Firpo is ****. Bamford is ****. Struijk has some ability but has lost all confidence and melts under pressure. He needs to go and play in a **** league like Austria or Holland and he might just turn it around. I like Hjelde as a centre back. He reads the game well and is a better player than Cooper. His problem is that Cresswell is better than him and you can't pair two super inexperienced kids as your centre back partnership if you want to win the league. I'm happy for Hjelde to leave but with a major sell on clause inserted like we did with Caprile.
Smyth at YEP putting out a story that Farke ripped into Cresswell and Hjelde in the last match. Well we knew he told Charlie to stay on his feet and later spoke to Hjelde on the touch line. Old news but now big news? 2 Italian clubs chasing Hjelde and even Sampdoria are sniffing too thanks to Radz but Hjelde is our only LB right now
By the time we have a team good enough to win this league, Hjelde and Cresswell could have gotten many years experience
I watched alot of Cresswell for our 21's. I also watched him closely last season at Millwall where after a nervy 1st half of the season, he settled in and was probably Millwalls best defender until he got injured. He looked really solid and physical. Just what we need. I've seen less of Hjelde but again, kept a close eye on him at Rotherham 2nd half of last season where they played him at left back. He was very hit and miss and was dropped to the bench towards the end. However, I've seen him for the 21s at centre half and he just seemed to be in the right place at the right time over and over again. He's strong, good in the air but not the quickest. I don't want him at left back but happily as a reserve left centre back. I'd sell Struijk and keep Hjelde.
Yep. I just think a back line of Dramah, Cresswell, Hjelde and Firpo is a recipe for disaster. Especially with Meslier in goal. Young players are great but it's nice to have a spattering of experience through the spine of the side.
You don't think Cresswell played well at Millwall last season? You think Hjelde is worse than Struijk?
Creswell i would keep.. Struijk needs to be gone.. Leo went to barnsley and then to rotherham... Was he a standout?
No but he didn't really let anyone down either. Struijk has let us down consistently. He's up there with Firpo and Bamford as the three underperformers and that takes some doing considering the **** served up recently. Hjelde has potential to step up. Struijk has proved he can't make the step up.
I really take no notice of U21 football. It’s nowhere near like playing for the first team. Cresswell at least has championship experience, though as someone else pointed out, he was dropped a few times. From what you are saying Hjelde wasn’t better than either CB at Rotherham. We need to go for promotion this season. We’re not a development side.
Rotherham took him as a left back. I personally think he is a centre half. He's not got the pace or engine for left back. I understand that there is a step up from u21s but there are certain qualities that transfer over. I watched Hjelde partner Cooper in a 21s game last season and Hjelde looked the better player. More composed, read the game better, better positioning, won more headers and actually got Cooper out of the **** on more than one occasion. He looked ready to be tested at a higher level hence the loan out where he did OK as a left back. He's still very young and has time to improve. Struijk is awful and yet much older. I'd sell Struijk and put Hjelde in his place as reserve left back/left centre back. Cresswell ended up being the best centre half at Millwall after Christmas once he got his head around the level required. He was fantastic until a facial injury finished his season.
Additionally, I watched a **** load of Gelhardt for Sunderland. He was garbage. I'm not even sure he can maintain the level required to play Championship football. He will probably end up playing lower level stuff imo.
Not much of a coach at Rotherham if they didn’t notice that he was the best CB at the club even if he was meant to play LB. Perhaps he wasn’t? Perhaps you are the romantic that believes all our U21s are world beaters being held back by (all) our coaches? Perhaps you overestimate their ability?
Who is saying he was the best centre back at Rotherham? I watched an u21 game against Southampton at ER last season and a certain Willie Gnonto made his debut for the club that day in a side that included Cooper, Firpo and Bamford. I came on here and said that Gnonto looked a decent player in patches. I said Firpo looked bang average even at that level. I think I said that Hjelde looked better than Cooper who looked rusty. I picked out Summerville as the bright spark that needed promoting to the senior squad ASAP and a few weeks later he was scoring the winner at Anfield. I also said that Sonny Perkins was all hype and won’t make it at Leeds (which I stand by to this very day). Gyabi impressed me with his footwork but was incredibly naive and lost the ball too many times on the edge of his own area (I don't think he has learnt since) It's all on the forum if you can be arsed finding it. I'm not one of those who blows sunshine up youth team players arses. In fact it's very rare that I do that. I've seen Cresswell and Dramah be very successful at Championship level. I'm happy to involve both of them. I think Struijk needs to move on and Hjelde can slip in to that role of bit part defender.
Hjelde has played for the first team at cb where I thought he did well… and at left back where his distribution was gash. I like him, but he always saw himself as a cb despite playing left back regularly. He’ll be a decent cb for someone. Who, where and at what level I don’t know. The Kid’s still only 19.
