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Niapper
Player Valuation: £8m
From toffeeweb :
I think I can agree in part with the seemingly diametrically opposed positions of Jeff Armstrong and my doppelganger Jay Woods.
I thought Klassen was largely anonymous and contributed very little as Jeff says. I disagree when Jeff adds he is a waste of £25m. It's far too early to make such a bold statement.
I can agree with Jay that Tom Davies was not much of an improvement when he came on for Klassen. And I speak as a fully paid up member of the Tom Davies fan club who believes he should be starting.
As against Seville last Sunday, Tom was again not as his best today. But I am confident Tom Davies will continue to get a lot of game time under Koeman, as he did in the second half of last season.
Morgan Schneiderlin remains the real head-scratcher for me in Koeman's team. I 'get' that he is a younger version of Gareth Barry bought in to inherit the deep lying defensive midfielder that offers an extra layer of protection to the defence.
What he distinctly lacks in comparison to Barry is the elder's passing range and vision to play killer balls, long or short, properly weighted and at the right time.
Morgan's fellow Frenchman Eric Cantona once derided Didier Deschamps as nothing more than a 'water carrier'. Now Deschamps was much better than that implied dismissal of his abilities, but I do wonder if the term is more applicable to Morgan Schneiderlin.
I just see him as the fly in the ointment to the style I believe Koeman is striving to achieve: solid defensive base, but with quicker transition from defence via midfield to attack.
Schneiderlin doesn't offer that to me. Rather, his first movement on receiving the ball is to turn towards his own goal. He is ponderous on the ball. Then rolls a slow paced, badly placed pass sideways or backwards. The seconds lost when he is in possession of the ball is often enough for the opposition at this level to reset and reform their solid defensive lines.
Gana was much better in this role when he first came to us in the first half of last season. Gana is still a fine player, but not as effective as he first was. Now he is being asked to play further forward and whilst he remains a terrier in the tackle, he seldom has the passing ability (and certainly not the shooting ability!) to really hurt teams.
Maybe Schneiderlin will prove me wrong. But personally, I am still waiting to see the player that many eulogized about last season.
I think I can agree in part with the seemingly diametrically opposed positions of Jeff Armstrong and my doppelganger Jay Woods.
I thought Klassen was largely anonymous and contributed very little as Jeff says. I disagree when Jeff adds he is a waste of £25m. It's far too early to make such a bold statement.
I can agree with Jay that Tom Davies was not much of an improvement when he came on for Klassen. And I speak as a fully paid up member of the Tom Davies fan club who believes he should be starting.
As against Seville last Sunday, Tom was again not as his best today. But I am confident Tom Davies will continue to get a lot of game time under Koeman, as he did in the second half of last season.
Morgan Schneiderlin remains the real head-scratcher for me in Koeman's team. I 'get' that he is a younger version of Gareth Barry bought in to inherit the deep lying defensive midfielder that offers an extra layer of protection to the defence.
What he distinctly lacks in comparison to Barry is the elder's passing range and vision to play killer balls, long or short, properly weighted and at the right time.
Morgan's fellow Frenchman Eric Cantona once derided Didier Deschamps as nothing more than a 'water carrier'. Now Deschamps was much better than that implied dismissal of his abilities, but I do wonder if the term is more applicable to Morgan Schneiderlin.
I just see him as the fly in the ointment to the style I believe Koeman is striving to achieve: solid defensive base, but with quicker transition from defence via midfield to attack.
Schneiderlin doesn't offer that to me. Rather, his first movement on receiving the ball is to turn towards his own goal. He is ponderous on the ball. Then rolls a slow paced, badly placed pass sideways or backwards. The seconds lost when he is in possession of the ball is often enough for the opposition at this level to reset and reform their solid defensive lines.
Gana was much better in this role when he first came to us in the first half of last season. Gana is still a fine player, but not as effective as he first was. Now he is being asked to play further forward and whilst he remains a terrier in the tackle, he seldom has the passing ability (and certainly not the shooting ability!) to really hurt teams.
Maybe Schneiderlin will prove me wrong. But personally, I am still waiting to see the player that many eulogized about last season.
a bell maul
Player Valuation: £30m
I wasn't being sarcastic mate...you call things as you see 'em - without candy-coating. I enjoy your contributions to the forum
Good, sensible summary that.
