It really is. I don't like witch-hunting a player like this but Henriksen really is taking the piss. He's not just giving the ball away or making honest mistakes which is what Meyler did, he's actually not trying. It's really clear to see him pulling out of every little collision. At Barnsley the crowd were really shouting at him to get stuck in and getting increasingly frustated as he continued his half-arsed effort. What really baffles me, is unlike some players who are talented but soft, he isn't even particularly skillful. There's just no reason he should be commanding that place ahead of Irvine or Toral.
Meyler is best when he keeps in simple and does what he does best, which is break up play in midfield, but needs to just keep the passing simple.
Agree about Meyler Got the impression on saturday that the lad would rather be somewhere else than at city , without a doubt he's been poor on the pitch, he more or less a spectator at times when he's played, maybe there's other factors we only see him 90 min once or twice a week maybe he or his family have not settled in the area , i have a feeling come January he'll go on loan probably back to Holland/ Norway, there must be a player in there somewhere,if my memory serves me right,we were one of several clubs chasing him before he signed
I keep wondering whether his shoulder injury is playing a part. I guess it's pretty painful dislocating it, and maybe he's scared of doing something similar again.
With Hendrickson he's obviously impressing in training, else he wouldn't be getting on the pitch. There's a player in there somewhere, we've seen flashes of what he can do, some great passes, thundering shots at goal, quick and clever footwork... there's something not right there and perseverance doesn't seem to be the best strategy to solve it. He's been a massive disappointment so far and at £5m an expensive one at that.
Makes you wonder who 'signed' him - most of the signings in that window were on Brucie's list but I can't see Henriksen's name there - was it Phelan , I'm not sure he had much influence of was it simply an agent approaching Ehab - maybe it was Diimande recommending him - whatever it was a poor signing
That was when he was playing well though. Would you pick him based on Saturday? I suspect he'll start against Boro, but if he has another off game then Stewart really needs to be taking his place.
Slutsky's only seen him in the pre-season games and the Donny cup game and he was poor in them, I think he's been written off, he hasn't even made the bench since August (Weir's got on there ahead of him). Tomori played all of Chelsea's pre-season as a right wing-back.
It might just be that you’re not watching him. Yes he’s playing poorly. Suggesting he’s not trying is bollocks.
Normally I'd say the same of almost any pro footballer, but it's not hard to see in this case. Literally every time the ball comes near him with a defender close by he shies away and concedes possession. He looks like he's just really scared.
He's just low on confidence. He came on against Birmingham when we were playing well and he bought into that and played well himself. If he can't play well all the time then he shouldn't be in the team, same for anybody else. My worry is that Irvine is the same, he came on and didn't look like much of an improvement on Henriksen. We discussed having multiple attacking midfielders to death before the season started, I'm beginning to see why we have 3.
With regards to the comments why doesn't Henrikson get so much stick. It's probably because we all agree he should be dropped and there is no debate. Where as Meyler is so frustrating as he has had so many good games, but even people who like him can't defend his performance the other night. He was terrible, his passing, his tackling, just his whole game. This was the first game I've seen this season (after 20 years of having a season ticket), as I watched it on TV I probably didn't have a great view of the game. For me he just looked lost, like he was being asked to try and dictate play and pass the other team off the park. As much as people like him, that isn't his game. You need Stewart in there to do that, Meyler is all about pressing the opposition into mistakes, hassling, using his energy, not being a play maker. I don't think we set up right at all, and didn't have players doing the right jobs and Meyler was one of them. He was terrible, but was it all his fault? Not in my eyes. Henrikson refused to have the ball so Meyler had to do it, he didn't shirk away from it, he tried and failed. But at least he tried.
Good to see he hasn't posted anything about FIFA since the game. He realises he had an awful game but I'm confident he'll come out and give everything to make up for it against Boro. We need players like him in a team which desperately lacks passion and determination.
