Scott Parker on a downward trend?

Firstly, I would have to say that we need to give Scotty time to get back to 100% fitness and he seems to be improving game on game. On Sunday we lost the need to use him ove WBA went down to 10 men as we were so dominant on possession and the need for a DCM was not really required. In saying that, I do feel that the game is developing into an era where we need players allover the pitch that are multi skilled and have versatility of position and ability to offer a team an allround mix of talents. This was why I like players like Sissoko at Newcastle, as he is equally adept at playing ACM, DCM or wide and seemingly will equal effectiveness. a player like Parker is exceptional in a defensive midfield role, but simply doesnt have the offensive/creative game for what I believe will be the next generation of players.

An interesting post until i got to the bit about Caulker playing in midfield then i realised you didn't know what you are talking about !

ro6ertj - he'll probably want some time off to recover. I mean that seriously! He has still got the ache with AVB for his comments before he left for the ACoN so don't expect him to put himself out for the club in the short-term. Ridiculous really. As for Parker he is a one-dimensional player. He is good and he works very hard but his age and changes to the way the game is played will inevitably make him less effective. He's the best we've got for now so let's get behind him.

Parker's career as a footballer is at the beginning of the end, Jod pretty much nailed it. With the emergence of Sandro, Parker should start to be considered as a quality back-up player. His leadership and experience are priceless around the club, if Livermore is ever going to be pushing for a regular start he may want to adopt Parkers style of play.

How many games do/should we need an out and out DM? I think Thud sitting in front of the back 4 in the 'quarterback' position with Demeble and Holtby in front Bale left Lennon right and Ade up top would work...but would AVB be prepared to adapt? I would also like to see Dembele/ Livermore as a pair....Livermore has more presence..

Holtby looks like the man fr the job

I like Parker he is a good player and deserves his place. However as he is now getting towards his sell by date I wonder if it would not be wise to sell him on in the summer and invest the money in a younger model? COYS

Spurfect11- You're confusing player and buy...even if he was lionel Messi would 6m and then paying 80kpw for 5 years be value for just 6mths of good service? He gave us a very good 1st half a season, he was poor 2nd half...he is a good player....but he'll be hard to shift, hence bad buy.

Scott Parker should be stand in for Sandro. Sandro is Injured so Parker plays its simple as that. He still does alot of the work in the middle of the park. Yeah his passing isint great but dont tell me Sadros is. The talk of playing anybody else from Livermore to Caulker is total rubbish.

Knee-jerk stuff. The guy missed pre-season, is in his 30's and is injury prone. It was always going to take a few matches to get in his stride, especially with his all-action style. Having said that i would never have bought him for that price and wages, money we'll simply never see back.

Scotty Parker ona donward trend? Utter rubbish. What every side needs is balance and Parker brings that and thensome. He has leadership skills in abundance, gives 100% every game and is well respected by the rest of the team bringing much needed experience and tactical nouse to the team. Coming back from njury takes some time to get back to a players peak. This has also affected BAE. Scotty is an absolute must for us to if we want to push on for a top for finish!

Scott hasn't been the same this season and I'm afraid it's his own fault. We all knew he had an injury at the Euros, but he obviously saw it as "his time" and played anyway. Low and behold, Spurs, the club that pay him £60,000 a week were left to suffer as he returned with the injury immediately.

And also ... what was the name of that player everyone said was the best player last season ...? There is a species of Spurs supporter that feels that supporting is best done by slagging off a couple of players (choose your own). Truth is, we have got a set squad till the end of the season, and criticism of this kind just reduces a player's confidence. Here's a novel idea: real supporters SUPPORT. COYS!!!

Just on Dembele for fulham he scored 2 goals last season, to date he has 50% of that total and he did that in half a game on his first appearance, so don't expect a shed full of goals from our midfield, when the time comes, this is another area AVB needs to look at, goal scoring midfield players, Modrc was not a prolific goalscorer, Parker's not, Dembele's not, Hudd's not, Livermore's not and Sandro was not until injury, Tom Carrol? So you can say ''we need a striker'' if we don't get goals from midfield then the two go hand in hand. Lennon needs to score more. I can see why are goal difference is on +13 compared to the ones above us, Holtby can and will score goals, Dempsey can, we have one outlet for goals BALE.

