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claretspice

Whilst I understand the view that the formation looked a bit over thought, I thought it actually worked pretty well. We scored a goal that was straight off the training ground and was exactly what we were trying to achieve - we overloaded down the right with Vitinho, Foster and Odobert, plus Fofana ...

claretspice

He looked good without ever doing much.i think the game plan was to stretch Wolves so wide that it would then open up huge spaces centrally for Odobert which it did at times. He just didn't do anything with it. I'd have maybe put JBG in there at some point and moved Odobert wide. Vk over thought it...

claretspice

A decent performance showing the sort of style and endeavour Kompany would want, undermined by the sort of goal that sums up our season. Muric - 7 - wonderful distribution for the most part although it became a bit frenetic towards the end, one excellent save and a couple of excellent clearances lea...

claretspice

Agree Spice, except JBL not JBG. Thought JBL was playing really well Saturday but was hooked because of the red card (although I might have been tempted to hook Odobert under the circumstances). Anyway, think he carries more of threat than JBG and can do the defensive work. I don't think he's as go...

claretspice

Obviously the team for a quick turn around game depends in good part on physical fitness. There are a few players - most obviously Foster given he's only just returning, and Taylor given he was a fitness doubt on Saturday- for whom you'd imagine the first question wouls be whether they are in peal c...

claretspice

5 weeks isn't that long and it was a shoulder injury so I imagine he'd maintained good fitness throughout. Delcroix has shown to be a poor left back at this level (he looks like he could be a good at centre back) as has Vitinho, so these decisions to keep changing Taylor show what he thinks of him ...

claretspice

Wasn't there a game where Delcroix started ahead of him at left back? Edit: Stopped being lazy and looked it up, Delcroix started v Arsenal with Taylor at left back. A decision equally as baffling as yesterday's. He just loves to tinker. That was Taylor's return from injury after a 5 week injury la...

claretspice

Something to ponder, perhaps? Put it this way, if Taylor was a Kompany signing he'd play every single minute if available, you just feel he plays him begrudgingly. I like Kompany but he's as stubborn as a mule. He's certainly stubborn. Most managers are. And clearly Taylor was not VK's ideally temp...

claretspice

On your last point I can never make my mind up really. We had this problem with Cornet as well, playing wide in a 442 is just a different position to the 433 role and I'm not sure he will ever be good at the defensive side in this system. Ideally we need to put players in their best positions and h...

claretspice

equinox wrote: ↑
Sun Mar 31, 2024 5:10 pm
It's something he would do, has done tbf. spice lad.

I'm not sure that's right to be honest but there we are.

claretspice

For all it was not a foul and certainly not a yellow card, Assignon was naive and rash for the penalty yesterday. He'd got his body across Mudryk and kept pace with him (some feat). He then put his arm across Mudryk and gave him the excuse to go down. If you put an arm across when you don't need to,...

claretspice

A bit dismayed that the knee week assumption is that Kompany left Taylor out from choice rather than because he might be carrying a knock and this is a 3 game week and we're trying to manage players' fitness. I'd have thought the latter was always the more likely answer.

claretspice

I think he's got the tools to be a terrific player and has done remarkably well considering his age and the fact he's in his first season in England and English football. He would probably have benefited from being given a break at times but he's carried a threat in pretty much every game despite ou...

claretspice

Continue to think he's some way from our best centre back but is the best right back at the club.

Hope he's back before the season ends.

claretspice

But they did judge it and that's why we had the long wait. They were still checking for a potential foul by Muric when the goal was scored and that check had to be completed before the goal could be given. Per comment above, not 100% sure that is correct. I think they looked for a reason to disallo...

claretspice

They did actually look at it which is why we had the wait before restarting. What a farce it would have been if they'd decided it was a foul and given Brentford a penalty rather than a goal. Surely, once they'd scored the check should have stopped. I assume they checked for offside against the play...

claretspice

Muric's passing has been delightful in this game, this is what we've been missing. It's less the shot stopping, it's more the build-up play we've been missing with having a keeper who can pick out a penny at 50+ yards while under pressure. If Trafford comes straight back in next match Muric's going...

claretspice

I think all the chopping and changing hasn't helped him and he's not ready to be the senior defensive partner but I could see him developing into a solid premier league defender. If he'd spent this season playing alongside Mee I think he'd have looked considerably more assured. Although you look at...

