sparrow1988 Posted November 2, 2018 Share Posted November 2, 2018 That recovery in the second half when the ball was played around the outside of Chester, I thought was very impressive. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zatman Posted November 2, 2018 Share Posted November 2, 2018 1 hour ago, rodders0223 said: Bruce looking a bit of a clearing in the woods. Excellent and it is so nice.to have a defender with recovery pace. Major issues in behind or getting turned with Jedi are snuffed out before they are even minor issues. Football is a simple game sometimes If he continues this form I expect Bruce media buddies to say he learned so much from his time at right back Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
villalad21 Posted November 2, 2018 Share Posted November 2, 2018 He is clearly a right back. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sidcow Posted November 2, 2018 VT Supporter Share Posted November 2, 2018 Was just coming here to post about how supreme he is looking in Central defence yet Bruce refused to play him there even when short until he literally had no choice. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mikeyp102 Posted November 2, 2018 Share Posted November 2, 2018 Another good performance and has really impressed recently. Tin hat on, but I can understand why he was played at rb for a while, let’s not forget he is very young, and prior to this season had completed very few 90 mins in senior football. He built himself ready to move back to cb. Other managers do it, Joe Gomez has been called a cb, but started at rb in the same way. (Not comparing abilities ) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DCJonah Posted November 3, 2018 Share Posted November 3, 2018 3 minutes ago, mikeyp102 said: Another good performance and has really impressed recently. Tin hat on, but I can understand why he was played at rb for a while, let’s not forget he is very young, and prior to this season had completed very few 90 mins in senior football. He built himself ready to move back to cb. Other managers do it, Joe Gomez has been called a cb, but started at rb in the same way. (Not comparing abilities ) Come on. Look how he is playing. You think a few games at rb have made that happen? 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Indigo Posted November 3, 2018 Share Posted November 3, 2018 Thought he was MOTM tonight personally, didn't put a foot wrong and is improving with every game. Outside of not being particularly strong in the air he looks a real all-rounder at this level. Not only does it make Bruce's stubbornness in persevering with him at right back look increasingly bizarre as has been said above, but it also shows how harsh some fans were to almost completely write him off based off a few games where he was shoe-horned into a position he clearly wasn't comfortable playing in. 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LakotaDakota Posted November 3, 2018 Share Posted November 3, 2018 Starting to look like a Man Utd player, Guess the only concern is that they may want him back in Jan if he keeps playing like this Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zatman Posted November 3, 2018 Share Posted November 3, 2018 1 minute ago, LakotaDakota said: Starting to look like a Man Utd player, Guess the only concern is that they may want him back in Jan if he keeps playing like this Sure they have Smalling and Jones. Oh shit maybe they will 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
villalad21 Posted November 3, 2018 Share Posted November 3, 2018 2 hours ago, Zatman said: Sure they have Smalling and Jones. Oh shit maybe they will Mourinho isn't known for his usage of young players tho. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mikeyp102 Posted November 3, 2018 Share Posted November 3, 2018 7 hours ago, DCJonah said: Come on. Look how he is playing. You think a few games at rb have made that happen? I’m a big advocate of not changing your centre backs during a game unless absolutely necessary. At the start of the season at RB Axel was tiring after the hour mark and was substituted off. Every week he played a bit longer until he got to 90 minutes. I wouldn’t have liked changes during a game (which fitness wise would’ve been needed as he had rarely completed 90 minutes in senior football) at CB. So in that aspect yes I think it helped. I do however, think Bruce played him too long at RB and should’ve moved him to CB sooner, but for 4/5 games I could understand it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dr_Pangloss Posted November 3, 2018 Share Posted November 3, 2018 Playing him at right back was a garbage idea from a garbage manager. He has looked absolutely immense at centre half under Smith. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AvfcRigo82 Posted November 3, 2018 Share Posted November 3, 2018 10 hours ago, Indigo said: Thought he was MOTM tonight personally, didn't put a foot wrong and is improving with every game. Outside of not being particularly strong in the air he looks a real all-rounder at this level. Not only does it make Bruce's stubbornness in persevering with him at right back look increasingly bizarre as has been said above, but it also shows how harsh some fans were to almost completely write him off based off a few games where he was shoe-horned into a position he clearly wasn't comfortable playing in. He is just brilliant isn't he. So composed and not a foot wrong all game. Chester's goal and his goal line clearance gave a deserved motm award in the end and the Axe will be seeing a few of those this season before too long. Some of the lunacy by our fans writing him off after 3 games was possibly just stupidity combined with frustration. To quote cabbage boy; "Axel's performances these last few games have shut a few up" 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