4everaspur - You can't sell Parker. We are paying him 75k a week, no one else will pay him anything like that so there is no way he would agree to go. Jenas was on a lot less money but we have still ended up paying part of his wages for the remainder of his contract while he plays for QPR. Of course when Parker was playing well last season this was a non issue for the fans. After all he'd just keep playing like that for the four years we'd agreed to pay him wouldn't he ?

Parker is great cover for Sandro. Sandro is definitely no.1 CDM, Parker no.2 and Livermore no.3 and even he's not too bad. We are well covered for CDM. I think Dembele is equally to blame for our slow play in the middle and I don't think Sandro fares that much better. That is where we miss Modric. Carroll could possibly step into the middle but he doesn't seem to be getting much game time, even in cups or as a late sub, so I'm guessing the he is not gonna make the grade unfortunately.

Well jesus, you'd be forgiven for thinking the site's been infiltrated by Chavs & Gooners recently its been sooooo negative. Unbeaten in the league since Dec 9, sitting in 4th despite injuries & its still not enough for some. Too much expectation mate.

Kaboul is back soon I think, so until Sandro is fit, in key games especially, id prefer Vertonghen as a DCM over Parker. He can do pretty much everything Parker can do and can shoot as well. Unlike Parker, Vert already has a Spurs goal and scored a few for Ajax. He's no stranger to the position either, playing there at international level.

Great Scott......not getting any younger, but still a useful squad player, with a good footballing brain. We'll need him, as i cannot see Sandro getting back to a top level of play in 2013.

Parker was overplayed, but we were reliant on him. Sandro was also overused last year by AVB. We still need Parker because Sandro has a suspect injury record. They should be used in combination once Sandro comes back. I also feel that Parker is far from the end of his career. Your career is often defined by a finite number of games until it takes its toll. Parker has spent huge periods on the bench for Chelsea, and has not played full seasons for anyone. He has come back from a long injury, and obviously it remains to be seen if he comes back to last year's level. Incidentally, Huddestone did not come back the same player, and we do not know if Sandro can either.

Agree with the sentiments about slagging our own players. Valid criticism yes. But one request, can we exclude Levy from this? Let's save the vitriol for him. Lol.

I don't so much know if it's criticism of a player or a pairing. Fact is Sandro looked terrible with Parker last season. He also looked terrible with Livermore. Dembele has not looked very good since being partnered with Parker. That's a fair observation, IMO. I thought with Holtby's introduction, it would open space up for Dembele to run in to, but it hasn't. IMO, players like Walker, Parker, Dawson, defoe give all theyhave every game. The problem is, none of these guys are possession players. It was the same thing with Palacios. He could break up play with the best of them. He just had no clue what to do thereafter. I still remember last season when BAE passed the ball to Parker who immediately, without looking passed it straight back (no pressure, no reason, just because). BAE passed it straight back to him again, and Parker again passed it straigt back. Now BAE, with hands fully outstretched and with a WTF look on his face again passed it straight back to Parker who finally turned and passed it to someone else. None of those passes served to accomplish anything but to annoy a teammate and bolster the passing stats. I was howling. The change in facial expression on BAE's face with each successive pass was priceless. He slows the game down. So does Walker, Defoe and Dawson. We need to play much faster. Hudd,for all his cement boot running, can speed the game up with one pass. Possession football is fine, but it must be done at a pace that makes the other team have to chase and must always have the other team having to work hard to maintain positioning. If not, all we do is allow the other team to set themselves up. This is why it is so difficult to break teams down. We need to play more like City and Chelsea and less like Arsenal. COYS

"Can Hudd come along, run around and finally get a haircut? Can Jake come in and establish himself? Can Siggy partner Dembele? What if Jan or Caulker pushed up as a DM? Can Tom Carroll surf his way into contention? Or will we be content with Parker running them around in circles?"

I am reminded of the endings of those old serials that ran in cinemas pre-war. Will Pauline be freed from the train tracks before the trains runs her over? Will Rin Tin Tin warn the cavalry before the Indians kill the wagon train?

Now let me take on your questions: Why does Hudd need to get a haircut? Are the aerodynamics caused by his Afro what is slowing him down? Jake cannot, in all likelihood come in and establish himself. I'd take a shot at trying Siggy out in a midfield role with Dembele instead of Scotty P. Jan said he came to us rather than to Emirates because they wanted to play him at DM role. Tom Carroll is not the answer. Maybe he can be later, but not now. We'll probably have to hope that Parker's running about in circles is to some good effect. Pauline will be freed before the train arrives.

