Danny Drinkwater

[wattolcfc]

8 hours ago, dylanlegend said:

And also... Southgate needs his head checking if he thinks Livermore is a better CM than Drinky 

If you watched Drinky last season, he was bang average. I didn't watch Livermore play so I can't comment on him but if I was manager I wouldn't have had Drinky anywhere near the England squad.

[dylanlegend]

22 minutes ago, wattolcfc said:

If you watched Drinky last season, he was bang average. I didn't watch Livermore play so I can't comment on him but if I was manager I wouldn't have had Drinky anywhere near the England squad.

Don't know if you've watched England lately, but the only players we weren't bang average last season were the Spurs lot 

[lgfualol]

Hasn't Drinkwater pulled out or declined call-ups for the last few internationals because of injury? Or probably doesn't fancy England anymore - after being snubbed for Jack Wiltshire at the Euros.

[Bert]

13 hours ago, Col city fan said:

Classic Bert

Eh up here's Col the troll. 

 

Drinkwater controls games much more than Lennon ever did for us. Also has a premier league winners medal. And not a Scottish one. 

 

Tell me why Lennon was better?

[Col city fan]

4 minutes ago, Bert said:

Eh up here's Col the troll. 

 

Drinkwater controls games much more than Lennon ever did for us. Also has a premier league winners medal. And not a Scottish one. 

 

Tell me why Lennon was better?

Quite simply, the fact that Drinkwater has a Premier League medal was because he was superb BUT was playing alongside an enigma...a freak of footballing nature. No Kante, no Prem win. I think it would be massively difficult to argue otherwise.

Lennon was the shield between our defence and our attack minded players, under O'Neill. He was exceptional at doing this. He was the midfield energy that enabled the likes of Muzzy to be able to get forward and score goals. Lennon was a leader among men and without Lennon, we would not have done what we did under O'Neill. 

Drinkwater is a good player. No doubt. He has off seasons too, like last term. Lennon though was exceptional. 

Why do you have to call someone a troll because they don't agree with you? Not only is it childish, but you're a mod aren't you?

[AKCJ]

3 minutes ago, Col city fan said:

Quite simply, the fact that Drinkwater has a Premier League medal was because he was superb BUT was playing alongside an enigma...a freak of footballing nature. No Kante, no Prem win. I think it would be massively difficult to argue otherwise.

Lennon was the shield between our defence and our attack minded players, under O'Neill. He was exceptional at doing this. He was the midfield energy that enabled the likes of Muzzy to be able to get forward and score goals. Lennon was a leader among men and without Lennon, we would not have done what we did under O'Neill. 

Drinkwater is a good player. No doubt. He has off seasons too, like last term. Lennon though was exceptional. 

Why do you have to call someone a troll because they don't agree with you? Not only is it childish, but you're a mod aren't you?

If you're going down that route then I'd say that our success under MON was more down to Izzet than Lennon.

[Babylon]

You'll never know how much it pains me to agree with Col, but when it comes down to pick one of the two it would have to be Lennon every time.  But then I think they are different players anyway. With respect to Bert, you were only between the ages of 9 and 12 when Lennon was here and at his peak.

[Thracian]

Combative, busy, committed, there's a whole stream of complimentary adjectives to describe Drinkwater as a footballer but I've never been totally sold on his ability and have been increasingly disappointed since he seems to have been fighting some sort of injury.

 

He's long been a fans favourite which inevitably means they overlook or simply refuse to notice any failings. But our title success saw him to his peak and, while even then, he lacked some strengths of an all-round brilliant midfielder, he's not even been on top of his on best game since.

 

Most disappointing is that he's never learned to score goals despite having what seems to be perfectly adequate technique. If they filled in the goal and allowed you to score by shooting high or wide he wouldn't have been so bad but it's a flaw he recognises because he hardly ever shoots at all and when he does it's rarely with conviction or success.

 

His passing is okay some of the time but he really isn't an artistic pass-master, either short or long ,and neither does he pass the ball especially quickly or accurately any more, particularly last season.

 

Where he shines is industrially. He gets involves and harries people. He's a pretty strong combatant who demands the ball and constantly makes himself available. But lots of midfielders do that.

 

To call him one of the best we've ever had must surely come from a modern fan. He's one of the best of a type I might concede. But, in terms of being creative, or a supplementary goal threat, he's ordinary, and doesn't seem to be improving that way, I'm truly sad to say.

 

Davie Gibson could do things with a ball Drinky could only dream of and he did so on a weekly basis, adding a reasonable number of goals in the process and a whole lot of assists with passes so deft his team-mate (so often Mike Stringfellow) could have received the final pass with his eyes shut and still scored, Gibbo was so precise.

 

Lennon was a different type of midfielder to both Gibbo and Drinkwater but I agree with Col in that he acted as a shield, an outlet, and allowed others to flourish without concern.

 

He was the definition of a midfield fulcrum who somehow found time and space for himself and for others as well because he sat-back dictating terms rather than remaining energetically involved like Drinkwater and perhaps inhibiting some of the players around him. 

