The facts show that we keep more clean sheets with Williams and Baker in the team than Taylor. Taylor is obviously behind them (and Kalas and Benkovic now) in the pecking order so why would we be starting him ahead of them. He will continue to improve his game by playing regular for Blackpool
Not sure about this one tbh. Would Moore get the nod ahead of DaSilva or Rowe? Probably not. I don’t think LJ doesn’t rate him - after all, Pato went out on loan and has been playing (and contributing well) since his return. If we’ve done our business properly then there will be a recall clause in the loan so we can get him back to cover if one of the current first choice defenders gets crocked. Better he has dirt team games - even in a lower division - and we wouldn’t want him going to help a championship rival at this stage of the season.
There will be no recall clause as you cant recall players these days outside the transfer window. Not sure what DaSilva and Rowe has to do with Taylor either seeing they are both left backs
Fair point! I knew that about DaSilva and Rowe but it’s Moore’s position I got confused about - note to self: read up on and learn my own team players positions I didn’t realise about the loan rules either - I thought you could recall whenever you wanted if it was in the contract.
Defence is not just about the back 4 , we are keeping clean sheets at the moment because we are more compact and defending as a team. Our improvemo defensively has coincided with the return of Smith, before his return our midfield offered little or no protection to our back four. That’s why I believe smiths return has more to do with our defence recently and not the non inclusion of Moore.
you can improve the defence by having a serious attack! Whilst the snippets of the QPR game were just that ...snippets … again we "were lucky" that an attemted shot / clearance didn't make it into the net! The brief shots of the last 10 mins showed no one really up field again to encourage their defence to stay back …. Wigan on the other hand kept players out and the odd clearance nearly resulted it in being 2-0! once we stop this parking the bus in our penalty area for the last 10 mins or so we will likely score an additional goal or 2 … it is so tight at the top [12 teams ] GD is LIKELY TO MATTER. what a shame if we score the 6th highest number of points and finish 7th …………….. or 8th!
I prefer him to Baker, I get it we are looking for experience now for the final push , but unless he was injured I wouldn’t have dropped him to put Baker in no, I think he did well enough when in the team to keep his place. I guess what I’m saying is if I was Moore I’d be looking elsewhere, as I don’t think LJ has faith in him .
My point is it’s about the team defending better as a team , not just about the back 4, earlier in the season with Nagy and Massengo the back 4 were terribly exposed , so not their fault we conceded loads .
It’s also simplistic to say because our record is better defensively with Williams and Baker therefore they are a better pairing , as I explained earlier defence is purely about the back 4, or defenders alone.
Sorry can't see any reasoning behind Moore being better currently than Baker of for LJ not having faith in Moore. At the end of the day he can only play 11 players and I believe that you would be a minority suggesting Moore should be in that current 11
I personally think that LJ has done the right thing to get this young man more game time, think if he didn't go out on loan he would have kept the bench warm, the position the club finds itself in I think you need all the experience you can get for the run in, young Moore may be back, but if we reach our goal you will see him no more in a city shirt.
Possibly in the minority I don’t know, I don’t really care either , and that isn’t what I said , I said he played well enough when given a chance and shouldn’t have been dropped for Baker, if it was injury driven that’s different and Baker has done well enough since coming back to keep the shirt, but I do believe LJ used him as a scapegoat, as you said I may well be in a minority, I don’t know, but it’s my opinion.
it is a very difficult time at the present, we do so well with our younger players we get a surplus of talent and it can pay off ……. however sometimes you have to be careful, to think along the lines of ...we are close to getting a chance .. play the youngsters and hope they cope … don't make to many mistakes or go for experience and a steadier approach .. although in the time Nahki was on yesterday he pretty much doubled the number of our fouls .. luckily the ref was not a an avid name collector none were booked, on another day there could easily have been a few yellow … and maybe even a red …! taylor moore will likely do well and come back stronger ………. however Matty T seems to gone off the boil .. not in the team … so not scoring .. he is likely to be moved on. MAYBE FOR FREE or a small fee ….
We did get a free agent in to replace him, it just took a few weeks to sort out Ash Williams' deal. LJ was constantly taking Taylor off when we played 3 CBs. Most times I felt he had arguably been the best of the three. Which is why I think he had already decided TM isn't currently good enough. I just felt, given his performance level, that was him having made up his mind regardless of what we were seeing on the pitch.
He's taken Massengo off 4 times in his last 5 starts. I guess he's on his way as well. I'm not seeing Moore as being better than Williams Baker and Kalas. He could well be in the future but at the moment those players are more reliable and I trust them more than Taylor as it seems LJ does. Doesn't mean that I don't rate him and pretty sure LJ sees a future at City for him as well. He's only 22 he's got loads to learn and he will do that by playing regular football, which he wont get with us at present.
Matty Taylor is out of contract in the summer, so there won’t be any fee when he moves on in the summer.
