Long and Tarks v Fulham

cricketfieldclarets · Post by **cricketfieldclarets** » Mon Feb 15, 2021 10:43 pm

The most important thing is that we play tarks on the right. At the start of the season when mee was out I was surprised that we played Tarks (our strongest player) on his weaker side.

Having him on the left weakens us two fold.

Hopefully Pieters and or Taylor are fit to play.

matttheclaret · Post by **matttheclaret** » Mon Feb 15, 2021 10:47 pm

Completely agree with this. Tarkowski much more comfortable on the right side, never quite as good when he's shifted to the left.

Long for Mee is going to weaken the defence already, makes no sense in weakening it further by moving our best defender away from his favoured position.

huw.Y.WattfromWare · Post by **huw.Y.WattfromWare** » Mon Feb 15, 2021 10:48 pm

Totally agree but don’t expect it to happen.

JR1882 · Post by **JR1882** » Mon Feb 15, 2021 10:51 pm

If Mee Taylor and Pieters are all missing I’d take a point now.

cricketfieldclarets · Post by **cricketfieldclarets** » Mon Feb 15, 2021 10:53 pm

matttheclaret wrote: ↑
Mon Feb 15, 2021 10:47 pm
Completely agree with this. Tarkowski much more comfortable on the right side, never quite as good when he's shifted to the left.

Long for Mee is going to weaken the defence already, makes no sense in weakening it further by moving our best defender away from his favoured position.

There must be some logic to it. And I assume Dyche must think it makes us stronger that way. And he knows better than me. But if Tarkowski is so consistently good on the right just keep him there. Even if it makes 1% difference.

Chester Perry · Post by **Chester Perry** » Mon Feb 15, 2021 11:03 pm

I prefer round pegs in round holes - a left footer please and I do not mind if that is Dunne, it would be good to see him with a good partner, so far we have seen him with Long and Thomas and though the opposition was Championship with Thomas it looked more secure than his playing alongside Long.

Colburn_Claret · Post by **Colburn_Claret** » Tue Feb 16, 2021 12:05 am

I was wondering if Pieters could fill LCB, presuming Taylor is back. He is a left sided defender, good with his feet, but not sure what he's like in the air.
In the end I decided it would be unfair on Long, but it's still an option!!!!!

FCBurnley · Post by **FCBurnley** » Tue Feb 16, 2021 12:16 am

A point v Fulham and beat West Brom will do just fine

superdimitri · Post by **superdimitri** » Tue Feb 16, 2021 3:21 am

Chester Perry wrote: ↑
Mon Feb 15, 2021 11:03 pm
I do not mind if that is Dunne, it would be good to see him with a good partner, so far we have seen him with Long and Thomas and though the opposition was Championship with Thomas it looked more secure than his playing alongside Long.

Dunne is right footed, but he is much better with his left foot than most right footed central defenders.
Pretty sure Dyche will go with Tarks on the left and Long right.

Grumps · Post by **Grumps** » Tue Feb 16, 2021 6:22 am

We did OK when mee was out at the end of last season

beddie · Post by **beddie** » Tue Feb 16, 2021 8:32 am

Certainly has to be Long and Tarks. They'll have worked on the pairing ready for the Fulham game this last couple of days so let's hope they've got it sorted. I hope Kevin Long has a really good game, he'll not let us down. Watch him go and score from a set play

IWOODLOVETT · Post by **IWOODLOVETT** » Tue Feb 16, 2021 8:51 am

No room for sentiment at this stage of the season against this particular opponent. We must keep players in their usual positions where possible and if Taylor is fit replace Mee with a lefty (I.e. Pieters not Long)

The right side must remain solid against Fulham and Lowton is a confidence player which is borne out by the presence of Tarks as right-sided cover.

A lack of confidence will spell disaster in my opinion.

Rileybobs · Post by **Rileybobs** » Tue Feb 16, 2021 9:10 am

IWOODLOVETT wrote: ↑
Tue Feb 16, 2021 8:51 am
No room for sentiment at this stage of the season against this particular opponent. We must keep players in their usual positions where possible and if Taylor is fit replace Mee with a lefty (I.e. Pieters not Long)

The right side must remain solid against Fulham and Lowton is a confidence player which is borne out by the presence of Tarks as right-sided cover.

