The fact Maddison went off against West Ham shows that Ange probably learnt from the Brighton game. By not changing anything in that match we accepted defeat, which essentially went against all of Ange’s principles of saying he always wants to win. By changing it against West Ham we pushed for and got the win. It was a great and proactive piece of management, a stark contrast to the fiasco at Brighton. Rooney, Bellingham, Lennon, Bale, Vini Jr, Milner, Yamal, Gray last season at Leeds all had no problems playing regularly at 17 (some at 16!). There seems to be a myth that because he’s 17 he can’t play more than a few sporadic starts. No one’s wanting him to be ran into the ground 90 mins after 90 mins like Kane and Son were under previous managers, just to be given the chances that are being wasted on Werner. There’s going to be a big call for Ange on the weekend because now Odobert is back, we’re almost certainly not going to name three wingers on the bench. If Moore’s dropped instead of Werner it’ll be a travesty.
Plenty of mentions for Moore and Bergvall, rather understandably, but Archie Gray's another teenager that deserves credit. Asked to do various jobs and just goes in and gets on with it. Lots of maturity and composure for an 18-year-old. Given what a meal we normally make of these things, it's nice to have 3 wins out of 3. 9 changes, some much-needed match fitness for some of the squad and some bright moments from the youngsters. The schedule's getting congested now, so the rotation was important. The performance wasn't perfect, but we still got over the line.
Having a definitive style of play should make easier and more effective the swapping of personnel. Everyone should understand their role...unfortunately, that includes the opposition.
Everybody trying the low block and countering can get quite tedious, can't it? We just need to find a little more composure once we break it down.
Ange on Werner: “He’s definitely down in confidence, you can see that. It's a difficult thing to get out of sometimes. All we can do is support him and try to get him to a place where he feels more confident. He needs to find a way out of it because for us in those positions we need players to make an impact.” ———————— I don’t know if it’s wishful thinking/ wishful interpreting on my end but the final part of that last sentence gives the impression Ange might (finally!) be done with him, or close to being done with him - it’s about 10 months too late but better late than never. There were reports coming from Germany earlier that we won’t stand in Werner’s way if he gets an offer in January. I’m not sure how it’d work as we apparently (and stupidly!) don’t have a break clause in the loan but I suppose if Leipzig get a loan offer on similar terms to us (doubtful seeing as we’re paying his full £165k a week wage) or a buy offer then an agreement can be made to cancel the loan. Might be a case of hoping the Saudis come knocking, very much doubt anyone in Europe can either afford nor even want him.
Someone on Twitter called Moore the “Pie & Mash Neymar” and frankly I’m in love with it. Gonna use that from now on.
I enjoyed the game, brilliant 'seats' in the safe standing area in the South stand. A decent performance in my opinion, we had a lot of control created a few chances particularly 2nd half, never really allowed them into the game, yes they had a few moments but never a period of control. I got to witness Mikey Moore announce himself on the world. I thought that Maddison played well and that for someone who had played so little this season Richarlison put in a good shift. Dragusin put his nightmare from the Qarabag behind him, though he will have tougher tests in the coming weeks in this tournament. AZ were poor and I thought quite cyncial, but the ref had a good game (as they often due in Europe). Gray and Bergvall look very much as if they are part of a very bright future, nothing seems to phase Archie so far. All in all a good night just needed a couple more goals to make it more comfortable.
Werner hat trick incoming tonight. COYS[/QUOTE] I tried that RCL against west ham and he stunk the place out (Werner not RCL )
At this time in the season, I will take many such performances if it means as much serious rotation of the squad as possible prior to mid december. The question now is how brave the manager is on that front regarding PL starting XIs (specifically how many changes from the strongest starting XI would be possible to still beat most PL opponents) .
IMHO there should be multi-hour training sessions where the squad work on that and nothing else (fast forward passing across/behind the flanks, intricate passing thru the gaps in the wall etc). Eventually a "muscle memory" will develop, and it will not be a problem thereafter.
Wasn’t able to watch the game but I’ve seen the highlights and obligatory Mikey Moore comps. What a player we have on our hands. On the flip side, and I say this as someone who was an advocate of bringing Werner back for a year, he’s gone to pieces. Looks utterly bereft of confidence and even the basics like a first touch seem to have disappeared. Moore has the opportunity to make a statement with Sonny out, Odobert just back, and Werner in the pits. I think we’ll handle him carefully in any case, based on what Ange is saying, but I’m really excited. He should obviously be getting Werner’s minutes from here going forward. I just hope the club (and we, the fans) don’t forget that he’s literally a child still, and will need managing.
Highlights: You have to wonder how things could've gone if Moore heads that early chance home. Lankshear missed one in Hungary from a Werner cross, too. We finally got a penalty, but it should've been three. There's a touch on the Maddison one, but it's after he's come through him. The late one just felt like the ref wanted to wrap things up and go home!
It was difficult not to award us the penalty we got, given the defender managed to foul Maddison and Bergvall simultaneously
Can’t stand him, he says he’s a Spurs fan but also has love for West Ham, Newcastle, Leeds and other teams. Plus he’s a rabid Zionist.
Or if either Richy or Johnson had got on the end of one Moores great crosses, or Johnson convert what would have been a candidate for goal of the month/season!
