on January 21, 2025, 10:13 am, in reply to "Would you give him a new contract?"
So if he'd accept another year on reduced terms, I'd be happy enough with that.
Previous Message
I agree he’s been decent this season but I prefer Mangala in the deeper role (I trust him on the ball much more than I do Gueye) and surely the plan is Garner and/or Iroegbunam to take his place?
Thelwell seems to like Diara so whether that’s now or in the summer I’m hoping we become less reliant on Gueye and don’t need to give him a new contract Previous Message
Previous Message
Gueye and Doucoure have great engines, cover a lot the pitch, and can win the ball back.
I think both are suited to coming off the bench when we're trying to protect a lead. And ideally you also have forward who are quick and direct ball carriers (e.g. Lindstrom).
Problem is we don't have enough squad depth to have a strong bench geared for different scenarios.
I think Doucoure came on against Bournemouth and stunk the place out, so that goes against my thesis, but I believe he replaced Iroegbunam who was visibly tiring and had an excellent match. So maybe the idea was right but lack of practice/execution.
For me Mangala has to start and I'd like to think Garner or Iroegbunam can become first team regulars.
That leaves Gueye and Doucoure as subs, and part of our "see out a game" strategy. (Along with Michael Keane, the new Shane Duffy to help us go 5 at the back and then still concede from a header in the 6 year box...) Previous Message
Both Dyche and Moyes took Ndiaye off, who could relieve pressure by winning free kicks, and Moyes shuffled the defence constantly.
We needed fresh legs in midfield, and we needed them ideally when we weren’t in panic mode. Previous Message
I missed the game on Sunday so watched the full 90 minutes on replay yesterday evening.
Based on reactions and media commentary I was expecting 70 minutes of football dominance and was a little surprised (and concerned) by how average we were.
I thought the first 70 minutes against Bournemouth were a better performance. Only difference is we had a 3 goal cushion this time (so we're still relying on own goals to secure wins!)
Don't get me wrong, I think we've been much better un Moyes first two games than under Dyche, and that we played well. But I was led to believe we were very good, as opposed to "we scraped a win against a poor mid table side".
Seemed to me that the first 10 minutes was fairly even and a bit of a sombre atmosphere. Spurs had chances to go in front but obviously we scored and that created a big boost to confidence. Son spurned a very good chance and although our second goal was fantastic it did involve a high risk pass across the back line by Tarkowski. I felt there was a lot of space between the 2 cb's all game and on another day could easily have been exposed. Would Tarks have made that pass under Dyche? Would he have done it at 0-0? Is the difference the managers instructions or the game situation? I'm not sure.
Second half it did seem that we were the stronger side but at 3-0 up it's hard to read too much into that. When they pulled one back you could sense the atmosphere change immediately, and although there was plenty of attempts by the crowd to keep positive we were definitely nervy. I don't think we should have won 4 or 5 nil as some have said. Seemed like a fair result would have been 2-1.
Patterson did well but hardly had time to do much. I like the fact he started at right midfield and then went to wing back - it suggests Moyes shares concerns about his defending but (like early Coleman) that won't stop him playing him and letting him develop.
While Dyche's lack of subs cost us vs Bournemouth, Moyes probably made too many and with too many tactical adjustments. Hopefully though he'll have seen that Keane is a liability and we desperately need an upgrade on Doucoure.
Mykolenko played well - I think he's the new Tony Hibbert (strong defensively, weak going forwards, but if he can practice his crossing he'll be perfectly fine for where we're at).
Mangala is our only midfielder with excellent control, so he's a key player for us.
Lindstrom was best player first half, and his energy and directness is great to see.
All 3 CBs on the pitch did well
DCL needs 3 chances to score. Therefore we need to create more chances. Simple.
But my overall match summary: we scored first and had a bit of luck. Over the course of the season that result/performance suggests we're a lower mid table side.
Responses