Cathy Ferguson
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- Oct 31, 2010
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Most likely our most improved player under ETH. Not great defensively today but he is much more assured in possession nowadays.
Haters gon hate?How can anyone not be impressed with his improvement? His ceiling has gotten a lot higher than I honestly expected.
Last position? We have two options but neither are top class. Dalot is just decent at everything and Awb is an enigma who has some big strengths and grading weaknesses.It's literally the last position that needs sorting at the moment.
The second goal I get but blaming him for the first seems very harsh. He can't win every header and given where on the pitch he was battling for it I think he's entitled to think his team mates can stop him losing out turning directly into a goal.
The second goal I get but blaming him for the first seems very harsh. He can't win every header and given where on the pitch he was battling for it I think he's entitled to think his team mates can stop him losing out turning directly into a goal.
No one expects him to win every header but AWB losing aerial duels has become a pattern, one that in this match alone lead to 2 goals from Forest. This is quite clearly a major weakness of his that could cost us games.
We were 2nd best to 3 challenges in a row and Onana's attempt to save wasn't brilliant. Plenty of blame to pass around there and i wouldn't be too harsh on any one player but I wouldn't be happy with the team as a whole.The second goal I get but blaming him for the first seems very harsh. He can't win every header and given where on the pitch he was battling for it I think he's entitled to think his team mates can stop him losing out turning directly into a goal.
It's not a mistake though, mistakes are like the ones Walker and Alexander-Arnold have made today.
Of course it's still a mistake, any error in defense is one. The only difference is that mistakes caused by lack of ability like in AWB's case have a much higher chance of occuring than the occasional brain fart like Walker's mistake.
I don't think losing that header had much to do with a lack of ability. If you rewatched that goal, his face was directly against the sunlight, and he even tried to cover his hand on his face to see where the ball was. I think the direct sunlight to his face probably affected his vision, causing him to lose that challenge.Of course it's still a mistake, any error in defense is one. The only difference is that mistakes caused by lack of ability like in AWB's case have a much higher chance of occuring than the occasional brain fart like Walker's mistake.
In general yeah but it was 3 challenges one right after the other and once Awoniyi was clear no one was going to catch him.Defending is done as a team. You can’t have two players going in for a challenge and no one tracking back. Just a glaring lack of awareness. And it’s not the first time either.
The second goal was a weird one. Everyone missed the ball apparently.
He's right up there with the most improved player under EtH in my eyes. Not saying he's world class or anything like that, but he wouldn't be easily or cheaply upgraded on.Don't understand the blame for the first goal. That was mostly rashford's fault.
He has improved in possession since 2 years ago. He is good at progressing the ball from defense when we are under pressure (like Valencia used to do), but his positioning is still awful many times throughout the game and his movement is still suspect. He is not a liability but he is not the future.
I've always kind of liked him. Not for his displays on the pitch, just because he seems to be a humble, nice guy. But you are right, this is really the impressive part.I must say his humility to learn is something to be admired. When a new manager arrives and puts you on the bench for half a season. It easy to chose to walk away or just sit on your a*s and collect your cheque. He's accepted his limitations and attempted to work on them.
From Ole XI I felt ETH wouldn't want to work with long term (Maguire, Fred, Mctominay, Ronaldo, De Gea). He's the one who was dropped right away but he has fought his way back into the mix and cemented his spot in the first xi. Good on him.
Yes he's good one-on-one but especially in the first half it was annoying that he never closed down Martinelli. Always gave him space to run at him and conceded 36 corners because of it. Whereas Dalot on the other side stayed close to Saka and never gave him an inch. Sure he's got recovery pace but he has to make a lot those last ditch tackles because he allows the winger to run inside the box and create pressure to our defense that could be avoided.
I feel this is one of the things that's hard to talk about with AWB (and to some extent Dalot) especially when you look at the praise he gets. Yes AWB is fantastic at defending one-on-ones, and you wouldn't want anyone else to mark a tricky winger out of a game (see the Brighton match last year) but if we're building a team to be a really quick transition side you need a player that has better technique and is able to get the ball out of his feet a lot quicker. In the first half especially he was the obvious weak link in the build up phase. He's not got terrible technique it's just noticeably far less than someone like Martinez or Shaw and there was one instance in the first half where it took him about 3 touches to set himself up with the ball.It was a clear tactic to force Martinelli and Saka to go outside and cross with their weaker foot, the only difference was Martinelli was far more willing to cross with left foot than Saka was on his right.
It seems Wan-Bissaka and Dalot were told to not let Saka and Martinelli come inside under any circumstances.
Both were excellent today and weren't the reason we lost and actually should have been the reason we won.
I feel this is one of the things that's hard to talk about with AWB (and to some extent Dalot) especially when you look at the praise he gets. Yes AWB is fantastic at defending one-on-ones, and you wouldn't want anyone else to mark a tricky winger out of a game (see the Brighton match last year) but if we're building a team to be a really quick transition side you need a player that has better technique and is able to get the ball out of his feet a lot quicker. In the first half especially he was the obvious weak link in the build up phase. He's not got terrible technique it's just noticeably far less than someone like Martinez or Shaw and there was one instance in the first half where it took him about 3 touches to set himself up with the ball.
Shaw- at his very best- is a quality left back and a starter. I feel we need a better right back if we want to play this sort of football that EtH is intent on playing.
He did have a much better second half but i thought he was clearly the least competent defender with the ball in the first half (Dalot wasn't much better mind). I don't think he's a bad player at all it's just we could get so much more from that right side in an attacking sense with a more aggressive full back, especially if we want to play this way.Moving the ball with a pass quickly without needing a touch is one of his strong points. Certainly better than Shaw at it. Shaw wants to take 4 touches before he'll move the ball
True. Credit to them.Think he and Dalot deserve a lot of credit today, both played well for me.