Bong

[DJ NOBO]

Agree with every word of that esp. re Knockaert and Murray today. I do wonder if this dramatic drop in form might well be a blessing in disguise for our prospects of staying up next season. It's up to players to prove to Chris Hughton that they deserve their chance next season but rather than perhaps painting a false picture of how much quality we have throughout the team, they are exposing their own frailties and a clear inability from some that you mentioned to stay focused. I hope it's also gets rid of a little bit of arrogance that has, IMO, started to creep in.

This 100%.
If we'd have cruised to the title the temptation would have been to think skalak, bong , hemed could cut it in the prem.
We will need far better to survive next season.
Also our stronger players can't turn up only when they chose - Murray, knockaert to name but two.
Some people on here completely underestimate the difference in quality between championship and premiership

 

[WATFORD zero]

Agree that Bong was poor, but to pick him out from yesterday's team is unfair

I thought MOM was Akpon as just about the only player who wasn't way below their normal level

 

[Bold Seagull]

Agree Bong wasn't the worse performance, but he was partially at fault for the goal. His hesitation in not getting out to stop the cross was the decisive factor in them scoring. I was furious at his mindset there as a full back should have a natural instinct to close the ball. If he closes it and they score, fair dos, but to do what he did was very poor.

 

[HantsSeagull]

i like Bong but he did have a mare yesterday (as did a number of others) - I still think Pog is a much better left back and he should have played but hey ho.

 

[Hampster Gull]

This 100%.
If we'd have cruised to the title the temptation would have been to think skalak, bong , hemed could cut it in the prem.
We will need far better to survive next season.
Also our stronger players can't turn up only when they chose - Murray, knockaert to name but two.
Some people on here completely underestimate the difference in quality between championship and premiership

Agreed

Cough cough premier league

 

[GloryDays]

Tut Tut.

Bong seldom made a wayward pass today. If you want to throw blame around, it shouldn't be at Bong. Look at the two men he had in front of him being so static that he couldn't play balls to them in space that he had to pass inside, or backwards.

Probably my MoM.

Slightly perplexed about Stephens receiving the 'award'.

I know these things don't mean much, and I acknowledge that DS had a good game. Not doubting that, but when it came to the crunch and to grab the bull by the horns, he merely aided the laborious, slow, wide play. Perfect when 2-0 up and coasting but when losing it's probably ideal and comfortable for the defending team.. Training ground stuff. BC did set up well though.

 

[Dick Swiveller]

Yes, free speech.

Free speech isn't saying what you want without it being challenged.

Hope this helps.

 

[BrianWade4]

Is he good enough for the Prem? Woeful today and has had other inconsistent performances this season. Personally think we can do better.

No he's not.

 

[Weststander]

Bong was probably our best player today: this thread is absurd.

Stephens showed Bong, with Hemed, Kayal and Skalak, how to play.

 

[Weststander]

Free speech isn't saying what you want without it being challenged.

Hope this helps.

That helps no one, weird comment. If that poster wants to comment that Bong isn't up to PL standard, they shouldn't have to apologise for saying it. They didn't state it couldn't be challenged.

 

[NooBHA]

Agree Bong wasn't the worse performance, but he was partially at fault for the goal. His hesitation in not getting out to stop the cross was the decisive factor in them scoring. I was furious at his mindset there as a full back should have a natural instinct to close the ball. If he closes it and they score, fair dos, but to do what he did was very poor.

When I first looked at the goal, I thought the same that Bong should be going out to stop the cross coming in but if you watch it from the initial Dunk error. Dunk himself stops thinking its too late, they will go straight through the middle. Then when he sees them push is wide he pelts it back to try and get into position. By that time, Bong has gone to cover Dunk and when he sees that Dunk is now rushing to get back, that's when he goes out to try and stop the cross but by then it is too late.

The goal was a Dunk error and no one should be able to say anything different. Bong seems to get it in the eye everytime there is a communal bad performance. For me look at Skalak whos lack of movement and inability to hold the ball up is apparent in 80% of the games he plays. Solly March has ability in abundance but he seems to get intimidated by defenders. That's slightly understandable given his recent injury history but lets not put the blinkers on and pretend it is not there.

