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Ratings and Reactions: Braga 1-1 villa


limpid

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Not a bad performance but I think the team is screaming out for a proper ball winner.

A proper ball winner would alleviate pressure on the defence and would get the ball to our other midfielders to try and create something.

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He was one of our better players today.

are you serious?

Yep. I know it's trendy to hate on certain players, and it's Petrov's turn and all the rest of it but I'm just calling it as I see it. Oddly enough, being the Captain of the Bulgaria national side, having 101 caps, picked week in, week out for multiple Premier League managers including the new one assessing all the players for himself means absolutely nothing because of group of miscreants on a forum have decided he's crap.

Petrov did nothing wrong in the match. Watch it again, read about Football tactics, and then tell me what he did wrong.

No denying the service he's given the club and country. But not even the greatest players last forever and Stan looks jaded, tired and slow; thats not because hes suddenly 'crap', its because he's had his day.

His possession is indecision, pure and simple. Makoun passes like a player who thinks three passes ahead and will prove his worth this year hopefully.

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Id be interested to see Collins & Clark play as a centre back pairing. Thought Dunne was our weakest link at the back today however apart from that thought was were alright at the back.

As someone pointed out where do we play Heskey. The guy works his socks off, runs and is a big influence. I think he is wasted on the wing but would be better as a partner to Bent!?!

Petrov was USELESS in midfield today. I just do not understand how he gets the nodd. He loses possession, passes sideways/backwards...is slow and is meant to be the CENTRE/CAPTAIN of our team.....just madness!! BENCH!!

As for our best team? Hard one....I think I would start with Vs Fulham:

_________________________Given__________________________

_______Young_____Collins__________Dunne____Warnock_______

________________________Makoun_________________________

___Gabby_______Ireland________________________N'Zogbia___

_______________________________Heskey___________________

_________________________Bent___________________________

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From what I saw (between 15 - 45 minutes and 55-90minutes). I think we were not able to hold the posession, Braga had something like 60% of the ball. They had much more chances and shots, so not overly pleased.

Given played ok, maybe could have saved the one. 7.

Clark was awesome in 1-to-1 situations, but he was also guilty for poor marking few times. Still 8.

Luke Young MOM for me, don't know why others seemed to not like his effort. Up and down all day long. 9.

Dunne generally solid, but few easy freekicks given away and few mistakes. 7.

Warnock up and down like L.young, but Clark had to cover quite a lot. decent 7.

Petrov started really well with Makoun, but faded after 30 minutes. He would be clearly our best midfield player if he still had the pace and engine. 7.

Makoun played very well, impressive, if he had more support from our other midfielders we might actually keep the ball for more than 1 minute. 8.

Gabby from what I saw was not played in the wing but in somekind of weird role in the central midfield. Was totally useless there, when Bent went off and Gabby was moved as lone striker he started to play better. 5.

NZogbia, linked well with Petrov and Bent, but others should have helped him more. Good start though. 8.

Heskey rarely loses the ball, but he is missing the football brain and engine, what you need in midfield.He has pace though. 6.

Albrighton was totally bullied by the Braga players, lost all the 50/50 balls.5.

Ireland. Looked hungry, and got in to good positions. 7.

Bannan, lost the ball once in dangerous position and gave it away easily few times, but in the short time played still ok and linked up well with Ireland. 6.

Bent. Superb as allways. No service, lot's of running. 8.

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The trouble with Petrov is i believe he has much more to his game than he shows for us, its like he has been moulded into a holding defensive midfielder but doesn't have the energy or tackling accuracy to play that way.

I like Petrov and thing he has been great for us, but we need someone loud and inspiring who can drive the team forward and organise us. We saw a few times last season when he came back what Petrov can do - but Eck needs to tell him to be more offensive and let Makoun do the holding role.

Bent

Nzogbia - Ireland

Bannan - Makoun - Delph

Warnock - Clark - Dunne - Young

Given

or some formation containing those players maybe Petrov instead of Delph.

