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Post by thehoof on Aug 15, 2015 16:09:05 GMT
And that's it Fuller in a nutshell - I don't rate him, not because is'nt a good footballer, but because we get to see it so inconsistently. If he could maintain any sort of decent form, he would be a shoo in, but we have seen this before.Perhaps the answer is to give him an extended run of games and see if that works. I would like to have to change my opinion, but we have been here before.Come on Stephen, prove me wrong.
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Post by stokemanusa on Aug 15, 2015 16:09:30 GMT
My only real worry with this team is that we haven't replaced NZonzi. He was the central turning point that bought us time in midfield, covered well, held things together and linked front and back. Our attacking options are now ridiculous: Afelleay, Diouf, Arnie, Bojan, Shaqiri, El Ouriachi, Joselu, Ireland and of course Walters, Crouch, Adam. 11 players competing for 4 spots is going to leave some of them very unhappy. Some of them are near the end of their career and okay with limited time others are looking at the end of the road just a little behind them, Adam and Ireland are those type of players and vital to the squad. He's found his place here. If he can offer that every now and again he will feature surely, especially in the cup matches and he should deservedly start against Norwich.
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Post by robrigo on Aug 15, 2015 16:09:30 GMT
He's a wonderful footballer is Ireland. And not just saying it because of today. He needs a decent run of games but he is so intelligent.
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Post by mtrstudent on Aug 15, 2015 16:09:54 GMT
Also, Diouf's turn near the end on the right wing was amazing. Last season I would have assumed he did it by mistake but he showed some decent touch last week as well - Diouf getting even better?
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Post by PotterLog on Aug 15, 2015 16:10:03 GMT
I like that team but if we're not signing another midfielder I think we have to persevere with MVG. Lad has pedigree and needs to adjust. Yeah if MVG is going to be the N'Zonzi replacement, then I guess we have to hang in there, as dissapointing as he was today. Could Afellay do it maybe? He wasn't great today either mind
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Post by richardparker on Aug 15, 2015 16:14:00 GMT
Hughes got it right by taking walters and van G off. They were both having poor games. Arnie was motm and Ireland was great too. We should start with the team that finished and bring shaqiri on after 60mins in our next match. Joselu had nothing but scraps but looked better up top and Dioufs pace destroyed them second half. It would be good management to bring Shaqiri on as a sub next match. Rather him develop into our system as a key player, than be all singing all-dancing for his debut and spiral expectations of him (from both fans and team mates) from day one, which may prove detrimental in the long run. Also, the players who did well today need to be rewarded.
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Post by upthefud on Aug 15, 2015 16:14:29 GMT
Same back 5 + Whelan Adam Shaqiri Ireland Arnie Diouf Players who play well deserve to start barring Shaq I like that team but if we're not signing another midfielder I think we have to persevere with MVG. Lad has pedigree and needs to adjust. I see the point, but we helped Bojan by not blooding him too quickly. We need a midfield presence if we're going to fill the attack with flair so for me (until MVG finds his feet) Adam beats Sidwell to the role. We need to be patient but not at the expense of points, I can't see us getting that point today if he'd stayed on.
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Post by Paul Spencer on Aug 15, 2015 16:14:43 GMT
Yeah if MVG is going to be the N'Zonzi replacement, then I guess we have to hang in there, as dissapointing as he was today. Could Afellay do it maybe? He wasn't great today either mind It's the $64,000,000 question isn't it? You would think it's going to have to be one of them but neither of them have really shown that they're likely to fill his shoes so far. Having said that, it's VERY early days and once they acclimatise, hopefully they'll step up to the plate.
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Post by upthefud on Aug 15, 2015 16:16:35 GMT
Could Afellay do it maybe? He wasn't great today either mind It's the $64,000,000 question isn't it? You would think it's going to have to be one of them but neither of them have really shown that they're likely to fill his shoes so far. Having said that, it's VERY early days and once they acclimatise, hopefully they'll step up to the plate. MVG in time, Afellay not for me. Adam is the current best option until MVG learns what's required.
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Post by chiefdelilah on Aug 15, 2015 16:16:54 GMT
I'm becoming increasingly convinced that if Affelay has a role, it's as competition for Glenn as the holding mid. He can tackle, he's enjoyably dirty when he has to be, he can pass, but he isn't the most mobile and hasn't got to grips with the pace of the league yet.
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Post by kurt on Aug 15, 2015 16:17:38 GMT
It was a big pleasure see Stephen combining with Arni 2nd half on our left side That was excellent football. Many chances created.
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Post by chiefdelilah on Aug 15, 2015 16:17:32 GMT
I like that team but if we're not signing another midfielder I think we have to persevere with MVG. Lad has pedigree and needs to adjust. I see the point, but we helped Bojan by not blooding him too quickly. We need a midfield presence if we're going to fill the attack with flair so for me (until MVG finds his feet) Adam beats Sidwell to the role. We need to be patient but not at the expense of points, I can't see us getting that point today if he'd stayed on. Adam is just adding more flair for me though. He can be hugely important but he isn't reliable enough defensively.
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Post by ed5993 on Aug 15, 2015 16:18:08 GMT
These are the kinds of situations where Ireland excels - coming off the bench away from home. As brilliant as he was for 30 mins today, he more often than not flatters to deceive when he gets a start.
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Post by upthefud on Aug 15, 2015 16:19:38 GMT
I see the point, but we helped Bojan by not blooding him too quickly. We need a midfield presence if we're going to fill the attack with flair so for me (until MVG finds his feet) Adam beats Sidwell to the role. We need to be patient but not at the expense of points, I can't see us getting that point today if he'd stayed on. Adam is just adding more flair for me though. He can be hugely important but he isn't reliable enough defensively. I don't see it. Adam adds a presence and looks to feed the formidable attack at every opportunity. He's a Scholes-esque tackler but he does understand the positional aspect of the role.
