OutByEaster? Posted April 25, 2021 Moderator Share Posted April 25, 2021 He's a bit of a luxury player, he's excellent in a good side - if the other ten are solid, Traore will be at his best - but he can't win games on his own, he makes poor decisions, he's as unpredictable to his teammates as he is to the opposition and he's not great off the ball. The occasional flashes of undeniable genius not withstanding, I think we'd be better off with a player that has 80% of his talent and 200% of his application. 3 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sidcow Posted April 25, 2021 VT Supporter Share Posted April 25, 2021 27 minutes ago, tom_avfc said: Is there a player in there? I think what you see is what you get. He’s been consistently bad for most of the season with one or two moments of quality which look more and more like flukes the more he plays. He’s the stand out weakness in our starting eleven for me and I’d actually put him below Trezeguet and El Ghazi in terms of quality at this point. If you add to that that his off the ball work is non-existent then you end up with the frustrating player that he is. I’d be looking to get rid of him in the summer and look for a serious upgrade. I agree with your summary of him but I think he's still better than Elghazi or Trez. But I think all our wingers are just gash, he's just slightly better than the other 2. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OutByEaster? Posted April 25, 2021 Moderator Share Posted April 25, 2021 As a project for a coaching team he's a dream, imagine if you could get his best out of him consistently? He'd be a monster. Our coaching team talk a lot about ceilings and I'm sure they see him as a player they can get a lot out of - I hope they're honest enough with themselves to recognise if that is or isn't working. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
birdman Posted April 25, 2021 Share Posted April 25, 2021 One of those players who can be outstanding with better players around him playing more intelligent passing, which is what we lack. Get him on the ball in dangerous areas and he can do damage... otherwise will struggle to make an impact. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
avfc1982am Posted April 25, 2021 Share Posted April 25, 2021 I think we should give him a little more time before confining him to the dustbin. Some of the comments writing him off already are laughable. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JAMAICAN-VILLAN Posted April 25, 2021 Share Posted April 25, 2021 (edited) 1 hour ago, OutByEaster? said: As a project for a coaching team he's a dream, imagine if you could get his best out of him consistently? He'd be a monster. Our coaching team talk a lot about ceilings and I'm sure they see him as a player they can get a lot out of - I hope they're honest enough with themselves to recognise if that is or isn't working. I have a feeling we could see a much improved Traore next season though. As you say, he has all the skills etc to be brilliant. I reckon work rate, strength and application can be developed. In truth, our budgets have gotten us the players we have, bit parts, the all round articles close alot more. Imagine if we had a winger with: Trez Workrate and persistence. El Ghazi finishing and shot power Traores skill and unpredictability They would probably cost what the three of them cost, combined. So it makes sense, in a way. Even when options improve, we could do worse than having a wildcard like Traore to come off the bench. Edited April 25, 2021 by JAMAICAN-VILLAN 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DCJonah Posted April 26, 2021 Share Posted April 26, 2021 I still like him. I just don't think he's got the mentality to be the main guy. And with Jack out, we've needed him to be that player. When we are flying, he's a quality option on the pitch. As the squad improves, I think we'll see even more from him. For a debut season he's done enough to be excited about what he can do next year. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brummybloke Posted April 26, 2021 Share Posted April 26, 2021 Just terrible, utterly useless. His only bit of skill was beating their attacking player and passing it to mings. So predictable for a supposed unpredictable player. Get ball, slow it right down, turn inside, get overcrowded, pass it back to elmo, pass it back to konsa/mings. No crossing, no using the overlap, no driving at the left back, no trying to beat the left back with skill. You can see just how terrible is has been as the left side of our team is where we end up having to use 85% of the time, which again makes us predictable. Needs dropping for someone who can and will attack and also drop back. Like Berkley, plays for himself not the team. We don't need this type of attitude and is one of the reasons we have dropped off a cliff results wise. Sub only for the next few games for me and hope he sorts himself out and realises its a team game. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Delphinho123 Posted April 26, 2021 Author Share Posted April 26, 2021 He just isn't good enough. We're doing this thing again where we're defending him by saying 'he'll be better with better players around him'. Isn't that the case for everyone? I don't see where his strengths lie and how he makes us better? He tends to just get the ball, take it onto his left foot and pass it backwards or inside. Where is the pace? Where is the threat? Wingers are supposed to get you off your seat but this guy is just so lethargic and predictable. The biggest compliment I can give him is that he has a nice first touch and he's tidy enough in possession but if I'm a right back defending against him, I'm not worried at all. I know we're trying this inverted winger thing where the full back is expected to make the overlap but where is the pace? The threat? The aggression? I don't see it with this guy. It's just languid, slow, predicatable play. We have to be in the market for at least one winger this summer. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CVByrne Posted April 26, 2021 Share Posted April 26, 2021 It's just that, he isn't good enough. El Ghazi, Trezeguet and Traore aren't the level of player we need. So at least 2 signings in the wide areas needed. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sulberto21 Posted April 26, 2021 Share Posted April 26, 2021 11 hours ago, JAMAICAN-VILLAN said: I have a feeling we could see a much improved Traore next season though. As you say, he has all the skills etc to be brilliant. I reckon work rate, strength and application can be developed. In truth, our budgets have gotten us the players we have, bit parts, the all round articles close alot more. Imagine if we had a winger with: Trez Workrate and persistence. El Ghazi finishing and shot power Traores skill and unpredictability They would probably cost what the three of them cost, combined. So it makes sense, in a way. Even when options improve, we could do worse than having a wildcard like Traore to come off the bench. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lexicon Posted April 26, 2021 Share Posted April 26, 2021 13 hours ago, sidcow said: I'll repeat what I said in the match thread. The utter definition of a show pony. Looks tricky, takes on and beats the first man more often than not, shows good skills and tricks, but 9 times out of 10 nothing will come of It. He'll run into the second man, hold the ball to long, turn into trouble, shoot badly, cross badly or just lay it back to a defender. Doesn't run at his man when he should, does run at his man when he shouldn't. Never seems to be actually on the wing when we are looking to play out there. Show pony with tricks and no product. 5 goals and 4 assists is not 'no product'. It's not brilliant, but don't talk absolute shit. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sidcow Posted April 26, 2021 VT Supporter Share Posted April 26, 2021 7 minutes ago, lexicon said: 5 goals and 4 assists is not 'no product'. It's not brilliant, but don't talk absolute shit. Wow, you're a friendly one aren't you. Stick to Facebook buddy. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lexicon Posted April 26, 2021 Share Posted April 26, 2021 Just now, sidcow said: Wow, you're a friendly one aren't you. Stick to Facebook buddy. Sorry, a bit hostile and I apologise for that. In any case, I don't agree with it and I think people judge Traore very harshly and often unfairly. He's one of the only players we have capable of a bit of magic and guile and if you take yesterday, for example, he couldn't stick to the wing because he was totally isolated - Elmo wasn't overlapping because he didn't have the pace for it, so Traore was often left with 2-3 players to deal with, more or less on his own. What's he supposed to do in those situations? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tomav84 Posted April 26, 2021 VT Supporter Share Posted April 26, 2021 certainly good enough. just not consistent enough. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lexicon Posted April 26, 2021 Share Posted April 26, 2021 1 hour ago, tomav84 said: certainly good enough. just not consistent enough. Our lack of a CAM then the form of Barkley has not helped him at all. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tomav84 Posted April 26, 2021 VT Supporter Share Posted April 26, 2021 6 minutes ago, lexicon said: Our lack of a CAM then the form of Barkley has not helped him at all. agreed but we've seen that he's got ability, and the quality to create something out of nothing. the players around him under performing shouldn't affect that Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lexicon Posted April 26, 2021 Share Posted April 26, 2021 3 minutes ago, tomav84 said: agreed but we've seen that he's got ability, and the quality to create something out of nothing. the players around him under performing shouldn't affect that On a consistent basis it's an unreasonable expectation, though IMO. If we want Traore to play well consistently, then he needs support, movement etc. - same as any other player. He's the kind of player we need to be building around rather than replacing, as some have suggested. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VillaChris Posted April 26, 2021 Share Posted April 26, 2021 (edited) 17 hours ago, OutByEaster? said: He's a bit of a luxury player, he's excellent in a good side - if the other ten are solid, Traore will be at his best - but he can't win games on his own, he makes poor decisions, he's as unpredictable to his teammates as he is to the opposition and he's not great off the ball. The occasional flashes of undeniable genius not withstanding, I think we'd be better off with a player that has 80% of his talent and 200% of his application. That would be Trez though and we all know his flaws. I'm a fan of Traore but no denying he's been awful last 6 weeks really so can't defend that. Remember people saying he could play as a CF?! That would be quite a sight with how he's playing out wide currently. Even now his stats aren't that bad for his first season but it's similar to El Ghazi's and he's even more what you describe e.g. excellent over xmas when we were really good but faded since then bar the odd good half like yesterday. Edited April 26, 2021 by VillaChris Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tomav84 Posted April 26, 2021 VT Supporter Share Posted April 26, 2021 3 minutes ago, lexicon said: On a consistent basis it's an unreasonable expectation, though IMO. If we want Traore to play well consistently, then he needs support, movement etc. - same as any other player. He's the kind of player we need to be building around rather than replacing, as some have suggested. agreed, but more than once every 5/6 games i don't think is unrealistic. but absolutely i'm not saying replace him Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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