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we are in for a massive struggle this year. Weak links at the back, heskey and gabby out of position and wasted. Lack of creativity going forward unable to retain possession. 4-5-1 really does not work we dont have the right players and the middle of the park is a joke. Poor again and totally lacking quality but i dont expect much more from a McLeish team. Trouble ahead i fear

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we are in for a massive struggle this year. Weak links at the back, heskey and gabby out of position and wasted. Lack of creativity going forward unable to retain possession. 4-5-1 really does not work we dont have the right players and the middle of the park is a joke. Poor again and totally lacking quality but i dont expect much more from a McLeish team. Trouble ahead i fear

It's amazing how you manage to ascertain all of that from a 1-1 draw away against a strong Portuguese side.

I personally think you're wrong.

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Anyone who says Petrov was crap because of sideways or backwards passing proves they know nothing about Football. There's this new phenomenon called 'possession' which is unlikely to catch on because, let's face it, no-one's won anything by doing it. He kept possession well, didn't waste passes (unlike some of Makoun's) and kept us out of trouble. He was one of our better players today.

Unfortunastely, as one of the CM's in a 2 man midfield, the distribution has to be more than sideways and backwards, especially at such a slow pace. Yes you keep the ball but if you pass the ball 10 yards to the right back who has to then knock it long down the line because he's under pressure with little option. Has Petrov done his job?

I thought Petrov did okay today but there are times within every game he's just that yard or second to slow in delivering the ball.

Possession is important IMO but it doesn't win games, at some point, you have to go forward in some capacity. What I like about Makoun is he is always looking for the quick release and if it's not on forward, instead of taking several touches before passing back, he moves it quickly so more space is opened up

passing backwards/sideways too many times IMO is just shirking responsibility. It's just allowing someone else to give it away so the blame isn't put on you. As seen, you say he didn't do anything wrong, well you can't go through game after game after game who also does very little well, who just quite simply gets through games by being ok.

If he plays in a 2 man midfield, he has to forward think more.

you asked "read a manual and tell me what he's done wrong" well i've explained that hopefully (which i think is fair) you keeping possession doesn't equate to the team keeping possession in the long term. if keeping possession by passing backwards/sideways too often is fine, then how the hell do you get to the opponents goal, I'mn pretty scoring more goals than the opposition is also a key point in the coaching manual!

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Anyone who says Petrov was crap because of sideways or backwards passing proves they know nothing about Football. There's this new phenomenon called 'possession' which is unlikely to catch on because, let's face it, no-one's won anything by doing it. He kept possession well, didn't waste passes (unlike some of Makoun's) and kept us out of trouble. He was one of our better players today.

Unfortunastely, as one of the CM's in a 2 man midfield, the distribution has to be more than sideways and backwards, especially at such a slow pace. Yes you keep the ball but if you pass the ball 10 yards to the right back who has to then knock it long down the line because he's under pressure with little option. Has Petrov done his job?

I thought Petrov did okay today but there are times within every game he's just that yard or second to slow in delivering the ball.

Possession is important IMO but it doesn't win games, at some point, you have to go forward in some capacity. What I like about Makoun is he is always looking for the quick release and if it's not on forward, instead of taking several touches before passing back, he moves it quickly so more space is opened up

passing backwards/sideways too many times IMO is just shirking responsibility. It's just allowing someone else to give it away so the blame isn't put on you. As seen, you say he didn't do anything wrong, well you can't go through game after game after game who also does very little well, who just quite simply gets through games by being ok.

If he plays in a 2 man midfield, he has to forward think more.

you asked "read a manual and tell me what he's done wrong" well i've explained that hopefully (which i think is fair) you keeping possession doesn't equate to the team keeping possession in the long term. if keeping possession by passing backwards/sideways too often is fine, then how the hell do you get to the opponents goal, I'mn pretty scoring more goals than the opposition is also a key point in the coaching manual!

