From tears to glory...or maybe not! I honestly dont know what to say about this game ! An absolutt ****ing disaster in the first half and i cant really blame us for it either! A few talking points for me below. Davies. needs to be dropped for a game or two he has done amazing but he needs a rest mentally, he is also causing ash major problems by being out of position and making poor passes,a great talent but lets take him out before his confidence goes. Vorm. Yes amazing keeper when it comes to shot stopping,not improving at all in commanding his area,again this gives our centre jacks major headaches, all the times he has saved us we can certainly forgive him for the Odd howler. Routledge. Man of the match by me. Starting to look undropable and has replaced natten dyer as our number 1 threat,has never complained when being dropped and in all honesty Made dyers petulent sending off look like the action of a big time charlie, love the guys attitude since being here and glad he is getting a chance to show why Spurs,villa,Newcastle and many others rated him as one of the future stars of the game. Ki. Getting better and better,for the first time we saw a bit of swagger from him and britton,they look more fluid and ki has a greater work rate than jdg. He again is now first choice by a mile and its Nice to see him be able to do everything with a ball,shoot ,pass,tackle,touch ,control. Luke moore. Everybodies favourite punch bag, ive always rated him as my many arguments with KJ Will go dess, for me he changed the game when he came on and is also now first choice after today, has alot of talent and great control,something which does let DG down often. Great visjon for routs Goal a pass that DG would never have thought of never mind Made. Ash williams. We take him for granted,when he plays poor the team plays poor,getting back on form,hopefully he rests for a couple of weeks and comes back stronger,valgquiz performance today ,needs to work on his graders though! Could of had a hat trick otherwise!. Michu. Say what you like about this player, but he sure knows where the net is! Gives his all and did well holding the ball up. Overall its 2 points lost and alot of questions as to why we seem to only play when we Are behind,laudrups system is not as fluid as it should be but when we needed to make passes count we did that,its almost like we need the intensity to Get our passing game going ! Im at a loss as to why this happens but we did learn alot today. We know our best 11 and im sorry to say but at the moment it doesnt include DG ,nathen dyer or JDG . We showed plenty of fighting spirit and it maybe a case of getting alot of bad luck in a couple of games. The real man of the match was of course their goal keeper! **** me he was jammy as hell,credit where its due he saved them a point today and we should be thankful he didnt play against us at wembely ! Im split, but overall credit to the boys today,special mention of leon britton ,the guy is up There with the greatest swans players ever IMO ,he looked a class above today and i seriously Think if he was playing for a big team he would be regarded as the rock to which England would build their team around, their loss..stupid ****s! Thoughts on the most one sided draw ive ever seen?
WE should have had at least one penalty! agree with most, but can't believe you included Dyer in your opinion of the starting eleven! You cannot be SERIOUS!!!!.................... PS: Agree on Davies!.........
I can and i am! Look,nathen did nothing really wrong today truth be told ,but i did notice his work rate has dropped off big time, he hasnt really been a threat the last few games either,if we Are persisting to play narrow then pablo just as well have a bash, rotating between them Will hopefully push them onto a higher performance level. I Get the feeling recently that nathen feels he is undropable, we have 3 very good players so let them live off the previous game for selection not what they done a few games ago.
Yes he was close behind routs for me, looks a terrific signing and Will keep getting better IMO . He looks very much like the complete footballer ! I would have no problem playing him anywhere in our team, Nice to see him and leon starting to connect the dots, ash looked better today too, which is a massive boost to us.
Thought ki was superb today. I think I saw he had a 96% pass completion. I also think Chico was brilliant, which helped ash back to his best, dominated in the air and didn't miss a tackle, our crazy swashbuckling centre back!
As far as I'm concerned, it will take some player, to squeeze out Dyer! He sucks in so many opposition players, and has always been a real handful, Dropping Dyer would not be one of my options!..............
At the moment I'm feeling Hernandez is better as an impact player until he has really settled into the team. I still think Nathan is a huge player for us - although I did say abut 10 mins before he went off today that he's not in the game enough so the change was the right change. Either way, we have 3 decent wingers and all can interchange.
This just shows that in the middle and out wide we have a number of options and hopefully as the season goes on we will get games where we exert control like we are capable of. But we must toughen up at the back at this level where a top side only needs a sniff and its a goal. We are now seeing what a loss Caulker is and of course Neil Taylor. Its a shame that AVB recognises what a good player Caulker is!
If we can limp to the january window then maybe we can sign some defensive cover. Nathen is of course a great player but he IMO has to Get used to being subbed if it aint going well, we have 3 players and the only dead cert to start right now is routledge.
