Massimo

[bakes8]

Well done Mas, hopefully he can kick on from here.

[Ginger Ninja]

Must be the best midfielder in the championship? says a lot when we've only won one game in the last 5 the rest must have been really bad

Can't just give the guy credit can you?

Nice one Mass, well deserved.

[nanocopic]

Must be the best midfielder in the championship? says a lot when we've only won one game in the last 5 the rest must have been really bad

Mass can still be one of the best in the championship and we may still not be winning. Lansbury and Norwood both counted as the top midfielders in the league and they both finished below us last season.

[nasser95]

Mass can still be one of the best in the championship and we may still not be winning. Lansbury and Norwood both counted as the top midfielders in the league and they both finished below us last season.

SHHHH Don't tell them that, they'll tell you that you think you're above them and you speak in a condescending manner whenever you use facts.

[Stanley]

Other than one good shot, Chery was poor all game, particularly his deliveries. The corners got into double figures and he wasted most of them, which is criminal really for a player of his ability.

The one time we get a decent cross in Sylla is on hand with what he does best. Telling that this was the one time in the game Mass got wide to put in an excellent delivery - and doing the job are wide men are supposed to do but failed to.

[West Acton]

Other than one good shot, Chery was poor all game, particularly his deliveries. The corners got into double figures and he wasted most of them.

That was my view too

[1973 ranger]

Said it a while ago on here build the team around Luongo rather than Chery and with his vision and the bonus of being 2 footed even play him further forward as much more creative than Chery.

[nasser95]

Said it a while ago on here build the team around Luongo rather than Chery and with his vision and the bonus of being 2 footed even play him further forward as much more creative than Chery.

I would rather keep him and Chery in the team. Both are capable of creativity, but Luongo can tackle and it just means we're getting more creative players in the side. If he's replacing Chery further up, it's gonna mean more Henry undoubtedly.

[1973 ranger]

Why Henry Nas when a fit Cousins can play there. The 2 footed is the key and as for tackling leave that to young Ariel who likes tackling his own shadow. Chery is just not good enough to build a team around as he does not have that influence on a very high percentage of games which he should have if the side is built around him. The other point with Chery very much like Henry he slows us down due to him being so 1 footed.

[nasser95]

Why Henry Nas when a fit Cousins can play there. The 2 footed is the key and as for tackling leave that to young Ariel who likes tackling his own shadow. Chery is just not good enough to build a team around as he does not have that influence on a very high percentage of games which he should have if the side is built around him. The other point with Chery very much like Henry he slows us down due to him being so 1 footed.

I feel like you're linking the number 10 role with the idea that the player has been built around. Just because a player is the number 10 a la Taarabt, doesn't mean the team is built around him. He's simply a hook between the midfield and the attack but as we saw yesterday, Luongo played from deep and ran up. Moving him up into the number 10 would be counter productive and we'd lose our best passer from deep. Luongo's biggest asset is his carrying the ball from a defensive position to an attacking one. You can see how well he did it yesterday from his touch map, he gets the ball from the full back and moves it forward by passing it well and dribbling phenomenally. Cousins can take the ball and run, but he's 1) not going to be able to do that for 90 minutes and 2) his passing isn't good enough to make up for that just yet. Pushing Luongo up eliminates that link and what you end up with is a defence who doesn't have a player coming back and trying to take the ball from them to move it forward normally. This defence will invariably lob it up and that doesn't always work.



Shooting to the right.

You can see it in his touch map for the Fulham game too, this time shooting right to left.



Pushing Luongo up may seem logical because of his on the ball talent, but in doing so, you lose his incredible off the ball ability and his defensive qualities.

Also, as much as we can say Chery hasn't been good enough, which I think the last couple of matches he's not been up to the really high standard he set himself at the Fulham match, he's still such a vital cog in the side, having a touch of the ball every minute and 25 seconds in the last 5 matches where we've been unbeaten. Chery, Luongo and Wszolek are currently the only first teamers who are legitimately oozing with class on the ball and dropping any one of them for a prolonged period of time is going to have a very negative effect on the quality of football, even relative to the supposed poor quality so many believe we have at the moment. When we get Yeni back and he (hopefully) matches the potential that he showed prior to joining, A midfield of Borysuik, Luongo, Wszolek, Chery and Yeni could really be huge at this level. Add in the brilliant hold up play from Sylla and the improving hold up of Polter, we've got a front 6 who can potentially do a lot of damage.

[Hove Ranger]

Agree that Mass is best in CM rather than attacking mid. Sure he played a few games there when he first arrived and he seemed lost. He only signed a 3 year deal in 2015 so I think its time for some talks.

[nasser95]

Agree that Mass is best in CM rather than attacking mid. Sure he played a few games there when he first arrived and he seemed lost. He only signed a 3 year deal in 2015 so I think its time for some talks.

He got more assists but he had Charlie Austin in front of him and Chery was doing well at the time from the left. Hopefully as you say, talks will be ongoing midway through the season.

[1973 ranger]

Not at all I am purely judging Chery on his lack of creativity and by that I mean goalscoring opportunities. Sure he has tricks and flicks but they very rarely if at all end up with us scoring. While I can see he is technically a decent player I still cannot see what all the fuss is with the guy. Set pieces are very inconsistent and just does not do it for me. Agree we need to tie Luongo down as do not want another Austin situation where we missed the boat offering a new deal.

[jmelanie]

Smithies only has a three year deal starting 2015 so we should be talking to him too.

[SpongeParr]

Massimo Luongo,
Hes Massimo Luongo,
Hes a Rangers man,
Hes a Rangers man
We love you Luongo

repeat. To the tune of https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w8WnH4aL1uY

We need to get some different chants going for our players, ours are the same as every other team in the league (I realise I am copying the tune of another team) and the other Luongo song doesnt get sung loud enough.