I thought he won a fair few headers, made some good tackles and organised the other CB's well. I do think being on the same side as Manning doesn't help though as he was dreadful again.
How many times did Aribo touch the ball? So anonymous. I know he's probably coming back to fitness but even so. Second worst player on the pitch after Azaz.
Forgot to mention the absolute best thing about tonight... No ****ing Gabbiadini song Probably our best away support of the season tbh.
You and Os both said it's like playing with 10 men with Downs on the pitch. Previous games yes maybe, tonight no. I think most people could see an improvement tonight and he was certainly far from the worst player on the pitch. Anyway, we won so I can't be bothered to go into this anymore.
I'm not going to sugarcoat it, just because he's young, or because he cost £8m. He barely ever touches the ball. Doesn't break sweat. But yeah, I give up. If people still think it's worth persisting with him, then that's up to them.
If people think bringing DD on is tantamount to playing with ten players, I presume you think the same for playing Armstrong at #9?!
I’d rather start with DD at #9 doing as little as people say (so, similar to Archer), and allow Adarma to play wide right where he actually scores goals and contributes from.
No. firstly Armstrong assisted the opening goal. But apart from that, his hold up play was far better than DD's (despite being about a foot shorter), his pressing as always was excellent (despite basically being the only player doing it). Adarma will sprint back and put in tackles, he collects the ball from the midfielders and tries to get things happening. He's a real nuisance to the opposition. I don't see DD doing anything like this. He apparently won a header or something tonight. That's about it. He puts absolutely no pressure at all on the opposition defenders/keeper, despite having fresh legs. I just don't know what he brings.
I dislike Armstrong playing as the no.9. I (so far) dislike Downs playing full stop. Which of those two things I dislike the most is difficult to say. But we really need to find a system that enables Adam to play in his best position.
Fair play. I’m not so down on Downs but I can see your point, and that’s a fair take on AA. I just hate him at 9.
AA as no. 9 is definitely not ideal, but I think he will look better with a settled attack and midfield around him. Charles/Romeu would feed him far better than Downes and Jander, for example.