 

Lennon brought the best out of everyone even when I last saw him play for a Forest Reserves team which destroyed Leicester Reserves with Lennon hardly moving from deep central midfield but freely bringing all his colleagues into play with his incisive one and two-touch plays.                                     

 

 

[Bert]

Just now, Babylon said:

You'll never know how much it pains me to agree with Col, but when it comes down to pick one of the two it would have to be Lennon every time.  But then I think they are different players anyway. With respect to Bert, you were only between the ages of 9 and 12 when Lennon was here and at his peak.

What's that got to do with anything? You'll be very surprised at my memory of games and what players did. For me they're the most comparable from today to the O'Neill era. 

8 minutes ago, Col city fan said:

Quite simply, the fact that Drinkwater has a Premier League medal was because he was superb BUT was playing alongside an enigma...a freak of footballing nature. No Kante, no Prem win. I think it would be massively difficult to argue otherwise.

Lennon was the shield between our defence and our attack minded players, under O'Neill. He was exceptional at doing this. He was the midfield energy that enabled the likes of Muzzy to be able to get forward and score goals. Lennon was a leader among men and without Lennon, we would not have done what we did under O'Neill. 

Drinkwater is a good player. No doubt. He has off seasons too, like last term. Lennon though was exceptional. 

Why do you have to call someone a troll because they don't agree with you? Not only is it childish, but you're a mod aren't you?

Because you are a troll, that's why. Lennon was also playing next to an enigma in Muzzy Izzet. What we did under O'Neill was amazing but what we did under Ranieri was even better. We probably wouldn't have won the prem without Kante, but we wouldn't have won it without Drinkwatwr either. 

[Babylon]

5 minutes ago, Bert said:

What's that got to do with anything? You'll be very surprised at my memory of games and what players did. For me they're the most comparable from today to the O'Neill era.

Because what you knew, understood and appreciated about football would be absolutely nothing like it is today. Just as is would be for me and everyone else compared to when we were 9. At that age you're still learning to read, write, you aren't going to appreciate or understand fully the game.

 

Lennon performed consistently for three years at a top level, Drinkwater has had two iffy and one good season.

[norwichfox]

17 minutes ago, Thracian said:

Davie Gibson could do things with a ball Drinky could only dream of and he did so on a weekly basis, adding a reasonable number of goals in the process and a whole lot of assists with passes so deft his team-mate (so often Mike Stringfellow) could have received the final pass with his eyes shut and still scored, Gibbo was so precise.                               

 

 

Happy memories for me

[Col city fan]

To try to get back to some semblance of reality, comparing Drinkwater and Lennon is not needed anyway is It?

Lennon was your archetypal DM. He sat and covered and rarely ventured forward. Drinkwater is box to box.

Completely different types of players.

[foxes21]

11 hours ago, dylanlegend said:

And also... Southgate needs his head checking if he thinks Livermore is a better CM than Drinky 

Drinkwater made himself unavailable for every England game last year mate, because of his injury.

I'm sure Drinkwater would have been selected instead of Livermore.

[coolhandfox]

On 03/07/2017 at 10:52, Bert said:

Eh up here's Col the troll. 

 

Drinkwater controls games much more than Lennon ever did for us. Also has a premier league winners medal. And not a Scottish one. 

 

Tell me why Lennon was better?

 

Lennon and Izzet would walk into this LCFC side, Danny has had one very good PL season, one average and one he couldn't get in the side.

 

Lennon was class in the PL for 3 seasons and hit the same level every year. 

 

However, it's hard to compare era's I would also compare Lennon role to that of Kante's, Drinky role more with Izzets. 

 

 

 

[Jimmy]

if we had Muzzy Izzet here now he would be the main man in our midfield he did everything people say Drinkwater does but he also scored goals, he'd also be a nailed on England player, assuming he wouldn't have still chosen to play for Turkey

[Bert]

1 minute ago, Jimmy said:

if we had Muzzy Izzet here now he would be the main man in our midfield he did everything people say Drinkwater does but he also scored goals, he'd also be a nailed on England player, assuming he wouldn't have still chosen to play for Turkey

Only played for Turkey because he wasn't getting a sniff for England. 

[Jimmy]

Just now, Bert said:

Only played for Turkey because he wasn't getting a sniff for England. 

that's what I thought but wasn't sure 

[4ever and ever]

On 7/1/2017 at 08:17, Unclenobhead said:

Just reading back on some old threads with the benefit of hindsight it's quite funny. 

 

How much do you regret this one now? ?

Hahaha, thats a good one. You have completely done me here! Hold my hands up. TBF Drinkwater progressed incredibly well in 18 months since then far more than I can imagine anyone expected. I still believe James has the potential to be a better all round midfielder though. Excited to have him back this season. Just hope the injury hasn't hurt him too much. 

[Leeds Fox]

On 04/07/2017 at 13:26, coolhandfox said:

 

Lennon and Izzet would walk into this LCFC side, Danny has had one very good PL season, one average and one he couldn't get in the side.

 

Lennon was class in the PL for 3 seasons and hit the same level every year. 

