Good morning
Much better and well done to all them for getting their acts together. The game itself was extremely watchable and it was to our credit as this looked like the Aston Villa that McLeish fielded, a token striker and 10 men behind the ball.
The tactical shape was pretty much spot on and I think we’re slowly but surely growing into and developing a tempo that both suits and can be sustained. One prominent factor was our ability to pinch the ball off the Villan’s toes. Postionally we used the width of the pitch more and it showed.
Some kindly souls thought I was overly beating Brad up last week and so here’s a thought for you. Yes, Lloris did boot the ball up the field but he did it a lot less. The net result was a passing accuracy rate of 67% opposed to Brad’s 18%. I know it’s boring, but if you give the ball away you’re a liability, you’re not a benefit.
Okay, let’s fly through the individual performances and see what we saw.
One iffy throw out but I thought he looked brand new. Lively coming off his line on a couple of occasions and a good punch out. All this Brad’s lost his place stuff in the media needs to be sniggered at. We paid good money for this lad. Brad’s 141.Get over it.
On her way to the city, Dorothy meets Kyle Walker, a Tin Man, and a Cowardly Lion , who lament that they lack respectively a brain, a heart, and courage. Time to make a definite separation in people’s minds between ‘athlete’ and ‘footballer’. If Levy is cute we can flog him to some schmucks who haven’t clocked the fact he can’t defend. 53% of Villa’s attacking moves were down the left wing. You work it out.
Won 5 headers, won 2 off-sides and generally ran the back line show like a good’un. The influence of Billy must not be glossed over. What happens when Kaboul returns? Difficult decisions are the burden of rank.
This is very out of character for me. This ‘kids’ coming through always have some glaring deficiency that seemingly only nasty old me can see. You know, until they’re loaned out and disappear into the ether. But Caulker is a cut above. Thoughtful and technically mature he really could become quite some player. A 92% pass accuracy rate.
Almost embarrassingly busy. It’s ‘interesting’ to consider the difference between his forward runs and those of Benny’s. Add to this that we don’t appear to suffer from the ‘all hands on deck’ routine that normally follows one of Benny’s forays.
He was pretty exceptional out there. The midfield was packed. It was messy. But he genuinely did a job on the Villans; add to this a pass accuracy rate of 90% and you’re looking at an indispensable player.
He had one of his best games in the shirt yet. Head up, he was looking and elegantly achieving wherever he went. Every time he got the ball he did something useful with it. Few footballers can be accused of that. The only player to match the passing accuracy rate of Caulker.
Really frustrating performance. Yes a goal and I’m not being dismissive, but his runs seem to increasingly achieve little. Most of his attempted crosses also fall into the same category of indifference. He’s been called up for England and I really wish he’d decline and focus on the Lilywhite.
He’s going to be one of those guys who occasionally comes good but is unlikely to set the world alight for us. A really excellent vanilla ice cream.
Much more involved and I swear I came away from the game thinking he’d really made an effort defensively. Fortunate not to get booked for the dive. We’ll be discussing that in depth on the next blog a little later.
Exasperating. His shots were so off target it was painful. The Caulker ‘goal’ was a mental blast from 3 yards out that was heading towards a hamburger stall before it was deflected. 6 shots and the one on target was weaker than a blind kitten in a tumble dryer.
Really mixed it up and that puts the Midget Gem back into a file marked ‘Impact Sub Only.’ He opened up channels and caused havoc drawing markers and doing something with the ball analysts are referring to as passing to team mates.I’d like to see him play with Siggy ‘in the hole’ behind him instead of Dempsey. Creatively that appeals. Lots.
The boss got a good performance out them and if you squint your eyes we’re quite frequently playing push and run. He needs to be sharper with his substitutions. I thought Dempsey and Defoe both looked time expired by the half time whistle.
A few gifs for @sharoconnor …
Bit unfair to say we set out the same as McLiesh’s side last year. Last year we didnt have a single attack of any note in our worst and most embarasing game of a terrbile season. This year we had a couple of great chances to take the lead. same result in the end tho.
