Late again… keeping time like a TEMU cuckoo clock.
Endo out with a foot injury. Likely to be a long injury.
3 games in 7 days followed by a break. We are playing a strong Brighton team. Much better than table shows. Considering options for line up.
Priority of FA Cup: All remaining competitions are priorities but squad is limited. Will assess players after training today.
Young players: some are close to first team football. Cup could be an option but need to find balance against opposition. PL opposition makes it more difficult.
How important has captain been: Virg is vital. Keeps himself fit so always available.
Improvement in both boxes: Set pieces are becoming one of the most important features.
Change of thinking on set pieces. Hard to win with negative SP balance. Set pieces are the biggest difference between Premier League and Champions League.
The dull Hungarian question: Slot jokes that we won at Sunderland without Hungarians! Dom and Milos are important players. Dom top class.
Calmness of team vs Sunderland: Margins are small. We defended perfectly vs Sunderland and could have changed at a moment.
TLDR: Endo crocked. We play Brighton in the cup - expect some rotation, but not wholesale.
I think Pearce said that the club are very much expected to activate the +1 option on Alisson’s contract so I think he’ll probably be first choice also next season. And I wouldn’t mind it if that’s the case and he wants to stay, it would be good news. Then we’ll asses it again in a year’s time.
The thing about Ramsay is that for us, there’s really not a big enough sample in first team football. I know this season and recently also he dropped to play U21 football here and there. Who knows what’s his levels like in training, etc. It’s a shame that since 2022 and 2026 (and under two different coaching staffs) we have 3 first team games to talk about or 183 minutes.
Because he simply isn’t good enough?
It might just be that our romanticised version of Ramsay is far from the actual truth. Great prospect, ravaged by injuries, not able to step up.
In a season where we mourn injuries to Bradley and Frimpong, and miss Trent…well so far three midfielders are ahead of him for the RB spot.
So, he is seventh choice?
Bradley
Frimpong
Gomez
Szoboszlai
Endo
Jones
Ramsay
Certainly something I talked about a few times this season.
Player quality is certainly a good part of the reason why.
We don’t see the levels in training, we don’t have data about their physical capabilities, etc.
People who make these decisions are not immune to mistakes, but player quality is a reason especially when it’s over a longer period of time and under two different head coaches, also influenced by different members of coaching staff.
Though to be fair, he was also a bit unlucky with injuries and had a few loans, so he wasn’t available or even at the club all the time. That might have been the second biggest reason why he didn’t get a few more games at Liverpool.
Plus, a certain Conor Bradley made a few steps in the mean time.
Did I think Ramsay would possibly be used a bit more after the Palace game? Yeah. Could Slot have used some different words when he was asked about him a few weeks ago? Yeah. But for me, Ramsay’s game time is not among major issues.
I’m not even sure whether as a talent in 2022 I would’ve called him a great prospect (if I take Trent as an example in his position who I’d classify a great prospect). Probably not. They’re not all great prospects, for example out of that trio of Trent, Ramsay and Bradley.
From the very little I saw from some highlights before joining us and that game or two, he had nice stature and nice ball manipulation for a defender.
He could be, although those hierarchies can also change over the season.
Yes, it’s a bit annoying with Ramsay. Everyone knows he’s not exactly a top player right now, but… there’s really no need to tear him down and badmouth him like that in front of the press. That’s simply not good form, and of course, it’s reminiscent of Mourinho. Personally, I think it’s just not right and it damages team cohesion. Furthermore, an interested and dedicated coach could have certainly made an effort over the past few months to improve this player, eliminate his weaknesses, etc.—the kind of thing a coach does. Every team is only as strong as its weakest link, etc. I highly doubt that Trent would have had any chance of development here and now. For that, a coach needs to be courageous and have a knack for it.
I wonder what people were saying about Robertson as he was coming up… “Yeah but he is so limited, he cannot pass, will be great for a lower division team, etc…” Same probably for Henderson.
Thing is you don’t know until you’re given a go. It may never happen for him due to his injuries but there a phenomenon that I often come across in my line of work which is basically, you can always talk yourself out of doing anything. Endless discussions around the pros and cons ensue and you find that the window has closed on the opportunity.
If some had doubts about Robbo, it was more about the defending part of the game, as he played more as a LWB for a relegated Hull side. I like to wait and see a player first if I don’t know much about him, the next one will be someone like Jacquet.
It’s not us fans who give them a go, it’s coaching the staff.
You get sometimes similar cases of players who will not cut it, for different reasons. Even after having a decent performance or a period of filling in to help the team.
Nat Phillips will be 29 next month, playing for a team who are 19th in the Championship and he’s on a grand total of 159 first team football games in his career. For his life and footballing context, that can absolutely be a great success, by the way.
At this point it’s not even about giving him an opportunity and whether he takes it or not, I think it’s pretty apparent we’re beyond that and the door for a future here is closed. We can go on about all the injuries, all the loan spells and how big a prospect he is/was for days, how much of that is really relevant now?
It’s more about helping us get through a game, which so happens the next one is in the cup. Rotations occur almost traditionally. We’re limited on options and he so happens to be our only recognised RB available, that’s about it.
If Ramsay is getting beaten regularly and for fun in practice, constantly missing defensive triggers or being caught out of position all the time, I wouldn’t want to see him starting.
Not saying he is, but juat making a point that we don’t know what ia going on in practice and cluelessly forming our opinions.
The more I’ve seen of Chiesa, the more I understand why he doesn’t play.
One thing to remember about our team, as it pertains to Ramsey, is that if you are playing Right Back you are getting absolutely no fucking help from the lad further up your wing.
He played 3 times for our first team. 3 minutes off the bench against Napoli, 90 minutes against Derby and 90 minutes against Palace. All home games also, though that’s more accidental than anything.
Maybe you felt against Palace that he looked like struggling after 30 minutes, but still completed the 90.
