Stevo985 Posted February 3, 2018 VT Supporter Share Posted February 3, 2018 1 hour ago, KJT123 said: He was far better against Sheff U in midweek, but nice to see you acknowledging his use to the team. I disagree. He was far better today than he was vs Sheff Utd. The 45 mins vs Forest was good too, but today was the best 90 minutes he's had for the club. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DCJonah Posted February 3, 2018 Share Posted February 3, 2018 33 minutes ago, Stevo985 said: I disagree. He was far better today than he was vs Sheff Utd. The 45 mins vs Forest was good too, but today was the best 90 minutes he's had for the club. I thought he was better against sheff utd. He was decent today. For me, i don't mind passing the ball back to keep it, the slightly frustrating thing was this seemed to be his decision before he even received the ball. Whereas against sheff utd it felt he was trying to be more positive with his passing. Easily keeps his role and continues to impress though 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HanoiVillan Posted February 4, 2018 Share Posted February 4, 2018 Obviously just me, but I thought he was pretty poor today, although Hourihane gave him little help either. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DevonIsAPlaceOnEarth Posted February 4, 2018 Share Posted February 4, 2018 9 hours ago, HanoiVillan said: Obviously just me, but I thought he was pretty poor today, although Hourihane gave him little help either. It is interesting how people read the game differently. Respect your view obviously, but I thought Bjarnason was outstanding today. Brilliant tracking, always looking to lay off to Jack, Albert or Snoddy, and cool under pressure. Like a more forward thinking Jedinak. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KSV Posted February 4, 2018 Share Posted February 4, 2018 Its not just the results that have changed.. its the way we play the match as well. Our passing % has improved since hes come into the game and we tend to dominate the match more. He also sped up our attack/counter attack as hes not scared to run or look for a pass forward to Jack or Hogan whereas Jedinak/Whelan would like for a pass to Hourihane or back to Terry which is obviously 1 extra pass. Little things like that can effect games. Its very noticeable imo. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sne Posted February 4, 2018 Share Posted February 4, 2018 15 hours ago, Stevo985 said: I think people need to get used to a DM doing that. It’s part of the position. They’re not there to set up goals, they’re there to win back possession and keep it. All our DMs have been criticised for passing backwards or sideways since, and including, Westwood. It’s part of the position. And that stems from a lack of movement from the rest of our players for the most part. For years and years we've had issues with this. Then again Jedi and Whelan are not the most gifted or well rounded players when it comes to spotting a pass. The thing I like with Thor compared to those 2 is that he's more urgent in getting the ball to a teammate or getting it forward when he receives it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mikeyp102 Posted February 4, 2018 Share Posted February 4, 2018 I thought it was his best game he’s had for us. Well done Birkir, stepped up when we’ve needed you Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dr_Pangloss Posted February 4, 2018 Share Posted February 4, 2018 He's doing well in this position, I think it's his to lose now. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NeilS Posted February 4, 2018 Share Posted February 4, 2018 Glad to hear some positive reviews for Birkir at last. I must admit that I wasn’t sure he would make it here. He has looked way off the pace whenever I have seen him play, and always caught on his heels and slow to react. To be fair to him he has been shunted all over the pitch, so never managed to hold down one role in the team and gain confidence in himself and his teammates. Hopefully he has now found his true role for us and can kick on from here, and help make us a better team. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kbdrum88 Posted February 4, 2018 Share Posted February 4, 2018 Thor literally is climbing up the ranks of my favourite players we currently have very quickly ... deffo cemented the DM role as his I think Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tonyh29 Posted February 4, 2018 Share Posted February 4, 2018 (edited) His passing was a bit sloppy at times yesterday but early doors when Burton were pressing there was a ball into the 6 yard box where their forward would have had an easy tap in , but BB had tracked back and cleared the danger....I’m not convinced whelan or Jed would have been in that position Each offers something but he’s the more energetic option of the 3 and that seems to suit the way we are playing at the moment i still expect Bruce to put Axel in that role in front of him at some point though , he looks like he could be a human centipede type lab experiment where someone combined all 4 of them !! Edited February 4, 2018 by tonyh29 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
