Bruce is as far as I am concerned the best central centre half we have, when we play 3 CBs. Either side of him Chester/Dawson/Davies. He was excellent in the FA cup final. He's been brilliant when played this season, he always wins the aerial challenges and is decent on the ground in the tackle. As a defender a key attribute is to win the ball, which he's brilliant at. As for a pretty pass, we have other players to do that.
I don't think he's good in the air at all. A defender who's good in the air scores the odd goal at set pieces. Bruce rarely even comes close when he goes up for set pieces. I'm not saying that's a vital thing but it's an indicator of aerial ability. I get what you're saying that passing the ball might not be important for a defender but it depends. If he just plays a simple ball to a free defender or midfielder and lets them get on with it then great. The issue though is that very often it's a completely aimless punt into touch, and at this level we have enough problems keeping hold of the ball without needlessly doing that. I remember one game last season (think it was Liverpool at home) where a mate of mine who's got it in for Bruce a bit was going on about his hoofing it before the game. From the kickoff we played it back to Bruce and he literally cleared it sideways into the stand under no pressure, I'm not talking about those hopeful balls up the wing that we often do from kickoffs, for this he just turned to face the East stand and calmly clipped it halfway up there, it almost looked deliberate. Needless to say I immediately got a 'told you so' text from said mate.
There could have been others that tried behind closed doors that we dont know about. It wouldnt surprise me if people hadnt at least given us a call about the possibility of selling Jelly, Davies or Chester.
He said that the game against Everton was the best we played all season which was 442, so he was tempted to keep the same team as much as possible.
It's hard to name anything like the same team really. Our entire left side from the game (both left backs, and the left winger) got injured, Brady can come into one of those positions, but what about the other, Figueroa? No thanks. Brady at LB might be too attacking for this game, so I can only see a back 3.
At the moment I have to agree with this, Davies is having a worrying wobble, and it's gone on far too long.
Wouldn't mind seeing that but can you see Bruce starting Brady LB? He only ever seems to put him there when we're chasing a goal, usually at home.
Ince in for Brady for me, Brady continues to flatter to deceive. I like the lad but his end product has been sadly lacking of late.
I think that is what they call a double oxymoron Sterling. There is of course, the 'possibility' that both Jelly and Abel will get injured in the first 10 minutes against the Baggies - what the hell do we do then. We have no depth whatsoever in our front line and at this level that is a recipe for disaster.
In the interest of accuracy, Bruce has averaged a pass completion rate of 80% this season. He's also won 72% of aerial duels, more than any of our other defenders.
Well if both get injured we'll have to play Sagbo upfront by himself until we bring somebody else in. I don't doubt that we're looking at another striker, that's obvious. But there isn't a rush, if we picked up two injuries to both front men against WBA then we'd have a week to sort it out. I don't understand the rush to bring in another striker, especially when that striker is going to spend most of his time sat on the bench.
1) He was alright, he wasn't excellent, he did his job and so he should, he wasn't spectacular and I had a very good view of it. 2) He's been alright, yeah, but brilliant is very generous, as I said before the results have often overshadowed his personal performances. At the beginning of the season, when we weren't picking up points, he was ****ing awful. It's only in the last 2 or 3 games, when the team as a whole have been doing well, that's his form has picked up. He has actually done very well, credit to him, but it's not a standard I feel he can keep up over the course of the season, he didn't manage it last season and I've seen no evidence that he will this season either. 3) Yep, a key attribute indeed, but the other key attributes, such as positioning, being a goal threat from set pieces, playing the ball out from the back, communication with other defenders, communication with our goalkeeper (the amount of times McGregor has bollocked him is unreal) and starting an attacking move from the back are sadly lacking most of the time. 4) He isn't brilliant at it, he's alright at it. Again, it's all well and good when the team are doing well, but in the games where we've fallen behind and conceded, he's been nowhere to be found. You can have all the tackling ability in the world but if you aren't doing the basics of Premier League defending, how the hell are you going to last in this league? 5) It's not about a 'pretty pass'. Lumping the ball down field, as is AB's speciality, often results in the opposition gaining possession and pushing on, leaving us vunerable. Our other defenders (including Maguire, who has barely played) opt to play the simple pass out of defence into midfield, thus setting up a forward move. Most of Bruce's passes go backwards, or to another defender. The latter isn't bad, but it hardly inspires confidence when we're 2-0 down. We do have defenders who can play out of defence, we have at least 3 who can do it in Dawson, Davies and Chester; they can all tackle, pass and do everything Bruce Jnr can comfortably, so it begs to question, why exactly should a player who's punching far above his weight be considered our 'best defender' recentley (Dawson injury aside)? Or, perhaps more pertinently, why should he stake a claim in the side over Maguire or McShane?
The Tea Lady would do a better job. If we brought in Defoe do you think he'd be sat on the bench? I understand what you are saying Sterling but, through injuries to key players, Jelly nursing injuries and Abel failing to fire we are in a precarious position here. Should Jelly and Abel be injured (heaven forbid) a week is not enough to bring in 2 capable strikers who probably would not have played together previously and would have nowhere near enough time to 'bond' with our current players. The following is 10 hours old according to the source which clearly states that Bruce is after TWO Strikers this month: http://www.newsnow.co.uk/A/752590017?-1899:1000:t
I wouldn't be against that, I agree Brady has not should the application that he gave the early past of last season before he got injured.
