Agree with Olof here. He's been **** last season regardless of any excuses. It's up to him to turn those opinions around. Only he can do that. I can't do that for him. I'm open to changing my mind but I will only change it on evidence.
Charles DL do we thinkhe will be strong enough for the pl BECAUSE looking at him I have my doubts he seems that he could easily get dispossed What are your views Doc and Matt etc
Either that or his touch and technique is THAT good that it won't matter. It would be a hell of a gamble.
Sounds like the club are doing a lot of gambling from reading some of the posts on here Firpo is shyt yet Marsch seems to want him as a starter, so Jesse gamble here especially if nobody coming in and Davies sold to Ipswich. Orta and Jesse gambling on CDK by breaking our transfer fee record.
He was man of the match for me (or are we supposed to say MVP now?). Boundless energy - and he used it well & often. He was responsible for a lot of the driving forward, either by passing or going through himself. Very impressive performance for an experienced pro, so to see it in a wee kid was unbelievable. Plays like that all the time & he'll be first name on the sheet. Over on the other side, Roca played very well too, but he settled for holding back & setting up attacks with some cracking through balls. Unruffled is a good way to describe his play, especially in tight situations. Both must have been a nightmare to play against if you were attacking too. Let's just say that their tackling & covering was superb, & both capable of some very, ahem! robust challenges. Just to put you in the picture, if this was say, a cup game, then Blackpool would have amassed their highest card tally ever, including reds. They didn't even hide some of the ridiculous rugby tackles, one of which was responsible for Gray being sub'd. TBF, I had mentioned to my lad a few minutes before that Gray had been holding his right hammy, so perhaps it was that which was the reason for taking him off. Meslier, Koch, & Struijk had very little to do. Firpo was alive when attacking, but had his work cut out defensively. Bear in mind the level of opposition when I say this! Almost forgot to mention that Drameh had a good game, but his inexperience told on one occasion when Koch was instructing him to run up the wing to receive a pass. He started. stopped. Started. Stopped. And again for a third time (I think), but Koch had to pass elsewhere. Koch was not a happy bunny! Nor was Drameh, but perhaps it was just his embarrassment showing. Rodrigo should have bossed this game, but didn't. Don't get me wrong, he did ok, but for an internationalist who cost £27m, he was poor. I'm not sure he'll be a first pick this season if he plays like that. Some neat passing at time, but some absolute howlers well on the road to nowhere (anyone else a Talking Heads fan? ). Greenwood put in a shift, but you could never say that he was head & shoulders above. He seems to be our set piece man now, so I wonder if that gets him pencilled in as a starter just for that ability? Perhaps one of the new boys might offer some competition in that department. One think I like about Greenwood is his defensive work & sometimes brutal tackling. Not a problem for me, usually, but there was at least one occasion where he should have got a red, but the attack (yes, attack) was missed by the ref, as it was so late that the ref was following play & missed it. Basically, he elbowed the chap with some force to his chest. Totally unnecessary, & bang out of order. I love the robust play aspect, & my bias always allows our players leniency, 'for trying really hard'. Not on this occasion. I'd have fined him if I was JM. On the left we had Harrison, who was simply Harrison. Some great play, some poor play, but 100% effort & never far from the ball & always available. Finally, lonely boy Joffy up front was really on his game. Quite apart from anything else, his footwork is almost on a Messi level. A prime example was his layoff for Rodrigo's goal when the through ball got caught up in his feet. How he managed to do that in such a composed manner was absolutely wonderful. All of the above was in the 1st half, really. The second half started with some of the kids coming on & whilst it was an exciting game to watch, we never dominated in the way we managed in the 1st half. Indeed it was a typical scrappy match, & became more scrappy when the next crop of kids came on, making it an u21 side, plus Forshaw. I think the Blackpool players smelled blood when they saw such an opportunity bully our kids off the park. Sadly for them, they failed. They forgot that they had to catch them first! I don't think any of the kids took it badly, fortunately. Great to be back watching the lads. All this without playing the majority of our first-teamers, & only 1 new signing too!. A most enjoyable evening out (apart from the car park carnage at the end). Can't imagine we'll have easier games though, tbf, but that's the best way to start your build-up.
Firpo gets a 5 from me for the season as a whole which is mainly because at times his attacking play was extremely promising. If he can turn that into a 7 going forward then he'll be a good signing and if he doesn't then I'd agree we should probably be looking for better. The main area for improvement is in the ' one on one ' situations which he found difficult at times and yes I get it that he's supposed to be a defender first and foremost. What we also need to see from Firpo is a few assists and the odd goal or two to balance out the deficit column.
Thanks for that good to hear a match report from an attendee. Greenwood has never impressed me and can't say I've ever seen Drameh play. Got to ask you but do we need a left back. Rodrigo i think is a sub this season.
Possibly need a new LB, but that's up to Firpo. He has to make the spot belong to him. If we keep Davies, then he will have competition, which is never a bad thing. Let's be honest, last season Firpo was all at sea. It's understandable, and it happens more often than we give credit for. New language, new club, new colleagues, new tactics, new home - it's a lot to take in for anyone. Perhaps he was trying too hard to impress. No doubt we'll find out when the autobiography comes out in 10 years time. So the answer, Steve, remains: 'possibly'.
One thing that does puzzle me is why so few first teamers and new signings played. Isn’t preseason about getting their fitness levels up and ready and getting the team to gel for the start of the season?
Naughty Elland. You know he's never going to be a smart cookie! Then again, some of his outfits would get approval from Rupaul.
Moi? Absolutely not, old boy! Funnily enough, I've never heard of there being a drag show in Scotland. Ever! We just don't see the attraction. Then again, I'm not in touch with Scottish yoof these days, so you never know!