I thought you were OK yesterday, better than last year for sure, especially first half, though we were a bit ‘meh’ first half. I think he has you more focused and organized than McLeish.
We are gradually erasing the myriad questions that were there immediately post Redknapp.
Walker will learn the hard way that one spectacular goal against the Arse will not give him a John Barnes and England style automatic place. Ask Danny Rose. There is no doubt he is being firmly targeted by anybody we play. Short term it can only be Naughton or Smith, medium term Kaboul until Billy G has to hang up his boots but long term we are going to need a new right back.
The other issues are with the front pairing. I fully agree with the Defoe comments. He just is not the answer and is one of the reasons why we have a problem with the “off the striker” position, where neither Siggy nor Dempsey have so far proved up to the task.
I guess they both deserve a run each with Adebayor up front but my instinct is that we are going to need somebody else. Perhaps it could be Dembele and then we buy a busy midfielder like Carzola. Shame in a way to see Modric getting arse splinters at RM when he could have played that role. Otherwise we keep Dembele where he is and try to find a Peter Beardsley type player.
Ironic really as I could see Dempsey scoring loads playing off someone like Berbatov…
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I disagree. In my view Walker has all the attributes to be a top drawer right back, he just needs to learn a few lessons and be coached properly. He appears to have gone a little backwards compared to last season during which he showed in exemplary fashion how to ease players off the ball rather than rashly or recklessly commit.
He may be taking longer to adjust to the new tactics than his teammates and may also need to be debriefed re his penchant for roaming out of position.
Coaching is the key and that’s not his job.
Go on the Walker.
He just never seems fully in control of his actions. His feet are quick but his decisions always seem a second or so behind them. I’ve never been sold on him, even last year I couldn’t really understand the hype.
He needs to learn how to use his pace intelligently and choose his moments to get forward. He doesn’t combine well with Lennon, which given both their pace is criminal. He is also frequently caught out of position and 50% of his headed clearances fall to the feet of an opposing striker in our box. In other words, he needs a lot of coaching!
As soon as Naughton is fit I’d rather see him at RB and see what he can do in his true position.
He also has the worse free throws in the history of football. I mean he just doesnt use his brains when lining one up and it inevitably gets the ball turned over.
Look pace can unlock Barcelona. It is that terrifying and powerful a thing. But we need his pace optimized to our benefit. And I have to agree one needs to get him to understand his role.
But someone said what about Jan Caulker Gallas and Kaboul as our back 4 and I am umm sexed out at that thought!
I really enjoyed Walker last year especially in the wake of Hutton and Corluka. I had hoped he would of improved after the break defensively.
When a player like him pops up and shows a positive attribute to his game its very exciting, but when you are nailed on to start every game for a prem side you cant have glaringly obvious faults that can be exposed by everyone. Must improve, simple as.
Agree with nearly all of that. Especially Walker. Tut tut.
Vertonghen is immense, what a great addition!
Excited about seeing more of Ade and I hope he will compliment Siggy and Bale’s style.
It’s really frustrating watching Defoe squander chances, he’s really showing himself up. It’s important to note that he does bring goals in some format and isn’t by any means useless but he’s also squandering a lot of chances. I like having him at the club though and he’s great to have on the bench.
I’m not gonna rise to that Brad Friedel comment I think i made my point in the past. Lloris came away with a clean sheet and that should do his confidence the world of good and I hope to see him playing more confidently against the Chavs.
For the West London Blue Racists I think we will have to stick with Walker as Kaboul won’t be match-fit. Either way they will attack us down the right flank, which I don’t mind as they usually try to murder us through the middle. The point is that the present WLBR is basically an AVB template and hopefully he will know the weaknesses. JT will not be there and that means the other players worrying that he might visiting their WAGs.
They will go through everywhere. Hazard, Mata and Oscar together are on fire. But I think if Bale and Lennon track back we can take ’em. Sandro and Dembele are monsters.