Tonight was a boost for sure, but I'm not getting too ahead of myself! Probably slightly underdogs to get promoted at this vantage point, whether automatically or through the play-offs, and regardless, I think we'll keep Sierralta, there'll be others who will be more in demand I suspect
Good interview on Hive Live Extra. Can see why he's captain of Nigeria and a real leader here. Didn't skirt around the questions about "the meeting". I think the way that he can communicate with Kiko, Sierralta, Masina, Bachmann and Hughes in several languages makes him an essential ingredient of our excellent defence.
I have yet to really see what he's good at. For his size he's not particularly dominant, and he has that weird Geijo-esque gait. He'd be handing assists out like sweets in the Prem, and I pray to god they have no intention of keeping him
Yup. Largely gets away with it at this level as most opponents want to then take 10 touches or to work the easiest sight of goal. Whereas Kevin De Bruyne or Mo Salah will just smash it in first time.
I think he’s OK defensively at this level but he is possibly the worst passer of a football that I’ve ever seen. Shouldn’t be anything more than fourth choice in the Premier League.
IMO he cannot be with us should we be in the Prem next season . I thought Britos distribution was bad but Troost is a different level . Top sides will look to give Troost possession then pick up the 2cnd ball misplaced square pass etc .....and score .
I've literally never seen/known a centre back to do what WTE does in terms of reacting to the panic of not seeing an open passing route by lazily floating a slow lofted ball directly across our penalty box straight into the possession of an opposition attacker, and I just can't make any sense of it whatsoever. Doing it once ever is a tad baffling, because it is so counter to the fundamental instincts of any player in his position (or at least what those should be) and yet he has done it so many times, throughout the season. Pundits love to complain about John Stones, say, and say 'just get rid of it', but even his examples of embarrassing defending are just overplaying and getting caught out having too much faith in his own ability with the ball - it's levels above what WTE does in those situations. It's such a shame, because he seems like a very impressive character and leader, but it absolutely cannot be ignored.
We'd have to play in a different way if we go up. We cannot play out from the back as we're doing this season. It would be suicide. We're just no good at it and would be punished heavily. WTE is a poor passer but seems to lack awareness of this, which is troubling. He's a decent enough defender though. A leader and good person to have around the place. A proper professional. I like this type of character a lot, and is why I want him to succeed. Sierralta, Kabs and WTE would be a good enough trio as long as we bring in another CB, but one who would be a first team regular, with Kabs and WTE as squad players. I think time is up on Cathcart.
He seems to lack awareness in the heat of the moment but based on the Athletic article a couple of months ago it’s clear he knows it’s an issue and he works with his own analyst to identify weaknesses in his game. I’d love him to succeed too but can’t see past him being a liability in the PL.
He's a decent sized unit but has been barged to the floor quite a few times this season, most notably by Armstrong vs Blackburn who is half his size. He doesn't seem to be able to tackle properly either. If he's in the team for leadership reasons then I can't really argue because our defensive record has been superb, but I'm really struggling to see what he is actually good at as a footballer. Kabasele is a nightmare with the ball at his feet as well but he can at least do the basics like win a header or a tackle, things that seem beyond Troost-Ekong. I know people aren't in favour of Cathcart for some reason but I think he's streets ahead of Troost-Ekong in terms of ability. It was noticeable how we were better at keeping the ball after Cathcart came on, I think there were only one or two long balls played in the time he was on?
Ha, I had this very thought earlier this evening. I even tried to look up who he’d gone on loan to, because it’s been so long. Completely forgot he still existed, such has been his banishing.
He's not strong enough for the Championship right now. He gets ragdolled around by burly, but limited strikers. Uncomfortable truth perhaps but he's our fifth best centre back at the moment.
A shame, it'd be better for him if we were the mid-table Championship club we were a decade ago, he'd get games and would develop, but alas we can't just put Wilmot in willy-nilly in the heat of a promotion chase. If we go up this season, he'll almost certainly go out on loan, might even do if we don't go up
I think in terms of defensive ability, Kabasele is streets ahead of everyone apart from possibly Sierralta, but is liable to the odd brainfart and isn't too comfortable with the ball at his feet. Maybe with Sierralta holding his hand he could cut those errors out, even in the Premier League, although for now I don't know if I'd risk breaking up a partnership which has worked well. Cathcart is still solid at this level, and is better with the ball at his feet, but we saw at Bournemouth what can happen when even the weaker of a settled defensive partnership is dropped
It's odd with Kabs. Considering he started as a forward you'd have thought he would be better on the ball. But agree Kabs on his day is ahead for me too, even with the lapses in concentration. But a new CB is a must. I did notice were being linked witha Sheff United left footed CB.
Yeah, as I said in the post-match, I think in the Prem/in general the sun has mostly set on Cathcart and his maddening insistence on banging loose balls back into no-man's land rather than bringing them down (which I made a delightful little screenshot post on at the time) embodied the profligacy and lack of responsibility that afflicted us on our way to relegation, however, I'd be perfectly happy to see him in the backline for the rest of this season if Kabasele isn't deemed fit. We cannot possibly have WTE pulling his tricks around Toney or Ayew.
