Cullen

[fanzone]

Not had a look in all season but made captain today.

How can that happen.

For what it’s worth Cullen and Berge were very good today but it begs the question Kompanys thinking.

[Pearcey]

Let’s hope he keeps Brownhill on the bench for a while.

[FCBurnley]

Cullen MOM today by a mile

[Bowclaret]

Cullen was everywhere and deserved to be MOM. Him and Berge will storm the Championship next season.

Actually forgot how good he is because he’s not been playing.

Possession stats back to the norm - that’s down to Cullen.

[blatherwickstattoos]

Cullen and Taylor did well today. Cullen looked very tidy on the ball and was breaking into the box at times. Needs to start more . We just lack anything in the final third , compared to last season where we looked dangerous every attack. Fofana looked lost today. Control all over the place , slipping , jay would have been a better option but kompany likes his signings and is too loyal to them. That’s been our downfall ultimately

[Neil]

Cullen had a good game today but for balance, he started about the first ten games? and looked nowhere near the pace or physicality of this league.
He's a very good championship player like the majority of this squad.

[IanMcL]

Cullen is the only one who understands Kompany's system!

[South West Claret.]

Thought he played very well for the most part, only watching on TV though.

[superdimitri]

His first touch was sublime. Never panicked and even made some great turns and runs into space.
Took his chance to play well.

[BurnleyFC]

I was asking the same thing at the start. How can somebody not getting a sniff be reinstated as captain?

For what it’s worth, he was far better than Brownhill has been for a long time.

[Dark Cloud]

He was excellent today, but tbf Bournemouth weren't great.

[Cirrus_Minor]

Makes you wonder why he has not featured more before now. Not sure why he hasn't played him with Cork and allowed Berge to get more forward. Odebert was out of position and as for Amdouni, the mind boggles on why he was brought on.

[shulgin]

Cullen was a proper leader today. Did it in an effective manner, with good communication and encouragement. Unlike Brownhill who is not captain material on the pitch.

[burnleymik]

Cullen did play a number of games at the start of the season and he struggled and was rightly dropped, but he has looked much better since his return and should certainly be keeping Brownhill out of the team.

[NewClaret]

Have to say, I thought Cullen should be dropped earlier I. The season but thought he was outstanding today. We immediately looked better and like last seasons Burnley.

Thought he was everywhere.

Honestly, not sure he’ll cut it against the better, more powerful midfields, but that performance alone earned him a prolonged run.

Pleased he made captain after a period on the bench where nobody else really staked a claim for it.

[Steddyman]

Cullen was fantastic today. What a difference he made, 80% possession which must be the first time it has been over 40% all season.

[taio]

Cullen and Berge controlled the middle of the park - shame about the first and final third.

[Boss Hogg]

Cullen played well today. He looks good against lesser teams. I expect he will be very effective in the Championship again.

[Goody1975]

What people forget about the beginning of the season when Cullen was starting was our completely naive tactics. You cannot have a midfield two of Cullen and Berge with four forward thinking players in front of them and expect to take on the likes of City, Villa, Spurs etc. Remember Brownhill was a benchwarmer in the early part of the season.

There has to be a balance like today, if we play an attacking number ten then the wide men have to have the legs to help out defensively. If we go with attacking wide men then the number ten has to be more pragmatic, like Brownhill was when he played the role last season.

Cullen was deemed too lightweight when it was the gung-ho tactics that made him look that way.

[Superjohnnyfrancis]

Did ok but Berge was way too deep, Cullen and Cork should be nearer the back for me protecting the defence.

[ClaretPete001]

What people forget about the beginning of the season when Cullen was starting was our completely naive tactics. You cannot have a midfield two of Cullen and Berge with four forward thinking players in front of them and expect to take on the likes of City, Villa, Spurs etc. Remember Brownhill was a benchwarmer in the early part of the season.

There has to be a balance like today, if we play an attacking number ten then the wide men have to have the legs to help out defensively. If we go with attacking wide men then the number ten has to be more pragmatic, like Brownhill was when he played the role last season.

Cullen was deemed too lightweight when it was the gung-ho tactics that made him look that way.

I think that's the point; the game plan for the first ten games was so barking mad it left Cullen on his own in the middle. I also think Brownhill would benefit from a midfield 3.

[helmclaret]

Would like to see him in a midfield 3.

But VK seems to want us to be outnumbered in the middle of the pitch.

Thought Cullen played very well today. He’s at his best when he looks to play forward.

