Vestegaard heading machine. Wins pretty much everything. Hoedt. He has overhit a few balls but has also hit some beautiful diagonal balls to our wingers. Loud and gets the ball when he dives in. (Will wait to see how many red cards he gets before moving him down the list) Maya. Solid centre back. Love him when we are attacking or defending corners but does not know what to do when we are on the counter or attacking and slows it down to much. Bertrand. Solid backup adds a bit of speed if we ever go back to 3 at the back. Stephens. Great attacking runs. Poor positioning when defending. Please play him at right back. Bednarek. Great goal but a few shocking passes as well. Similar to maya in our first season back in the prem. will come good eventually. As much as I love Maya I do think hoedt is a better player. I will be very interested to see how we get on at corners this campaign as I could see us getting a few headed goals with this lot. Just wish they could head it away in our box.
Sorry, but you can’t say Hoedt “gets the ball when he dives in” because very often he doesn’t. He has given away lots of free-kicks in and around our penalty area. It really isn’t good defending to dive in as often as he does. He makes those challenges in dangerous areas regularly. Our coaches must be talking to him about it and if he cut that out of his game, he would improve a lot. As much as I love a CB who can ping a ball 40 yards (which Hoedt can), I want the defending part right first. He has lots of potential, but he needs to be willing to be coached for that improvement. I’m not sure from what we “hear” that he doesn’t already think he’s made it.
Pretty much exactly how I felt watching the game today. Was cursing Hoedt, but the pass he made to find Targett was a beauty. I am not sure what’s wrong with Hoedt. He can definitely pass. He tackling skills don’t seem that bad. Just his decision making and positioning are highly questionable. I think it can be fixed but getting a little pessimistic at this point. I’m surprised people do not seem to be rating Vestergaard. I think it is too early to draw firm conclusions, so maybe that is it. But to me, he’s been solid. And as a bonus, he seems active in taking control and helping to organize the line, and he’s more cultured with the ball at his feet than I expected. I think he is also a little faster than it appears, it's just his height makes him look slow. Not claiming he’s a speedster and he definitely isn’t quick (which is different than fast) but so what? He’s tall and tall players have trouble with smaller, tricky players. But it makes them better at handling crosses. Everyone has strengths and weaknesses. Fonte was fantastic for us and he wasn’t the most complete player ever. We were just kind of lucky to have VVD and Alderweireld. Perhaps that set the standards too high.
I really liked the look of him at the Leicester match. Need to see him more obviously as that's the only game I've watched but he seemed like a much needed calm influence. How did Hoedt play yesterday anyone?
This is why we got 75mill for VVD. I honestly think he's the best CB in the world. He has everything. Not only is he a bloody good defender he is excellent with the ball at his feet. I hope Wes isn't thinking he can do what VVD can do because he can't. VVD made everything look so simple when in fact CB is one of the most challenging positions to play. Hoedt seems to have the arrogance of Virgil but not the quality. There's no shame in not being as good as VVD (I can't think of a CB who is) but you've got to stay level headed. Put your ego away and stick to the basics. I actually think there is a good CB in Hoedt if he learns from his mistakes and knuckles down.
On Sky Match Choice (half an hour of the game), it was pointed out that Cedric was 'asking' Hoedt where he had been when Cedric was left marking Benteke early in the game.
Good to know he is pushing that question. It is certainly something that can cause us a problem. The same potential was there with Clyne (as Rickie exploited against Palace in the championship) yet I don’t recall us getting “done” very often in that area.
For me: Maya Vestegaard Bednarek Hoedt Stephens Whichever of the above combo we use, I’d say they act like a defensive grouping rather than a stand out leader, controlling the back 4 (back 3 etc). (Edit: May change after Vestergaard settles in and takes more control). Stephens can be a bit sloppy, losing his man (not that he’s alone there). However, he’s definitely got some skill, and scores goals, so with luck, confidence and practice, I still see scope for big improvements. Sometimes I wonder if Hoedt might be better shifting to a defensive midfield role. He really can pass and without the pressure of being the last line of defence, there may be less errors.
I'm not going to rate them but I do want to see Hoedt and Bednarek together. I still maintain there is a good CB in Hoedt if he listens to what Ralph says. I thought Bednarek was good yesterday. He made a cracking challenge in the first half to prevent a certain goal (and spare Targett's blushes).
Was it Bednarek who tried bringing the ball down on the edge of our box with a player bearing down on him in the first half, that was shocking !!!!!! Like beyond shocking , just head the ****ing thing away!!!
Obviously none have covered themselves in glory recently. However, Jack Stephens, Wes Hoedt, and Bednarek all have considerable improvement in them. Any pairing of those two could be moulded into a decent unit imo, especially with Romeu going through people in front of them. Yoshida and, probably, Vestergaard, just aren’t good enough imo. Just as concerning if we are going to press opponents up the pitch, are our full backs. You expect CBs to be slow; FBs can’t afford to be. Lack of pace appears to be Targett’s one significant weakness. Not sure about Valery, he kept getting skinned by Murphy yesterday, but maybe Murphy is really fast? Neither FB got much help from the CBs, as TLL pointed out to me yesterday. Last comment; to defend effectively, you do so as a unit. We’re miles from that recently, but it’s no lost cause, even with the personnel we have
Yes that was awful, but it was just about the only thing he did wrong yesterday. He was by far our best defender, though that isn’t saying much. Stephens helped to settle the ship a bit too.
Ah yea he had a decent enough game , but that one mistake is sometimes all it takes to cost you the game. Do that against a top striker and it’s a goal every time , we were just fortunate yesterday that it was only Paterson we were up against .
