Murphy might be past his best

[CorkCity]

But we are still a better team with him in the side.

[bog]

Could not agree more. He is a deep thinker on the game and what he recently said about tackling was spot on. He is pushing for a place in my best ever X1, on the bench at the moment. Was really chuffed when we first signed him. Top man.   

[TonyGilroy]

He's the best playmaker we've had since Johnny Haynes and every time we play without him it it's clear how much we need him.

There are very few like him in the modern game.

[Oakeshott]

When a player is past his best is an interesting question. If we take Danny as an example, it must surely be the case that, physically, he does not have the same stamina or speed as he had say five years ago. But mentally he is probably a better player than then. As has been commented, he is obviously an intelligent man who thinks about the game and is therefore capable of learning from experience. Thus although he may be in decline in terms of stamina and speed, he may be at his peak, or even still only approaching it, mentally. In his role, the latter seems the more important to me.

I think Teddy Sheringham is another outfield example. His play became more nuanced, and in my view effective, as he got older. And the plethora of goalkeepers in their mid and late thirties in the Premiership, including of course Mark and our former keeper EVDS, is also relevant.

Obviously with all players the demands of the modern game are such that eventually relative lack of stamina, speed and agility compared with much younger players becomes too great. But I think we are some years away from that with Danny, and hopefully over this season and a couple more we will see the very best of him. I certainly agree with Tony that when he doesn't play we miss him.

[GoldCoastWhite]

Excellent points all gents, and I agree with the Sheringham comparison. Teddy never had much pace at the best of times but his positioning and anticipation made him a very effective player, even when he was ostensibly past it.

[FatFreddysCat]

When Danny plays well he is superb, but i think he has lots of poor games as well. I'd still prefer a younger player in there.

[CULTUREVULTURE]

Murphy was excellent yesterday. But as with any player you are only in the team until someone better comes along.

[ImperialWhite]

I'm afraid I disagree Fred. I think you'd struggle to point to a bad game for Murphy this season - he continues to be one of our most important players. He certainly has the best footballing brain of anyone out there; for that reason I doubt a younger player could better him at the moment. Players who run around all day are ten a penny, but a player like Murphy who can create and control are not. If you look at the stats, I'd wager that he has made the most passes of any player in our team, and probably with the highest average completion rate too. Just think, in one of the worst games in our season so far (West Brom away), and Murphy was noticably absent.

[HatterDon]

The thing is that even on his weaker days, his presence makes our entire XI stronger. I don't know how many more 90s he has left in him, but he's going to be a bitch to replace.