 

However, it's hard to compare era's I would also compare Lennon role to that of Kante's, Drinky role more with Izzets. 

 

 

 

 

They wouldn't have walked into the side from the title winning season would they. Izzet, maybe for Drinkwater. Lennon no chance. Kante and Drinkwater complimented each other perfectly and I don't think either could've been taken out of that side. 

[Stadt]

When he's fit and confident he's a brilliant midfielder player, carries the ball well and is good passer. Pearson once said that "he's a complex character" so when he's on form he's our best player but too often he goes through prolonged poor spells which I think are often entirely down to himself. 

 

He's been an amazing signing - Vardy and Mahrez have been praised as outstanding value for money but Drinky only cost £1m IIRC.

[the fox]

On 03/07/2017 at 11:30, Col city fan said:

To try to get back to some semblance of reality, comparing Drinkwater and Lennon is not needed anyway is It?

Lennon was your archetypal DM. He sat and covered and rarely ventured forward. Drinkwater is box to box.

Completely different types of players.

You lost me there, col. Drinky isn't a box to box, not at all. He doesn't carry the ball up field and he usually sits in the same line as the DM (or at least most of the time.)

 

For me, I don't like the drinky type CM's (we have the same exact problem with my national team and it drives me crazy). In a two man midfield, you are even a anchor or a box to box (see spurs as an example of a successful two man mid, its a joy to watch really) or you can have kantè

 

Like I said before, one of the reasons shinji is playing is/was the lack of a box to box which left the space between the midfield and attack exposed, the team is actually sacrificing end-product because of drinky's inability to push forward.

34 minutes ago, Leeds Fox said:

 

They wouldn't have walked into the side from the title winning season would they. Izzet, maybe for Drinkwater. Lennon no chance. Kante and Drinkwater complimented each other perfectly and I don't think either could've been taken out of that side. .. Any decent CM can make a great midfield partnership

I had my disagreement with people over kantè (mostly because they think he is the best player in the league). But WOW! Kantè is really one on a kind. I made the mistake of watching some kantè highlight video in a Leicester shirt and remembered how truly one of a kind he is. The way he intercepted the ball and pushed it forward is magnificent, I know people (me included) are tired of hearing the "kantè is like two players playing on the same time" but for Leicester, he truly was. He was the DM and the box to box. Not taking anything away from drinky, but playing along side kantè makes the life of a CM so much easier

[Blue ROI]

2 minutes ago, Wookie said:

When he's fit and confident he's a brilliant midfielder player, carries the ball well and is good passer. Pearson once said that "he's a complex character" so when he's on form he's our best player but too often he goes through prolonged poor spells which I think are often entirely down to himself. 

 

He's been an amazing signing - Vardy and Mahrez have been praised as outstanding value for money but Drinky only cost £1m IIRC.

Vardy said he gives out more than anyone else in the dressing room so if he has his ups and downs thats surely a big factor!

 

I was disappointed with him in the 2017 calendar year but he was one of the few who played very well for the opening 3 months of last season. I hope he was injured because he could still play a big role for us. Hes still only 27 and if he could gel with N'Didi we could have a serious pairing.

 

 

[coolhandfox]

56 minutes ago, Leeds Fox said:

 

They wouldn't have walked into the side from the title winning season would they. Izzet, maybe for Drinkwater. Lennon no chance. Kante and Drinkwater complimented each other perfectly and I don't think either could've been taken out of that side. 

I said this LCFC side, last time I looked Kante played for Chelsea, however I still believe Izzet is a better player then Drinky, who had one very good season at PL level, one average one and one he couldn't get in the side.

 

Sorry but Izzet is the best attacking midfielder I've seen player for LCFC in the 25 years I've been a regular.

 

You can't really compare Kante and Izzet. As an Athlete, ball recovery, tackler, defensive midfielder Kante is unbelievable and superb but he couldn't do what Izzet did in the final third. I would have them both in my best 11 from all the LCFC teams I've seen. They would be a match for any midfield pairing.

 

Kante>Lennon I would agree with, but Lennon was a superb player.

 

 

[Leeds Fox]

4 hours ago, coolhandfox said:

I said this LCFC side, last time I looked Kante played for Chelsea, however I still believe Izzet is a better player then Drinky, who had one very good season at PL level, one average one and one he couldn't get in the side.

 

Sorry but Izzet is the best attacking midfielder I've seen player for LCFC in the 25 years I've been a regular.

 

Kante>Lennon I would agree with, but Lennon was a superb player.

 

It wasn't clear but I agree completely with you on 'this' LCFC side. No doubts at all. I got dragged into the 15/16 team debate that was going on further back in the thread and replied to that as whole in a response to your comment. 

 

Two great sides for City in two different PL eras. It's being a pleasure to witness them both.

[coolhandfox]

On 05/07/2017 at 16:20, Bert said:

Only played for Turkey because he wasn't getting a sniff for England. 

 

Your telling me Drinkwater would have got in front of Scholes, Gerard and Lampard in their prime? 

 

England had a lot more talent in that era in the centre of the park.