For me Shelvey had a good game, last few moments not included. He was the only one that seemed to be willing to put the ball over the top for Bony, of which they were slightly over hit, but at least he was trying it. For me Dyer was mediocre until Rangel come on, after that he seemed much more interested, I wouldn't say Tiendalli had a bad game, but there was no team work between him and Dyer, they didn't overlap each other like Dyer/Rangel did so didn't open up so much space. But then thats the joys of being a team over the seasons, Rangel and Dyer know each other. Tiendalli was lucky not to be sent off. For me Pozuelo was all over the shop, people say about him losing the ball, Dyer was just as bad at giving the ball away, both our wingers were **** last night (up until Rangel came on) only then did Dyer look at all interested. Pozuelo gave Taylor nothing, he was inside I don't know how many times, when he should have held his width. I know he is more of an AM than a winger, but he should be professional enough to know his primary role of the game, rather than his primary role. Granted it may not be his strength, but surely its not that hard to hold a position. And understand why Taylor was screaming at him, and then it wasn't only Taylor, Shelvey had a few words too during the game. At the end of the day our left winger gave us nothing. Taylor can only do so much as a full back, if his winger in front is not doing enough. Which I hope is just an off game for Poz, as I like the look of the guy. But he needs to learn to stay wider at times, and not sit in the middle. He is an outlet for our full backs, aswell as an offensive unit, which comes inside. Feel a bit for Tremmel, in hindsight he could have left it, but in a split second decision, he has to make his mind up, he should never have been put in that position in the first place. Shelvey shouldn't have lost the ball in the manner he did, and how the hell can they get the ball back 1 second, and their strikers have outrun our defenders the next, different if they had the ball for longer and the striker was set to run past, but he wasn't he just turned and our defence were sleeping. Shocking penalty to give away. Then we have the issue of being useless at closing a game out, and I do not blame Shelvey alone here, Lamah, Pozuelo and co were all just as guilty of trying to go for a silly dribble to make a shooting chance than take it into the corner flag and run down time. We were 1-0 up, and they played the final few minutes like league 2 players, without a frigging clue. They deserved to gift that goal away in the final few minutes because of their stupidity.
Agree with most of that. No mention of Bony and I feel for him because he's very much a square peg in a round hole. He has the ability - he's proved that - but he doesn't seem to fit with this team and the way it plays. Something has to give. I can only think of a handful of times one of our backs or wingers got behind them and crossed it - and even then the quality was poor. Bony thrives on that. ML knows this and I'm hopeful that he'll recognise that this narrow play we seem to have adopted isn't helping.
Its why I cannot wait for Hernandez to get back, he is the one guy that is willing to try that through ball, which I think Bony will thrive on, I also think he is our best crosser of the ball too.
Think most posters have hit the nail on the head for me. Poz -,needs to stop thinking he is messi and do the basics right,killed his full back at times. Bony - no service what so ever which is criminal considering he is a cracking finished,if we feed him he Will score ! Tiendalli - gone backwards since he doesnt have to impress people for a new deal. Tremmel - i blame laudrup actually. Dont Think he is getting enough games to remain at his sharpest so being a bit slow to come out is half expected if your not match sharp. Dyer - looked good in patches but truth is There was zero end product, he needs to feed the likes of bony not run ,turn back and pass it to rangel! Vasquez - run around like a headless chicken, can see why so many fans like him ! Michu - if only all players had his passion and fight, not his best game overall and hasnt been foring 100% all season,still world class though. STAR PLAYER. Jordi amat - considering he has had no experience and is very young he looked like a very asured player,mature beyond his years in fact. Not perfect but he doesnt mind a tackle and knows when to boot it or run and pass with it, has been making progress in every game he has played and has the potential to be a top player, at times he Made chico look like the newbie ! Chico - had a good game ,worked hard and saved a certain goal Canas - did ok ,tried to force the forward pass a bit more often than leon which led to him giving it away a couple of times but cant blame him for trying Shelvey - probably had his best game for us, shame he gave the ball away,he is learning the hard way isnt he ?
Agree fully with your stance on Bony, though you do wonder how ML ever saw him fitting into our current style, if he's to come on as a Plan B, then I can see him wanting to warm a bench!
He runs around like a headless chicken because he isn't disciplined to keep shape , i like him because he has great footwork but thats not enough
All the points about Bony, which are all valid, raise a question .... Was Bony really ML's choice or somebody else's. I can't see Bony being selected because of fit. He doesn't really fit. He does not appear to be mobile enough, fast enough, doesn't have enough of a quality touch to really fit in. Great finisher but needs players that can deliver him the quality of ball where he can do damage. When we try to pit-pat it through the middle he's pretty static. This doesn't mean he is a poor player, just that he doesn't seem a good fit, and I would have thought ML would have been more aware of this before acquiring him. Although, I think it should be recognized that this season he is up against a much better calibre of defender than he was in Holland.
