 | Forum
Reply | Madsen
at 10:27 31 Dec 2025
There's probably a boring middle ground where both i) he's been a revelation relative to last year and ii) the romantic appeal of his redemption arc story has inflated the praise he's received for his performances are true.
The broader point that we are dangerously dependent on him (and also Burrell) is undoubtedly true though. |
| Forum
Reply | Madsen
at 07:14 31 Dec 2025
This is the kind of stuff that it's much harder to tell from a stream than it is in the ground, but I did definitely notice occasions in the first half against West Brom where there was a clear opportunity for him to widen out an angle to receive a pass out of defence, that he declined to do. Which was very worrying. Then a few minutes later we won a corner and he was fist pumping and geeing up players around him. He's an odd fellow. Fair to say he's not reliable enough at this point, but also correct to say that we don't have an alternative in his role - unless we experiment with Chair in CM again? Which could be an option, and worth trying so that we at least have some competition there? |
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Reply | Chair
at 21:10 30 Dec 2025
So erm... This Chair fella... Is he available for a kick around soon or....? |
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Reply | Madsen
at 20:02 30 Dec 2025
He cut a forlorn figure when he came off , and JS asked him something to which he gave a sad little shake of the head. I didn't realise he had a knock though to be honest. |
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Reply | Esquerdinha and his usage
at 10:39 30 Dec 2025
Happy to see him get some game time, but first half we seemed to be playing out from the back through him a lot, which exacerbated his tendency to take daft risks and turn into trouble a lot. |
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Reply | Baggie ball bags - Match Thread
at 06:43 30 Dec 2025
"my words and prophecies"
Lol you self-aggrandizing berk.
Have to say, you're rapturous doom-posting made a bad evening significantly harder to take last night - back on "ignore" you go. |
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Reply | Baggie ball bags - Match Thread
at 22:43 29 Dec 2025
The constant passing back was infuriating, Varane particularly bad for it even by his standards. But if you can't find a pass you get closed down and have to turn back. And there was almost never a pass on. Saito actually started to look better when RND came on I thought, because they've played together, RND made overlapping runs that took defenders away etc, whereas Esquerdinha was more often moving infield when Saito had possession. I just think individual performances and team set up end up feeding in to one another - if you keep getting caught in possession because no one is available for a pass your passing starts to deteriorate and the whole thing goes to shit.
None of which accounts for Vale's almost eerily bad ten minutes on the pitch. |
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Reply | Baggie ball bags - Match Thread
at 22:27 29 Dec 2025
There were poor individual performances all over the place but I wonder though whether the total lack of fluidity was also in part down to the different shape, players in different positions, etc. We just didn't look like anyone knew where to be or where to anticipate anyone else being.
I'm also genuinely puzzled by the fact Plan A in the first half appeared to be playing out from the back through Morrison and Esquerdinha, who between them and Hamer successfully played themselves into trouble over and over again. With a totally shuffled back four you'd think you'd avoid inviting pressure in that way.
One big take away is how dependent we are on Burrell, for his ability to harass defenders on the ball and for his ability to stretch the opposition when he have possession. |
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Reply | Baggie ball bags - Match Thread
at 21:00 29 Dec 2025
Wtf was going on with our defence there? Looked completely disorganised before the free kick was taken, then Morrison, Kone et al just stood and watched as the West Brom players moved ten yards across the goal. |
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Reply | Baggie ball bags - Match Thread
at 20:02 29 Dec 2025
Yeah I've been blinking at the screen for 15 minutes...
We look generally unsure of our shape all over the pitch. And almost no pressure on their back four in possession, Field kind of lumbering around.
Feels like a long night on the way. |
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