[Ethel The Frog]

I am a big Inamoto fan and am hoping that he will put up some phenomenal numbers in the EPL. I agree with Tigana's decision to use him as an attacking player, even though he has the skills and stamina to also play well on defense. While watching the game, I focussed on Inamoto's play and I have two concerns, both of which support the use of Inamoto as an attacking player rather than a defending player: (1) communication and (2) strength.

With regards to communication skills, I think that Inamoto has trouble communicating with his team-mates and that this is one of the reasons he did not fit in at Arsenal. During the Fulham game, I saw evidence of this as there were many times where he and a team mate would both go for the same ball. Inamoto never backed down and wound up taking the ball rather than his team-mate's doing so, but there were several awkward moments. I think he needs to work on this.

With regards to strength, Inamoto is a big guy for a Japanese, and he likes to mix it up, playing a very physical game. There were a few plays where he just muscled his way onto the ball like King-Kong. There were also plays where he went shoulder to shoulder with a WBA player and bounced back like a ping-pong ball against a brick wall.

I do not know the players well enough to know where Inamoto comes out on the strength charts. I imagine that against the world-class rocks of the midfield (e.g. Viera, Keane, Veron) Inamoto will do his ping-pong ball imitation rather than his king-kong muscle move.

Still, he is a very fun player to watch. This was an away game and a tough opponent for Fulham.

Others have said that WBA is the worst team in the EPL, but I disagree. There were times when WBA made ManU and Arsenal's defense look shaky. They get the opportunities, but they just need more finsihing power, which could perhaps be accomplished by putting Roberts in as a right side striker rather than the left side that he is playing now.

Fulham, however, I think is going to have the finishing power this year, and they are gonna be fun to watch, esp. with Inamoto on the field.