Link: http://translate.google.com/transla...tp://kickoff.blogs.lequipe.fr/?p=1003&act=url I was going to translate and post the article in here, but it was too long! So, I have added the translated link above. Good read, these things tend to pop up during the international breaks. Morgan seems a bit disheartened not to get the call for France last season. I did think when they had numerous players out and Morgan was in the best form of his time at the club that it was his chance. Hopefully, like Lambert, it will come in time. Hopefully not at 31 though... Thoughts on the article? DTLW
"And since we changed system because Pochettino loves to play with a 10 and a striker Osvaldo and Lambert are two pure strikers, it also requires adaptation." Well, I wonder what kind of player we'll be looking for this January...
Interesting, though impenetrable in part. Mauricio has such detailed plans...even having to change regularly as teams get used to us. I like the bit about other teams playing defensively against us...suggesting our increased status in the game.
Good article, there's a lot of detail in there. Interesting to know that the first-team practice moves against the youth team every wednesday, and that he wants to find a way to play for Luxembourg so he can avoid the double training sessions during international breaks
Fantastic interview, didn't fully understand what he was saying but he touches on some good things. Its great to hear the thorough nature of the tactical and physical training. Hopefully it doesn't tempt fate but you could see in pre season that southampton have a great approach to injury prevention. I thought Morgan had a slight leg muscle injury at the start of the season and that was why he couldn't complete one of the earlier games, he says he hasn't had a muscle injury for 2 1/2 years so he would know. we certainly don't seem to pick up regular soft tissue injuries, something that would seriously compromise our season and call into question the practicality of demanding so much from the players. As it is pochettino seems to be getting the balance right and the players seem to be dealing with it well. I don't really like morgan's more offensive role as I think his best qualities of intercepting and breaking up the play are more suited to where the oppositions attacking players function. I accept that a turnover higher up the field is more dangerous but I would prefer to have a natural ball carrier in and around these areas and I feel that morgan while he can do the job it isn't really his game. Not enough is made of how good he is at breaking up the play he is genuinely brilliant at it and I feel him roaming wider and further forward takes him away from where he is better placed to exploit his talent. i also don't think he has been playing at his best which I would attribute to him not being used in his best role, he has improved though as he says. I don't want to harp on about wanyama but if wanyama can learn to break up the play like schneiderlin does he will deserve credit for our defensive strength and the partnership may begin to develop into a strong one. As it stands wanyama commits more fouls than tackles which is simply terrible and something that needs a tonne of work like pretty much everything else he does.
I would have said that breaking up the play was Wanyama's strength. Its when he tries to do anything like passing the ball forwards that he struggles. I do think that Schneiderlin naturally takes on more when he plays alongside Cork as Cork doesn't sit as deep as Wanyama.
He breaks the play up but more often than not its a foul. The best thing he has brought to the team is his ability to win headers in central positions, I also like that he is willing to shoot and take the game on although it hasn't come off for him. Schneiderlin is far superior at breaking up the play. As I say schneiderlin is incredible at it, whereas wanyama is a physical presence but has given away far too many fouls, been dispossed regularly and can't pass forward in the oppositions half.
You're neglecting the fact that Wanyama cannot be tackled, and adds steel and grit to our midfield. He is much better than cork at breaking up the play, and although a lot of fans are failing to realise it, he is the much better option. I know a lot of people like Cork (including me), but you can't honestly still be telling me you think he should start over Wanyama when we have kept 5 clean sheets and are fourth in the league?!
Too right. It was obvious from the WBA game alone that the opposition were going to have problems getting the ball away from him. I'm sure the coaching team will be working on his passing (not as bad as some around me in the Northam might make out but capable of improvement). I think he's a very worthy member of the squad and has certainly beefed up the defence. And I speak as one of Jack's greatest fans - I voted for him as player of the season last year. Vin
And I might be going off on one a bit, but all this comes down to is unrealistic expectations. He is a young bloke of 21 in a new league that has come in, and made us a much better side. The amount of criticism he has been getting is completely unjustified. He attempts a couple of sloppy through balls a game, which if they come off are amazing passes, but if they don't it doesn't matter. As I said, he is young, he can improve this aspect of his game with time and concentration, but there aren't many people better than him at doing what he is paid to do, which is - win the midfield battle. I thought he was one of our best players against Swansea last week, but all he seemed to get on here was abuse for his two wayward passes in the whole 90 minutes.
