does that thing of just being in the right place at the right time. gives off the vibe of being a good finisher whilst still missing potloads of chances. endeared himself to the fans by being prepared to accept that he wasn't going to be the central striker and apparently committing fully to being a high energy presence on the flank, tracks back well etc.

find it surprising he'd be a #9 then - that sort of player would probably need a skilful & physically dominant player alongside to thrive, mostly for the purpose of distracting defenders

villa seem to be playing him as a replacement milner, maybe a bit further forward. which is FAIR ENOUGH probably

dempsey isnt a bad comparison, more so than the hypertrophic jawline drone

what about dirk kuyt

gonna keep this up all night maybe

dempsey has a lot more swag than weimann. cf chip vs juventus

heavy drinking has turned my posting style into a hoy hoy's. perhaps time for a ban