Vitinho

[Penwortham_Claret]

I know that I’m setting myself up for pelters here but I didn’t feel that he had a bad game. He looked sharp, seemed to have a turn of pace which was obviously needed against Sterling, I assumed that he’s quicker than Roberts and this was the reason he was picked.

He looked lively going forward but less solid than Roberts defensively. He certainly wasn’t the weak link of our defensive it was simply that Sterling is a significantly better, more experienced top level player

[jrgbfc]

Decent squad man in the league below, shouldn't be anywhere near starting games at this level for me. Again goes back to our summer recruitment.

[Sheedyclaret]

Not good enough for this level unfortunately sterling had the freedom of turf moor yesterday…

[BurnleyFC]

He was dreadful yesterday.

I haven’t played full back for about thirty years but I would’ve handled Sterling about as well as he did.

[Clive 1960]

if he played well why did he give Sterling 5 yards , he should have been right up him not give him space to turn . sorry but not good enough at right back in this league.

[Steve-Harpers-perm]

I’d think a new right back (and left) will be priority in January from what we’ve seen so far from both Roberts and Vitinho.

[dougcollins]

I think Sterling was the reason VK put Vitinho in.

Yes, he's quicker than Roberts, but he wouldn't have been bullied by Sterling - Vitinho showed him way too much respect.

[CrosspoolClarets]

if he played well why did he give Sterling 5 yards , he should have been right up him not give him space to turn . sorry but not good enough at right back in this league.

O’Shea tried that and we saw what happened there - another goal.

Obviously the penalty was an error, but I think the main problem wasn’t execution it was tactical, it was 1 on 1 too many times, our winger is a flair forward, not someone who can offer much support, then we made it worse with Koleosho, adding inexperience to the mix, the big weakness I am seeing with Kompany is he is trying to play the same whoever we play, and it doesn’t work. Even City against certain teams adapt, e.g. whacking the ball out of the danger zone ASAP at times.

The plus side to this is against many other teams this WILL work and we will win, especially at home.

[Penwortham_Claret]

if he played well why did he give Sterling 5 yards , he should have been right up him not give him space to turn . sorry but not good enough at right back in this league.

Anybody who knows anything knows that getting tight to a player like Sterling is the last thing you do as we saw with the last goal. He will just spin you then do you for pace

[Penwortham_Claret]

O’Shea tried that and we saw what happened there - another goal.

Obviously the penalty was an error, but I think the main problem wasn’t execution it was tactical, it was 1 on 1 too many times, our winger is a flair forward, not someone who can offer much support, then we made it worse with Koleosho, adding inexperience to the mix, the big weakness I am seeing with Kompany is he is trying to play the same whoever we play, and it doesn’t work. Even City against certain teams adapt, e.g. whacking the ball out of the danger zone ASAP at times.

The plus side to this is against many other teams this WILL work and we will win, especially at home.

Sorry I didn’t see this before I replied. You are absolutely correct though. I think we saw a team double up on Koleosho recently, we simply don’t have any wide players who have that capabilities. Maybe the answer was Vitinho playing right midfield in front of Roberts? That would feel totally unbalanced and clearly isn’t the answer but it is starting to look like we’ve only got the players to play a specific system, this will leave us short against a lot of teams, more so once teams learn how we play

[StayingDown4Ever]

Sterling won’t have an easier afternoon all season. He absolutely humiliated Vitinho.

[Elizabeth]

the big weakness I am seeing with Kompany is he is trying to play the same whoever we play, and it doesn’t work. Even City against certain teams adapt, e.g. whacking the ball out of the danger zone ASAP at times.

The plus side to this is against many other teams this WILL work and we will win, especially at home.

This is very true but maybe Kompany is doing this because this is the way he wants the players to play and he doesn’t want to adapt like City at this stage of their development.
I think it’s very brave of him and it’s a big task to keep the players believing

As you’ve identified, the benefits are beating the lesser clubs with this style of play. I know that is not a gimme but this is the route Kompany has taken and I’m happy to trust him

[Clive 1960]

Anybody who knows anything knows that getting tight to a player like Sterling is the last thing you do as we saw with the last goal. He will just spin you then do you for pace

I also thought he was a left back not a right back , i doubt we will see him in right back again in Premier league unless we are down to the bare bones, only my opinion.