I don't want to talk too soon, but we have usually, stopped a slump in form with a draw, so hopefully the next game is a win, though we don't come back from international breaks very well either! Oh well it's still early season, just thinking aloud lads.................
Norway, think that is a fair assessment. Routledge was very good, but for me Ki was MOTM, thought the lad was excellent and improving all the time. He looks like he's developing a good partnership with Leon. Disappointed with Vorm for the poor save, but as you mention I'll cut him some slack as his saves have earned us may a point. I'm in agreement that young Davies needs a break, he stepped in for Taylor when needed and the lad has performed extremely well, but I feel now it's time for a change. DG, is not doing the business for me, as mentioned, Moore's not everybody's cut of tea, but I felt he offered us a better outlet when he came on. He should have scored within minutes of coming on, he has a eye for a decent pass he get's in some good positions, and was very unlucky with his header. On the Dyer front, I still feel he's a first choice, but saying that Hernandez looked good when he came on, but he will need time to adjust. So I feel Dyer will be a first choice for a couple of more games then who knows. Ash was much better today and put in a much improved display than of recent weeks. In fact I thought the team as a whole put on a much improved display, how the hell we were loosing at half time is beyond me. We should have been two nil up before they even got a sniff. What impressed me was that we still had the belief we could get something out of the game and the second half was a gutsy display, when we got back on level terms their was only one team that was going to win, unfortunately we couldn't find that precious third goal. Onto the manager, one thing for sure under ML he must enlist confidence into he lads, to go back out and put in a great second half performance and get something from a game we would have lost 12 months ago under a certain person!!!! I was panicking at half time but there are far worse teams out there than us. ONWARDS AND UPWARDS!!!!
MOM KI without doubt although Leon was his usual self , calm composed and with a knack of winning balls he had no right to . Ki is Mr composure on the ball and looks to move the ball forward much more than his predecessor did but will also keep it simple .I do like him and his displays are getting better each time I see him.
With regards to Ki - he does seem class. I remember watching Wales v England U21 at Ninian Park about 2 or 3 years ago and Ramsay was playing - he really stood out as being class and I get the same feeling when I watch Ki play - he just stands out from the crowd. He seems composed on the ball and knows how to pick out a pass. I can't wait for him to get his first goal. He seems destined to be a star for us. The South Koreans are lovin' it.
There were a lot of pluses - Ki, Routs, Chico, Britton, Williams, Rangel... I remember some article comparing Ki to a young Gerrard and I'm starting to see it. He looks dangerous in front of goal and seeks out cutting passes behind full backs in a similar way. He played well throughout but the difference in the second half was that he drove forward more - as his confidence grows with games, he needs to be more positive and forceful and a bit quicker into the tackle. Chico was a pleasing one for me. He had a bit of a wobble leading up tto eh sending off and I was wondering what kind of defender we had then. Someone said "swashbuckling" earlier and that's right - he threw himself in there in the second half and was a big part of the more positive display. I can't help but think that the decline of DG is mayeb down to the different approach to the team now - bringing the wingers in more often means that he is receiving more short passes ad quick exchanges. This maybe asks more questions of his touch and his speed of thought. Still, he doesn't become a bad player overnight and he was superb for us last year. I really hope that this is the beginning of a turn around for Laurup - he strikes me as nice guy with a refreshingly attacking style so I hope he succeeds. He does need to protect the defence more, though, as defending isn't just the defenders' job. I did notice that he was allowing the wingers out wide a little more that did offer options and a bit more protection for the full backs. It wasn't hugging the touch line like before but somewhere inbetween - making them a little more unpredictable. P.S. how that wasn't handball, I'll never know.
Why does he have to be dropped? Why does he need a rest mentally? He hasn't put a foot wrong since coming in for Taylor. He's growing into the role and pushing forward more also. Well done to the lad.
We have had a good number of changes this season, and it takes time for players to get used to one another, yes they may be pros, but they still got to gel. We can all see some of the positives developing, and I'm sure results will come, some observations from me, on todays game in general are, firstly we seemed in the first half to rush our passing game, and put pressure on ourselves when the passes went astray, I think that it's down to the tempo that Laudrup has demanded, and I would like it to be not so hurried and panicky. My second point is in relation to Laudrup! I wish he would get out of his cushty little seat, and be a bit animated, just a little like Mourinho, he could be our ''Special One' then!.................
Well,if you cant see that he makes glaring mistakes thats fine, we all see things differently sometimes. Its more about protecting his progress as well, he gave the ball away in non pressure situations and that IMO is always an indicator of indecision and lack of confidence. He Will do well for us but he needs a game or two to gather his thoughts Together and take stock of his massive progress,we have signed cover so lets intergrate the new guy as well, it is after all going to be a Long season.
