Re: Keane Replacement Well I was thinking...Gary Neville is getting up there in age and his durability has been in question. So...why not have O'Shea at RB, since he is primarily right footed anyway. It's just a thought.
Re: Keane Replacement No, but Heinze is *slightly* older than O'Shea, maybe 3-4-5 years down the line O'Shea will hold that spot down. And Brown could be our everyday RB in the next couple of years.
Re: Keane Replacement Back on the subject. Could there be a solution here [font=Geneva,Arial,sans-serif] [/font]
Re: Keane Replacement Sir Alex Ferguson has finally accepted that Alan Smith could be viewed as a full-time midfield option, and even a possible replacement for ageing captain Roy Keane. http://skysports.planetfootball.com...Smith+can+replace+Keane&channel=football_home
Re: Keane Replacement Was just about to post this..... It's probably the only way Smithy is going to play for us.. I think he definitely has the right energy and attitude to do it now it's a matter of him being able to change from a striker.....
Re: Keane Replacement I am on the record as stating I hate the idea of Smith in midfield but I have to defer to the one with obviously better insight. I just hope that you're right, JammyBastard.
Re: Keane Replacement Can anyone think of a player who has made the transition from striker to holding-mid and been a success?
Re: Keane Replacement Goldenballs couldn't even transition from RM to CM, so what chance could Smith have?
Re: Keane Replacement There could be various reasons why he couldn't make that transition, none of which necessarily mean that Smithy can't do it.
Re: Keane Replacement I was kidding. However, I do wonder how difficult it is to move from a position that you've played all your life to one where the requirements are totally different.
Re: Keane Replacement Obviously not at the same level, but have you ever changed position when playing football for a team? It is fairly easy if you have the required attributes for the new position. Smith would appear to have those and he has done the job so far in pre-season.
Re: Keane Replacement Scholes and Solskjaer are just two recent examples of players who have switched positions and been successful...
Re: Keane Replacement Ruud was a midfielder coming up... that's why he wears 10. Also, someone said it'd be hard for him to change having played striker all his life... that's not really true, at Leeds he played a number of positions from attacking midfield to RM as well as his trademark striker position... Smith is a flexible player and he can tackle and has a great motor the 2 most important things for that position, as soon as he gets his positioning down he'll be better than Phil or O'Shea (who believe it or not plays more attacking than Smith or Keane when positioned in CM).
Re: Keane Replacement But what about from forward specifically to holding midfield? Not attacking midfield, not winger? And not holding to forward (like Julio boy) I can't seem to come up with one, although I hope Smith is one; I feel he could have the makings of one who has the proper attributes.
Re: Keane Replacement Ok, fine; try to have a little verbally ironic fun on an internet forum a few times and now I am hated like the man himself. Sorry again.
Re: Keane Replacement hey, we live on doing the unprecendented... you cant win w/ kids, what? sell Beckham? What? Sell Stam? What win the treble? If we're the first to convert a player from striker to DM i don't care as long as we're successful.
Re: Keane Replacement No worries. I get the irony. But I don't like seeing Gl*zer's ugly ass face every time you post. Thanks.
Re: Keane Replacement If a holding-mid can become a striker, then why shouldn't it work the other way around? Even though I think Smithy could make a good central midfielder, I can't see him reaching the same standards as Keane and Robson did. To have him as a longterm backup option in that position instead of Phil Neville might not be a bad idea.
Re: Keane Replacement I watched the Peterborough game last night and I though Smithy did a grand job in CM, I also thought that David Jones looked assured and competent beyond his years as well. With those two guys playing week in week out in training with Keano this year I don't think the future looks too bad at all. Keano hangs up his boots and one of those boys will have made the position his own. The King is dead, long live the King! Also, Park looked a bit headless chicken last night, worrying