Good post mate, couldn't agree with your last few words more. I was proud of the support especially after we'd started so badly ... ... it was a shame, but no surprise, that some people on social media were so quick to attack and so savage. When kids like Rigg and Aouchiche were so brave, in such a game, it's sad that some supporters are so relentless in their criticism.
Quality post. A lot to be positive about and you’ve picked out some key points. Rigg showed he deserves to be in the team.
I think he will sign a deal, just a good feeling i have about it but you never know i suppose What i love about this lad is his willingness to do the dirty side of the game, its where Ekwah massively lets himself down. Its one of the 1st things i look for when scouting players, are they willing to get their foot stuck in. For me in the championship it is a must, most quality championship players will do the hard yards and get stuck in, as well as being technically good This lad has everything youd want in a CM, he will score goals for sure, can pick out a pass, works hard, gets stuck in and hes a great communicator - he was barking orders last night at times, thats unreal for a 16 yr old
What with a work commitment, and a few personal issues, the last thing I should do is plan a trip for the QPR game ... ... but I'm doing it to see Rigg play in a Sunderland shirt.. These things matter.
Spot on. Closest one I have seen who 'does the lot' in terms of understanding the game, making forward runs, putting tackles in and being positive and aggressive on the front foot was Don Hutchison. I know we have a Bellingham, Dan Neil is quality, Clarke is the superstar this season and Ballard will get us a few quid but if we get Rigg to sign a 5 year deal, he is the diamond imo.
Hope the personal issues are ok but work wise I always feel you've got to have balance. Work is your contracted hours after that worry about it the next day. Mind you I only work in a factory so if you have a job of importance apologies ha.
Agreed made a difference at Norwich and had a very good game last night . Always looking to go forward. Great to see. Love watching the lad amongst seasoned professionals.
It’s a bit of an eye opener that a sixteen year old player was our best player on the night and he should be very very proud , Neil and Ekwah were sluggish and slow in comparison . The passing again was yet again behind the player as I have said in earlier posts , I would suggest they look at a video of the ladies match I watched on Sunday Arsenal v Spurs where the passing was always progressive and ball played in front of the receiving player or in to space in front of the player to run on to . The coaches should be stamping down on how slow we are playing , defenders hate facing up to fast players and when Mundle and Adil came on their speed at last got us back in to the game but too late to force an equaliser .
What was Neil’s reaction marra,don’t know how i missed it, i was totally focused on clapping Rigg off to take any notice
Think it's fair to say that Rigg isn't just an ordinary 16yr old and is clearly going to be a huge talent.
I think Neil was ok, he had a lot of responsibility and did his job well. Ekwah looks like he's hit his ceiling for the time being and needs taking out of the team for now for everyone's benefit. Agreed about our slow play, one thing that bugs me is how we stroll about when we've got a corner or a throw in, there's no urgency. When we're behind we should be rushing around to get the game moving forward and keep the pressure on but we act like we're 3 up.
IMO Choudary was luck that it was not given as he done enough to put Ballard off so for me was it should have been given as Ballard was bearing down on goal and the Keeper may well have got to the ball first or he could have fumbled it or he could have mis-timed it and brought Ballard down we don't know because was already on the floor. The handball incident was just as interesting as well because he definitely denied a scoring opportunity and his hand was not within the silhouette which is how they tend to explain it these days. The only thing that I could not tell is if the ball once struck deflects of his own thigh on to his hand as if that was the case no handball. But if that was not the case then I think the handball should have stood and a penalty awarded. I do think if both incidents were put to VAR the we would probably have been awarded 2 penalties in that game. Weather you agree or not these kind of decisions are commonplace in todays football. As for their goal I was a bit pissed off with Hume for not attempting to jump till I saw that the Leicester player had 2 hands on his shoulders which really impedes him from challenging properly, however to be in that position in the first place brings up more questions than answers (should Hume have gone down and hoped the ref gives him a free kick as this season they seem very reluctant to do that (Remember the Mags goal against Arsenal) All this ambiguity around decisions makes it difficult for defenders to do their job and the standard of refereeing really needs to improve.
I actually thought neil was very good, 1st half he was ok - baring in mind he was up against 2 very good cms in winks n dewsbury-hall. Neil started to control the game in the 2nd half for us and once again does the dirty work for the team. I noticed quite a few times he went to pass early but teammates werent making the move to show for it so he needed to take an extra touch or 2. That's why rigg has to start as hes on a similar wavelength to neil, always thinking a step or 2 ahead, its an area jobe n ekwah really struggle with If we can keep both nxt season id love rigg n neil together with a specialist cdm alongside them, have jobe n ekwah as back ups to rotate with. I would add that i do think jobe might be quality nxt season, will have more experience under his belt and hopefully have a manager that can unlock his potential
Enjoyed the game well especially the 2nd half and with Rigg the sky is the limit,there was a point in the 2nd half when Rigg got caught in possession he didn’t get a shout from a team m8 this lead to 3 blokes behind me shouting wake up ya clown - thats the closest I’ve come to dragging someone out there seat and down the stairs some of our fans are unreal
Decided to look at some stats for a few of our players from this game Neil - 95% pass success rate, he misplaced 3 passes and he completed 100% of his long passes. He also won 89% of his defensive duels. Where he needed to improve is blocking passing lanes better, thats where he misses an Evans type - he had zero interceptions and 2 ball recoveries. Thought he got better as the game wore on but if he can improve his defensive awareness the skys yhe limit for him imo. Rigg - 75% pass success rate, 100% dribble success rate and what stood out the most he won 77% of his duels (thats unreal for a CM - normally anything above 55-60% is quality). I narrowed down those duels to defensive ones only and he still won 67% of them. He had 2 interceptions and 5 ball recoveries as well. All this and hes only 16 YRS OLD!!! Adil - he completed 88% of his passes, what stood out was 25% of his passes were forward passes and he completed all bar 1 of them. He also had 2 interceptions and had 3 ball recoveries Always love seeing if the stats back up what i watched and i would say stats above did prove the eye test right
