alexis nicolas

[London Irish]

Yes.

I assume you'd describe Claude Makelele as a "Crab"?

No one would describe Makelele as a crab, he is a multi-dimensional player who can play it short or play it long.

If you are comparing him to Nicolas, well - what a joke.

 

[London Irish]

Chippy and Carpenter?

Yes, he was dropped for him more than once

 

[London Irish]

Is Jacques Williams any better than Alex?

Probably not.

 

[London Irish]

where people not saying the same thing about Hargreaves.

Please, Makelele was comical enough

 

[London Irish]

he was utter f***ing shit, i said so as soon as he started playing. Another one of the 'oh he's foreign/young/non-league discovery, so he must be great' players who some cretins here seem to think will save us - he offered absolutely nothing of value, but soaked up thousands of pounds of wages and was at best a third rate substitute. The sort of player that if they are in your first team squad near enough means you are surrendering to relegation as you couldnt get anyone worthwhile so wents for dregs instead. See El Turi, Molango, Piercy etc for further details. (expecting a bite re: piercy(he wasnt ALL bad... NICHOLAS was though!!!)). Well done Dean Hammond for being a far better player.

Interesting references are:

http://85.234.132.19/showthread.php?s=&threadid=32303&highlight=finbar

best quote from someone was 'if we let him go just watch him go somewhere else and succeed!' -LOL, Barnet - only club with 3 mis-prints on their tickets, including mos-spalling the werd Barent!!!

http://85.234.132.19/showthread.php?s=&threadid=32586&highlight=finbar

Yep, I remember you getting rubbished in those threads.

Well done, you have had the last laugh - Barnet and (League 2 club in waiting) Rotherham for the Cypriot Makelele/Hargreaves

 

[Schrödinger's Toad]

A thousand times yes.

If Nicolas's pass backwards puts a central defender or full-back under pressure (it often did), then that is as good as losing the ball because it forces the long-ball.

What Nicolas was appalling at was making a pass that would put his team on the front foor going forward. People slag off Oatway but this is what he succeeded in doing more under McGhee than before, playing the ball into the channels that the forwards could latch on to.

What I found maddening about Nicolas was that he looked to have the talent to be more of a playmaker - but he totally lacked the confidence and composure to take on that responsibility.

Put him anywhere near the opposition penalty area and he would melt - a rubbish shot or a rubbish panicky lay-off. Can anyone think of a single assist he made in all the games he had? (and he had plenty in 2004-5).

It was this above all that got him dropped for the likes Chippy, Hammond and Carpenter. These players, regardless of their technical ability and it was wayward at times there is no denying that, at least TOOK A LEADERSHIP RESPONSIBILITY in the midfield by trying to CREATE play. Nicolas never did this - he was the ultimate pass-the-buck player.

A holding midfielder isn't there to score, to provide assists, to be an attacking force - how many of the above does Makelele, generally acknowledged to be the best in his position, provide?

The important things for such a player are tackling, hassling players, playing short, simple passes, holding the position - all things Nicolas was superb at. Sadly, that kind of game's a bit sophisticated for McGhee's style of football.

 

[Schrödinger's Toad]

No one would describe Makelele as a crab, he is a multi-dimensional player who can play it short or play it long.

If you are comparing him to Nicolas, well - what a joke.

If you aren't able to understand the comparison between the types of game the two players play, and their common position on the pitch, the joke's squarely on you.

If your counter-argument is simply that Makelele's better, well done ...

 

[London Irish]

If your counter-argument is simply that Makelele's better, well done ...

No, the argument is that Makelele as a defensive midfielder can lay off short, pass wide and pass forwards. The case against the Nicolas is that he can sadly only do one of those things (leaving aside his lightweight defensive qualities).

 

[Schrödinger's Toad]

Hopefully we'll get a chance to see him do those things next season - just a shame it isn't for us. At this rate, we'll have half a dozen ex-players with something to prove against us ...

 

[London Irish]

A holding midfielder isn't there to score, to provide assists, to be an attacking force - how many of the above does Makelele, generally acknowledged to be the best in his position, provide?

The goals/assists thing was an aside, simply to highlight Nicolas's total lack of composure in the opposition half. Believe it or not, Makelele, while never scoring for Chelsea, does have assists to his name and features well in stats like successful crosses, for example.

 

[Kinky Gerbil]

The goals/assists thing was an aside, simply to highlight Nicolas's total lack of composure in the opposition half. Believe it or not, Makelele, while never scoring for Chelsea, does have assists to his name and features well in stats like successful crosses, for example.

He also plays games to allow him to get such stats.
Saying that I dont think ive ever seen Makalele cross the ball!

 

[London Irish]

Saying that I dont think ive ever seen Makalele cross the ball!

Yeah me neither. But stats don't lie - I think

However, I've definitely seen Makelele pass forwards

 

[Les Biehn]

No, the argument is that Makelele as a defensive midfielder can lay off short, pass wide and pass forwards. The case against the Nicolas is that he can sadly only do one of those things (leaving aside his lightweight defensive qualities).

Whats to say Nicolas wouldn't have done these things given a run in the side? It is obvious that when players such as him come into a side after a spell out they usually sit deep and play the simple ball, easing themselves back into the system. As we saw when Nicolas got an extended run when he first joined, he has more to his game than crab like passing, perhaps he just needed an extended run but he never got it.