weedman Posted November 3, 2018 Share Posted November 3, 2018 10 hours ago, DCJonah said: Come on. Look how he is playing. You think a few games at rb have made that happen? His ability wasn't the issue though, it was his lack of physicality because he wasn't used to the standard of players he is up against now. "a few games at RB" haven't made him the player he is now (well, has been for 2 games which we all hope will continue). However he was consistently beaten in the air by much smaller players at the start of the season, now he's imposing himself and actually winning the ball, "a few games at RB" may absolutely have made that happen. Of course it would have happened at CB too, but that learning curve would have cost us far more goals while he got up to speed 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PompeyVillan Posted November 3, 2018 Share Posted November 3, 2018 I thought he showed why he is highly rated last night. He's clearly got some potential, he's fast, seems to read the game reasonably well and is useful with the ball at his feet. It takes a while to build a partnership in defence but Chester and Tuenzebe seem to compliment each other. He isn't the most imposing central defender however and neither is Chester. I am not sure that should be too much of a worry, because it seems having a ball playing defender is more important than having back bruiser like Jedinak there. I like that, I'm guessing the logic is that Jedinak will win more headers, but Tuenzebe is much better at keeping the ball, meaning that there will be less headers to win. He obviously lacks experience, but we're in the perfect place to offer him that experience. In all honesty everyone is crowing on about out central defensive worries, but full back seems like more of a problem to me in terms of quality, it's just cover and depth we lack at CB. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DCJonah Posted November 3, 2018 Share Posted November 3, 2018 1 hour ago, weedman said: His ability wasn't the issue though, it was his lack of physicality because he wasn't used to the standard of players he is up against now. "a few games at RB" haven't made him the player he is now (well, has been for 2 games which we all hope will continue). However he was consistently beaten in the air by much smaller players at the start of the season, now he's imposing himself and actually winning the ball, "a few games at RB" may absolutely have made that happen. Of course it would have happened at CB too, but that learning curve would have cost us far more goals while he got up to speed Our mess of a defence with everyone out of position was costing us plenty of goals. Lets not pretend we were rock solid while this supposed genius move of playing him at rb took place 1 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
weedman Posted November 3, 2018 Share Posted November 3, 2018 5 minutes ago, DCJonah said: Our mess of a defence with everyone out of position was costing us plenty of goals. Lets not pretend we were rock solid while this supposed genius move of playing him at rb took place I don't recall describing our defense as "rock solid" or the decision to play him at RB as a "genius move", I was simply offering a possible explanation as to why SB played him at RB. I guess if you have to make things up to disagree with then my post must have made some good points so I'll take it as a compliment 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nigel Posted November 3, 2018 VT Supporter Share Posted November 3, 2018 11 hours ago, LakotaDakota said: Starting to look like a Man Utd player, Guess the only concern is that they may want him back in Jan if he keeps playing like this He will be here for the season. Hes getting what he needs here and that suits everyone. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
terrytini Posted November 3, 2018 Share Posted November 3, 2018 I don’t want to rubbish everything that Bruce did, as I don’t think that is deserved. But his team selections in pre season, and then throughout this season, were atrocious, and have been proven to be so with damning speed since his departure. What an absolute dogs dinner he made of us in the end. Shocking. Axel is the stand out example. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
terrytini Posted November 3, 2018 Share Posted November 3, 2018 1 hour ago, PompeyVillan said: I like that, I'm guessing the logic is that Jedinak will win more headers, but Tuenzebe is much better at keeping the ball, meaning that there will be less headers to win. Yes !!!!! Throughout Bruce’s reign I’ve heard people argue why we need more physicality, or a strong Defensive Midfielder, or more height......when the reality has been the selections and playing style have been a self fulfilling prophecy in that regard. In the same way as bringing on Hogan - instead of, say Chris Samba - enabled us to defend from the front rather than get trapped in our own box. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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