A lack of confidence will spell disaster in my opinion.

So we must keep players in their usual positions but play a left back in the centre rather than a tried and trusted centre back?

JohnMac · Post by **JohnMac** » Tue Feb 16, 2021 9:13 am

The players are generally confident, fortunately Dyche doesn't need to consider the fans when making his selections

evensteadiereddie · Post by **evensteadiereddie** » Tue Feb 16, 2021 9:14 am

We should be confident throughout the side. Fulham areplaying well and will make plenty of chances if we give them the opportunity - as will WBA.
I think we really need to get after both these sides from the off. Two draws, defeats even, would not spell disaster by any means but two wins will have us on the home straight.

Rileybobs · Post by **Rileybobs** » Tue Feb 16, 2021 9:15 am

...and the reason why Tarkowski shifts to the left in Mee’s absence is that he’s by far the most comfortable on the ball of our centre backs. He’ll happily Cruyff turn from his left foot onto his right or vice versa.

This is clearly a calculated decision by Dyche and one which the fans aren’t really qualified to disagree with. By which I mean that you haven’t, to my knowledge, seen Long play on the left alongside Tarks in order to form an opinion that it would make us stronger.

Tribesmen · Post by **Tribesmen** » Tue Feb 16, 2021 9:22 am

Kev will do a job and we will not be beaten for sure .

Funkydrummer · Post by **Funkydrummer** » Tue Feb 16, 2021 9:30 am

Long has not, and will not let us down if he's the chosen one.

houseboy · Post by **houseboy** » Tue Feb 16, 2021 9:40 am

I think I might just be missing something here. People keep banging on about the danger from Fulham and how well they are playing. The actual results don’t support this. Yes they won against a very poor Everton on the night but prior to that they have taken 4 points from a possible 21 in the league and been beaten 3-0 at home by us in the cup as well. Where is this Fulham are playing well coming from? They are not playing anywhere near as well as us.

jojomk1 · Post by **jojomk1** » Tue Feb 16, 2021 9:44 am

Funkydrummer wrote: ↑
Tue Feb 16, 2021 9:30 am
Long has not, and will not let us down if he's the chosen one.

Sorry, but he certainly let us down against average Championship players in the cup

That was his real chance to show his strengths in a pairing with Dunne and he was found sadly wanting

He still needs to be looked after in matches and the manager clearly prefers Tarks to play on the left than Long

Spijed · Post by **Spijed** » Tue Feb 16, 2021 10:20 am

This season we've played Newcastle & WBA away, along with Spurs & Chelsea at home with long in defence.

In the Newcastle match it was Taylor & Pope who had poor games. WBA created nothing and Spurs created very little. No one played well against Chelsea.

IWOODLOVETT · Post by **IWOODLOVETT** » Tue Feb 16, 2021 12:41 pm

Fulham and WBA have strengthened substantially with loans in the January window and are different sides to those that we’ve played earlier.

kentonclaret · Post by **kentonclaret** » Tue Feb 16, 2021 12:48 pm

But the January window was so difficult to do any business in with hardly any transfers taking place how on earth did WBA and Fulham manage to strengthen?

Top Claret · Post by **Top Claret** » Tue Feb 16, 2021 12:50 pm

I am sure Dyche won't hesitate in putting Long in besides Tarkowski. Big Kev rarely lets us down when asked to step upto the mark in the one off games.

I would certainly not be playing Pieters in that role and from what I have seen of Dunne he doesn't have the experience

bfcjg · Post by **bfcjg** » Tue Feb 16, 2021 5:46 pm

Long has some superb performances under his belt,tomorrow needs to be one of them, I'm sure he'll step up to the mark and not let us down.

cricketfieldclarets · Post by **cricketfieldclarets** » Wed Feb 17, 2021 6:03 pm

Tarks starts on the left.

Thankfuly Taylor is back though .

Woodleyclaret · Post by **Woodleyclaret** » Wed Feb 17, 2021 8:07 pm

Another great game from Mom Kev Long

Bosscat · Post by **Bosscat** » Wed Feb 17, 2021 8:07 pm

bfcjg wrote: ↑
Tue Feb 16, 2021 5:46 pm
Long has some superb performances under his belt,tomorrow needs to be one of them, I'm sure he'll step up to the mark and not let us down.

