Definitely a mixed bag tonight. Largely managed the game, but few players improved their reputations. Palinha was exceptional, Danso was excellent and Kinsky did his case no harm. Tel worked very hard, but missed two sitters and I really don't know where he fits in.
I thought BJ had a decent game tonight, had Tel taken half the chances that BJ put in the box we would have been 5-0 up at HT and BJ would have had 3 assists
I don't think he knows where he fits in either. Can't cross, can't shoot, reluctant to take on his man, doesn't come inside to seek possession and seems to dislike tracking back. I know he's young and you can't fault his attitude, but it's difficult to see where he goes from here. To make no impact at home to Doncaster is pretty damning.
That certainly would have changed the picture & he certainly has an eye for goal. But he went missing for long periods in the 2nd half particularly, especially when Doncaster were gaining the upper hand. Maybe as Spurf suggested, we should play him up the middle.
Excellent from Gray, Danso and Paulinha. Not great from Bentancur, Tel looks shot of any confidence. Not impressed by Xavi either, still needs to get used to not having as much time on the ball. Can maybe see why Frank doesn’t fancy him as a regular 10 yet.
Tel definitely has a case of the yips, since he was doing everything right off the ball (even when he was called offside when he clearly wasn't...) but when the ball reaches him he gets in his own way Have to say Gray was quietly very good, while Danso's rapidly becoming one of our most reliable players
I'm becoming a huge fan of Big Kev. He goes about his work very simply, but his positioning is excellent, he brushed off the gash on his head and he's as strong as an ox. He won 3 straight tackles there towards the end of the game! He also has a great temperament and has a super attitude on and off the pitch. A model professional IMHO. And yes, Archie quietly went about his business.
Yep. Lots of kids there tonight. I think that he needs to play on the left with an overlapping fullback. He's not a lone striker and being asked to fill in there isn't helping him. Hopefully we'll have Solanke and Kolo Muani back soon. Odobert should be able to nail down a starting place on the left now. I hope that Frank doesn't insist on picking Johnson there just to get him into the lineup. It reminds me of what happened to Kudus last season at the Spam.
Agreed. I know Kudus seems pretty adaptable, but for me he has the RW nailed on. Dynamic, and tracks back well which improves Porro's game. Too early to write off Tel, but Odobert is starting to settle into that LW role. As it's highly unlikely that TF will consider playing Johnson through the middle, despite his undoubted goalscoring acumen, I don't see either him or Tel as anything but backups. But things change so quickly.....
Tel is a younger Timo Werner atm. Don’t know why the club signed him after his loan spell tbh. He’s still very young so can’t be written off yet but so far he’s offered very little
We shouldn't have many backups, just squad players fighting for places. There's plenty of games and those that rotate effectively come out on top. We've got a few positions up for grabs and even bench places to compete for. Our injury list is quite long at the moment and it's gone virtually unnoticed. I'd have preferred to see Scarlett come on ahead of Richarlison too, partially for that reason.