claretspice

I think there is a good player in Tresor and it may well be that he's someone who, if he is here next season (and I have to say the fact he's been so absent since Christmas and now describes himself as a "ghost" does make me wonder if he's below the threshold for the permanent move to be mandatory),...

claretspice

What we'll be after depends on what we sell of course, but there are always some relative bargains to be found in the Championship and it'd seem to make sense to be looking for some solid Championship experience and leadership to compliment the callow players we'll have in the squad. There are a cou...

claretspice

I'm just saying it's a constant and notably worse than Muric's averages. a few % difference is one thing but when it's 10,20 and even 30% higher then it's vastly different. The eye test says similar. Yes but muric was being specifically asked to locate a particular man and the team structure was de...

claretspice

I suggest the prime culprit for the goal conceded at Spurs was Amdouni, he tries to do a trick instead of protecting the ball. We looked miles better with Muric in goal than we had for any of the previous weeks. The job for our goalkeeper next season is not a sweeper keeper, it's to step out and or...

claretspice

Disagree. The level of passing Muric has is just outrageous. Again, in L1 Traff had similar accuracy / completion at medium and long ranges as he does right now - he just can't do it. I don't understand the relevance of that stat without a lot more detail about how Bolton were instructing him to pl...

claretspice

Read my post before commenting. I mentioned a quote from Jed Wallace and was also talking about us in the Championship not the Premier League. To suggest Trafford is on the same planet as Muric on the ball is fanciful at best, their ability to keep the ball out of the net is another argument but Mu...

claretspice

I thought O'Shea was poor today, the silly booking and the two goals, but it can't help playing alongside Estève at all. I certainly think that Esteve is being targeted. It looks to me like he's being targeting by balls that require him to turn on the basis it's a weakness in his game. It doesn't t...

claretspice

It was utterly stupid.

He's generally done fine, and I'm not convinced it particularly impacted his defending for either goal, but it's indicative of a lack of the dressing room discipline that was a hallmark under Dyche.

claretspice

I don't we was unlucky at all I can't remember Neto having anything to do apart from the free kick. In terms of possession we had the lions share but didn't do much with it. It never looked like we would score & Bournemouth just held their shape & picked us off at will & looked more threatening wit...

claretspice

Not unlucky at all, pitiful against a very poor Bournemouth side. The one shot I remember was like a pass to their goalie, though we were unlucky with Larsson's free kick almost crossing the line. Shame to see berge having to play centre half again when he's so much better helping the attack. Going...

claretspice

They will be (if both are still here) but the balance I mentioned earlier is the key to everything. Last season, the ability for Muric to play as an additional outfield player in our build up play was massive, Jed Wallace said we were impossible to press because of this. We weren't impossible to pr...

claretspice

We played better than of late in the first half. Odobert, Fofana, Brun Larsen and Vitinho all had very presentable chances to score. Unfortunately we conceded the obligatory soft goal. Second half was flat and our decision making in the final third let us down. As the game wore on you could see the...

claretspice

Tavernier should have walked. He did the same thing as Dara but went unpunished then got a yellow in the 2nd half. It wasn't quite as blatant but I agree, by this point we're dancing on the head of a pin to make the distinction. Either disrupting the throw is a yellow card or it isn't. Taverner pro...

claretspice

I don't normally rate but i can't understand for the life of me how Semenyo stayed on the pitch. He got booked for pushing Brunn Larsen in the face. He then gave away a foul when he pushed Taylor over because Taylor had got the wrong side of him and was driving at the full back. As Kompany correctly...

claretspice

Muric gives us drive and purpose with the ball at his feet, Trafford doesn’t. He’s simply not up to it at the moment - who knows he may be in a few years. Your comments on Trafford and O’Shea baffle me - but it’s all opinions. Indeed it is. I thought O'Shea today was exposed by Esteve alongside him...

claretspice

bfcjg wrote: ↑
Sun Mar 03, 2024 5:10 pm
Trafford 4 it’s getting cruel now. Serious mismanagement to keep him in.

