Agreed, it's slightly baffling we offered all that money for ELF just to play him out of position. I'd much rather we put him in the middle where he can really impact games, with Aouchiche out wide. Rigg to impact from the bench.
I have said for a long time now Dan is a pefect 6. So far Samed hasnt looked at the same level, small a subset as that may be. Tidy player, but not the type to control forward to back and side to side. It may be thay Regis at the start of the season saw him as a more forward player, but with Samed out so long Dan has gone on to prove he is the perfect player to have in that role for us. Now ws have a Samed fit it is unfortunate for him. Regis needs to be careful here for me, the way Dan and Jobe have dovetailed has been immense, no better pairing in the league for me. Dont mess with something that is already top notch. Samed could be helpful in seeing games out, a better bet than a CB anyway if possession is 9/10ths of the law. Leave Dan to do what he has been doing. Focus on how to get the best out of Le Fee would be my advice. Le Fee is yet to pull up any trees. I am happy to believe folk when they say he needs to be more central. If he does, who better to be feeding him than Dan. We still need width for balance though. Conundrums imo.
Totally agree with this. Le Fee and Jobe are definitely the right 2 for the more advanced midfield roles. I think Neil should start as the 6, particularly in games where teams adopt the low block, but I also think that Samed should be getting more game time, particularly when we are trying to close a game out. As for Samed's contribution, I think you're being rash in judging him after seeing him for 1 hour. He needs time to get up to speed, then lets see what he can do. I doubt he would make the Ligue 1 team of the year by making 5-yard backward or sideward passes and breaking up play. The time to assess him will be at the end of the season, when he's got a lot more minutes under his belt.
Or he has a big reputation in a foreign league therefore deserves game time over those who have done so well already...
Honestly can't believe folk who have watched us over the last 2/3 months still think Neil should be dropped He is key to our promotion bid, hin and Jobe should be our CM 2, end of debate imo Both have been class
If Samed has more to offer than I've initially seen, then I'll be thrilled but I haven't seen it yet. Maybe he will get up to speed, but he's a loan signing and we've got 20 games left. I don't feel like he's someone to invest game time in unless he can offer something more than we have. I'd rather play Neil deeper and invest minutes in Aleksic as that's investing in our own player. A lot of people are getting hung up on the "French team of the season" accolade, but the fact is that Lens wouldn't have loaned him to us if they thought he was currently at that standard. The fact is that a loan player has to make an instant impact or there's no point.
The better player should play it’s that simple. We aren’t a team of “good losers” anymore like we were under Mowbray. If Reggie sees more in Samed and puts him in there then so be it. If he thinks Neil is better then stick with that. Neil is not untouchable, he’s a good championship midfielder not a world class champions league winner playing below his level.
The only thing that is certain is that Neil plays the 6 or he doesn't play at all. Offers nothing in the 8.
In his defence, it must be difficult for Neil to switch to the mindset / style of being an 8. He has spent the whole season focused on learning and playing the 6 role.
No one has ever said he is Of course the best players should play so for me until Samed proves he's better than Jobe or Neil then he doesn't play
He’s never been good in front of goal to be fair his shooting at times is horrific. I thought he was good at the box to box role but more of a disrupter of opposition play than someone you’re going to rely on to create and put numbers on the board. I thought he’d struggle in the 6 and while I still don’t think he’s great there and there’s certainly a fair few in the league better in that role he’s defo looking more effective there than he was as the 8.
Yes of course So you'd rather Neil gets dropped, who has been arguably our best midfielder over the last 2 months, to see if another player is better than him? If Neil keeps his performance levels up he starts, if he starts to perform poorly then it's easier to drop him and see what Samed is like Samed is likely to be a bench player for us over the next few games, so he has to make a impact when he comes on
Of course not, you can’t just drop him for no reason. However if the manager thinks his performances are up to a level that Samed could provide then he deserves his chance. It’s difficult to prove too much in training it’s a totally different ballgame when there’s no intensity. But it would be criminal if Samed starts to show his quality in little cameos and we continually leave him out, knowing how big of a reputation he has, because Neil is giving us a 7/10 performance every week. I think we’ve just found ourselves in a situation where it’s hard to justify dropping players or deciding what’s best. Neil obviously does a job as the 6 but he gets a lot of help from Jobe. You could argue that with Samed in there as a natural 6 with great defensive instincts and work rate second to none that would allow Jobe to play slightly further upfield and help break teams down when they’re sitting deeper. It’s apples and oranges but that’s why Rodri is the best at what he does because he’s essentially doing what some teams need 2 players to do, freeing up another midfielder. Not to say Dan can’t do that mind he’s still fresh into that role, just giving another spin on it. If we were to put two midfields out against each other, one of Neil Jobe and Rigg that started the season and another of Samed, Aleksic and ELF I honestly think the latter would batter them. Trying to find a balance amongst 6 very good players is going to be difficult and no doubt if we drop points there’ll be calls to change it
I don't think they would get battered, those 3 need to prove they are good enough for the Championship - the championship is totally different to the leagues they've played in before. For me Jobe and Neil are our 2 best CMs at the minute, they've proven that this season so I'll always back that as my 1st choice partnership I trust RLB will find the right partnership, for me that's Jobe and Neil until I see otherwise. It's nice that we now have options in CM, its the most important position on the pitch and to have 6/7 options in there
100%.. but it’s also the first thing people will blame if it goes wrong. It’s a nice problem to have but also a pain in the arse for the “what ifs”
People will always find something to blame or moan about Having the depth is huge, we have players to cover and give us different options in the most important position on the pitch The last 2 seasons we've had no depth in CM, this yr we have it and we also have players in their with huge potential on permanent deals - Rigg, Jobe, Aleksic and Neil, all have very bright futures in the game