I was told Bartley,Ki and Shelvey were signed by the club and not Laudrup ,though he had the say on if they would be a fit in his team and if he felt he could improve and/or work with them ,I believe that the Ki deal was already along before Laudrup came here. Seems the way it works is that they have 2 lists of player targets and work through them together,the club scouts looking at home and Larsen.laudrup looking abroad ,with Laudrup giving the final nod, that is logical and practical to me. I have no doubt that Bony was one of those wanted by the manager , if only for the reason that Huw Jenkins said he felt uncomfortable paying that kind of money for a player,which sort of re enforces the fact Bony was wanted by Laudrup specifically. Bony had a decent game yesterday, there is not a lot he can do with no service. Im probably gonna get pelters for this but if we rested Michu a bit more often instead of burning him out , the rest of the team would naturally look to Bony to pass the ball to instead of nearly always giving it to michu! I do feel that Michu is getting a bit of extra service nd extra passes,some of which should be used to play wilifred in on goal . The bottom line for me is that we have 2 number 1 players in the team and im not too sure the rest of the lads quite know who to hit the ball with in those split seconds when the goaline is getting nearer,we haven't quite mastered the idea of serving 2 masters, it will come with time but Bony needs to be backed by everyone until he can be intergrated properly. He is a goal scorer without doubt but if he isn't given the ball there isn't a great deal else he can do,he needs better service from everyone,including Michu who's passing to bony has been crap and inaccurate .
There is plenty of promise in Bony / Michu but not a lot of cohesion. As we try to play our way up the middle space is becoming too restricted and that's not working to either players' benefit.
Agreed. Doesn't help that Poz keeps wandering in there making things worse. I'd rather see young Donnelly on the wing, reckon he'd keep the width while still offering an attacking threat. Lamah should maybe be starting ahead of Poz...? I think Laudrup's plan of getting the wingers to cut inside and support the forward only works if we have three deeper centre mids....stick Michu up there and it's just a mess.
Can't totally agree there, look how well it worked with Routs, Dyer and Hernandez last season, neither played as a deeper centre mid, but they worked as a unit. The difference was when 1 would come in, the other would go out, confusing the defenders, we don't get that with Michu in the centre. So we are not dragging defenders out of position and confusing them about who they are supposed to be marking.
The excuse that bony is not getting any service is wearing much too thin for me as he does get the ball at times and for a player that cost £12 million then i would expect him to be better than he has given. He tends to blow hot and cold for me and i'm beginning to wonder if the money we spent on him could have been better spent on two strikers...I won't blame tremmel for the goal as he was let down by his team mates with seconds left to play..
I can understand the reservations about Bony but let's be honest and if I had a major criticism it's that he doesn't get himself in the box enough. A couple of times yesterday he was sauntering along towards goal whilst Dyer was running up the wing. But that aside I do think the service to him is almost non-existent. Here is a guy that thrives of quality balls into him, often in the air. The best he gets is a ball fizzed into him at pace whilst his back is to goal. Not even world class strikers can do much with that. This has to change if we are to get the best from him and I suspect ML knows that too.
A few times dyer and poz got to the byline, only to cut back and pass it off. If we had some decent crossers in the team (Hernandez) I think we would definitely see more of Bony's attacking threat. He may not look like he's doing much but he's always looking for the cut back or putting himself in front of the defenders ready for the cross. It just never comes. And the ones that do are normally 4ft over his head.
Get off Bony's back. He built his reputation as a potent striker who thrived on decent service. The ****e he's being fed by our midfield is nothing short of a disgrace. That a Premier League team doesn't possess one player who can consistently deliver a reasonable cross is a disgrace and it's something that has to be addressed pretty damned quick. It's true that his understanding with Michu is taking longer than we'd like, but that's football. Sometimes the chemistry is instant, sometimes it takes longer. There's no formula: the understanding will get a lot better with time but Michu and Bony are struggling with service from both the wide and central midfielders. It is they who have to improve. Even so, Bony does have a few goals to his name and also some pretty tasty assists. He is new to this league as well as his team. In comparison, Giroud the Arsenal striker, only got six goals in his first season. He's already notched seven this season because he's learned from the experience and developed his understanding with his team mates who now give him the service he needs. Bony will be the same. In recent games, I've heard commentators mention more times than they should have to, that Bony was having to drop deeper and deeper to try and find the ball and get into the game. If that is not an indictment of our midfield, I don't know what is. We spend £12 million on a player, know the way he plays, then find that we are totally unable to provide him with the service he needs. This narrow game we play is strangling him, stifling his opportunities. Bony is our centre forward but we have Routledge coming in there, Dyer in there, Pozuelo in there all crowding him out. Bony is a beast and is good at roughing up defenders. If this goes on I can see him flattening some of his own players to get the ball. I absolve Michu from this because he has earned the right to be there by virtue of the goals he has scored. By the way, I am all for bodies in the box. I am all for wingers coming in when the opportunity is there or the situation demands it but right now we need to get in behind defences out wide and provide quality crosses for Bony to attack. That is his game. That is what he was bought for. That is what we should be doing.
We are in good company there. Man U spent a fortune on Veron, knew how he played the game...and then played him out of position! A total waste of money and an insult to a great player.
We've been poor at crossing from the wingers for a long while now. Getting bony in without a winger that can't consistently cross well on the run is like buying a gun without the bullets ! Surely we have a few that can learn to do it well if its drilled into them in training or even keep them back late if needs be to get it right as its that important and could make a huge difference to the team ? Otherwise it may be a job for our scouts to find one ASAP.
