Abdi is the lynchpin, a key player but hopefully his replacement(s) can get us through one game. Against Blackpool Hogg & Yeates did well initially in place of AA/NC but faded as the game went on and our creativity dropped off. But two glaring misses, two stonewall penalties denied and two pieces of awful defending also contributed to that defeat so the blame isn't on them.
Well we will find out again tomorrow as he won't be playing. Hopefully back after the internationals. I'd say it's a toss up between him and a fully firing Vydra. Yes, we have plenty of other goal scoring options but when we had that really great run, when we were romping matches as opposed to scraping home 2-1 etc, Vydra was regularly getting 2 goals a match.
More of the fact we need 2 out of the 3 Battochio, Chalbolah and Abdi. Against Blackpool two were missing but if only one is missing I don't think it's that much of a problem.
If we keep 2 of our 3 main Mids, then we'll be OK. When it goes down to 1 (or none, heaven forbid) then things go a awry in a hurry.
Almen Abdi Compilation Video [video=youtube;kyjwGcfAI-s]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kyjwGcfAI-s[/video] Thought I would post it.
Good song choices as well with some brilliant goals. If we don't go up we're definitely not getting him back. Made me think, we've 2/3 chants for him. What the hell is up with that? We definitely need to decide which chant is going to be his
I noticed he scored in both games vs Birmingham, Palace and Charlton, he also scored vs Leicester at home so hopefully he makes it a 4th double on Friday.
I'd go as far to say he's the best player we've had in the last 10 years, if not longer. In fact definitely longer, quite a bit longer. Watching his goals on youtube he's unbelievable, never quite seen someone so pinpoint with anything in my life. Irrelevant thread but I couldn't keep it to myself.
He's still a bit of a legend at FC Zurich after his successful time there, judging by their forums. Had a fantastic season for them in 2008/09: [video=youtube;jkJqgzHI75A]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jkJqgzHI75A[/video] Absolute class player, first name I'd put on the teamsheet. Way too good for this league.
Udinese must have some top quality midfielders if they don't "want/need" him! Very calm and composed.
It's more Udinese's style of play. Less of a possession side, more a counter side. I know we counter often too, but less so relying on the midfielders to have pace and more defensive. Udinese's switch to 3-4-2-1 would suit Abdi more now though, but he's ours now.
I loved Neilson to bits, and I still do, but Abdi is in another class entirely. I think he's the second best player we've ever had, after Digger.