Very well put. The post you were responding to typifies the attitude of the die-hard Petrov fan. Passing sideways is only useful up to a certain point, and that's usually in a three-man midfield. It's funny how Makoun could also be criticised for daring to play a more adventurous and creative ball. I wonder if the Petrov fans want to see us play better football? I don't particularly blame Stan for this, he's playing as well as he can - O'Neill's pathetic tactics in previous years denied us a potential Top 4 position where we either needed to play a 3-man midfield or buy an athletic DCM as opposed to shoe-horning Petrov into a 2-man midfield where the other man was looking to get forward.
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I thought there were some positive passages of play today, some mistakes as you would expect in pre season and some interesting cameos.

I also thought what was missing entirely was a desire to put the extra effort in and be winners. Winners win things, this team appears to be going through the motions and look where that got us last year.I appreciate this is pre season, but look at what Chelsea and Man Yoo have done over pre season and tell me that results do not matter.

I knew McLeish was not going to bring flowing, innovative football but I expected an organised, motivated team. I am not seeing even that at this time. I dont think he knows his starting eleven and in fairness, we do not seem to have a natural starting eleven of players playing in their natural positions. That is a worry.

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Watched it free on AVTV co. of my season ticket. Thought it was a promising performance, N'Zogbia looked extremely lively and finished his goal very well indeed, Heskey keeps proving me wrong by working very hard and putting in good performances but he can't be played on the wing in the PL! A lot of positives to take into next Saturday!

:flag:

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Anyone who says Petrov was crap because of sideways or backwards passing proves they know nothing about Football. There's this new phenomenon called 'possession' which is unlikely to catch on because, let's face it, no-one's won anything by doing it. He kept possession well, didn't waste passes (unlike some of Makoun's) and kept us out of trouble. He was one of our better players today.

Unfortunastely, as one of the CM's in a 2 man midfield, the distribution has to be more than sideways and backwards, especially at such a slow pace. Yes you keep the ball but if you pass the ball 10 yards to the right back who has to then knock it long down the line because he's under pressure with little option. Has Petrov done his job?

I thought Petrov did okay today but there are times within every game he's just that yard or second to slow in delivering the ball.

Possession is important IMO but it doesn't win games, at some point, you have to go forward in some capacity. What I like about Makoun is he is always looking for the quick release and if it's not on forward, instead of taking several touches before passing back, he moves it quickly so more space is opened up

passing backwards/sideways too many times IMO is just shirking responsibility. It's just allowing someone else to give it away so the blame isn't put on you. As seen, you say he didn't do anything wrong, well you can't go through game after game after game who also does very little well, who just quite simply gets through games by being ok.

If he plays in a 2 man midfield, he has to forward think more.

you asked "read a manual and tell me what he's done wrong" well i've explained that hopefully (which i think is fair) you keeping possession doesn't equate to the team keeping possession in the long term. if keeping possession by passing backwards/sideways too often is fine, then how the hell do you get to the opponents goal, I'mn pretty scoring more goals than the opposition is also a key point in the coaching manual!

Very well put. The post you were responding to typifies the attitude of the die-hard Petrov fan. Passing sideways is only useful up to a certain point, and that's usually in a three-man midfield. It's funny how Makoun could also be criticised for daring to play a more adventurous and creative ball. I wonder if the Petrov fans want to see us play better football? I don't particularly blame Stan for this, he's playing as well as he can - O'Neill's pathetic tactics in previous years denied us a potential Top 4 position where we either needed to play a 3-man midfield or buy an athletic DCM as opposed to shoe-horning Petrov into a 2-man midfield where the other man was looking to get forward.

Except I'm not especially a Petrov fan. I just couldn't see what he did wrong after watching especially closely due to the recent furore on here. If you'd like to check back over my posts I'm normally defending Makoun as I think he's an excellent player, yet even I could see that Makoun's play wasn't a lot different to Petrov's apart from Makoun misplacing a couple of passes that got us into trouble. FWIW I agree with AVFCPOB there, he's got a decent point, but I prefer to keep possession and have another go than try stuff that may or may not come off.

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Anyone who says Petrov was crap because of sideways or backwards passing proves they know nothing about Football. There's this new phenomenon called 'possession' which is unlikely to catch on because, let's face it, no-one's won anything by doing it. He kept possession well, didn't waste passes (unlike some of Makoun's) and kept us out of trouble. He was one of our better players today.

