by andy_g » Thu Sep 22, 2005 5:10 pm
many people's idea of a good wide midfielder are now based on the likes of robben, duff, swp, christian ronaldo etc. these are flair players who can go past someone and prance about about with some fancy trickery, get a shot in or deliver a killer cross. but there are only a very few special players like this and i consider all the above to be special players.
riise on the other hand is in an entirely different category and if i was offered a swap - him for one of the above - i would bite your hand off. but don't get me wrong, i think riise is an excellent player and last season was one of our best performers. he has the fiercest shot i've seen since a long time ago and is a decent crosser of the ball, though i'd love it if he could get behind the defence a bit more often.
it seems that he's now a man caught between two positions. rafa obviously doesn't see him as our natural left winger or even as our first choice left back and he's reduced to a bit part role. to me its already having an impact on his confidence and he's not currently playing at the level we know he can.

Get up! everybody's gonna move their feet
Get Down! everybody's gonna leave their seat