Because he did nothing first half except give the ball away in injury time and block it off the line. He was better in the second half but he is anonymous for large spells a lot of the time then he’ll drive forward with the ball and do something but people use that isolated incident to make out he bossed the game for the full 90 minutes. He played more minutes than anyone last year and works hard but a lot of the time he looks busy for the sake of looking busy like someone who sweeps the same spot at work for 6 hours straight. Him and Traoré were our worst performers in the first half. Coyle was having a rough time with their winger and is probably one of the limited players in terms of technical ability but he didn’t shy away from the game at all.
On twitter he’s getting an absolute bumming for his performance today. I’ve just never been totally convinced, think he gets away with being anonymous a lot because he runs around a lot. Others get pelters for that being the only thing they do (Allahyar, Longman) I know what he’s good at, in this current shape I think he doesn’t get to show it.
I'd need to watch it back but to me he it looked clear he was tasked with making sure KDH didnt run the show and for me he did that
For me he’s not doing anywhere near enough off the ball, Seri is doing more and his legs have supposedly gone.
Away from Slater. Full credit to Rosenior today thought he set up the team best he could and some outstanding performances from Greaves, Jones, Vinagre, Seri and Delap really brought it home. Best atmosphere the away end has had in a while as well
Like I said, he does a lot of running about and pointing that makes him look busy but he doesn’t ask or want the ball most of the time. Seri constantly wants the ball. He drops deep and makes space for himself all the time. It’s almost like he’s **** scared of receiving the ball so deep for fear of making a mistake exactly like the one at the end of the first half where Leicester almost scored and he blocked it off the line (called offside anyway). When he drives forward, he’s actually good and we see his strengths which are ball-carrying. I don’t think he’s suited to the deep midfield role alongside Seri at all. He’s not composed enough receiving the ball that close to his own goal so he avoids receiving the ball in those positions or gives it immediately to Seri.
Slater seems to get a free pass because he only cost £50k. If instead he’d cost £5M, the value of his contributions on the pitch this season would come under a lot more criticism (and rightly so) I actually don’t think it’s his fault. He’s been asked to play in a position that doesn’t play to his strengths. He is far more effective in more advanced roles further up the pitch however we have stronger players already in those positions.
Yeah I'm inclined to agree we are hamstringing him a bit. Like I say I think today he had a role of being the wrecker of their game plan and I think he was generally superb but it limited him going forward. In the grand scheme I would take that as it was clearly what we needed today. Feel like that result will be the wake up call for Leicester and they'll kick on now. Regarding Slater in an ideal world you'd have him as the engine in a 3 man midfield with a DM but to his credit he's sacrificing himself a lot for the benefit of the team and for that I'm generally delighted with him
Exactly. He’s a typical ball-carrying box-to-box midfielder who would be perfect in a 4-3-3 at this level but the way we play with two holding mids behind a #10 or false #9 (whatever you want to call it) doesn’t suit his strengths and abilities at all imo. We play out from the back in a possession-based style of football which requires two holding midfielders (one preferably a physical ball-winner) to be confident making space to receive the ball at the edge of their own penalty box in risky areas. Seri can do it but I don’t think Slater can. He’s at his best picking the ball up in the opponent’s half and driving towards their box because he’s actually a pretty decent dribbler and has good ball control. He’s also pretty good at quick one-two passes in the opponent’s half but he’s not confident doing it in his own which is why he avoids receiving the ball in his own half and when he does receive it in those positions, he makes the easiest and most cautious pass he can.
Next game is going to be interesting. Philogene likely to go straight into the team replacing Traore. Assuming Tufan is fit, does he get his place back or did Connolly do enough to keep his place up front? Rosie hinted that Morton wasn’t match fit to challenge Slater yet for a starting place but our bench won’t have space for two keepers next match.
Given he said Sinik wasn't match fit and he was on the bench today I suspect Morton would be on the bench. They'll probably get a behind closed doors game in over the break
Loads of clubs have two keepers on the bench this season. It’s very common. But obviously if you insist on losing your **** over something trivial then it’s ideal…
Can’t believe Rosenior is still copping some snide remarks after we’ve beaten top of the league away and gone 6th.
Anyone who criticises Slater after today needs to give their head a good shake. The whole team was fabulous - it was a tremendous performance, well worthy of the three points. Sadly, Hull City fans always like to pick someone out for criticism. Slater and Seri did excellently in midfield and I’m not surprised Baz Cooper gave them 8/10 each. Thought he got his scores too low overall (eg Delap who was my MotM and Vinagre - both worth at least 8s too).
I guess Slater doesn't show or get the ball aso much as it's clear the plan is to get Seri on the ball. As others have said, Slaters role is different. Like everyone he executed it pretty well today.
Slater excels against teams that sit deep and let us have 60% possession most of the game because he has the freedom to carry the ball forward and link up with the advanced players. Against teams like Leicester which play a high line and have a lot of possession, he goes into his shell and doesn’t show for the ball. When you play with two holding mids to pass out from the back, both need to be comfortable making space to receive the ball. Only Seri’s comfortable doing it with the opposition pressing him.
He literally stopped a goal (ish). Granted it was his mistake, but he showed the willingness to get back and cover. It was offside I think, but he didn’t know that.
just got home - took almost 90 minutes to get out of the car park and to the outskirts of Leicester / ****'ole - don't think any of the players deserve any **** after that - great team performance to a man - never thought we would get much today but they all fought for the cause and ran themselves into the ground and achieved a fantastic result - huge well done to Rosie and the team and fantastic support from the faithful - gives loads of confidence that a top 6 is not beyond our reach especially since we have all of yesterday's signings to come into the reckoning - Well done City!!!
I don’t think anyone is questioning his work-rate or determination. Certainly not me. I think his unwillingness to show for the ball and his tendency to be anonymous in that deep role against teams that play a high line is a valid criticism though. When he gets on the ball, we see how good he can be. The problem is, we don’t see it enough.
