I suspect he'll be an impact sub when we need a Hail Mary, or he'll be utilised if we play a front 2. Whether he's in front of the other big man Glenn Murray is the question
I did not see the match, but from the clips I saw Perica could easily have scored at least twice on another night; he looks excellent in the air and as others have said he does get himself into plenty of good positions as well. Furthermore seeing as he has not played since February he must almost certainly have been at least a little rusty tonight, therefore I would imagine that if he gets similar chances to those he did not take tonight, the goals might just begin to flow after he gets a few more games under his belt.
Why are the owners deliberately trying to sabotage their own club? All signings are woefully short of what we need. Are any of them going to contribute to anything next season? On what I've seen so far, not a chance. It's like we're trying to build a mundane League One side, and if we are, we're doing a fine job of it. It's ridiculous we're signing this type of player and selecting the teams we're selecting. I know the obvious comeback is "but we won", but that's more luck than design. The performances have been so poor. We were lucky to beat Boro, and we beat Oxford because Bachmann had the game of his life. Who is excited by the team we're building? Anyone of any ability is out the door and only the crud is left. Unless there is a major turnaround and missing players are quickly returned to the starting line-up, we'll be in a relegation battle this season. It's just crazy how the club are playing this. Talking about winning the league, building a quality side and doing everything they can to bounce back. From what I'm seeing, that's a complete crock of s*** and more fool those who believe in their rhetoric. I hope Ivic goes to the owner and tell him something along he lines of " look I'm getting tune out of these guys but I'm not a miracle worker. The players I'm using will not get you promotion." This is the truth of it. If we're honest, we can all see it. We could all see this issues last season too, with the defensive frailties. The board could not, and it cost them the Premier League. Now they seem to think they have to sell eveyone and what we have left could be made to work. It cannot. Stop wasting everyone's time by signing these Udinese rejects. We even signed a player Charlton didn't even want today, and they are desperate for players. Where is the ambition? They better have some sort of unseen plan, or else fans will turn very quickly and it could all turn nasty. If we're still picking this type of team by the time we play Luton, and lose that game, then I predict it will be the day fans turn on the owner.
Taxi for @Squibba : "5: Bond, Murray, Andrews, Doyley and Ighalo - The players who wouldn't be expected to start a lot of games and that's because their not good enough."
For me a number of things of our own doing meant we couldn't pass our way up the pitch, so we often surrendered possession too easily with long 'passes'. A lack of balance due to the wing-backs. Only Stevenson looked to get forward with any regularity, Navarro was stifled by Sinclair filling the right-hand channel. While Sinclair did well there it meant he was often too far away from Perica so both were isolated. On the odd occasion Sinclair moved inside to be closer to Perica it caused the Oxford defence to be a little more uncertain through movement alone. The midfield three of Chalobah, Phillips and Quina sat deeper as the first half went on which had three knock-on effects. Firstly, it allowed Oxford a foothold in our half as they had time and space to set up movement forward with the ball. Secondly, Perica & Sinclair were isolated still further and were reliant on long passes to collect the ball, and as they were already too far apart it meant they were often outnumbered and lost the ball. Lastly, it also meant none of the 3 centre-backs had room to bring the ball out of defence to commit an Oxford player, create space to pass forward through the midfield and put pressure with possession on the Oxford midfield or defence. Second-half, with Phillips playing in front of the centre-backs, Sema & Quina further forward and Joao Pedro being more central than Sinclair was, there was room to play as it meant Oxford couldn't sit in offensive positions. They had runners to mark which created space to move in to. Not great, but better. I think had Ngakia played, or a more natural right wing-back than Navarro, we would have stretched them further and found more opportunities to play down the middle and create space to find Perica more often. I don't think Sierralta was as bad as most are saying. For the first-half he was carrying Agyakwa and for the final 20 minutes played as a right sided defender trying to push on while not leaving Kabasele exposed. He isn't Franco Baresi but it'll be interesting to see how he does over this season. There's no question he's an aggressive defender and I think he'll get turned by more technical players as he'll get too close at times. But if we persist with a back three then the central spare defender and the right wing-back should be able to cover him providing the opposition don't overload their left side.
Is Sierralta comfortable on the ball? If not...dare I say, will he be an upgrade on Mariappa who could probably fill that RCB position better? (That’s not me saying I would have kept Mariappa or would bring him back...although it’s still odd the club haven’t mentioned his departure yet)
Oxford must be wondering how they contrived to lose against Watford C team. Navarro looked like he'd struggle to beat a snail in a foot race. I had to double check that my screen wasn't in slow motion. Also, who is this nippy chap called Sinclair?
Hooked at half time. Not sure I specifically remember him doing that much wrong (other than us being woeful defensively as a team) but Kabasele came on and we looked far better.
He's good enough I think. There's a positivity about all he does which I like. As I say, aggressive defending without resorting to going to ground when tackling and he attacks the aerial ball well. He can pass well enough so I think it will be his decision making of when & how to pass (clear or short pass out of defence) which could be his Achilles heel.
Got a bit worried then! Went back to read my comment and think I was actually spot on in my individual player assessments without shitting my pants about the season ahead. Thanks for the ego boost! Think the only one I could maybe be questioned on is Andrews but I honestly can't remember if he ended up being half decent, or just gobby on the telly...
Phillips? Seems like Samba Diakite mark II from what some have said tonight?! Which is no bad thing...if the talent is there too. But from the comments of his style, shouldn’t he be the ball winner we seemed to be missing tonight?