Unfortunastely, as one of the CM's in a 2 man midfield, the distribution has to be more than sideways and backwards, especially at such a slow pace. Yes you keep the ball but if you pass the ball 10 yards to the right back who has to then knock it long down the line because he's under pressure with little option. Has Petrov done his job?

I thought Petrov did okay today but there are times within every game he's just that yard or second to slow in delivering the ball.

Possession is important IMO but it doesn't win games, at some point, you have to go forward in some capacity. What I like about Makoun is he is always looking for the quick release and if it's not on forward, instead of taking several touches before passing back, he moves it quickly so more space is opened up

passing backwards/sideways too many times IMO is just shirking responsibility. It's just allowing someone else to give it away so the blame isn't put on you. As seen, you say he didn't do anything wrong, well you can't go through game after game after game who also does very little well, who just quite simply gets through games by being ok.

If he plays in a 2 man midfield, he has to forward think more.

you asked "read a manual and tell me what he's done wrong" well i've explained that hopefully (which i think is fair) you keeping possession doesn't equate to the team keeping possession in the long term. if keeping possession by passing backwards/sideways too often is fine, then how the hell do you get to the opponents goal, I'mn pretty scoring more goals than the opposition is also a key point in the coaching manual!

Very well put. The post you were responding to typifies the attitude of the die-hard Petrov fan. Passing sideways is only useful up to a certain point, and that's usually in a three-man midfield. It's funny how Makoun could also be criticised for daring to play a more adventurous and creative ball. I wonder if the Petrov fans want to see us play better football? I don't particularly blame Stan for this, he's playing as well as he can - O'Neill's pathetic tactics in previous years denied us a potential Top 4 position where we either needed to play a 3-man midfield or buy an athletic DCM as opposed to shoe-horning Petrov into a 2-man midfield where the other man was looking to get forward.

Except I'm not especially a Petrov fan. I just couldn't see what he did wrong after watching especially closely due to the recent furore on here. If you'd like to check back over my posts I'm normally defending Makoun as I think he's an excellent player, yet even I could see that Makoun's play wasn't a lot different to Petrov's apart from Makoun misplacing a couple of passes that got us into trouble. FWIW I agree with AVFCPOB there, he's got a decent point, but I prefer to keep possession and have another go than try stuff that may or may not come off.

I wasn't specifically aiming that at you by the way, just to clarify that. What I was getting at was that plenty of posts that blindly defend Petrov contain either a) have something to do with keeping possession or B) how he gives his all.

Now, on the face of it, they aren't bad characteristics to have - but you have to come to a point where it simply isn't enough, where other facets of his game do not bring the advantage that they used to. I like Petrov, especially after reading his book as it gave a real insight into how he prefers to play and what he tries to do. However, I think he has held the team back in the past (through O'Neill's tactics more than anything) and while he still has a role to play in the coming season, it wont be one that drives us forward both on the pitch and as a club.

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Again poor and very uninspiring. Petrov and Dunne should be made available for transfer now with either Barton or Parker to replace Petrov and Dann to replace Dunne. We need another winger and if Johnson isn't available then SWP who will be much better than Heskey!

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Except I'm not especially a Petrov fan. I just couldn't see what he did wrong after watching especially closely due to the recent furore on here. If you'd like to check back over my posts I'm normally defending Makoun as I think he's an excellent player, yet even I could see that Makoun's play wasn't a lot different to Petrov's apart from Makoun misplacing a couple of passes that got us into trouble. FWIW I agree with AVFCPOB there, he's got a decent point, but I prefer to keep possession and have another go than try stuff that may or may not come off.

But passing is only one aspect of a CM'ers job. All of our other CM'ers are, IMO, better at this than Stan anyway. FWIW I am not a fan of Stan - check my posts and you'll see that. He doesn't do enough off the ball for me. He lets midfield runners past him without tracking back causing the CB's to have to step out and leave gaps behind them. He doesn't move into space to give the CB's/FB's/his CM partner an easy ball. Overall, as Mortimer said last week, he just doesn't have the energy or drive to play in a CM in a top half PL side.

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