February Championship Player of the Month

[Bozza]

Nominations:

McCormack
Vokes
Craig Forsyth (Derby defender)
Paul Robinson

The Argus is expressing some surprise that Ulloa is not nominated but, his (very welcome) goals aside, is it just me that thinks he's still not playing consistently well? His form is definitely moving in the right direction, which is great, but I'd not say February has seen a month of vintage performances.

Am I wrong?

 

[pasty]

Am I wrong?

No.

 

[Notters]

No you're spot on. I can't recall him being my man of the match at all, so why would he be championship player of the month. Not that im complaining about his performances or his goals.

 

[Biscuit]

I think you're wrong, here's why.

People appear to be under the impression that Ulloa is struggling to find form. I don't believe this to be totally accurate. Under Poyet we played to his his strengths. Lots of tidy passing in the channels opened up room for Ulloa to attack. I'd say his performances are more down to where and how he's receiving the ball. We play nice stuff under Oscar but it's a lot more direct. IMO this doesn't create the room that Ulloa thrives in. Despite this, he's still kept us going with his goals recently. His a top player that'll always score goals, but the system we currently play doesn't exploit his talents quite as much as it used too. It's a shame CMS isn't ready yet as I believe he'd be having the season of his life under Oscar,

EDIT: I'm arguing he's doing well in a bad system, not that he's doing well enough to merit PofM.

 

[saafend_seagull]

No chance v vokes!

 

[keaton]

Agree, his performances have mainly been poor and he has missed a some very easy chances recently.

But he's clearly not fit and is still worth a goal a game, but not in contention for PotM.

 

[Acker79]

I think you're wrong, here's why.

People appear to be under the impression that Ulloa is struggling to find form. I don't believe this to be totally accurate. Under Poyet we played to his his strengths. Lots of tidy passing in the channels opened up room for Ulloa to attack. I'd say his performances are more down to where and how he's receiving the ball. We play nice stuff under Oscar but it's a lot more direct. IMO this doesn't create the room that Ulloa thrives in. Despite this, he's still kept us going with his goals recently. His a top player that'll always score goals, but the system we currently play doesn't exploit his talents quite as much as it used too. It's a shame CMS isn't ready yet as I believe he'd be having the season of his life under Oscar,

You don't appear to be arguing that ulloa has been performing well. You appear to be providing an explanation for poor performances, which implies you agree he hasn't been particularly on form, so I don't see where you've disagreed with bozza.

 

[shaolinpunk]

He could do with having a game off to give him a breather and allow him to catch up, but with Barnes gone there isn't another senior striker that can play the lone role.

We could throw Obika into the team for a game but with so many important games coming up we can't take that risk. If we actually scored more than one goal we could afford to take Ulloa off after an hour to manage his fitness and form.

 

[Not Andy Naylor]

I know the guy who does the nominations and he rings round people he knows who have seen the various candidates to check that they're worthy of being on the shortlist. I've had a few calls this season - about Kuszczak and Upson among others - but none this time, and I must say I didn't think of jogging his memory about Ulloa. Well-taken goals against Leeds and Hull, but also a few misses - he's a man trying to recapture his best form rather than someone at the top of his game.

 

[Biscuit]

You don't appear to be arguing that ulloa has been performing well. You appear to be providing an explanation for poor performances, which implies you agree he hasn't been particularly on form, so I don't see where you've disagreed with bozza.

Yes! I did notice that after I wrote it there is an 'edit' at the bottom.

I think he's not PofM material, but he's still playing very well for a player in the wrong system IMO,

 

[HawkTheSeagull]

Goals doesnt mean anything, its based on all-round performance which Ulloa has been poor at a few games last month, a few games he was also pretty invisible except for the goal he scored.

 

[gazingdown]

Ince and Upson are surely higher up the list of those potentially for nomination....

 

[Gullflyinghigh]

Nominations:

McCormack
Vokes
Craig Forsyth (Derby defender)
Paul Robinson

The Argus is expressing some surprise that Ulloa is not nominated but, his (very welcome) goals aside, is it just me that thinks he's still not playing consistently well? His form is definitely moving in the right direction, which is great, but I'd not say February has seen a month of vintage performances.

