Tactic talk: Does wing play really matter?

To me there is no better sight than seeing a winger burn up the wing, get to the byline, and put a pinpoint cross into the box.

Possibly the best two players I've seen capable of this in a black and white shirt both happened to be playing for Newcastle at the same time - David Ginola and Keith Gillespie. Granted Ginola had more strings to his bow and could do more than just beat his man and cross, but for Gillespie that was his forte. The pair of them set up endless goals for the likes of Alan Shearer and Les Ferdinand directly as a result of their wing play.

Times move on though and things change. Not only has the personnel changed, but football has changed. Is there still a place for a conventional winger like a Keith Gillespie in the modern day game? Or must they have more strings to their bow like a David Ginola to succeed and thrive in the modern day Premier League?

It's fair to say that a lot of people want to see our wings strengthened. Rumours of Charles N'Zogbia and a return to Newcastle continue to circulate, along with fresh names like Tranquillo Barnetta in the last article, and you can tell by the reactions that there is an urgency to see our flanks improved.

Now I'm going to be a bit radical here and suggest that there is no place for a player of the likes of Keith Gillespie these days, unless you have a pair of strikers who can take advantage of the service of course. It's unlikely we'll find those strikers over the summer, so for the good of NUFC I'm going to suggest that our wing play, in terms of crossing at least, isn't really that important.

That is not to say that we should completely ignore it, but in my opinion we need wingers who are more than just wingers if we are to see some success coming from our wings next season. We don't really have a need for someone who can get to the byline and whip a ball in. If they can do that then great, but for me we need wingers with that little bit extra, with Charles N'Zogbia or someone of that ilk fitting the bill nicely.

What we need are players who can cut in and do something different. N'Zogbia is one of those, as is Hatem Ben Arfa although it's been said that he is our new playmaker in the hole. Look back at some videos of Hatem Ben Arfa at his previous clubs and you will see that most of his damage is done when he cuts in from the right, not from him putting balls into the box. That is the kind of thing I mean.

It adds more value to the team in my opinion, and with so many teams like Wolves, Blackburn and Stoke, who will just eat up crosses all day, in the Premier League these days it's my opinion that you need to have a different angle of attack. If you have two wingers who can cut in effectively then you can almost have four strikers on the pitch in certain phases of attack as the two wingers occupy more defenders allowing more room for others to attack. Simple really.

So that's my two-penneth on conventional wing play and why I don't think it's that important. Now let's have yours!