[NewClaret]

I’d think a new right back (and left) will be priority in January from what we’ve seen so far from both Roberts and Vitinho.

I absolutely agree. Being fair here, Roberts and Taylor are good players at lower Prem level but struggle against the top teams.

Taylor has been more solid on the left though, no doubt about it.

[SalisburyClaret]

Would prefer Matt Lowton as a defender

[ClaretLoup]

The question is was it wise to give Vitinho only his second start since vs Man City given his only other EPL involvement was five minutes vs Newcastle?

After he was subbed Roberts fared no better, Sterling scored the third and burnt Roberts off from near the half way line to set up the fourth. So I think the selection was justified.

In the first half it was obvious that Sterling was their only threat, so what Vinny need to do at half time was come up a plan at half time to cut off Sterling’s supply and also increase the supply to Odebert to try and regain the lead.

Well he didn’t and we saw the results. Especially after the subs came on it was a morass of confusion.

[taio]

He shouldn’t have started. Strange selection.

[burnleymik]

It was Vitinho's break that lead to the Odobert goal. He made a couple of decent runs and did some other decent defending. It was the one v one against Sterling that destroyed him.

We should have doubled up on Sterling sharpish. It was absolutely clear in that first half that he was the danger man. Like others have said Roberts would have struggled against Sterling in that form, but we should have adjusted to it and never did, which ultimately cost us.

[RVclaret]

Did alright going forward but couldn’t defend in the Championship let alone up against a winger like Sterling

[burnleymik]

Sorry I didn’t see this before I replied. You are absolutely correct though. I think we saw a team double up on Koleosho recently, we simply don’t have any wide players who have that capabilities. Maybe the answer was Vitinho playing right midfield in front of Roberts? That would feel totally unbalanced and clearly isn’t the answer but it is starting to look like we’ve only got the players to play a specific system, this will leave us short against a lot of teams, more so once teams learn how we play

Anthony Gordon did exactly that. Dan Burn was struggling early on with Koleosho and then Gordon starting getting back much faster to double up on him. VK never reacted to the Sterling threat even though in reality he was the only one causing us any problem , especially in that first half.

[alwaysaclaret]

Anthony Gordon did exactly that. Dan Burn was struggling early on with Koleosho and then Gordon starting getting back much faster to double up on him. VK never reacted to the Sterling threat even though in reality he was the only one causing us any problem , especially in that first half.

As good as he may be, vk doesn't seem to be reacting to the glaringly obvious, I suspect he's too focused on our own threat, but that doesn't seem to be working either due to he's team selection, and playing player's out of position, I'm totally baffled as to why he's swapped koleosho to the right and larsen to the left, larsens goal on Tuesday was from the right because he can play both sides, but koleosho is ineffective on the right, baffling.

[ClaretLoup]

Did alright going forward but couldn’t defend in the Championship let alone up against a winger like Sterling

Thing is though, most weeks he wouldn’t be up against a winger like Sterling.

[daveisaclaret]

That was Sterling's best game for years, don't think many other teams drop their right back for someone who can't defend when they play Chelsea.

[123EasyasBFC]

It was more playing tresor in front of Vitinho that cost us, if tresor is going to offer as little defensively as he did yesterday then he’s going to have to be a 10/10 going forwards and yesterday he wasn’t

[claretspice]

I agree with this. I thought that for 3 of the four goals the cover in front of Vitinho was as big a problem as the limitations Vitinho displayed. It was notable that in the game at Forest, JBG did an awful lot more working back and played deeper to start with. There was very little of that yesterday and it meant that at times Vitinho was very exposed, with the left back and Fernandes also creating overloads. Ironically for the first two goals Tresor was in a position to double up, but on both occasions he was completely passive and did nothing to protect Vitinho at all.

Apart from JBG, who in my view was a significant and overlooked absentee yesterday, the other point of comparison was with Tella. Tella pressed more robustly than any of the wide players we've signed, and also worked harder to track runners. I think there's also an argument that the same was true to a lesser extent of Zaroury. If both your wide players are passengers defensively in the Premier League the other 7 defenders and midfielders have a hell of a job on.

[taio]

I think JBG was unavailable

[warksclaret]

If we are honest he is just not up to it. I cannot see him getting into even the bottom PL teams. Its not that hes new, hes been with us 13 months, so we know his weaknesses. Putting him up against Sterling is an absolute blunder as he has been sensational in the last 4-5 games.For me an even bigger surprise we have extended his contract

[Claretmisterg]

We needed somebody to get stuck into Sterling and unsettle him.