[ISpeds00]

he was actually a breath of fresh air today - wanted to get stuck in from the off
forgot how good of a player he can be

We're just lacking in the key areas - in the middle of defence and up front

Bringing Jay on at the 90th min every game doesnt help - him and benson needed half an hour

[warksclaret]

A crying shame he has been frozen out at the expense of people like Brownhill, Ramsey, JBG. If every player was playing as well as he has in the past two games we could get relegated but still hold our heads What the hell is up wiith the coaches in not seeing what he offers

[123EasyasBFC]

Cullen and Berge would be comfortably best midfield 2 in champ next season

[Goody1975]

Cullen and Berge would be comfortably best midfield 2 in champ next season

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.

[123EasyasBFC]

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.

Totally agree and I also understand people thinking muric isn’t good enough for the prem, only problem is we haven’t seen if he is or isn’t but we have seen 27 games that show us Trafford isn’t good enough yet

[TsarBomba]

What people forget about the beginning of the season when Cullen was starting was our completely naive tactics. You cannot have a midfield two of Cullen and Berge with four forward thinking players in front of them and expect to take on the likes of City, Villa, Spurs etc. Remember Brownhill was a benchwarmer in the early part of the season.

There has to be a balance like today, if we play an attacking number ten then the wide men have to have the legs to help out defensively. If we go with attacking wide men then the number ten has to be more pragmatic, like Brownhill was when he played the role last season.

Cullen was deemed too lightweight when it was the gung-ho tactics that made him look that way.

Spot on.

[dougcollins]

My mom today.

Up there with some of his EFL performances.

Not his best ones though.

[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 press last season. Perhaps we were for a decent Championship side, but never for a Premier league team. We've learned that this season. The comparison between Muric and Trafford is redundant as a result. Trafford may not be quite as virtuoso with the ball at his feet but he's still pretty good and he'd be perfectly comfortable in that sweeper keeper role in the Championship. Unfortunately he's trying to learn it in the Premier League.

Cullen had a good gane today and made a difference to our ability to progress the ball through midfield. At times I actually thought our set up play was a lot more reminiscent of last season.

[JohnDearyMe]

Did Cullen actually play in any pre-season friendlies? I thought he missed a lot of them, which may in part explain why he was so off it at the start of the season.

[123EasyasBFC]

We weren't impossible to press last season. Perhaps we were for a decent Championship side, but never for a Premier league team. We've learned that this season. The comparison between Muric and Trafford is redundant as a result. Trafford may not be quite as virtuoso with the ball at his feet but he's still pretty good and he'd be perfectly comfortable in that sweeper keeper role in the Championship. Unfortunately he's trying to learn it in the Premier League.

Cullen had a good gane today and made a difference to our ability to progress the ball through midfield. At times I actually thought our set up play was a lot more reminiscent of last season.

Trafford would struggle in the championship with the rest of his game

[Goody1975]

We weren't impossible to press last season. Perhaps we were for a decent Championship side, but never for a Premier league team. We've learned that this season. The comparison between Muric and Trafford is redundant as a result. Trafford may not be quite as virtuoso with the ball at his feet but he's still pretty good and he'd be perfectly comfortable in that sweeper keeper role in the Championship. Unfortunately he's trying to learn it in the Premier League.

Cullen had a good gane today and made a difference to our ability to progress the ball through midfield. At times I actually thought our set up play was a lot more reminiscent of last season.

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 Muric is head and shoulders above Trafford in terms of dictating our attacks.

Today was a prime example as to how many times we go back to the keeper from midfield and for that to work the keeper has to be confident on the ball, Trafford just isn't and it shows.

[CoolClaret]

We weren't impossible to press last season. Perhaps we were for a decent Championship side, but never for a Premier league team. We've learned that this season. The comparison between Muric and Trafford is redundant as a result. Trafford may not be quite as virtuoso with the ball at his feet but he's still pretty good and he'd be perfectly comfortable in that sweeper keeper role in the Championship. Unfortunately he's trying to learn it in the Premier League.

Cullen had a good gane today and made a difference to our ability to progress the ball through midfield. At times I actually thought our set up play was a lot more reminiscent of last season.

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.

[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 Muric is head and shoulders above Trafford in terms of dictating our attacks.

Today was a prime example as to how many times we go back to the keeper from midfield and for that to work the keeper has to be confident on the ball, Trafford just isn't and it shows.

I did read it and respectfully disagree. The biggest difference in dictating our attacks from deep between this season and last is not the goalkeeper, in my opinion. It is the quality of the opposition, their organisation and ability to combat those passes from the goalkeeper. Muric may be better than Trafford but the difference is being exaggerated because it is not a like for like comparison (indeed when Muric played against Spurs in the cup his distribution was a primary cause of the goal we conceded, and very nearly gave away one other goal).

