I agree, he's better than he thinks he is ... If only we could create some composite players ... Nathan needs Charlie's confidence Charlie needs Shane's speed Shane needs Charlie's finishing Davo needs Dusans's skill Dusan needs Davo's attitude etc.
If Shane Long could finish regularly... ...he'd be playing for Liverpool, let's face it. I mean he even scored against them last season, and they still didn't buy him in the summer.
Unfortunately they'd then play for someone else. As for Nathan, he probably needs someone to believe in him and kick him up the backside*. Apparently Davis said something about the youngsters getting away with stuff and needing discipline....I immediately thought of Redmond and Boufal. *Guardiola would be a prime example....he was driven to shout at Redmond after a match.
My take on Redmond is that he lacks intelligence; the more time he has to think the more unsure he is and he often thereafter takes the wrong options or waanders into any available space . I am not sure he will improve much in the future simply because of this limitation. He will have some good days and possibly some great days on occasion, but believe he will be at best a squad player.
To say he lacks intelligence is both harsh and unsubstantiated by the evidence you've offered. I see a player who has lost confidence in his own ability and consequently never seems to know whether to stick or twist for fear of making the wrong call. I also wonder whether fans ever consider that they are watching very young men. They will be full of bravado, but this will almost certainly be a cover for insecurity. Booing and whinging at the poor sod isn't going to make him a better player. I'd like to see Nathan, and Sofiane for that matter encouraged to go at defenders. Yes, they'll lose the ball a few times but they'll pick up free kicks and - glory glory- every so often leave the defender on his arse and seriously scare **** out of the opposition. I knew that after the Newcastle game my season would be confined to TV watching and so I wasn't at Wigan. What I saw on telly impressed me in the second half when first Sofiane and then later Nathan did look to get forward. Nathan had a bit of luck with the ball that found Cedric, but it was reward for looking up and playing the ball forward. Presuming Lemina was his target, had he not got the deflection the outcome could have been the same, so he deserves the plaudits for the assist. Yes, he will have poor days. So too did Matt LeTissier. So too Mick Channon. I worshipped Matt and Mick, but even their most ardent fans recognised that they had some stinkers. They had other games when they were just OK. From the logic of this post, they should therefore have been thought of as squad players.
^^ This. They are young. I am quite a confident person, but it has taken me to reach 48 years old to feel happy and confident in my abilities. And I don't have 30,000+ people judging me at work constantly. I know they are well compensated for it, but they are all young and at different levels of maturity. I often think of Bobby Moore as a mature leader - and older than he was. He was only just 25 when he won the world cup - mature, but still a kid.
I'm still waiting to see how he will do in an aggressive formation on the right. I've said this a million time before but I'm sure thats where he was bought to play.
New manager comes in and people start saying Redmond has potential again. I don’t think this is his level sadly. I think we just need to accept that some promising youngsters are not going to make it in the PL. If we go down he could be handy in the championship.
Quicker than me, pal. At 76+ I am still not confident of my abilities. Sorry, my wife has just corrected me. I haven't got any abilities to have confidence in! Bobby Moore was a rare beast, it's true. But he had his demons. He had his doubts. He didn't have a forum where people made judgements about him. Can you imagine how this board would have gone into meltdown when he screwed up royally against Poland in '73 and put us in the position we were in when we played against "the clown" at Wembley. Apologies to those who haven't got a clue what I'm talking about - google it. Suffice to say that even Bobby, arguably one of the greatest ever players to pull on an England shirt, could have a bad game.
As in most sports, all the players in the Premier league have the skills to be there. What makes them great players is a ridiculous amount of self confidence, either naturally (Christiano) or drilled by a great manager (Sterling). I don't think we have a Ronaldo but I do think we have a few Sterlings.
At the moment, I think Maya is the better, more consistent defender. Sure he's had a few howlers in his time but that was when he was in and out of the team like a fart in a colander. When he was getting a proper run in the team, he was solid. What he doesn't have is Wes's confidence on the ball and array of passing. Some of his diagonal balls and forward passes in general have been fantastic. MP2 really liked that he was confident on the ball as he was all about possession football. It will be interesting to see whether Hughes rates the same qualities when Maya is back fully fit, as looking at his Stoke teams in the past he hasn't had ball playing CD's, instead opting for the John Smiths approach with the likes of Shawcross.
I only suggested composote players and you're all selling them off already I only want them to be a little better then they can stay