please log in to view this image 1-1 Alli (Aurier assist) 2-1 Son (Alli assist) 3-1 Son (Eriksen assist) 4-1 Aurier please log in to view this image
This argument is illogical. We have no way of knowing what the outcome would've been had say Lamela, KWP and Moura started. Maybe we would've lost, maybe we would've won. We'll never know so our goals and assists have not been 'gotten rid of'. What concerns me as well as the rest of the pessimist cohort on here is the growing number of players who seem to serve no purpose other than allowing other players to have a bit of a rest. Aurier, Winks, Sissoko, Llorente, Rose; they bring so little to the table other than filling a spot in the starting xi. The gap between the first team and back ups has somehow grown this season, even though many of the first teamers have blown hot and cold throughout. We don't have the same swagger as last year and I personally feel it's because every single game we're carrying at least 2 passengers.
Some interesting chat on FBs, my two pence on them: Aurier - been poor since joining, despite being new to the Prem, I can't deny I expected more from someone of his pedigree. Still plenty of time to improve but he needs a massive improvement. Tripps - A "Mr Reliable" for me. Doesn't get half as much credit as he deserves. Performed well in wins against Real, Pool, Utd and Arsenal yet for some reason people still get concerned about him in big matches. Having him here has cooled the need for Serge to be an instant hit. Walker - Terrible before Poch. Excellent under Poch (but did suffer dips in form as well as mistakes). Was always going to weaken us temporarily when we sold him. £50m was amazing business for a FB even in an inflated market. Has made mistakes for City - Sent off on home debut and cost them their place in FA Cup - so let's not pretend he's perfect. Rose - Terrible before Poch. Excellent under Poch (suffered less dips in form as Kyle). However, feels like karma has bit him hard this season after bigging himself up and talking about Googling new signings. He's now Davies' back up and we'd need to YouTube him to remember how good he can be. Looks a shadow of his former self. Won't get 50p for him let alone £50m if he wants out in the summer. Davies - Turn in fortune couldn't have happened to a better pro. From being an excellent back up to the best performing LB in the Prem. Always been defensively sound but attacking game has improved ten fold. Up there with Sonny, Kane and Jan as our POTS contender.
People seem to be forgetting Kyle's breakthrough season under Harry when he became the first defender in yonks to win YPOTY. It was abundantly clear from day 1 that he was outrageously talented and just needed the right coaching to stay focused and improve his judgement. Aurier and Trippier to date haven't shown a level of performance equal to Walker when he was 20 years old and that is cause for concern.
In Aurier's defence ( which is arguably better than his defending lol) he seems to have become a popular member of the squad. Give him a while longer
I thought he was excellent. That pass through to Son when he nearly got his hattrick was inch perfect. If Eriksen had made that pass everyone would be saying that only an excellent passer like Eriksen could do such a thing.
a) you seem to be forgetting how poor walker was in the 2 or 3 seasons before Pochettino arrived. b) imho Trippier is being held out as an issue when the real issue was a player (Walker) was turned into the best English in his position and then was tapped up by the richest club in the country and 6 weeks before the season ended and 2 weeks before the fa cup semi final the **** wit threw his toys out of the pram and demanded a move. Walker was a better player than Trippier in hi last 2 seasons at Spurs but one showed no loyalty and I wish we'd stop comparing our players to the greedy twat.
I wish we could too but at the end of the day loyalty doesn't make a player quicker, stronger, taller or more skillful. Just look at Nasri
I was at Newport a few weeks ago and witnessed Trippier put in one of the poorest FB displays since the days of Dean Austin. Ok, none of our players was worth more than 50p that afternoon, but it doesn't change the fact he was abysmal. I have just got back from today's game and yet again, I have witnessed a poor performance from another RB in Aurier. The guy is a liability and however much you guys want to slag off Walker, the fact is neither Trippier or Aurier are nowhere near his level.
Disagree. I think you're holding Walker in too high esteem to the point where you disregard anything good that Trippier does/ has done. You say Trippier hasn't matched what Walker done that season yet how would you determine that? With statistics or performances? Performance-wise, no one expected anything of Kyle back then, we didn't know what he could do, nor did the opposition, as a young player he had the advantage of being an unknown quantity and use the element of surprise. This likely allowed him to excel beyond our expectations because quite frankly we had none. That's not to say he didn't have a blinding season but it's also difficult to judge against. The following seasons he was noticeably worse than his debut campaign. This season, Trippier has excelled against some of the best clubs in England and also the best side in Europe but as I said in my previous post, that seems to get forgotten. Statistically, in that breakthrough season he played 47 times in total, scoring 2 and assisting 2. In Trippier's first season with us, he played in just 19 games, scoring 1 and assisting 3. In 22 games last season Tripps managed 7 assists. This season he's currently played 22 games and assisted 8. Kyle's best season statically saw him register 6 assists. So, in an era where we heavily rely a lot on our FBs to provide ammunition, Trippier has actually bettered anything Walker done for us. Ultimately, I appreciate stats don't tell the whole story and Walker is certainly a superior player in general, no denying that but to suggest that Tripps hasn't shown a level of performance to Kyle in his 20s is disrespectful to a player who's really not done much wrong for this club and who's had some excellent games in the chances he's been given.
It's a catch 22 though DH. We can't keep harping on about the fact that Kyle was rubbish until Poch took him under his wing but at the same time disregard the fact that Trippier is in his 3rd season under the same 'full back wundercoach' yet is still regularly putting in seriously meh performances where he gets caught out of position and everything is backwards and sideways. True, he has had 6 or so games this season where he has looked phenomenal - and most of those were against top quality opposition. But the other 20 have either been average or abysmal. So which is it? Is Poch really such a good FB coach or is Kyle simply a much, much better player than Trips? The fact that City swooped for one and ignored the other more or less answers that question. The fact that we went and signed Aurier answers it again. Kyle's departure and Rose's demise have knocked us for six. Thank goodness for Davies or we'd be up **** creek most games.
It's not a case of wanting to sla off Walker...he was our past... I am interested in backing our current players. Constant comparisons to a very good player who was also a disloyal money grabber does no one any good. Walker made it impossible for us to keep him. We have tried to replace him and have not yet done so but for me the constant harking back to the money grabbing twat is becoming increasingly pointless...no one compared our CBs to Judas after he left although most were not anywhere near as good as him on the pitch.
I think the team is in a better place than previously when Harry was injured and we have the ability to score goals without him. Recently , I have noticed that we play alot in order to feed Harry the ball and in his absence we would look for the replacement striker who wasn't up to it. Now , we have enough attacking midfielders that can score as witnessed today after Harry went off. I'd even play Dele as a striker . Son should not be the striker as he is not strong enough to hold the ball up. He should continue to be one of the three AMs.
In an ideal world KW would have wanted to have stayed a while longer, but he wanted out. So we're left looking for an immediate replacement - which don't come cheap and I would suggest more than the £23m we paid for Aurier. So do we jettison Kyle's replacement/s and spend more ££m or give the guys a few months to settle? In the absence of any guarantees from the first option, I guess it's the second...... For now!
The constant comparisons are not coming from me. I am merely adding my thoughts to this current debate. That said, these constant comparisons will probably continue whilst ou FB's continue to give inconsistent performances.