I think the biggest argument for dropping Trafford is reflected by the scores he's now getting for a perfectly fine performance in which he played to instructions. He's becoming a lightening rod for the teams failings.

claretspice

A basically good performance undermined by a couple of poor lapses defensively, a lack of confidence around the opposition box and some understandable but unhelpful and in some cases unfair impatience from the crowd. Trafford- 7 - thought he showed character today. One good save, no chance with eith...

claretspice

Hes a very important player for the squad as he as the experience of the Dyche days, which i think is important in keeping a strong hard working core within the squad. However the longer hes in the team the more his limitations show. This has been the case since he joined. I dont understand your co...

claretspice

Theres an obvious flaw in this plan as well though in Brownhill. He would need to be showing for the ball, getting in the spaces and being able to turn and play forward. He isnt able to do this, he treats the ball like a hot potato which is probably why he has been trying Amdouni there. The one who...

claretspice

I'd agree with Spice on Cullen. I've been of the opinion all season that our problems are much more to do with tactics than individuals. Cullen for me was hung out to dry earlier in the season. The box midfield would seem to work well when you're in control of a game, but we didn't have that contro...

claretspice

Last season we had Muric getting the ball to Cullen rapidly giving him time to pick a pass and open up play,this season we have the ponderous Trafford taking an age to play the ball.out giving the opposition time to mark up, Cullen didn't become a bad player overnight, the tactics did though. Altho...

claretspice

Cullen and Cork in a 4 2 31 maybe. To be honest I forgot about Cork. I would have doubts about Cork having the physically needed and together with Cullen they may end up trying to occupy the same space... But things can't really get much worse so anything is worth a go. A big feature of the Kompany...

claretspice

I hope Kompany stays, but I also hope there are some changes to the way the club operates. The amount of control that appears to have been vested in one person is a bit frightening. There is no obvious counterpoint to Kompany anywhere in the football side of the operation. Even last week Matt Willia...

claretspice

At this level i don't think it's credible to start with Benson and Odobert as wide players. They don't support the full back enough - even if we play with a central midfield 3. Personally I think the root of many of our problems has been a tendency to play with Odobert and Amdouni who are passengers...

claretspice

Definitely a factor, I agree. But re the team changes against City, was it really a good idea to start the opening game of the season with 5 debutants considering the team had just blitzed the Championship? Even more baffling when you consider that Kompany was quite candid in explaining that it tak...

claretspice

Cast your mind back to the start of the season. The first six fixtures - Man City (world champs), Villa, Spurs, Forest, ManU, Newcastle. Robbed by VAR at Forest so 1 point and 15 goals conceded Also a game behind the rest because Luton’s ground wasn’t good enough. What a difference 3 points at that...

claretspice

I'm another who finds this sudden bout of proprietorial expectation over a player most have spent the last 6 months denigrating hard to square. The club have to my mind provided plenty of information and I too don't see much difference from the Dyche era. Really, this thread should be about expressi...

claretspice

Cool, that makes sense. From My perspective I enjoyed the fact that the club didn’t buy into all of the myths about football… that you could only play one way, that you had to spend huge money on over valued footballers with questionable morals and attitudes, and I enjoyed that hard work, endeavour...

claretspice

Muric Roberts THB Beyer Maatsen Cullen Cork Benson Brownhill Zaroury Barnes Trafford Assignon O'Shea Esteve Delcroix Berge Brownhill Ramsey Amdouni Odabert Fofana Which team wins the game? How have we managed to get so much worse?? This season's team wins. For the same reason that, contrary to folk...

claretspice

Catastrophic seasons have hangovers. Sometimes. But it's midnight and it's up to us whether to stop drinking and have a few pints if water to make sure we're feeling a bit better in the morning. That's a choice for VK and his staff, the players, but also fans. 2019/20 Norwich managed 21 points. The...

claretspice

OK let's have a go at an optimistic, but not wholly implausible scenario. We sell a few players this season to rationalise the squad and raise some cash, but keep a core that includes O'Shea, Esteve, Bayer, Cullen, Ramsey, Foster, Koleosho, Zaroury, Redmond and perhaps Amdouni, and bring in an exper...

claretspice

But at what cost? What league will we be in? We've spent BIG money on Trafford and Ramsey. They are on long contracts. The only reason I can imagine they are getting in the team is because club are desperate to flip them for profit ASAP. This isn't pop at them for for their performances or ability,...

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