[dougcollins]

Roberts would have been in his face from the start, if nothing else.

[Conroysleftfoot]

Roberts would have been in his face from the start, if nothing else.

Sorry but Roberts wouldn't have got anywhere near Sterling from the get go. As has been said earlier in this thread we needed to double up on Sterling but we didn't do it and paid the price.

[ksrclaret]

It was an absolutely unfathomable decision to drop Roberts and play Vitinho yesterday.

Some of Roberts’ passing this season has been really bad, exemplified by their third yesterday, but he is a decent defender and is combative in the challenge.

Vitinho was regularly found wanting defensively against Championship teams his efforts against Sterling were an embarrassment.

[Woodleyclaret]

Sterling hates a tackle and he should have been given a straightener much earlier in the game
Serial tackling where several players do the same player.A tactic perfected at Deadwood.

[Vegas Claret]

*******Breaking News********
One of the best wingers of the last decade in the Premier League gives a 1 million pound player making his third Premier League appearance who was given zero support from his winger a hard time

The biggest mistake was to play Tresor not Vitinho. That said, no way Vitinho should be give away the penalty.

[ClaretTony]

*******Breaking News********
One of the best wingers of the last decade in the Premier League gives a 1 million pound player making his third Premier League appearance who was given zero support from his winger a hard time

The biggest mistake was to play Tresor not Vitinho. That said, no way Vitinho should be give away the penalty.

Neither should have played for me.

[123EasyasBFC]

We don’t score the first goal with roberts playing but we also don’t concede the first and second with roberts playing

[Vegas Claret]

Neither should have played for me.

yeah possibly, Vitinho was a low risk signing at 1 million, already 24 and not really showing signs of being at a great level, I was surprised about the new contract tbh. He had no help at all yesterday, VK hung him out to dry. I just didn't understand all the changes, no real reason to drop Roberts.

[ClaretTony]

yeah possibly, Vitinho was a low risk signing at 1 million, already 24 and not really showing signs of being at a great level, I was surprised about the new contract tbh. He had no help at all yesterday, VK hung him out to dry. I just didn't understand all the changes, no real reason to drop Roberts.

I think a lot of these contracts are part of the initial signings. They are one year extensions that were triggered by promotion.

[Vegas Claret]

I think a lot of these contracts are part of the initial signings. They are one year extensions that were triggered by promotion.

ah right, I didn't know that so that makes more sense. I reckon IF we stay up we will see quite a few leave, at some point we are going to need some sort of semblance of a settled squad

[sjb]

He got absolutely no support from Tresor who just let Sterling occupy the space he should have been filling when Chelsea were coming forward. By the time Sterling got the ball he could accelerate into the space & Vitinho was left with very little chance of stopping him.

[Stayingup]

He got absolutely no support from Tresor who just let Sterling occupy the space he should have been filling when Chelsea were coming forward. By the time Sterling got the ball he could accelerate into the space & Vitinho was left with very little chance of stopping him.

Thats right. What Dyche used to do was put Arfield on who would double up with the full back on a good winger like Stirling. Arfield had a good engine and could get forward as well as helping the defender.

[Vegas Claret]

Thats right. What Dyche used to do was put Arfield on who would double up with the full back on a good winger like Stirling. Arfield had a good engine and could get forward as well as helping the defender.

this is what VK needs to learn quickly against these better sides, you simply can't offer the back 4 no protection

[Foshiznik]

After he was subbed Roberts fared no better, Sterling scored the third and burnt Roberts off from near the half way line to set up the fourth. So I think the selection was justified.

I know for whatever reason, Roberts is hated on here but it was O'Shea on the 4th goal who got spun in Chelsea's half by Sterling and burnt over 60 yards. Not Roberts.

I like Vitinho but more as a utility man-squad player against teams of lesser quality to us. There was no rhyme or reason for the change.

[KRBFC]

Then he threw it all away by stupidly giving away a penalty.

[ervi34]

Thats right. What Dyche used to do was put Arfield on who would double up with the full back on a good winger like Stirling. Arfield had a good engine and could get forward as well as helping the defender.

The biggest problem is that a lot of our wingers lack off ball discipline and positioning. There's a reason JBG started a lot of games last season and came back into starting lineup this season.