His performances just seem to be going backwards nowadays. Maybe it's down to his increasing injuries he seems to get. I have no doubt he will play against England and then will be unavailable for our first game back due to some minor injury/tweak. He can't cross, can't shoot so what does he offer?
Allow me to re-phrase: At Arsenal he was ****e-on-toast. At Roma he's doing brilliantly and looks nothing like (in terms of play anyway, still an ugly ****) he did at Arsenal.
Wouldn't mind if he started on the wing in a 433 against Derby. He would track back and defend, which would be useful in defending the flanks, and give an easier option for the midfield if they were starting to be overrun. Certainly more balanced than Vydra and Fessi for example.
Everyone hates Ikechi now then? :'( 1:14 [video=youtube_share;TPmZeHxWR58]http://youtu.be/TPmZeHxWR58?t=1m16s[/video]
Interesting... http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/sport/football/football-news/rise-rise-scotland-stars-ikechi-4612339
*******s, he switched to a LW position in a wide 4-3-3 half way through the second half against Birmingham and was still awful, any time he's played there for us in the past 6 months either he's been crap.
He goes past people so easily when he's on it, which is why it drives me mad when he either: A) stops and turns back despite being one-on-one with the full back with 30 yards of space to run into. B) gets into a good crossing position and picks out an opposition player despite having 4 yellow shirts to aim for. C) runs the ball out of play for no apparent reason.
Scotland has Anya now. We don't sick up big posters of him around Watford so why would he care? Get rid.
Once again the intolerance shown on these boards amazes me. He is obviously talented and could be quite valuable, either in the team or in a transfer fee. But he is not essential to us on a match by match basis as we have a squad large enough to cope without him at his best. So we should be patient and fully behind him until he regains his form. This childish slagging him off does no-one any favours.
Well they did play him out wide rather than in the middle which I understand happened at Birmingham - hardly going to get the best out of Anya in the latter role.
Glenn has written about the rise of Anya in the Mail. http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/fo...-shelves-scoring-against-world-champions.html
Anya seems to be a really nice guy and I wish him all the best in his career, but the way the team is set up at the moment, it doesn't look like he'll get much game time. And I fear that he's now too old to overcome his indecisiveness when he gets himself into great positions.
Hoddle's article gives the impression Anya is very much a person lacking in self-belief, or certainly was - maybe all he needs is an arm round his shoulder and a bit of encouragement. Every player goes through bad patches, hopefully this is just one of those occasions. Just having him in our side makes the opposition worry about his speed. Give the bloke a break eh!
Wanting an arm round his shoulder is probably the reason why he improved so much under Zola but has regressed since. Whilst I don't particularly like Strachan, he is someone who can clearly encourage Anya when playing for Scotland.