He did

Vegas Claret · Post by **Vegas Claret** » Wed Feb 17, 2021 8:17 pm

Long was excellent tonight

cricketfieldclarets · Post by **cricketfieldclarets** » Wed Feb 17, 2021 8:18 pm

Yep. Best of the back five.

Top Claret · Post by **Top Claret** » Wed Feb 17, 2021 8:27 pm

cricketfieldclarets wrote: ↑
Wed Feb 17, 2021 6:03 pm
Tarks starts on the left.

Thankfuly Taylor is back though .

I thought we missed Pieters as Taylor looked well under par

Zlatan · Post by **Zlatan** » Wed Feb 17, 2021 8:29 pm

Top Claret wrote: ↑
Wed Feb 17, 2021 8:27 pm
Taylor looked well under par tonight

He looked like he’s been out for a few weeks with an injury and is still getting match fit, which he is.

He’ll be better Saturday, and hopefully flying again soon

kindonesque · Post by **kindonesque** » Wed Feb 17, 2021 8:32 pm

Rock solid from Long. What a last gasp tackle....

HitchinClaret · Post by **HitchinClaret** » Wed Feb 17, 2021 8:33 pm

Woodleyclaret wrote: ↑
Wed Feb 17, 2021 8:07 pm
Another great game from Mom Kev Long

Long was dog ****? He can do the basics as per league one or two, but he just isn’t up to this level.

CardiffClaret · Post by **CardiffClaret** » Wed Feb 17, 2021 8:34 pm

Thought Long was decent tonight. One thing you can’t say is that he lacks pace

huw.Y.WattfromWare · Post by **huw.Y.WattfromWare** » Wed Feb 17, 2021 8:38 pm

What a super cross off Tarks LEFT peg. Shame Ash or Jay couldn’t get on the end of it.

Bosscat · Post by **Bosscat** » Wed Feb 17, 2021 8:38 pm

HitchinClaret wrote: ↑
Wed Feb 17, 2021 8:33 pm
Long was dog ****? He can do the basics as per league one or two, but he just isn’t up to this level.

Bit like yourself huh

.....

Rileybobs · Post by **Rileybobs** » Wed Feb 17, 2021 8:42 pm

Tarks was easily our best defender tonight but Long had a good game too.

tiger76 · Post by **tiger76** » Wed Feb 17, 2021 9:09 pm

Long was solid, and made a couple of vital tackles, that's all we can ask of him, of course he's not going to do the same job Ben Mee does, and Tarks has to play out of position, but considering the disruption they both did fine.

warksclaret · Post by **warksclaret** » Wed Feb 17, 2021 9:12 pm

tiger76 wrote: ↑
Wed Feb 17, 2021 9:09 pm
Long was solid, and made a couple of vital tackles, that's all we can ask of him, of course he's not going to do the same job Ben Mee does, and Tarks has to play out of position, but considering the disruption they both did fine.

We must give both Tarks & Long great credit tonight, to such a degree that Pope had one of his quietest ever games

Boss Hogg · Post by **Boss Hogg** » Wed Feb 17, 2021 9:25 pm

He did well tonight but he has to play with Tarkowski or Mee alongside him as the cup game showed. He is good back up but should ideally be 4th choice.

kindonesque · Post by **kindonesque** » Wed Feb 17, 2021 9:33 pm

Bugs me why so many are on Long's case. He's a top top defender. Has been for years. Why can't folks see that?

Stalbansclaret · Post by **Stalbansclaret** » Wed Feb 17, 2021 9:38 pm

HitchinClaret wrote: ↑
Wed Feb 17, 2021 8:33 pm
Long was dog ****? He can do the basics as per league one or two, but he just isn’t up to this level.

Nice !! Sorry but this is just a ridiculous comment as well as being particularly offensive with reference to one of our own players.
.

RVclaret · Post by **RVclaret** » Wed Feb 17, 2021 9:42 pm

Long defended just fine but his passing abilities are absolutely woeful.