Smirking_Saint

He played 16 out of a possible 32 and none of the run in.. they had the option to buy and didn’t Enough said

I think he’s more stubborn to clueless tbh Im hoping Stewart is able to find a bit of form and gametime as I feel we’ll benefit from the ball sticking up front

We spent last year with Armstrong playing off of the right… RM obviously prefers inside forwards to traditional wingers and as far as the Champ was concerned that was probably viable as generally we’d control the game and defending teams would sit deep, thats unfortunately not the case this year, we aren’t controlling the play in the opposition box, so realistically a winger would probably have been a better option Im personally not writing off BBD yet, but I am worried…

He can encourage from the sidelines Im really not interested in his ‘voice’ if his ability is detrimental to our performances on the pitch, I also couldn’t give a toss if he has a red n white tattooed c*ck, he’s our 4th best CB… thats all that matters It always baffles me when people fawn so hard over players, Im sure he’s a great guy, Im in no way assassinating his character, but im absolutely entitled to comment on his ability and how it affects my club

I think a lot of the dynamism that allowed us to create that late season momentum was built by moving to a quicker tempo like you’ve mentioned wanting here I do wonder if a lot of the problems are caused by having no real focal point at the top of the park, only really Dibling is able to hold the ball, last year we had Armstrong abd Che which enabled us the time to go into transitions, Che was lacking in a lot of areas but his hold up play was great

Sorry… I know Im going on, but to sum up Stephens as a player just rewatch the Zirkzee chance… he is directly facing him, as a CB thats your danger, he’s touch tight, Bednarek is covering the front post and Downes is screening the penalty spit area… all you have to do as a CB is ensure your danger (Zirkzee) is dealt with… he makes an effort to try to get into a tussle with him, he does that a lot, sometimes it has value, others not… Diallo beats KWP and at that point JS is literally just watching the ball, by the time the ball comes in Zirkzee is behind him, unmarked and has a shocking miss That is dogshite defending The De Ligt goal, plays 3 players onside, although Im not solely blaming JS here, the whole set piece defence was horrific and De Ligt was being marked, for some reason, by Downes, although it looked like defensively we pulled out, except JS.. who was watching the ball And then the red card.. its just a lazy lunge tbh

Its nothing i haven’t said before on here, no hate towards jack, he’s clearly a committed professional but he just isn’t up to the task, ultimately the wrong captain choice last year and its still costing us now He is purely a reactive defender, unable to see danger forming which is why he is caught out and makes lunges etc, add to that the fact he has failed to form a solid partnership with anyone in a back four before, we saw JS/JB under Ralf’s tenure and it resulted in Jack falling out of contention His issues are hidden by the fact he can be a progressive passer, but unfortunately this lends into him losing his position and causing the defensive line to become unbalanced, his passes are at times the sort that can put others into direct pressure (Brentford, both goaks) or his runs disorganise the side as a whole (both this season and last) Lastly, his inability to play in a back four has, imo, directly led to us employing a back 5, which crippled the side offensively and fails to accomodate THB (who struggles as a wide CB). Tbh, Ive also hated formations with 3 CBs, hated playing in them, hated coaching them and hate my teams adopting them, they’re only really functional if the side is exceptionally well drilled (some if the italian sides in the 90s) because it causes people to shirk the responsibility you naturally have in a 2 CB formation Hopefully we can now go back to THB/JB in a partnership that looked so solid for so long last year, Jack is a squad player, and imo behind atleast 3 of our 6 CBs, only really ahead of Wood and potentially Edwards (im excited about Edwards future)

Morning Jack Hope you enjoy your time off mate

Not that I want to particularly put myself through it, but i worked yesterday, is there any full match recordings anywhere

I see you still talk a phenomenal amount of shite James

Unfortunately I doubt we’ll get a striker now, because we effectively have 4.. 5 including Mara I do agree in regards creativity, that said, we did have 5 on target yesterday, we weren’t ’uncreative’, just wasteful We desperately need a GK, and as much as Im contradicting myself.. we do need more creativity although Im not sure how much AL is going to feature Again our problem is bodies.. Onuachu, Manning, Aribo, Mara or Stewart, Sulemana, Bree, Stephens/ABK, Alcaraz even potentially Lumley are all names that we probably need to move on to streamline the side

Thats was BBD is here for

The game has changed as far as the blueprint around staying in the prem is concerned, for clubs at our level its getting more and more difficult but ultimately you have to attempt to follow Brightons blueprint, educated gambles on undervalued players with a sprinkling of experience Fernandes is highly rated and reinforces a position we are weak in, the hope is the club can make long term profits in the likes of Fernandes, Edwards, THB etc whilst they make an impact in the team… this is how Brighton have solidified themselves as a Prem top 8 side… its also how we survived last year, by being able to drag in significant profits Our BIG problem right now is we have a bloated squad, of what were regarded ‘prem ready’ players from two years ago… all players are a gamble, but young players are slightly less because financially they tend to maintain value

I still don’t see what Ings offers us, at all

I always found Martins lack of faith in Charles a bit odd.. wasn’t there a stat that we always did better with him playing than not, in Downes absence? Charles certainly isn’t the player Downes is, but was comfortably a better option than Smallbone in the 6 amd I personally think that cost us wins at vital points of the season

Its 50/50 tbh The subs didn’t help us at all, we got away with it though We looked a lot more cohesive with an actual back line and midfield structure but before JS went off and after the Smallbone sub we looked all at sea

We’ve let in 10 goals in the four games he’s started in… his presence disrupts the defensive line because he pushes forward, facilitating the need for THB then having to pull back into CB to cover… which is fine, but that in turn exposes our right flank so he’s stuck in two minds Stephens drives into midfield also affect the balance of Downes etc, does he engage the other midfielders ? Does he offer passing lanes? It all just looks confusing Stats wise what does he offer ? His oassing stats are average, he only won 1 of his four ground challenges Regardless of your thoughts on him this experiment is disruptive and confusing

Basically its the Everton situation Which is why rules were changed for this year

Well… suppose you’re right 😂 Unfortunately its not going to happen in our favour imo

I was being questioned about the fact that Id pointed out Leicester’s financial irregularities early season, and that the talk, within footballing circles, was that they would struggle in the Championship financially I was very surprised that they were able to reinforced so effectively. And agree, couldn’t respond to those of you calling me out for being ill informed But here we are… chickens come home to roost I suppose… we obviously hadn’t factored in PL/EFL incompetence around financial management Hopefully we’ll see the breach answered this season but… I doubt it.. so do many that know what they’re on about… seems it’ll probably be punishable from next season so who fucking knows what happens then Only reprieve is there is a SLIGHT chance the EFL attempt to challenge the ruling this year but legally I think it gets tied up too long

His passing was pretty awful past two games, he just switches off and doesn’t see the danger enough, you get away with it a tad as a wide CB but not as a central CB or DM imo The answer is frankly Charles, his passing isn’t as crisp as Smallbones but he is a significant upgrade defensively I think RM has been blindsided by an ambition to maintain possession, its an admirable quality to want that but we aren’t immune to being dispossessed and broken upon from deep, so you frankly HAVE to employ a midfield enforcer (FWOABW) if you are going to push your WBs high

Stephens is terrible as a proactive defender so Id imagine putting him in a position where you need to be even more tactically astute is suicide

Agree except Brooks/Edozie didn’t offer enough defensively… great going forward tonight but they put us under too much pressure imo

Exactly this

Yeah agree, saved us twice as a sweeper