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TomC

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Everything posted by TomC

  1. TomC
    I can't see us selling Cash. Whether you like him or not, part of our problem right now is that we don't have a second RB as cover and have to shift Konsa over when we leave Cash out. No matter who we sign, we still need Cash as cover.
  2. TomC
    So this is what it's like being a top team...constantly running into park-the-bus. We had enough opportunities that sooner or later, we were going to score. We were the better team. We could do with moving the ball a little more quickly if we're going to break down these low blocks.
  3. TomC
    Could say that of Cash's shot just now couldn't you?
  4. TomC
    Wouldn't surprise me...quotes get misattributed all the time...
  5. TomC
    He didn't have any better options. Sometimes you just have to have a go. There's an old quote attributed to the ice hockey great Wayne Gretzky: 100% of the shots you don't take don't go in.
  6. TomC
    Yeah, it's a foul. He clipped him from behind when he was on the run and a threat. That's a penalty in any era.
  7. TomC
    Obviously he's not at Ollie's level (yet), but Duran can hit the ball a lot harder than he can.
  8. TomC
    I assume the poll meant this season, not next/upcoming season?
  9. TomC
    It's interesting how the American use of "offense" has crept into football talk in the last decade. When i first started following English football 30+ years ago, I quickly realized that it was always "attack," never "offense."
  10. TomC
    I don't think that's controversial at all. I, at least, agree 100%. Deano used Dougie and McGinn in the double pivot when he used a 4-2-3-1. It didn't work. McGinn's abilities are best used further forward. Last summer, I thought that Tielemans was signed to rotate with Doug and Kamara in the double pivot, but now he's being used further forward, too...if we're 3-box-3 in attack, it's been Doug and Tielemans on the front of the box, and Doug and Kamara on the back of the box. We also have JJ and, when he comes back, Buendia competing for positions at the front of the box. Arguably Zaniolo too. So yes, we need cover in the double pivot. To me, Donck in the double pivot is like Olsen is as a GK. Olsen is a competent shot blocker, but today's goalkeepers need to do more, i.e. pass the ball, especially in our system where we pass the ball around in back so much. Donck is a competent ball-winner, but his passing limitations mean he just doesn't fit our system. The problems is, if you find another player who can win the ball and pass, i.e. another Doug or Kamara, he's a good enough player that he's going to want to start and he's going to be expensive. But the "big" clubs have been managing this sort of problem for years. That's part of us moving up in the world.
  11. TomC
    I'm not sure that I agree with this. I agree that we aren't doing it, but I'm not sure that Unai wants it that way, at least on the left. Moreno did it a lot last year and was probably bought to do just that since Digne tends to cross more from deep. But Moreno hasn't played much this year and is still looking a little rusty when he does. On the right, when we play the asymmetrical formation, it's the job of the wide forward (whether Bailey or Diaby) to get to the byline, not the right back. In that case, you're right that Unai doesn't want the right FB going there. Sometimes we don't play that way and Cash gets ordered to go forward, but it's not all the time.
  12. TomC
    So bad he was completely invisible out there.
  13. TomC
    JJ has not played well since coming back, but saying we sold the wrong brother is harsh. JJ took a while to get back into the groove after his injury last year, too. He'll be OK.
  14. TomC
    Agreed. He finished one of his chances and did a lot of good things. He hoofed a few over but just needs to avoid getting under the ball. He's not missing left-to-right.
  15. TomC
    Frankly, I was more worried after their first goal than their second goal. After their second, I knew we'd break through at some point. No way we were losing to 10-man Burnley. Have some faith. We're in a rough patch, we're making bad mistakes in back, we're wasting chances, we're missing key players, but we're showing character. We made the win happen late today. We salvaged a point late against Sheffield U. We've come up with late goals other times this year. We're never, ever done until the final whistle. Man U was the only match we've truly bottled all season and, as discussed in the tactics thread, that was because they exploited a Donck weakness in the second half. Kamara is coming back soon, Pau is back, Tielemans will be back soon enough. Onward and upward.
  16. TomC
    Told you we'd be OK.
  17. TomC
    We have 12 minutes plus stoppage time and they're down to 10 men. Yes we shouldn't be in this situation but stop being negative. We can still win this.
  18. TomC
    What else are they going to do, sit back and accept defeat?
  19. TomC
    I don't think of Unai as dogmatic at all. Quite to the contrary, it's well-known that he has changed formations many times over the course of his career. I think it's more personnel...Dendoncker just can't play the double pivot the way we need it played given his passing limitations. Unai may have been slow to recognize that about him, but I wouldn't call that dogmatism.
  20. TomC
    Jacob Tanswell just backed up your point with hard data in the Athletic...if you look at the passing networks in our team, Dendoncker had a very weak passing connection with Doug (or anyone on the left side of the field.) (I tried posting the diagram but it's too large and I don't have time to shrink it right now.)
  21. TomC
    The kept boxing us into that right corner and the diagram shows it.
  22. TomC

    Jhon Durán

    TomC replied to PieFacE's topic in Villa Talk

    He was bought as a project and is still a project. We don't have a second experienced pure striker right now, so he's filling in. If we get one, he will be off on loan. I know people wanted Archer to make it here, but he's two years older and hasn't exactly lit the world on fire at Sheffield Utd. He has started regularly and has three goals, only one more than Duran. Compare Duran in two years to Archer now and we may be happy with our choice.
  23. TomC
    In form and uninjured, we're deeper than 11. Emi, Cash, Diego, Konsa, Mings, Digne, Pau, Moreno, Doug, McGinn, Tielemans, Buendia, Diaby, Bailey, JJ, Kamara, Watkins. That's 17 that are capable first teamers. I'm sure that some will disagree with players in this list (Tom13 about Cash, Delphinho about Bueni) but I don't think too many would narrow that list down past 14 or 15. Losing both Mings and Bueni for a whole season has hurt with depth, though, because that does reduce the list from 17 to 15. Then take out Tielemans, Pau, Kamara, and Cash as unavailable (Cash is out of form anyway). Then take out Diaby and JJ as out of form. Now you see why we're scraping the bottom of the barrel.
  24. TomC
    I think we can write off today's defensive problems as a bad game. It's the inability to score from open play that has me worried.
  25. TomC
    I can't fault his performance tonight given that he barely played and didn't get much service when he did. The problem was in back.
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