Top of the table clash in Serie A this weekend, Inter vs Juventus. Both teams have only lost once this season.
On that, we're going to have to disagree. Stu, yes. Smallbone I haven't found overly impressive, and Aribo is still getting graded on the curve of not being a steaming pile of refuse as he was last year. He's been playable, but not necessarily good.
Fair enough, that one is a bit of a stretch. But I'd still pick Aribo over Charly on current form. Charly just looks more vulnerable to being pressed and often loses possession at key moments. Aribo is less of a liability and does more defensively.
I didn't rate Smallbone much pre-December. But since then he has looked very tidy. Charly just hasn't kicked on. He makes the same mistakes he was making at the start of the season.
Yeah Aribo is less of a liability defensively but also isn't capable of scoring a goal like Charly did against Plymouth (a game we were just starting to struggle in) out of almost nothing. I'll add that to my list of games he's won us points actually. Very different players. I don't really see Charly as a CM personally, I see him more of a forward type of player. In the summer I imagined him being able to fulfil the role Taraabt did for QPR when they won the league under Warnock. Very similar players imo.
A goal is a goal, no matter how pretty it is. If Charly had been pulling off shots like that more regularly then he wouldn't be going out on loan. Most of his shooting has been fairly dire this season, rarely hitting the target. I agree he is a better playmaker than Aribo, but, Aribo is definitely capable. He plays some decent through balls, and he's gone close from range. I love Charly, but he is so clearly lacking in confidence. A break at another club will hopefully be what he needs.
And that's the difference. Smallbone is a very safe player. There is value in that. Charly (and Sulemana) are not safe players. There's also value in that, and how one sees the balance between the two depends on which aspect one focuses on. They are going to make mistakes because they are going to try things, but there's utility in that even when those things sometimes don't come off. The next time Sulemana starts and has the ball on the wing, watch where all of the defenders are looking...it's at him. He's often double-covered, but even beyond that, the attention he attracts opens up space for others to make moves and forces the defenders to quickly scramble back into position when he releases the ball. So even when his attacks don't directly result in goals, they often create the space that result in chances for others. The reverse is also true: I've been really, really critical of Stephens over the years because he tends to ball-watch, and in ball-watching rather than tracking his man, he upsets our defensive shape and leads to opposition chances. There are a lot of goals that have gone in where it wasn't his man scoring, but he set off a domino effect by being out of position, forcing someone else to shift over to cover, and then someone to cover for that, etc. until our defense is just a bunch of individuals reacting rather than a coherent unit.
I meant more that the goal came out of nothing rather than the quality of the strike itself. We were struggling at home to a relegation battler who'd just had a goal wrongly disallowed. Charly picked up a silly booking and the groans were just starting to be heard around the ground and then BAM - one nil up, we scored another two minutes later and effectively win the game. Aribo just doesn't have that in his locker. It's not really a criticism of him as he's just not that sort of player which makes it very hard to compare the two. I don't really disagree with your general point mind. He's definitely lacking in confidence and not playing regularly won't be helping that. Hopefully he gets some decent game time at Juve. As I said earlier I'm sad to see him go as I love watching him play. One of those players who raises the anticipation in the ground as soon as he receives the ball.
Agree Smallbone being 'safe'. Almost wrote the same thing, and that perhaps that's what Charly needs to add to his game; the boring stuff. The Charly/Sulemana types try to do something special almost every time they get the ball (especially Sulemana). If they calmed their game down maybe players wouldn't press them every time they get the ball.
Yeah I think most of us put him as our predicted Player of the Season before the campaign started. But its been flashes of genius mixed in with a lot of frustration. Could just be he's young as f*ck still, and needs another year or two to find consistency. Certainly not giving up on him yet.
If you had a hairstyle like that, where would you be more comfortable, Turin or Southampton? please log in to view this image Hmmm, decisions, decisions. please log in to view this image please log in to view this image Piazza San Carlo or Guildhall Square? please log in to view this image please log in to view this image Porta Nuova or Southampton Central Station? please log in to view this image please log in to view this image Turin or Southampton? please log in to view this image please log in to view this image Juve fans or Southampton fans