Still a good laugh that you harked on back to a now completely irrelevant result and performance from the past - which has nothing to do with tonight or the current situation around the club and squad - and did a mock post of mine on it, but then when the thread comes up there's nothing from me but a post that's more negative than positive from you. The irony.
Start perica up front with pedro floating behind or even on left. Suarez has gone and gray is injured
He was pretty dreadful first half and looked a bit nervous, but having him and Chalobah both in midfield looks a recipe for disaster. After Chalobah was hooked he seemed to improve and was starting to dictate a bit more as he was finding a lot of space. There is potential there, but I think I would be a bit concerned if we plan to rely on him heavily at this stage.
Think some people are forgetting that our starting XI consisted Of Stevenson, Agyakwa, Phillips who are all league two standard, Sinclair who was signed for potential but is ultimately Oxford level, Bachmann, Perica, Sierralta and Navarro who haven’t played consistent competitive football for 8 months-year. On top of a disruptive pre season where Ivic hasn’t had enough time to work on his ideas - it’s going to take time for us to be properly in sync with one another. What is evident though is the attitude of the players, that’s completely different to what we’ve had previously. Don’t think there’s cause for concern yet, If anything there’s encouraging signs. (Hi again)
Good observations, do you know if the U18s/U23s play a similar style of football, or was it a case of them learning on the job too? As you mention, Stevenson got forward more than Navarro, and he's got a good cross on him, but he looks more suited to LB than LWB if you get what I mean
He most certainly hasn't yet, sounds like a potential deal away is a long way off yet. Will he want to play for us though, or will he do what he can to get out of here after hearing of the interest from bigger clubs in Europe?
In my opinion, when we first came under a spell of pressure he had moments when he stayed on his feet well, jockeyed the attacker and remained calm. When he needed to tackle he did. But as the half went on he offered no help by hiding from receiving the ball and was often out of position as the covering defender. Overall he looked a little overawed to me but he now knows what first team football is about. As barely1egal says, having Kabasele in his place made such a difference. It allowed the team to reset by having an extra player to hold the ball at the back. Had a couple of typical meaty challenges early on but I think he struggles playing alongside Chalobah. I've seen them play for the U23s together and there doesn't seem to be any chemistry whatsoever. Second half, with a bit more space around him sat infant of the defence, he collected the ball well and played it on simply to the more offensive players. He also spread the play to Stevenson very well on a number of occasions. He missed a couple of tackles near the edge of our area which was poor and had an aberration in the first half, losing the ball midway in our own half which left the defence totally exposed, but for his first full 90 minutes I think he did well, rarely surrendering possession in the second half.
In fairness, Perica had a good game. Could and should have/of had a hat trick. Before Oxford starting dominating us, Perica should have already been on 2 goals. Then the onslaught came. Perica got himself in the right position, played a major role in the equalizer and slotted his penalty away with calmness. Perica could end up getting 10-15 goals throughout the season for us. Sierralta was always going to be a dodgy deal. Sounds like he’s our version Lovren. Talks a big game but is rubbish. Willing to give him time to prove me wrong, but early signs suggest he’s pants. This is a big week for the board. Got to get the outgoings done by Friday. Doucs gone £22-25mil Capoue supposedly on the verge of a £5mil deal Foulquier gone £2mil Estupinan reported to be gone for £15mil + £5mil add ons and a 20% sell on clause. Deulofeu reportedly off to Napoli for £25mil. If, and it’s a big if, that all happens, and those are the correct numbers reported, that’s £69mil right there. Sell Pereyra for £8-12mil Welbeck for £5-7mil Deeney £2-5mil Looking at roughly between £84-93mil worth of outgoings. Not expecting the club to reinvest all of that obviously, but would imagine that would give Ivic between £20-30mil to spend this window. Go and get Grimes for £8-10mil Clarke-Salter/McKenna for £5mil or less Harry Pickering for £2-3mil Basquets/Morrell for £5-7mil Looking at roughly £20-25mil incomings 2 CDM/CM 1 CB (left footed) 1 LWB Obviously things can change with other outgoings, but I would be happy with that window.
Yeah, Chalobah was the only real downside imo. It's not the most important competition, and it's another fixture that we could do without, but I always want to see us win, and it'll be another chance, and another great experience for the young lads against Newport
I've only seen one U23 friendly this season and it was 4-3-3. The players in the U23 squad don't lend themselves to playing the same way as, other than Stevenson, there are no natural full-backs/wing-backs there.
Are we seriously going to start pretending that anyone who's kicked a ball in friendly, but not a single competitive match, counts as having "played for us"? When he plays in the league or the cup then he'll have made an official appearance, as of now he hasn't.
Hold on lads - that relegation was a dream.. Well Karl Robinson thinks we are a Premier league club who made a lot of noise (yes you probably heard more than usual as there was no crowd)
Yeah, Agyakwa didn't seem to do much wrong, but was anonymous. He's only 18, and most of the U23 lads we've had playing for us in the cups have been a bit older and more 'prepared' for first-team football, so hopefully he learns from it and gains a bit of confidence from this first game. Has Chalobah played for the U23s?
Giaretta. That’s how much the club values him at. Giaretta made the statement the other day that while some players valuations may be less than what they should be in this market, players like Deulofeu, their valuation doesn’t change. So I’m basing it off that.
Hmmm, we can talk a good game all we like, but I don't see anyone spending £25m on an injured Deulofeu. Napoli just spent big on Osimhen, without Champions League money, will they be able to spend big on Deulofeu too?
