https://www.a-love-supreme.com/single-post/dodds-on-ekwah BY ADAM GRANOFSKY DODDS ON EKWAH please log in to view this image Mike Dodds has been speaking about Pierre Ekwah and says that whilst the midfielder has a lot of potential there are some things he needs to improve on. HUGE POTENTIAL BUT IMPROVEMENTS NEEDED "I’ve had a couple of conversations with Pierre over the last couple of weeks, just about his general performance and I think he’s got huge potential. He’s got a big future in the game but I do also think he’s got certain things that he needs to be better with, and I pride myself on working with young players and improving them." AN HONEST CONVERSATION “I think that sometimes with young players, they need an honest conversation. Pierre and I have had that, I liked some of the things he did when he came on against QPR and he’d trained really, really well in the week leading up to the game. He will definitely feature in one of the two games over the Easter weekend. Pierre has got really, really high potential but it’s about him realising that at the moment, it’s just potential. We need to knit his game together a little bit more.”
The guy will be gutted after his recent interview where he said he's relishing being in the team as that's where he belongs, or words to that effect. Football has a canny way of kicking you in the balls as soon as you take it for granted...
Didn't Uncle Tony state that Ekwah needed a kick up the arse to gee him up every now and then ? To be fair I like Ekwah if he was any more laid back he'd fall over .
I've noticed that too. He often pulls out of challenges rather than sticking his foot in, which is no good if you play midfield!
Not noticed that before, will be interesting to see how he adapts in the Easter game he plays. I've felt his influence has waned recently, but I put that down to the whole team struggling with form.
I met him in the summer, was surprised how small he was - not in terms of height, but he's a skinny thing. Having said that, I'm 6'2" and 18 stone so maybe my comparison was an unfair one
He, Jobe and Ba have a dreadful habit of hanging a leg out, instead of meeting a tackle square on ... ... I know we have lots of injuries, which may be making them hesitant, but challenges are a big part of the game. If you're not going to tackle it's better to stand off rather than be unbalanced and make it easier for your opponent to skip past you imo.
Speaking of dreadful habits, and linked. I noticed on Saturday when Hemir got half a yard on the QPR centre half, and like a lot of the young lads today, Ba being the worse, did a flick back, rather than pushing the ball forward and imposing his body in front. Therefore forcing the centre half to possibly foul and succumb to a last man red card. Seems the young lads don't like to put their bodies in, possibly lacking the physical frame.
Wow, that Mogga fella, knew his onions Pains me to rethink why we didn't keep him until the end of the season...
Mowbray said that he had to give him a slap before each game. I think that was how it was phrased. Took that to mean that Ekwah always needs firing up / geeing up. Kenwynne Jones was a bit similar. He was very laid back and didn’t push defenders around enough. When he was right up for it, he was almost unplayable.
There was a rumour that Mowbray knew he wasn't right before he signed up for Birmingham. It was on their forum apparently before being pulled, good work by their Mods. I think that's more likely to be guesswork but it leads to more guesswork about his situation here and why we didn't leave things be until the summer. I have to confirm this isn't anything I've heard.
My feeling is that a lot of modern players go in to try and nick the ball, not a full on challenge, Trai Hume being the honourable exception
He's another one suffering from having zero experience around him. At a PL club he'd be getting toughened up by a seasoned campaigner who'd show him how to do the dirty work in midfield. The kind of education you can only get from older players.
