I said that during the match. Weird. Not sure any of the really top sides need a player in that position, but still.
One observation is that CM does not seem to match or better the opposition in the 1st half. Against the usual suspects that could be fatal, but currently it may just be the opposition MF energy petering out during the 2nd half.
Thoroughly entertaining afternoons football that was, credit to Burnley for trying to play, certainly the most open game I can recall at Turf Moor since the days of Martin Dobson!! Strange thing is that we didn't play that well, we were good but nothing special. The attacking players getting lots of plaudits but Romero has had a very good start to the season a much better defender in a 4 than he is in a 5, understands his role so much better. Great to see Sonny score 3, I think he will be staying through the middle for a while now, as for Maddison I don't think that I appreciated just what a good player he is, he is a joy to watch and has been instrumental in our good start.
Said when Ange was appointed that Hojbjerg would be the biggest "big name" casualty. I don't think he's a bad player by any means but I think he's very bad for this system and style of football. I'd imagine part of his performance today was also partly down to not getting his move to Atleti and the realisation he's gonna be on the bench every week til January, having been ran into the ground every week for the last three years.
He was a liability today - and on Tuesday. The Fecker is a professional and gets paid a small fortune. The least we should expect is for him to not act like a spoilt teenager. The 'trip' he kept appealing for was frankly embarrassing - although to be fair the cameras missed the key part of the incident.
I think Romero's also aided by the fact he's not surrounded by Championship level players. Vicario is looking a considerable upgrade on a past it Lloris. Udogie is looking a massive upgrade on Davies/ Perisic. van de Ven is looking a massive upgrade on Dier/ Sanchez. Porro is still shaky as **** defensively mind . Though he is leagues above Emerson in terms of technical ability.
I think as TCM said, despite some superb clinical finishing, it wasn't our best performance but it was easily enough in the end to dispatch Burnley who in their credit never played for the draw like they'd always done in the Dyche era - but equally that's why teams hire Dyche, he's not pretty but generally effective. Sonny at CF was a huge upgrade on Richarlison, he's a player who can take half chances that the Brazilian almost always misses or sees saved and it's why the latter shouldn't be anywhere near our XI and arguably bench in my opinion. I also think Richarlison stifles everything in the middle, as RWAERB has said in the past, he's a black hole for possession. Maddison is the signing of the season so far though. MOTM - sorry Sonny! Thought Udogie was class too, seems to have absolutely everything, complete FB. Vicario made a huge save again, he's certainly proving a very good shot stopper. Happy for Solomon to get two assists on his first league start as well, as Roo said earlier I had/ have fears that Johnson's signing might have pushed him further down the pecking order considering prior to today he'd played just 3 mins in the league for us but it's nice to see he's part of Ange's plans and not just a Levy freebie to sell in a year. Team's still a work in progress but it's definitely progressing nicely that's for sure, though it's concerning knowing the gap between first XI to squad is frighteningly large at the moment and any injury to about 7-8 of our first team will be felt massively.
Its been a great start, but if you look at the 4 matches we have played; the draw at Brentford is a good result, beating Man U was a surprise but well deserved, Bournemouth and Burnley away are 2 fixtures that we have a reasonable history in they are teams that if we are aspiring to be a top 6 team again then we need to be winning the same goes for the next one at home Sheff Utd. The fact that we have won 3 games playing a brand of football that we are actually enjoying is what makes it seem a better start than it might look on paper. Following Sheffield Utd we play the goons and the mousers, if we are still unbeaten after 7 matches then it will genuinely be a really good start.
Had to take my boys to see a musical in London today so we missed the match but what a surprise to see the final score! I’m not jumping the gun at all but these recent away games are the kind that we tend to lose or draw more than win so it’s very promising. Sterner tests are coming toward the end of the month with the likes of Arsenal and Liverpool and we just need to remember that we are going to lose some games soon but quite frankly, I don’t care because we are finally seeing the Spurs that we have been hankering after. It’s great to hear the fans chanting with joy at last!
I think Sonny proved yesterday that he can do it at 9 for Ange. We know from his years playing winger, inside forward, and 9 for Spurs that he can do it. His pace and movement is a nightmare for defenders and he’s an excellent finisher aside from last season. I do think there’s something in horses for courses with who we pick at 9 though. There are a lot of progressive managers in the league now who will play a higher line and try and play football. Son under Ange can help us punish those teams. But against the Everton’s of this world, we might be better suited with a more physical player like Richy who is a specialist and is more likely to be able to manipulate CBs in a low block. Not having that focal point has been an issue we’ve seen when Sonny has played 9 in the past. That front 3 was promising though. Liked Solomon a lot on the left.
agreed. Just looking at our 4th goal yesterday gives us an insight into the way we want to break the lines by playing 1-2 touch football. It was an amazing goal. Against most teams, we’ll be a massive handful. IMO we should always try to play like this as it makes us so fluid. When it’s not working, then there’s the opportunity to utilise Richarlison, and try something else. Whilst Burnley aren’t the best side in the league, you can only play what’s in front of you and yesterday we scored 5. I highly doubt that’d have been the case with Richarlison at No9. Whilst I’m sure Richarlison was delighted for the team, it can’t have been easy for him seeing Son score a hattrick in his position.
