[Albion] Dale Stephens

[lancyclaret]

Having an increasingly good season.

Dyche’s judgement of him as PL class was spot on, again.

Yes, Dyche is certainly an admirer and I wonder if Stephens would have an England cap (like Jack Cork) by now if he had joined Burnley in August 2016.

He may well get an England cap with Brighton, but Cork has certainly blossomed under Dyche's guidance and by playing alongside the skill of Belgian international Steven Defour - a fine CM pairing this season.

Cork's call-up must give Stephens hope. Similar age.

 

[Weststander]

Yes, Dyche is certainly an admirer and I wonder if Stephens would have an England cap (like Jack Cork) by now if he had joined Burnley in August 2016.

He may well get an England cap with Brighton, but Cork has certainly blossomed under Dyche's guidance and by playing alongside the skill of Belgian international Steven Defour - a fine CM pairing this season.

If so mediocre Livermore is gathering caps, that opens the door for others.

Livermore was awful for England last week. Opposing midfielders ghosted past or outpaced him with ease.

 

[lancyclaret]

If so mediocre Livermore is gathering caps, that opens the door for others.

Livermore was awful for England last week. Opposing midfielders ghosted past or outpaced him with ease.

Cork & Stephens are BOTH far better than Livermore ............Southgate symphatetic because of JL's personal problems?

 

[Weststander]

Cork & Stephens are BOTH far better than Livermore ............Southgate symphatetic because of JL's personal problems?

Southgate reminds me of Graham Taylor (rest his soul) and his England reign.

Caps handed out like confetti - Carlton Palmer, Tony Daley, Andy Sinton and Geoff Thomas.

 

[Kalimantan Gull]

I agree Bruno wasn't at his best last night; however, I thought he was one of the few from both sides who was still going strong stamina wise at the latter stages of the match

Oh yeah he works his ass off, I never expect anything less. I do wonder if fatigue is affecting his decision processes though - take the Everton penalty. The 'defending' for Stoke's second where he let the ball hit him on his back in the six-yard box, that was a lot earlier in the game, but again I wonder whether there are other factors at play here. Maybe its just two isolated incidents, I hope so.

 

[Wardy's twin]

Propper dispossessed twice in critical positions. Made up for it with the run for the first goal.

Stephens poor? He had his best half of football in an albion shirt and his best performance this season.



Outclassed in midfield? What game were you watching? Unforced errors aside, Stephens and Propper were absolute class.

We drew because of two defensive errors, one for Dunk and one for Bruno/Duffy.

Beggars belief sometimes, must have been just me who witnessed Stephens spraying pass after pass to Jose in the first half and winning us back possession time and time again. I seriously suggest you watch the game back if you want to feel stupid.

I am in centre of WSU and agree Stephens had an excellent game (great passing which stretched them ) as did Propper who just shaded it for me because of that mazy run leading up to the goal which to me was magical. Murray was also a contender he worked his socks off and his pass for the second goal was brilliant. Not sure about Bong his decision making coming forward was erratic and appeared out of touch e.g. missed the obvious run or mis controlled ball when it came to him . Bruno gets his usual slagging on here which is unbelievable , during the second half there were 4 interceptions where he broke up their play because he read the pass.

We were undone by a combination of the physical power of their players in the box and one of those balls which would unlock most defences.

 

[NooBHA]

Oh yeah he works his ass off, I never expect anything less. I do wonder if fatigue is affecting his decision processes though - take the Everton penalty. The 'defending' for Stoke's second where he let the ball hit him on his back in the six-yard box, that was a lot earlier in the game, but again I wonder whether there are other factors at play here. Maybe its just two isolated incidents, I hope so.

I don't think they are isolated. He just doesn't like or is not comfortable challenging for headers. He always prefers to try and use his body to stop the opposing player getting a header in. Often it works but when it doesn't it gets highlighted. Even going back to the year we missed out on Promotion when clubs like Burnley scored from free kicks late on. It was Bruno's man who got on the end of the free kick. That's just a weakness in his game. His attributes massively outweigh that weakness, so I think we just need to live with it. He isn't all of a sudden going to become great in the air at this stage in his career

 

[HastingsSeagull]

Cork's always been decent and while you'd hope he'd be nowhere near an England squad, with the current talent level it's not that surprising....... Livermore however has been total gash every time I've seen him play and you'd think Stephens should be way ahead of him once we're established in this league.

 

[Glendemic]

Bumped into him in Hove today, said congrats for Monday night's goal. He said he was especially chuffed considering the opposition. Nice bloke.

I can't fault him for wobbling on the Burnley move, you don't get many shots at the premier league in your career.

 

[BensGrandad]

Lets hope there is more to come from him I did notice for our corners he took up a position on the Palace goal line as per his championship days to help hinder the keeper.

 

[Megazone]

I can't fault him for wobbling on the Burnley move, you don't get many shots at the premier league in your career.

To be fair, that was probably his 1st of the season.