srsmithusa Posted February 4, 2018 Share Posted February 4, 2018 (edited) On 1/31/2018 at 01:18, sexbelowsound said: Thought he was decent in the second half. He doesn't really have any similar qualities to Jedinak or Whelan which in a way is good because it means we have options. I think if you ranked all of our 'DM' type players you'd find that Jedinak is the best defensively, Birkir the best with the ball (albeit still not great) and getting forward and Whelan is just a mash of both. I don't think he deserves to be dropped but I am all for rotating players depending on the opposition. Good post, I would add that the two goals yesterday had nothing to do with any dm lapse. He’s not the best option for strongest defender in that role, but I can’t think of a single defensive lapse of his that has cost us. He deserves to keep the spot unless we wish to park the bus at some point. Then Jedinak is fist choice. (But I don’t understand both Jedi and Whelan on the bench behind him.) Edited February 4, 2018 by srsmithusa Grammar :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vive_La_Villa Posted February 4, 2018 Share Posted February 4, 2018 (edited) I think he just has age on his side. He is in his peak. I've no doubt Jed and Whelan at the same age would have been running the show in this league. Edited February 4, 2018 by Vive_La_Villa Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TRO Posted February 4, 2018 Share Posted February 4, 2018 (edited) 14 hours ago, HanoiVillan said: Obviously just me, but I thought he was pretty poor today, although Hourihane gave him little help either. Its a difficult time to be critical as the TEAM is flying but Conor is slowly worrying me.....he wasn't much help to Thor at all. Edited February 4, 2018 by TRO 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Demitri_C Posted February 4, 2018 Share Posted February 4, 2018 Bit concerned that he will be bullied in cm against blose next week. They will try be physical and I think bjarnasson might struggle there. But he can't be dropped at the moment even though I think jedinak would be better for this game Tough one brucie 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TRO Posted February 4, 2018 Share Posted February 4, 2018 1 minute ago, Demitri_C said: Bit concerned that he will be bullied in cm against blose next week. They will try be physical and I think bjarnasson might struggle there. But he can't be dropped at the moment even though I think jedinak would be better for this game Tough one brucie I think you are right. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eastie Posted February 4, 2018 Share Posted February 4, 2018 26 minutes ago, Demitri_C said: Bit concerned that he will be bullied in cm against blose next week. They will try be physical and I think bjarnasson might struggle there. But he can't be dropped at the moment even though I think jedinak would be better for this game Tough one brucie Let them worry about us - we should not be changing a winning team because we are worried about Birmingham city . jedi at Fulham I’d tend to consider but not at home to blues 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Carlos_the_third Posted February 4, 2018 Share Posted February 4, 2018 Agree it’s a tough one to work out who will play CDM next week - we should really be looking to give them an absolute battering, but Bruce has in the past tended to come out before derbies with ‘form out the window’ comments (which are fair to an extent), and erred towards accepting that it will be a scrappy game before we’ve even kicked off, rather than adapting to this eventuality if and when it happens. In the last game against Blues also, we were really struggling to deal with the massive guy they had playing CAM (who I’m almost certain was not actually a CAM but just stuck there for that one game to put himself about in a derby and get the fans up) until Jedi came on, at which point we took control of the game - this would also point to maybe Jedi being included. However, this is by far the most secure Bruce has been in his job when entering a derby, and I’m sure the fans would forgive him far more easily if we tried to play football and got beaten off a set piece than if we revert to a more defensive setup and lose/draw - it will be really interesting to see which way he goes, and could potentially show whether recent good football/results have given him more confidence in going for it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vive_La_Villa Posted February 4, 2018 Share Posted February 4, 2018 (edited) I think he should keep it as is but be prepared to make changes at half if they winning the physical battle in the middle. Edited February 4, 2018 by Vive_La_Villa Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vive_La_Villa Posted February 4, 2018 Share Posted February 4, 2018 3 hours ago, srsmithusa said: Good post, I would add that the two goals yesterday had nothing to do with any dm lapse. He’s not the best option for strongest defender in that role, but I can’t think of a single defensive lapse of his that has cost us. He deserves to keep the spot unless we wish to park the bus at some point. Then Jedinak is fist choice. (But I don’t understand both Jedi and Whelan on the bench behind him.) There was one incident where we gave the ball away then fouled the player in the box when trying to win it back. Luckily ref gave a yellow for diving instead. Apart from that incident he was superb. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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