I would say he is getting a lot of unmerited credit and people are attributing our good defensive record in part to his inclusion when the whole team has defended very well. Much like Davis last year I think people are assuming that his worth to the team is far greater than it is. On the point of him being difficult to tackle he has been dispossessed the 4th most of our team - 11 times. I think he's probably better than cork individually and he will get better and his partnership with schneiderlin will get better. He's only 1 year younger than schneiderlin who is a superior player in every single aspect other than heading ability which was once something of a weakness for schneiderlin but he seems to have got better at it. I'm not really pushing for wanyama to be dropped for cork as cork has played little competitive football. Quite obviously at least to me the cork-schneiderlin partnership was far more effective than the wanyama-schnedierlin one.
I couldn't disagree with your last sentence more. We have won more and conceded less without the cork schneiderlin partnership, that pretty much says it all. You feel people are overestimating Wanyama, but the results say that it is you that is underestimating him. Your point that schneiderlin is far superior in every way is correct, but irrelevant. Morgan has played in a lot more games than Wanyama, especially in England. As I said in my post, Wanyama is still settling in to the side, and the higher pace of English football. Wanyama has massive potential, and is worth persevering with. I truly think he could become a world class DM.
The fact that we have had better results doesn't say anything about the quality of anyones performances, it suggests the team as a unit has been playing better. He's settling into the side and he is young but they aren't things worth considering when evaluating his performances, its likely that once he has played a season that he will be a better player but I can only comment on the 7 times he has played. Its difficult to comment on his potential but I can't see his strengths of aerial domimance and physical strength improving much. Whether he improves the way he uses his strength and the rest of his game to be a world class DM is extremely doubtful. I haven't seen anything to suggest that he will ever develop to that standard, he's already got the ability of a prem footballer but the step up to the next level is huge. He will never be as good as schneiderlin imo which is a tough benchmark but what he and southampton should be aiming for.
In the same paragraph, you said "it's difficult to comment on his potential" and then wrote him off completely as being able to catch up with Schneiderlin. I agree completely that he is nowhere near schneiderlin at the moment, but he could easily catch him up in time. How can you possibly say that he won't? Central Midfield is not an area where a player can be 'carried' so I think that it is reasonable to assume that if results are better, then Wanyama is a step up. I think we will have to agree to disagree, but I will say that I I think your confusing Cork's hustle and bustle for talent, and Wanyamas more relaxed demeanour as being a worse player, when honestly, this isn't the case at all.
Its been a while since I saw cork play so I can't really remember enough to comment thoroughly. I was very impressed by the way he covered schniedlerin and the defence and I thought it was an excellent partnership. Cork didn't do much with the ball but to my memory showed excellent awareness, the number of times he turned blind and didn't get caught out was evidence of this, and he also retained the ball very well. Wanyama doesn't have the same awareness imo but should be able to retain the ball as well. For wanyama to develop the awareness and understanding that cork and schniderlin had will take a whole season if not more, note this thread's interview where schneiderlin points out that him and cork had already played for a year and that understanding was excellent.
So I did some digging for some statistics to help fight Wanyama's case: Cork: 2.3 interceptions per game, 1.9 tackles per game. Wanyama: 1.3 interceptions per game, 2.6 tackles per game. Cork: 83.6% passes completed, aerial duels won 1.3 per game. Wanyama: 80.7% passes completed, aerial duels won 2.3 per game. Statistically then, they are very very similar. What these stats don't take into account is that cork tends to keep it simple the majority of the time, whilst Wanyama attempts more difficult passes more often. This is just my opinion from watching though, I can't really back this up. The other thing that stats don't take I to account is Wanyama's 'presence'. No one can deny that he is an absolute unit, which other players will naturally be more wary to challenge. Cork is diminutive and gets pushed off the ball much more easily. In fact, I can reemember countless people last year and the year before saying we needed more bite in the middle. This is what Wanyama has brought.