It is hard to be critical of players who have been brilliant. Under normal circumstances those players would get a bollocking for that performance but how can you justify bollocking players who have achieved so much. I think we need to cut the lads some slack here. They had a bad day but it I not the end of the world and they are more than capable of going to Villa and if they play to their potential beating easily, what is after all, only a mid table side with nothing to play for.

 

[One Teddy Maybank]

Tut Tut.

Bong seldom made a wayward pass today. If you want to throw blame around, it shouldn't be at Bong. Look at the two men he had in front of him being so static that he couldn't play balls to them in space that he had to pass inside, or backwards.

But when he looked up Knockaert was always inside, surely he can only be playing to instruction, we are ineffective when we don't play with natural width.

 

[One Teddy Maybank]

When I first looked at the goal, I thought the same that Bong should be going out to stop the cross coming in but if you watch it from the initial Dunk error. Dunk himself stops thinking its too late, they will go straight through the middle. Then when he sees them push is wide he pelts it back to try and get into position. By that time, Bong has gone to cover Dunk and when he sees that Dunk is now rushing to get back, that's when he goes out to try and stop the cross but by then it is too late.

The goal was a Dunk error and no one should be able to say anything different. Bong seems to get it in the eye everytime there is a communal bad performance. For me look at Skalak whos lack of movement and inability to hold the ball up is apparent in 80% of the games he plays. Solly March has ability in abundance but he seems to get intimidated by defenders. That's slightly understandable given his recent injury history but lets not put the blinkers on and pretend it is not there.

It is hard to be critical of players who have been brilliant. Under normal circumstances those players would get a bollocking for that performance but how can you justify bollocking players who have achieved so much. I think we need to cut the lads some slack here. They had a bad day but it I not the end of the world and they are more than capable of going to Villa and if they play to their potential beating easily, what is after all, only a mid table side with nothing to play for.

100% Dunk error. At the next level he has to stop chasing the ball, as he leaves us exposed.

 

[Weststander]

100% Dunk error. At the next level he has to stop chasing the ball, as he leaves us exposed.

True, saw it perfectly in line from ESU. But I still think Bong played poorly in defence and attack.

 

[One Teddy Maybank]

True, saw it perfectly in line from ESU. But I still think Bong played poorly in defence and attack.

Yes, I agree, as per the ratings thread, I thought Bong was very poor, particularly when controlling the ball, his touch just wasn't there and he wasn't the only one.

 

[NooBHA]

But when he looked up Knockaert was always inside, surely he can only be playing to instruction, we are ineffective when we don't play with natural width.

As all know, I am reluctant to say Chris got it wrong but sometimes you need to look at past games against the opposition. In the away match at Bristol, Jamie Murphy probably had his best game of this season against them. So for me what you do is ensure that he is on the pitch.

The Bristol City defence will have remembered that fact and would have been out to stop Murphy, which in turn could well have created spaces for others. Or even, Jamie might have played another blinder, but we will never know.

However, let put all this into perspective.

If at the start of the season someone had said you will get Promoted with 3 games still to play and you can win the League by beating Villa in the last game of the season. You would probably have locked them up in a 1960 style asylum.

 

[Acker79]

Bong, like Kayal, Hemed, Skalak/March and so many players, play better when they have a run of games. They have all been in and out of the team for the last three games, of course they're not going to give peak performances.

 

[Murray 17]

We rely a lot on AK to create things. If him and March have an off-day, we struggle to break down sides.

Think we need a creative central midfielder for next season.

 

[Bold Seagull]

100% Dunk error. At the next level he has to stop chasing the ball, as he leaves us exposed.

I watched it a few times, Dunk makes an error, but that error is compounded by Bong being indecisive. All players make errors, it's how the team deals with it. Bong goes to go out, then goes to go back in, then goes to go back out - rendering himself completely ineffective either in the box or closing the cross.

If Bong is decisive and sticks with Brownhill, Kayal can close the ball to prevent the cross and Brownhill probably struggles to score. If Bong commits to closing the ball down instead, than Taylor doesn't get a chance to pick out a cross like he did. They may still score, but bloodyhell, there was still a lot to do after Dunk's initial error, but boy we made it easy thereafter. I'd fancy my chances picking out a cross with that much time.

 

[HCxUK]

I thought Bong was one of the better players yesterday FWIW, offered a lot going forward. Wasn't too impressed by Knockaert, Skalak and later March constantly switching wings, think it disrupted our game a little bit.