Am I wrong?

From an Albion fan's perspective, no you're not wrong at all. Whilst his goals have been incredibly welcome it's almost like he's been sleepwalking through a lot of recent performances, with the ball hitting the net forming a small part of them.

If I were viewing the stats as an outsider then I would probably be wondering why someone with such a profilic spell wasn't included.

 

[Giraffe]

I would be say that Upson would be closer to the nominations than Ulloa. He has been outstanding and given our clean sheet record and 1-0 wins he should have been in the running.

 

[Meade's Ball]

The goliath is still finding his feet a tad after that bone-snapping, but a lesser-spotted Ulloa remains a first-pick player and all we seem to be doing is noting him to be not at the upper end of his game. That'll return when his bodyparts torture in tandem. I feel no disappointment in his direction.

 

[willyfantastic]

Yes! I did notice that after I wrote it there is an 'edit' at the bottom.

I think he's not PofM material, but he's still playing very well for a player in the wrong system IMO,

i would argue he is more effective in the role he's in now than he was under poyet. if we play more direct to him, he is very good at heading the ball down to a team mate, or doing enough that we then get the second ball from any ball forward.

i think he's missing his first touch at the moment, but the fact he is still scoring right now, i would argue is proof that the system suits him.

I think once he finds his form properly we could be devastating. the amount of cute balls around/inside the area that he has from some great build up play has sometimes resulted in a heavy touch from him, but once he has this ironed out he could score a fair few more than we are seeing

 

[Biscuit]

i would argue he is more effective in the role he's in now than he was under poyet.

I can't agree with that. Under Poyet, the way the full backs/wingers overlapped and created space was all to draw the centerback out of position thus giving Ulloa room to attack. At the moment I don't see that space being made - whenever a ball is floated in I can assure you Ulloa has a player infront and behind him. He needs that space to be made in order for him to play at the level he was last season.

Don't get me wrong he's a ****ing brilliant footballer, but with a few changes to our (frankly obvious) build-up play I think we could be getting more out of him.

On the other side of the spectrum, CMS struggled under Gus but would be more than suited to Oscar's play. It's all about using any group of players ability in the way that suits them most. In Ulloa's case I don't think we're doing that.

 

[Machiavelli]

I can't agree with that. Under Poyet, the way the full backs/wingers overlapped and created space was all to draw the centerback out of position thus giving Ulloa room to attack. At the moment I don't see that space being made - whenever a ball is floated in I can assure you Ulloa has a player infront and behind him. He needs that space to be made in order for him to play at the level he was last season.

Don't get me wrong he's a ****ing brilliant footballer, but with a few changes to our (frankly obvious) build-up play I think we could be getting more out of him.

On the other side of the spectrum, CMS struggled under Gus but would be more than suited to Oscar's play. It's all about using any group of players ability in the way that suits them most. In Ulloa's case I don't think we're doing that.

I like the way you've argued your two main posts here, but I'm not so sure I agree with your analysis of the difference in play between Oscar and Gus. I'd say that our build-up play is less obvious now, for two related reasons: that our play is now more varied -- we're more likely to play balls more quickly and over longer distances. This makes our game less obvious. I do take your point about full-backs under Gus. But, I don't think it's quite as stark as you suggest. Ward, for instance, has been playing noticeably higher up the pitch of late and, at times, even overlapping. He doesn't do this as much as Bridge, but I think we'd have to put this down to a difference in player, rather than a difference in the coach and their game plan/philosophy.
My view is that Ulloa has rediscovered his scoring boots which, in part, has coincided with him being less isolated. I think his touch has been poor in general -- and against Leeds in particular -- but at Millwall at least, I thought that was coming back. I do think that the range of goals he's scored has been extremely impressive: a direct header against Huddersfield, that brilliant finish against Leeds, carrying the ball and dinking it over the keeper against Hull, a goal mouth poach against Wigan, and a glancing header against Hull.