Woolly Blue
Player Valuation: £80m
Mikey was on lemonade, so is a very cheap date.
Twas a pleasant surprise to see you mate.
Thought Gana was crap first half, fantastic second half. He's boss at what he does, getting around the pitch breaking up play, he's not very good when he's asked to get forward in a more attacking role though.
Yarrgh
Player Valuation: £70m
Well I was drifting off in the first half but I thought the goal showed the players' footballing intelligence in how they pulled a well organised defenders apart to create the chance- very pleasing. Boring half and the players looked to have some anxiety.
I was quite taken with Keane and Pickford.
I think that the team were set up quite defensively from the start and we'll be a lot harder to score against this season which is a good basis to build on.
A lot of work is going to be needed to get the attacking side right though. A win, 3 points and plenty of room to improve. Can't wait to see what happens next week now.
I was quite taken with Keane and Pickford.
I think that the team were set up quite defensively from the start and we'll be a lot harder to score against this season which is a good basis to build on.
A lot of work is going to be needed to get the attacking side right though. A win, 3 points and plenty of room to improve. Can't wait to see what happens next week now.
TGW89
Player Valuation: £35m
It had to be Roo.... it had to be Rooooooooo... I knew this was a match we had to win, but I didn't actually expect us to go and bloody win it!
The first half sort of reminded me of opening day 2008, when a very poor Blackburn side took us to pieces. I really thought Stoke were going to nab one but it just didn't happen like it would have done in previous years.
For the turnip dwellers Shaqiri had his usual excellent game against us. Watch him become impotent from here on in. I thought Choupo-Moting looked good. He is going to do nasty, bad, regrettable things to Arsenal next week.... but then again, maybe he (like Shaq) will be dreadful from now on.
The first half sort of reminded me of opening day 2008, when a very poor Blackburn side took us to pieces. I really thought Stoke were going to nab one but it just didn't happen like it would have done in previous years.
For the turnip dwellers Shaqiri had his usual excellent game against us. Watch him become impotent from here on in. I thought Choupo-Moting looked good. He is going to do nasty, bad, regrettable things to Arsenal next week.... but then again, maybe he (like Shaq) will be dreadful from now on.
Barnfred 55
Player Valuation: £80m
Very often the way mate. Also poor form of players. Davies only got his chance last year due to him running out of patience with the likes of Cleverley and Gibson, coupled with McCarthy's fitness. I'm hoping that Cuco's poor form will eventually open the door for Kenny, assuming he hasn't gone on loan in the meantime.
That actually came out the wrong way. I'm hoping Cuco proves me wrong and turns out to be a very able back up to Seamus. But what I've seen so far does worry me, especially with the games we have coming up. If he is poor, I hope koeman then decides to give Kenny a chance. I think he'll be as much of a revelation as Tom was last season.
Quite a few posters on here have hit the nail on the head in that he is trying to squeeze all of his best players into the team at the same time. Whereas he needs to find the right blend and structure, and also change his tactics to suit the team we're playing. For instance, 2 defensive midfielders are not needed against teams that park the bus, especially sitting in front of a back 3 like the first half yesterday. But I wouldn't argue against Schneids, Gana and Davies all starting away to City next week.
Rooney and Siggy seem too similar to me and we'll lack pace if they both play in the same team every game, so I'd like to see them rotated. But at home to somebody like WBA, we could play both and sacrifice one of Gana or Schneids to accommodate. It needs to be horses for courses which is the whole point of having a good squad.
Bit harsh on Morgan I thought. I thought he made a difference to us when he joined in Jan. This pictures him as being a waste. I am not in that camp. I do see him as a Barry replacement though.
Seathestars
Player Valuation: £60m
I'm not having that. I thought Mickey was Scottish.
Barnfred 55
Player Valuation: £80m
But Cuco's had 2 nominations. I had you cast iron for one of them.
Woolly Blue
Player Valuation: £80m
I think you'll find the surname Fitzgerald suggests his roots lie across the Irish Sea mate, which, thinking about it, probably makes your point even more pertinent.
Anyway, @hibbo'sclass has cunningly got us way off-topic here, which, considering the state of some of the football we saw yesterday, is actually no bad thing.
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