But even more generally. I think we should be thinking what does he actually add to the team?
I know people do like his turns and when he runs forward with it gracefully. It’s not that important to me, but some people consider it a valuable skill for us. He is quick and when he’s close he can win the ball fairly well.
But otherwise I don’t see much that he adds. Very little with his passing and not much goal threat or creativity. He’s not that protective either. So what role do we want him for? There might be one but Iraola will have to figure this out I think. Right now it isn’t clear. The other midfielders clearly bring certain useful abilities, whether I think they’re good enough or not in general long term.
On Canal+ they said Rafa was there working. From some guy who knows Rafa and also ‘Bradley’ having been involved in Bradley’s development. It’s strange hearing a commentator referring to a player on first name terms.
As above you can not invent a position for one player, particularly one that’s not that good, and have the rest of the team accommodate it.
Nyoni should be getting lots of minutes this season.
The first half was very wild. They looked dangerous whenever they were starting an attacking move. Our midfield was often wide open for counters, and they got through on several occasions. After the break however, we controlled them much better, and the defensive aspect of our game looked much more solid.
The enjoyable aspect of this is that Iraola read the room and made adjustments during the break. He learnt from the problems his team encountered against a really tough side, and managed to address them.
All players will have learnt an awful lot during this match, and it bodes well for the future in my opinion. There will be ups and downs, but we seem further ahead in our development curve than I expected.
I guess you were watching the Stan feed. I was thinking ‘I am sure its pronounced addddd—owgh-haugh’ or something similar but his take on it was wild. No fucks given by him.
I thought he was quietly magnificent, if that makes sense. There was a lot of individual performances I liked, and I think JJ was one of the best ones.
The way he combines aggressive defending with not going over the top, his composure and decision making on the ball, and his speed and size; for me he is pretty much everything you’d want from a CB playing in a front foot team.
Covering big spaces, comfortable pressing deep into the opposition half, as well as being in advanced positions with the ball when the situation requires it. It’s not for everyone this way of playing, it really separates the wheat from the chaff. Some players look comfortable with it, many don’t, and he definitely does.
Adding to all that, it was his reading of the game in our box on a couple of occasions that impressed me, he wasn’t ball watching, he was aware of the movement of the opposition and snuffed out a couple of threatening situations.
Both I felt last year would have resulted in a goal or a good opportunity.
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