I think Hojbjerg's problem started when he realised that late last year that the defence was a basket case and since then he is trying to be every where hence why his game as gone down the pan , manager/coaches once again should sort this out months ago
Mentioned this the other day. His one saving grace was always his energy and effort but they have completely evaporated over the past few months.
There are so many issues for this team that it's hard to see the wood for the trees. I'm pretty certain that the defence looks worse because we're undermanned in midfield and don't have a defensive midfielder....and the midfield is compromised by having a calamitous defence behind it. It's a ****ing mess and there have been alternatives, finally seen last night. As Alfie says, it's the manager or coach's job to address this...and I don't mean by berating players and damaging whatever confidence they may have left.
Sissoko is better than Winks though, he actually has/ had something to offer us with his engine. Winks has never offered anything. As for Winks being an England international, see Wilshire, Lingard etc
International football suits players like Winks as the pace of games tends to be much slower and opposition teams set up to avoid defeat rather than win. There is also something to be said about the English footballing culture that has bizarrely always valued workhorses over actual talent, unlike countries who actually win stuff. There have been plenty of players who have shone at international level without doing all that much at club level. Peter Crouch and John Heitinga spring to mind. And that big bald Czech bloke. Can't remember his name...something Koller.
Being good at international football is actually not a barometer of being good at club level. The international game is often played at a much lower intensity and frequently against players who are not as good the majority that play week in week out in the premier. Winks is a good player in matches where there is not much pressure on the ball, he was often good in the champions league group stage matches and and has played well for England. Darren Anderton is a very good example of a player who was just an above average top flight player who was an exceptional player on the international stage and John Barnes was the best player in the league but very rarely showed up in an England shirt.
International football isn’t as good as club football which is why lesser players can look good and why Winks looks better for England. Put some respect on Crouch’s name though. The man scored some massive goals at club level.
When winks came into the first team in 2016/17 he was very promising. He struggled for a long while after injury and tbh I thought too much was expected too soon but I also think he was treated badly by senior players such as Trippier (I remember him screwing up v United and or wolves and turning to scream at winks ). I was happy to defend him and to give him time but the truth is that he has not fulfilled his potential. I thought he was overly criticised compared to Dier, Alderweireld, Rose, Dele, Sanchez etc. over the past 2 or 3 years but do not think he is someone who can do a job for us. That's why I think he should be sold.
Jan Koller won the Bundesliga and scored 79 goals in 182 games for Dortmund. He also won the Belgian league twice back-to-back with Anderlecht, scoring 64 in 102 for them. Not exactly ****. I wouldn't say Crouch was, either.
Lol. Well he's clearly not the big bald bloke I was thinking of. Didn't Poland have a big bald bloke who was excellent at intl level? And yes I agree that Crouch scored at club level at a decent clip but his record for England was just ridiculous.
We all agreed that we wanted Ledley king in the coaching team but can we see any of his magic rubbing off on the defence , hard today it but has he been a flop
I thought Crouch was a better player with the ball at his feet which considering his height he was not great in the air but that did not stop clubs hoofing the ball up to him in desperation ours included
Same thing always happened with me, because I'm 6'3" people assume I must be great at heading, as opposed to Mark Hughes with Lamela levels of ****ehousery
I didn’t. Ledley had never shown any enthusiasm for getting involved on the coaching side. His supposed involvement with the youths never really took off. He much preferred his cushty ambassadorial role and eventually Levy decided if he was going to remain on the payroll then he was going to have to do more to justify it. His current position is a Levy choice, not a José one. He is not a natural communicator and is socially uncomfortable which is not ideal for a coach at an elite football club.
That's true but I'm not sure that it is good. Tackles are a very risky way to get the ball back. Especially if you commit about the same number of fouls as tackles. This is one reason I think fans overrate Hojbjerg...they like to see a good tackle and don't mind the fouls. But the net effect is poor. Man City are always in the bottom half on tackles and we were also lower down when we were playing bettet.
City have a habit of fouling in the opposition half , preventing breakaways or is that my Imagination, better defend a free kick from the opposition half than outside your own box
Man City don't tackle that much because they keep the ball most of the time and then immediately foul when they lose it. We're not Man City and we don't have infinite money to spend on the squad. We need players that can tackle. When we were playing well he was also leading in stats like interceptions and ball recoveries, while making plenty of clearances. This is one example:
