..has been very poor lately, surely we need to give another player a chance? at fault for their goal today and is getting caught out with and without the ball far too often, i feel he may be a bit burnt out but regardless of that he is becoming a liability. Excellent performance overall today, nice to see scott sinclair continue his up turn in form, Ash was immense at the back and looks to have got over that Virus fully. We should have been comfortable in this game and taken some of those great chances but it just wasnt to be in front of goal today, DG had a decent game but sometimes seems too slow to react when played in by Gylfi,gave his usual 100% though. Bolton were very patchy, without the exposure of Rangel they would not have had that much to offer for 90mins apart from lumping it up to Kevin Davies so he can con a free kick out the Ref!! this was then followed by lumping the free kick into our area so kevin davies can con the ref again! very poor from an established Premier league team IMO. I must also mention the Bolton fans who constantly moaned when our players were getting hacked from behind and getting their shirts pulled, and also moaned when their players didnt manage to fool officials into giving them free kicks!! it seems like Bolton use these rough house tactics and long throws and kicks far too often, when they got it down and played they were good,they have some tidy players there. If they cant beat us at home then i dont see them staying up, if they carry on playing hoof ball to Davies to try and win free kicks they are definatly going down!! Does this mean we are safe ?? Swans did very well today they showed they were up for a battle and put their foot in when it needed, our football took over second half and we dominated,Bolton were dead on their feet in the end, anything other than a draw or win for us would have been the biggest travisty in football !!
Agree, Rangel is looking a tad jaded, even messed up a throw in! but it's been a hard first season, which we have overcome well. Graham works hard, and he had a good game, seems to me not quite sharp enough though on times, and from what I could see, should have scored, though MOTD will confirm. Maybe Rodgers took Dyer off, because of the physicality of the game, otherwise I don't understand Moore for Dyer! Anyway we go above Norwich again....... please log in to view this image
if qpr dont beat spurs we are mathematically safe as neither wolves , blackburn or qpr could beat our tally even if they win their remaining games. Wigan could draw level with us but would still lose out on goal difference. Bolton have 2 games in hand on the others. CONGRATS to Buck and the lads.
Have to agree, Rangel's defensive short comings have been shown up recently. I am concerned with his lack of pace and some of his positioning. Think this is and area that we need to strengthen in the summer.
Rangel is part of a back 4 that has one of the best records in the division, let's remember that. That said, he has looked jaded of late, just like Williams. Can't comment on today's game - first one I've missed all season - but bearing in mind that each place we achieve is worth around £800,000 who do you suggest we use in his place? Whoever it is will mean breaking up a back four that by and large has had a successful season.
We have a few options to replace that IMO would not do much worse right now. Sometimes its better to give a young hungry player a chance than keep with an out of form senior pro. We can flip this around and ask with 800k on offer can we afford not to change ?? I dont buy into the back 4 thing, others have played a part not just Ash,caulks,Taylor and Rangel . Im not saying his days are over im saying his play looks a bit lazy of late, like many others its been a massive learning curve and im not trying to take away his(Rangel's) achievements this season im just pointing out that he seems to have slipped below his normal standards, he doesn't seem to as eager to make his defensive duties and for me that should be his number 1 priority!! The manager has stated he wants to try something different but plays the exact same team(which in fairness was probably correct at Bolton) i only see him changing players for the Wolves game so we wont really hurt our chances by playing someone different at full back for this game, even if we could give someone 20mins that would ensure a bit of rest for Rangel and give a bit of experience to someone else
Dropping or removing players who are below par is a luxury for us. We don't really have the same strength in depth so it's difficult to replace like for like. We all pretty much know our starting 11 and there's not much on the bench. Williams has been out of form since Feb imo but what could we do? He has to play, end of. Can't see anyone doing the job that Rangel has done. For a start, removing him would probably get rid of any sort of link up with Dyer. When Rangel hasn't played (rarely) this has been noticeable because we don't get forward down the right. I have a different take on it. This season has been remarkably successful for our team and the rigours of the League are starting to show. By and large it's been a winning formula on the whole and if I was Rodgers I'd be urging my starting 11 to finish the season on a high. Now isn't the time to tinker, though I agree giving a youngster 20 minutes if we're 2 up v Wolves wouldn't go amiss.
