I feel sorry for him. He's not a LB, & it's not his fault he got put there. I do think he's a decent player though, just not versatile enough to play on the wrong side.
Agreed. That was a suicide note from Xisco as a team selection. What an absolute mess. It's hard to fathom that a club could make so many mistakes in such a short time.
He has been one of the few bright sparks this season. Comfortable on the ball, gets the better of most attackers with his speed. Positioning at times needs work and also his tendency to continually drift in instead of attacking the space beyond his marker. And also working on his crossing from tighter angles. He's only a kid as well. Certain senior so called professionals like that steaming turd Gray are the ones that deserve all the vitriol they get.
He gave it a good go tonight, he really did, but Jesus, I don't want to see him on the left again. Navarro is as **** on the right as he is the left, but Ngakia is a really good RB with the potential to be even better, baffling shunting him on the left
But we have learnt from our mistakes. The reason we are making so many poor critical decisions comes from the top. Gino is out of his depth. Clueless bastardo. His father must be horrified. Sending him to an Ivy League university to become a chump.
I actually thought Ngakia had a decent game playing at LB tonight, as maybe he is getting more used to being played there. Furthermore it could be that because he is not that used to playing on the Left, he might be putting extra strain on muscles that he does not usually use as much when playing on the right, and possibly could be why he got cramp. Having said all that he is not a natural LB but he is a very good RB. However now like Kiko, Ngakia has added another string to his bow and he might actually do a reasonable job as an emergency LB from now on, and will probably become less susceptible to cramping the more he plays there.
Defensively he is outstanding. Very high volume of tackles and interceptions. Less good on the ball but he is such a prodigious ball winner it doesn’t matter too much.
I wonder what they say to youngsters from other clubs to get them to come here. God knows what ******** they fed Ngakia, Dele-Bashiru and Quina. Quina has found out there's no path to the first team so not surprised that he jumped at a loan opportunity. It won't be long into next season when TDB realises he'll be behind Cleverley, Chalobah and Gosling all season no matter how atrocious they play. Ngakia has linked up well with Sarr previously this season on the right yet the grinning buffoon insists on only giving him minutes on the left. He'll probably be stuck behind Navarro next season, a man who is playing like he's just happy to see a football again because he's barely had a kick of one since he signed for Watford. So maybe he's another one we've ruined? Or he's just ****.
In fairness Kiko has been our stand out player this season I think Ngakia has been unfortunate to have him for competition.
Yes. Poor sod though,finally getting back in the team and is then put on the left by Xisco and given no help. It must be very frustrating but next season he'll have the right back spot as Kiko will almost certainly leave.
It’s just another symptom of our ridiculous unbalanced badly assembled squad. Both Femenía and Ngakia have now been used on their wrong side, because we didn’t bother replacing Estupiñán and are therefore short at left-back when Masina is absent. Actually I guess technically we did replace him..with the guy from Charlton..but he seems a total waste of a signing as he’s not been seen for ages. It’s not just a new thing. We seem to now have had countless Head Coaches who fit players into their preferred system rather than fielding a formation that might actually play to the strengths of the players. Maybe that’s just a result of our policy of the coaches not signing the players themselves but having to work with what they’ve been given. So we get Hughes shunted onto the wing, a bit like the Scholes conundrum England used to have. We’ve played Quina out of position there too this season. Ivic played people out of their best position. Gracia did too. I’m sure other posters more awake than me this morning can find examples of it being done under Pearson, QSF, Mazarri too. I believe football to be a simple game. The more you complicate it, the riskier you make your chances of succeeding. Ps I just remembered the worst example yet of us playing a player out of position. Andre Gray. We’ve constantly selected him in his worst position. Namely, in the team.
How many times, Stevenson is a signing for the u23s, like all the celebrity sons we're signing. But yes, a first team left back signing would have been nice. Although Kiko is arguably the best full back in the league, even when played on the wrong side!
Because the idea that Stevenson was signed for the first time has floated around this forum ever since he joined. Despite the announcement specifically saying he was joining the academy.
Oh I see lol you were telling me off! I know he was signed for the under 23s but as with all our players at that level, it doesn’t preclude the fact that they might still have a chance of making the first team squad when there are injuries in that position. Stevenson has in fact played in the cup, plus made the bench in the league. Therefore it seemed relevant to mention him in my post. And the main point I was making anyway was we didn’t properly replace Estupiñán (hence I was agreeing that Stevenson wasn’t signed with that fully in mind) and that’s why we’ve resorted to playing right-footers there when Masina has been absent. Ps how are you? And the newish arrival? All good?
I'd never tell you off Malts x All good mate, watching Watford is proving a good tool to get her to sleep! Hope you're well
Harsh, but fair. Currently got a wager where if Gray scores I donate £10 to a Staffie Rescue charity whilst they donate to a Donkey Charity. £5 for an assist. It's the only way I can support Gray on the pitch.
Haha great idea. Maybe you could ask the Donkey Charity if they’d do a swap? I thought to do that myself but didn’t want to make an ass of myself
What a cameo from Ngakia today. As well as the assist he was confident with the ball under pressure and used it well. He's going to be some player.
Definitely. He's just going to get better. With Kiko playing so well it's almost impossible for him at the moment but no doubt t our future right back for hopefully many a season.
I think he's a really good option for that right side in front of Kiko as well if we're looking to close out a game, like today. Great energy and pace.
Delighted with his contribution, mustn't be easy for him given he'd probably have expected to play more this season. Would start for pretty much any other team in the Championship, unfortunately for him Kiko is one of the best in the league! Fancy he'd be able to handle himself in the Prem mind you
Heard this a lot on these boards...has he ever played in midfield for us, or are we just going off a hunch?
What is the Cleverley role? He's was the most 'advanced' of the middle 3 when he played, pressing high up the pitch. I can't see Ngakia in that role at all personally.
A good question, I'm not actually sure what a Cleverly role is, I never even knew what the Chalabah role is. I think players can be far more flexible than what their Fifa persona implies. But what I mean is that Ngakia has good ball control and technical ability, and is a busy player who can tackle and win the ball back and he likes to get forward. I think he is wasted on the bench and think he could be an additional midfield player as well as left back.
The Chalobah role is box to box IMO, but I'm not sure that Ngakia would suit that, however I do agree he could be an extra mainly DMF option.
He's struggled whenever he's had to play left-back, very diligent, but you can tell he's not natural there
Where was Ngakia today? Because surely he would have been a better option than Lazzar to replace Massina, or at least come in at RB allowing Kiko to switch to the left. We would have been so much more balanced and possibly would not have conceded the penalty had he been on the pitch?
I'd imagine he's injured if he didn't even travel with the team. At least I hope he is because if Xisco rates Navarro over him then I'm going to throw up.