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Post by stokeharry on Aug 15, 2015 16:19:50 GMT
Couldn't ask for much more from the lad today
Thumbs up
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Post by Gary Hackett on Aug 15, 2015 16:20:44 GMT
I like that team but if we're not signing another midfielder I think we have to persevere with MVG. Lad has pedigree and needs to adjust. Yeah if MVG is going to be the N'Zonzi replacement, then I guess we have to hang in there, as dissapointing as he was today. Ireland gets the best out of everyone and makes things tick, he has to start until Bojan is ready. I've said right from the start that Van Ginkel needs to be brought in slowly, get Sidwell in there until he's ready. Affelay is no central midfielder either far too lightweight.
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Post by chiefdelilah on Aug 15, 2015 16:21:46 GMT
Adam is just adding more flair for me though. He can be hugely important but he isn't reliable enough defensively. I don't see it. Adam adds a presence and looks to feed the formidable attack at every opportunity. He's a Scholes-esque tackler but he does understand the positional aspect of the role. I've seen no evidence of him understand the positional aspect of it. He has a wanderlust that often means just point blank leaving his man and hasn't got the legs to get back a lot of the time. I like him and he has something to offer but I just don't think he's consistent enough or disciplined enough to regularly play there. The fact that he's uniformly shagged after an hour doesn't help either.
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Post by Deleted on Aug 15, 2015 16:22:15 GMT
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Post by Caerwrangonpotter on Aug 15, 2015 16:24:34 GMT
A fit & ready Ireland is an absolute necessity
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Post by Gary Hackett on Aug 15, 2015 16:27:05 GMT
Unbelievable, I like Diouf but he misses far too many. I'm going to get a lot of stick for this but I've always preferred him on the right he can't and never will play as a lone striker.
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Post by Deleted on Aug 15, 2015 16:28:09 GMT
Unbelievable, I like Diouf but he misses far too many. I'm going to get a lot of stick for this but I've always preferred him on the right he can't and never will play as a lone striker. See, you probably wouldn't get as much stick if you avoided the "can't and never will" bit. Because he's kinda already done it, last season. Where he scored a fair bit.
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Post by Kjones9 on Aug 15, 2015 16:31:32 GMT
My only real worry with this team is that we haven't replaced NZonzi. He was the central turning point that bought us time in midfield, covered well, held things together and linked front and back. Our attacking options are now ridiculous: Afelleay, Diouf, Arnie, Bojan, Shaqiri, El Ouriachi, Joselu, Ireland and of course Walters, Crouch, Adam. 11 players competing for 4 spots is going to leave some of them very unhappy. A lot of teams get super excited about their attacking options but forget the spine. I still think Chelsea's best signing in recent years is Matic. We're not going to be able to replace nzonzi 'like for like'. We need to adapt to a slightly different style. Van ginkel also needs to adapt to our players. It's going to take a bit of time, patience is needed.
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Post by Gary Hackett on Aug 15, 2015 16:32:00 GMT
Unbelievable, I like Diouf but he misses far too many. I'm going to get a lot of stick for this but I've always preferred him on the right he can't and never will play as a lone striker. See, you probably wouldn't get as much stick if you avoided the "can't and never will" bit. Because he's kinda already done it, last season. Where he scored a fair bit. I must have seriously missed that then. Walters only scored one less out wide all season. He's not a lone striker and he misses far too many.
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Post by upthefud on Aug 15, 2015 16:32:44 GMT
Nah it's Dioufs goal. My dream team needs it.
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Post by robwahlmann on Aug 15, 2015 16:34:00 GMT
No, you can see from how the ball moves that he has touched it slightly! Diouf's goal, no doubt!
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Post by Olgrligm on Aug 15, 2015 16:35:48 GMT
He has a lot of positive qualities, but his negative qualities really out me off him, normally.
Today, however, he was instrumental in our comeback and has played his way into our team for Norwich. A really excellent performance.
Edit: van Ginkel needs a chance alongside Ireland, rather than Affelay, who is a very similar player to him.
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Post by potts348 on Aug 15, 2015 16:47:37 GMT
Super super performance...
But a lot of people missing what made it super.... For a long time I have been saying Ireland best position but have got very little reply.... Today showed it
He is a visionary with speed of thought and excellent footballing ability
His best position is midfield , not attacking midfield.
Midfield with a license to roam which is perfect in a 3 man midfield....
He need players in front of him, outlets, runners.... He will find them... But he can't when he's just playing off a front man...
I hope he gets a run of games in a deeper role
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Post by Deleted on Aug 15, 2015 16:47:51 GMT
He sums us up at the moment. We can't afford the great players who can turn it on every game (hopefully Bojan and Shaqiri will be exceptions to that statement ) but we can afford a good number of players who can pull a top drawer performance out of the bag often enough to make us compete at the right end of the league table. I love it when it all comes together like the second half today.
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Post by Paul Spencer on Aug 15, 2015 18:02:02 GMT
He sums us up at the moment. We can't afford the great players who can turn it on every game (hopefully Bojan and Shaqiri will be exceptions to that statement ) but we can afford a good number of players who can pull a top drawer performance out of the bag often enough to make us compete at the right end of the league table. I love it when it all comes together like the second half today. You've got to think, that if one of the new boys had put in a performance like Ireland today, then we'd all be proclaiming that we'd made the signing of the season.
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Post by FullerMagic on Aug 15, 2015 18:15:36 GMT
Hughesy praising him post-match...
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