[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 play.

[Goody1975]

I did read it and respectfully disagree. The biggest difference in dictating our attacks from deep between this season and last is not the goalkeeper, in my opinion. It is the quality of the opposition, their organisation and ability to combat those passes from the goalkeeper. Muric may be better than Trafford but the difference is being exaggerated because it is not a like for like comparison (indeed when Muric played against Spurs in the cup his distribution was a primary cause of the goal we conceded, and very nearly gave away one other goal).

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 orchestrate attacks, we will again have far more possession than this season, it's what we do with it that will determine how successful we are.

If we have a keeper who isn't confident on the ball we will be far easier to shut down.

[CrosspoolClarets]

We weren't impossible to press last season. Perhaps we were for a decent Championship side, but never for a Premier league team. We've learned that this season. The comparison between Muric and Trafford is redundant as a result. Trafford may not be quite as virtuoso with the ball at his feet but he's still pretty good and he'd be perfectly comfortable in that sweeper keeper role in the Championship. Unfortunately he's trying to learn it in the Premier League.

Cullen had a good gane today and made a difference to our ability to progress the ball through midfield. At times I actually thought our set up play was a lot more reminiscent of last season.

Agree with that and feel Cullen for Brownhill has to now happen because he gives us more forward dynamism. He was badly exposed in those first 10 games but Berge was learning the system too.

We’ve missed Cullen badly (though much of that his own responsibility for performances as above), and also Beyer, Foster and Koleosho for large parts of the season. With Luca we scored 15 goals before and only 10 after his injury. It is these personnel issues to key players why I despair of those calling for VK to be sacked, even though he too had a steep learning curve.

[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 orchestrate attacks, we will again have far more possession than this season, it's what we do with it that will determine how successful we are.

If we have a keeper who isn't confident on the ball we will be far easier to shut down.

Amdouni didn't handle the situation very well but the pass was a shocker. It was straight into trouble. Had Trafford played it to any Burnley player there'd be a furious reaction.

[Goody1975]

Agree with that and feel Cullen for Brownhill has to now happen because he gives us more forward dynamism. He was badly exposed in those first 10 games but Berge was learning the system too.

We’ve missed Cullen badly (though much of that his own responsibility for performances as above), and also Beyer, Foster and Koleosho for large parts of the season. With Luca we scored 15 goals before and only 10 after his injury. It is these personnel issues to key players why I despair of those calling for VK to be sacked, even though he too had a steep learning curve.

Cullen was exposed due to him and Berge carrying the entire midfield on their shoulders.

You can't play a central midfield two with Amdouni ahead of them and not expect them to get overrun, especially with three players of Premier League quality against them. It was suicide.

[CoolClaret]

I don't understand the relevance of that stat without a lot more detail about how Bolton were instructing him to play.

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.

[CrosspoolClarets]

Cullen was exposed due to him and Berge carrying the entire midfield on their shoulders.

You can't play a central midfield two with Amdouni ahead of them and not expect them to get overrun, especially with three players of Premier League quality against them. It was suicide.

That is arguable but we know Josh is not the quickest, nor is he the strongest, nor the tallest. That isn’t ideal for that position but I take your point.

[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 designed to get that man in space. If the team is capable of following those instructions, that will have a different (higher) success rate than if Trafford was being asked to hit an area in which the team he was playing for were then aiming to fight for second balls, for example.

[CoolClaret]

Yes but muric was being specifically asked to locate a particular man and the team structure was designed to get that man in space. If the team is capable of following those instructions, that will have a different (higher) success rate than if Trafford was being asked to hit an area in which the team he was playing for were then aiming to fight for second balls, for example.

I appreciate that - there's no other way to compare like for like.

Traff in our system has pretty poor distribution despite being a higher standard.

Using my own eyes I can see talent in Muric that others don't have - I couldn't do the stuff that he does, sinking it 50+m at pace and accuracy to a target - Traff can't do it either.

I liken it to watching TAA pass a football - look at how he thumps it and the speed at which it gets to the target.

For me Spurs was so noticeable - the entire team played much differently, spread out around the park, balls played through midfield... did we have hairy moments? Of course, but that's what this year was supposed to be.

It wasn't meant to be, sit back, cock about at the back, suck the life out of the ground trying to 'draw a press' then not have the ability to actually beat it. It's lunacy at this point.

[helmclaret]

Muric can drive a ball - Trafford can’t. Muric can kick the ball 70-80m off the ground, Trafford can’t.