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Jose, Jose, Jose, Jose…Jose…Jose! Enrique lifts Toon award.

December 18th, 2009 | 98 Comments |

Strong...like bull?
Strong...like bull?
Not surprisingly, Jose “The Bull” Enrique, will collect the Newcastle United Player of the Month Award for November, when we face Boro on Sunday. And there’s hardly been a more derserving winner in a long while, despite the efforts of some of our more genuine ‘heroes’ of late.

Undeniably one of our better Spanish imports in recent years when compared to Marcelino and Xisco, Enrique has continued to progress since his arrival and quickly become a firm favourite amongst the fans. Despite some initial concerns about his weight (i.e. he was a little on the heavy side) and what that meant for his movement, and the fact that he has hearts in mouths at times at the back, he’s quickly become one of our most effective players. And this season he has improved ten-fold in terms of fitness and overall influence on games.

That fact is all the more impressive considering he’s doing it from left-back, and he combines defensive duties with the ability to get at the opposition from deep positions brilliantly. In fact, he’s arguably one of our better attackers, as he worries their defence as much as, if not more, than anybody in the team with the ball at his feet. Occasionally, he can try to be too clever in keeping the ball in tight areas, particularly in our third, but normally his ability, strength and pace get him out of trouble. (more…)