Clasie has been pretty good overall, with the occasional glimpse of much better things to come, but also tbf with his share of let downs. Not really unexpected given he is new to the PL and missed some of offseason. I think he will be fine if given more time, which is the main reason I have not been howling for Reed, though I think Reed is very promising as well. I do not think he will replace Schneiderlin, but those are tough boots to fill. We could have spent 25m and still not replaced MS. So people need to cut Clasie a bit of slack. I think he will prove to be a bargain purchase, who came here because of RK, and not because the board were cheap. As for Davis, I like him but remain convinced he is massively overrated by many. He's not played well as of late, but most of the team hasn't. He is a good link up player, and players like that are necessary. Someone needs to do that. That person does not have to be Davis, nor does it have to come from the position. But someone has to do it. The number of goals Davis scores and even to a large degree assists and chances created is not that important as that is not his role. I feel a bit bad for Davis as he is miscast a bit in his role. Yes, he plays some good through balls, but we need more assists and more goals. We need someone to do the things that Davis does not. And ultimately, I think it will likely require a change in how we play. And could lead to any of Pelle, Tadic, or Davis losing their spot. Basically, we have four guy (5 or 6 if you add JRod and Tadic) all of whom do some things well but all with flaws. But add them up as a unit and there just aren't enough goals there. Something has to give even though all of them are decent enough.
It is a shame he didn't sign that contract we offered. Understandably he wanted to be playing. He would have been playing now.
The weekend could have been worse. We could have lost to a League 2 side. Another point to consider. We don't have to worry about putting out a second team for Cup games, as we don't have enough players for a second team. We struggle to put out a first team.
Not entirely sure on that. You are making the same mistake here as you did with Lallana. While Davis is not the top AM that we need you are using the stats of assists and goals and ignoring the fact that Davis is integral to the builld up of a high percentage of our goals. Yes I defend him but I also think we need better than him but to continually reel out the assists/goals as the whole story of whether someone in the attacking four is any good ignores the reality of actual football. Try watching a game and then seeing if the stats match what you saw with your eyes!!! You have answered a post with the utmost vitriol above stating Davis was not the reason we beat Arsenal, it was this and that. No-one said Davis was why we beat Arsenal nor did anyone suggest that was the case. They merely stated that Davis was back to his best. The fact that his best is not good enough for what we want is by the by.
You put your best stats in, your best stats out and when you really need them you wave your stats about.... Oh the stats okey, cokey.... . Ps. Impsaint. This sounds as if you are defending a player you like, see the value in, yet also think we need an improvement.... Are you sure that's allowed. I mean that is so grey. You need to choose black or white, nothing in between
The full extended highlights are up, for anyone that hasn't seen them. In all honesty, it looks like we played very well, and that it was just luck that's gone against us. (Plus school boy errors). Impressed with Romeu and Juanmi. I don't think Wanyama should walk back into the side when available with Romeu playing like that. (Unless they play side by side - which isn't a bad idea, except Ron will want to play Clasie most probably)
I guess it depends what you are trying to achieve but in an ideal world you'd want a bit more on the constructive side than Wanyama and Romeu playing together. Right now, I would put Romeu ahead of Wanyama in that he can do more with the ball. The problem then is who do you play alongside him. We (all) know what Davis can do and Ward-Prowse for that matter but I think it is Clasie who should get most of the column inches here. Basically, is he the real deal or not? There has been a lot made of us selling our best players and not adequately replacing them but lets not forget that Clasie was on the radar last season and it was considered to be a great coup when we eventually signed him. For me he hasn't done enough but is that because he isn't capable or that he is still learning what its like to play in the Premier League? On paper (thats an easy game to play) Romeu and Clasie ought to be a more than decent pairing. Despite the stats I don't see how you can leave out Davis and Koeman is clearly not going to so that means juggling Ward-Prowse, Tadic and Mane if you assume that it is either Pelle or Long up-front. It is a task beyond my pay grade although I would say that Tadic often seems better coming off the bench.