Parker simply hasn't returned to form following a serious Achilles injury and months of playing far too much. It's a reasonable question as to whether at 32 he's prematurely passed his sell by date, but that isn't so old and he may yet return to form. But it is a merited question about whether at this age and after this recent history he can return to something like his previous stellar form.

Someone above mentioned Davids coming to us at 32/33 and still being good for a season. But there is a reason Davids was playing for us and not the elite clubs he regularly played for in his prime... Davids was deteriorating and Parker is no Davids, not even close.

"I still remember last season when BAE passed the ball to Parker who immediately, without looking passed it straight back (no pressure, no reason, just because). BAE passed it straight back to him again, and Parker again passed it straigt back. Now BAE, with hands fully outstretched and with a WTF look on his face again passed it straight back to Parker who finally turned and passed it to someone else" the whole barca do this as well... it's called "keep the ball moving until find space" even in the backyard it keeps the rhythm and pace controled and going - i like this

Scott Parker.
Still outstanding. A true leader, which is something that was lacking in some past seasons.

Anyone else noticed he looks like a old fashioned subbuteo player when running about....

I've read some crap on this site, but this takes the bourbon. For some Parker was never their type, and I remember the nonsense written about him before he arrived. He proved the doubters wrong, emerging as one of the most influential midfielders in the league. He has been a consistently good performer, and, even with his long term injury, has stepped in and produced. Perhaps those so pernickety about midfield performances might like to look at Dembele, who has to my kind been cruising and not performing for the majority of this season, and reminds me, unfortunately, of a certain Huddlestone T., in that he has the odd stand out game, and then withdraws for some time. Let's hope not.

Hello all, Please help! Off topic I know but I want to go to watch the away match against Olympic Lyonnaise as I am living in the SW of France at the mo. Where can I get the tickets from, are they even on sale yet?

I suppose it is not what you say, but how you say it. It appears I have touched a nerve with some. In no way was I suggesting or 'slagging / slating' Parker as a worthless player. He has a massive role at the club both on and off the pitch, but I feel on occasions he might be better suited (more so than Dembele at this stage) to a role from the bench. No one thought that Phil Jones could play a DM position for Man U, so is their any reason why Jan or Caulker could not play a similar role, on occasions? With only the Europa and PL to play for, Parker will see the majority of game time. Jake and the two Tom's will have limited opportunity. Again though, the Dembele / Parker partnership is a concern for me at this stage. Thankfully, we have a young welshman who is covering our ass at the moment, although he needs to find some form as well :). Appreciate the responses, time to move on. BTW TK, Hudd has promised to cut his hair once he scores a goal for Spurs. I think he'll get in cut in July, when we're on tour.

Parker is slowing down because of his age, so he is not as effective. However, i would keep him beside Dembele and play Holtby as part of a three man midfield. Don't fancy Hudd. The only other option i can think of is Vertonghen. He almost seems to good a footballer to play CB, however, i think he would already be playing in midfield if he was any good there.

He's just part of a growing list of modern footballers who thinks having one talent is enough. He is (more so last year admittedly) excellent at tackling, intercepting and laying it off to a team mate. Unfortunately he cannot pass a ball to save his life and takes about 10 seconds to pass the ball sideways. I've never liked "defensive" midfielders and I've never been afraid to admit that, despite the fact they're sucked off on a weekly basis by pundits.

Of course, you do need players in the side who can tackle and put themselves about, but why on earth is it acceptable at the top level for that to be it?! I'm not much of a "told you so" person, but I said the same thing about Wilson Palacios from the moment we bought him to the moment we sold him. It's not good enough at the top level to not be able to have a dabble at everything as far as I'm concerned. A player can be disciplined without being negative. Scott Parker may get told every week to "keep it simple" but there are as many options for simple passes forwards as there are sideways.

Alan Hansen completely ripped into Joe Allen earlier in the season because he was passing sideways and backwards as a reflex rather than passing forwards to someone in 20 yards of space. He was 100% correct.

York good points on when Livermore has played. He did get quite a few good chances during that period though and actually went down in my estimation. The best thing for him, and us, would have been a prem loan - he is worth giving at least one more chance but not when there are better players ahead of him - 'get out on loan, improve and prove you can cut it'.

Indeed bring back Harry and he'll be on an upward trend again or sell him to QPR..