Fair points KJ. Dropping players is indeed a Luxury but how do you know if what we have on the sidelines isnt good enough if they dont get that chance?? Even the link up play with Dyer hasn't been great lately,Dyer is also wasting alot of ball which has put that side of the field under pressure, the balance of attack and defence is very hard to get perfect but a defenders job is first to defend!! Running forward into the area and miss hitting crosses is a Luxury also, Taylor has learnt from his early season ball watching and gets up and down ok now (though i have to see where he was for their goal,something wasn't right there) Rangel gets up but doesnt come back quick and that puts the whole team under pressure. As i said in previous post , he is probably feeling a bit of end of season tiredness and i dont want to be too harsh on him because overall he has done fantastic but when you compare with Taylor,who has learn't and got better Rangel hasnt progressed in the same way and its starting to show for me, intresting that the commentry mentioned Bolotn targeting Rangel's defensive game, next season i think we need to have somebody who will push and even surpass Rangel, who i think suffers from a lack of compitation .
I only saw their goal once, but wasn't someone in the middle (Caulker or Williams) way behind the rest and played their winger onside?
Rangel has always made me nervous defensively . I wish Rodgers would have gave Richards more minutes along the way , not only to give Jazz a deserved chance to play but to make Rangel a bit hungrier . I never really got over Rangel yammering on in the media about not getting a chance to be transferred to a Premier team a few seasons back .
it has to be said that rangel for some reason has a few good games and then a few bad games where he makes schoolboy errors. we have to play him as when he is good he is really good, lets not forget that ash has made a few mistakes this season also. overall they have been quite consistent and have gained a number of points for us with their superb defending, i remember one player once telling me that with just a few games left to play some players will hold back for fear of getting injured and messing up their holiday plans and i can understand that, we are safe now so there is no point in getting injured....
Rangel is part of a defense that has exceeded all expectations throughout the season and maintained a brilliant home record. It's been a long slog this season and the fact that he's fading three games towards the end is no surprise. Cracking full-back in my book and he should be going nowhere.
Just saw the goals on MOTD and whereas Rangel could be criticised the bigger fault lies with Williams .....again. Massive space left for Eagles to fire home. Not for the first time this season Ash is looking over his shoulder with a 'WFT?' look on his face. Like I said, it's been a long season.
Norway, I must say I don't think you're really putting enough thought into Rangles performances. It's very easy to remember the negatives over positive... I'm not entirly sure it was his fault for the goal, I thought Leon didn't really track Eagles well. Rangel had a decent game today, and has been playing just as well as anybody else, but you don't remember that because he hasn't done anything ground breaking recently. Whereas, now, Neil Taylors season has gone from pretty good, to a fantastic season because of the game today.
Leon was also at fault for the goal,as well as Rangel . Both Failed to track back. Rhys , im amazed that you can tell me what i remember and what i dont. Its very easy to remember the positives as well dont forget! my comparison of his recent performances compared to Taylors says alot, and i must add i made this point about Taylor before watching Match of the day !! Rangel is probably getting tired but he has not progressed defensively like Taylor has, that is the main question mark. Same for Ash and Caulker,these players have progressed (Ash had a dip in form after his Virus) and got better Rangel has progressed also but he hasnt developed his defensive game,that will eventually cost us. As i said in my origional posts, alot of this could well be down to being tired and a long season,he has lost a yard of pace over the season though and that is clear to see. I must add that this is not a witch hunt for Angel, i just call it as i see it, lately he has been off the Boil. He will also have time for reflection in the close season and take stock of his game,there is no doubt he will have learnt alot, im not sure how old he is but his lack of pace could well be a major concern next season, his game going forward is very good and so are his skills but what some people seem to forget is that he is a defender and his job is to defend not attack and get caught out of position!
Hmmm, don't think he was at fault for their goal tbh. Okay, he lost his man and the cross went in, but Caulker allowed Eagles to ghost into space for an easy tap in. So, if you want to blame anyone, Caulker's your man. That said, I won't blame anyone as the guys are allowed a few mistakes here and there, they're still learning.
So far we have Ash responsible Caulks responsible Leon responsible Rangel resposible Having seen the replay i lay blame at Leon for not tracking eagles and rangel for not tracking his man, Ash and caulker look ok if a bit too close to the line but Leon and Rangel are at fault for me. Ash- as you say though, its hard to give any blame for the boys this season they have done amazing, its all a point of disscusion though and thats what many tend to forget on here, it has nothing to with personal attacks its debate on what people think about what happened in the game and how will the team shape up for the next one etc,etc . The players are big enough to take it and i garentee that they get told where they went wrong after every game by the manager!!
Agree Norway. It's been a long old season for the lads and they have exceded all expectations. Buck will show them their mistakes (Though by the looks on their faces they knew at the time) and it's all a learning curve for next season. They've done us proud.
