Mac Carthy just lands the young player of the month award in the SPL
Gotta disagree with you 100% on Anderson. He is certainly far from a dud and given some more time he will be one of the better Premiership midfielders. Personally i think Gibson will just be back up Carrick. Im far from a big fan of Carrick so i have my fingers crossed for the guy. As with any player he does need an element of luck to break into the team. Should Hargreaves ever get back to full fitness then i think Gibson will have his work cut out to get a game.Originally Posted by bwagner
I think that Gibson has a good chance of making it at United. United's central midfield is the weakest part of their set-up, relatively speaking. With Scholes now not taking part on a consistent basis, there is no other central midfield player of great world class ability. Carrick has developed into a very good player but will never reach any higher than that. Anderson to me would fall into a similar bracket. Fletcher and Hargreaves we know about. They don't present a daunting challenge for a young player like Gibson to aim to surpass.
I see Gibson as similar to Carrick but with a greater physical presence. In the absence of greatness to dislodge - he has a chance.
I doubt he would still be at Utd if Ferguson didn't believe he had the potential to be part of his future plans, and to be fair to Gibson, he acknowledges that the right side of midfield isn't his strongest position.
"I played in the FA Cup last year when I was out on loan with Wolves, but this was my first time playing in the competition with Manchester United and it was totally different. It was the biggest game of my career to date,"
"I really enjoyed the experience, especially getting on the scoresheet and, If I'm to be totally honest, I could have scored a few more. I missed a few chances before I did find the net so it was a relief to finally get a goal. Wayne Rooney did really well to find me for our third goal.
"I must admit I'm buzzing at the minute," he enthused. "I've been working extremely hard in training and have been trying to improve on my finishing. I'm trying to get into the box a lot more often.
"Hopefully, if I start on Wednesday night against Derby I'll get an opportunity to score another goal. The manager seems to be keeping his faith in me and I intend to do everything I can to stay in his plans. He's told me that I'll definitely be involved in the game against Derby so I hope I can get on the scoresheet again and continue to make an impression.
"I'm getting a lot more chances this season and the longer we stay in the FA Cup - and if we can reach the Carling Cup Final - then the more chances of first team action I'm going to get. And as the season goes on I might even get more opportunities in the Premiership which is what I'm aiming towards," claimed the Derry man.
Having now rubbed shoulders with players of the quality of Dimitar Berbatov, Ryan Giggs and Wayne Rooney, Gibson believes he is continuing to develop as a player in the top flight of English football and is relishing the challenge.
"Playing with the likes of Rooney and Berbatov only makes you a better player," he maintains. "It's the first time I've played with Berbatov - he's different class.
He's a great player and he can find you with a pass from anywhere. It's definitely a lot easier playing alongside world class players.
"When I came on I started on the right side, I'm not sure why the manager wanted me to play there, but I'm just glad to be getting a chance to play and I'll play anywhere he wants me to. I would much prefer playing in the middle of the park but I'm certainly not going to complain if the manager chooses to play me, I'm just happy being involved."
Totally agree with this but if the average football fan can see that CMF is the weakest area of ManU's squad then Fergie is well aware of it. A club like united has the funds to go out and buy a few very good and one or two top drawer players every season. So that might throw a spanner in the works for gibson. However, world-class CMF players don't grow on trees and he might just prove good enough to stave off current and any future competition. Fingers crossed he develops into a regular starter over the next few seasons.
I just have to keep strongly disagreeing about that Koller goal. The only thing McShane could have done was block the shot. He did everything else right by directing him away from goal. It's not often a defender is left one on one with the striker and it'll go down as a failure by the striker if he doesn't at least get a shot on goal in that situation. Shay Given wouldn't have let it in anyway.The reason I mention the Czech game is because its his performance in this game that led to all the hype and rave reviews....I will concede he played well BUT, he lost Koller for the goal. As a result, "outstanding" is a rather strong adjective to describe his performance. (I'm not trying to be argumentative....am still off the fags)
Okay I am sticking my neck out here, but of the games I have seen Ireland play since Trap took over, the biggest pluses have to be Glenn Whelan and John O'Shea. Neither of them are great players, possibly not even good players but Trap is getting the best out of them. Whelan was excellent against both Georgia and Montenegro and O'shea actually looked like a footballer against them both too. Its such a shame Reid got injured again cos his partnership with Whelan looked very impressive.
Help something bit me!!!
To contribute to the Gibson conversation, all I have to say is that I don't think he'll make the grade at United.
He's playing well when given a chance, but he's playing on the wing, when he's never a winger in a million years.
If Fergie trusted him, he'd be playing in the centre.
Okay, Scholes may be retiring soon, but Carrick, Hargreaves, and Anderson are all much better players than him in my opinion, and they're all relatively young.
Add in the possibility (and probability) of quality central midfielders being purchased by United at some point, and he's really got a lot to do.
Gibson playing at right midfield reminds me of John O'Shea being used as a fullback.
Yeah, he can be an alright player in the position, but he'll never hit his potential there.
Anyone who's watched him play knows that he's built to play in the centre of the park, but I don't think it's going to happen at United sadly.
That said, I hope he proves me wrong and becomes a fantastic central midfielder at United.
Don Givens' review of 2008: http://www.fai.ie/index.php?option=c...k=view&id=3920
Its hard to know sometimes how young players will develop.How many people honestly would have predicted this time last year how good Steven Ireland has become.If this time next year Gibson has progressed half as well he wont be far off from being a first team regular, he has all the physical attributes to be a top player. Look at Carrick, he was a decent young player at West Ham and played with them in the Championship when they were relegated. At the time I would never have thought he would be as good as he is now
Its really not that complicated!!!
Razor - I'm in complete agreement with you. People are far too quick to judge young players........cough.........Ciaran..........cough ........
P.S can some one tell how, click by click, to properly quote a post to which I would want to reply, so that the quote appears in that box above the said reply.
Thanks.
Last edited by The Fly; 07/01/2009 at 5:23 PM.
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Yes I agree about Josh. He hasn't been outstanding my any means but he has raised the overall standard of his game for us - and his performances under Trapattoni has been consistently good.
Whelan deserves a mention because he is new to the step-up and is performing an important role for the team well.
But I'd single out Kevin Doyle as one of our best if not our best international in 2008.
Forgot to include Noel Hunt in my earlier post, I know it hasnt affected the international side yet, but surely the fact he is playing so impressively in the championship gives us another good option up front. Biggest let down must be Stokes, what the hell has happened to him?? Surely he is still better than championship standard, I wonder does he actually want to be as good as he can be.
Help something bit me!!!
Ever since I talked to an ex-Arsenal youth teammate of his, I've had doubts.
He explained to me that a lot of Stokes' dominance when he was younger was due to the fact that he was stronger and bigger than most kids his age.
If you look at the SPL, the players there are smaller and less athletic on average.
The big, strong players there can really dominate.
Look at Samaras. Pretty ineffectual for Man City, but he's been effective and dominant for Celtic when he's got a good run of games.
Midgets like Willo Flood, Shaun Maloney, etc. can excel in the SPL, but were stifled by the athleticism found in the top tiers of English football.
Stokes is still young, and he's still got a lot of talent, but this conversation worried me a bit.
Maybe he just needs to get used to competing against strong athletic players, and perhaps bulk up a bit in order to do so.
Hopefully in a couple of years he will develop more consistency and start finding the net for a decent side, and eventually, the national team.
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