Highlights, like stats can be good and misleading at the same time. Thanks for saying they were up and I know it is only 13 minutes of highlights, but considering the absolute battering the selection got yesterday, I'd just like to post the below. I watched these with a pen and paper in hand. These are my notes: Clasie - nice touch and forward ball to Targett - Targett - great ball in to Long who didn't quite get on it Clasie - great forward pass to Davis from in our half - Davis great forward ball to Long, who sadly missed his first touch but still managed to get on it and force a save Davis - good delivery from the corner Romeu - great closing down with VVD Long/Davis - good combination play - ball out to Martina - good cross - Davis missed header Romeu chance- good build up from Clasie/Long/Mane/Davis and shot by Romeu blocked. Palace Goal - someone said Stekkers should have come out - really? Not a chance. Punch was being covered by VvD Saints Goal - Starts with Clasie picking the ball up in our half and moving forward 20 yards before playing it forward (again) to Long. Great play by Juanmi/Martina and then Romeu (DM) gets into the box for the follow up Long shot saved; Mane rebound saved Juanmi shot saved Font header from 6 yards deflected over Corner - Long hits post JWP free kick - great save Now this might read like a load of bollocks to some people, but for those who were absolutely battering the formation and selection before kick off, and particularly TinTin continually (that's not a lie) going on about having the five defenders plus Davis/Romeu/Clasie, it looked very much to me from the highlights (13 minutes I know) that they were involved a hell of a lot in the chances we created in the first half. I missed the game but it doesn't sound like we were poor. As has been said before. Take a chance or two that have been missed, cut out an error and we're away. Sometimes people look too hard for things when the waters are a little choppy.
Since coming back form a long injury lay-off (let's not forget that, which clearly hasn't helped a player new to the league) Clasie struggled in his first few appearances with the pace of the game. The Premier League can be frantic. Since then, I have been watching him and have since him gradually beginning to find his feet. He is a player who doesn't do spectacular. If you looked back through recent match threads there has been a slowly increasing number of people beginning to comment that they thought Clasie played well, or was one of our better players in a game. It is taking time, but he is definitely getting there Lff. At Norwich I thought he was very good. I didn't see yesterday and only just watched those brief 13 minute highlights, but again he was starting to become the pivot in our play. He has started to play balls forward whereas in his first few games he was looking sideways and backwards while he found his feet. Each game I am seeing more from him. He is not a goal king or an assist king. He is not Morgan, however in the way that Morgan would often be excellent without being noticed much, Clasie is that way inclined too. I am still confident he will be a key player for us and I am starting to see it. I wonder what United fans think about there new midfielder. I wonder how many of them hadn't realised those stats someone posted up this week with United's results with and without him. We will never know now, but I think if he hadn't missed two and half months with injury, he'd be buzzing for us now. In summary and answering your question. Clasie is coming good. He will be the real deal (IMO)
I missed the game too but was listening on Radio Solent and it has to be said that (the ever reliable!) Dave Merrington was critical of the starting line-up and thought we looked better when we changed it. But, as I said, I didn't see it and with a bit of clever editing 13 minutes can be as misleading as 1 or 2, so I'm not going to say anymore. Who'd of thought that Watford at home would be such a massive game?
Yes, I realised that. I wasn't 'having a go' so to speak just pointing out that TT wasn't the only one criticising the selection. The fact is we aren't scoring enough goals so you can kind of understand instinctively why people want a more attacking line-up. But you could start with 11 forwards and see what jot that brings....not.
Lets not forget that Romeu has had a career blighted by injuries as well, so though he is 24, he is still developing. I was extremely happy when we signed him, and I still am. I have been wanting to see a Clasie/Romeu pairing for a while, and Vic's suspension will force that, it will be interesting to see how they perform. I do think that Romeu/Vic could work too though. I know they are both defensively minded, but so was Morgan/Vic.
I haven't commented on the line up, from this game, but 5-3-2 is only negative if the team continually plays in that formation. My first thought was that we would be 5-3-2 when Palace had the ball, but 3-5-2 when we had it, which is far from negative.
