[Albion] Liam Delap - Man City

[Bodian]

This. Big strong lad that bullied us well. A player Evan should aspire to be

Without the double-handed pushing players over aspect though.

 

[Tom Hark Preston Park]

Without the double-handed pushing players over aspect though.

Like I say, he bullied us well

 

[darkwolf666]

I sometimes think if you could produce some kind of composite, average NSC user, they would be spectacularly bad at spotting potential.

The number of times, I've seen in threads about Barco, or Enciso, or Ferguson and others, criticisms which suggest that where they are in this snapshot in time is monolithic and that coaching and experience has no chance of improving the player.

It's a bit like The Traitors or The Apprentice, when pushes comes to shove, basically we haven't got a clue what we're talking about!

 

[Beanstalk]

This. Big strong lad that bullied us well. A player that Evan can only aspire to be at this stage in his development

Whilst I think Delap is clearly a very talented young player, I'd hope that Evan will never play in a side where he is reduced to being a disruptive lump up top.

Evan is a year younger and has 9 more Premier League goals than Delap does. A much much higher ceiling than him as well.

 

[tstanbur]

Did you miss Pedro’s “ challenge” on their keeper then? Or does that not count because he’s our player?

Nothing wrong with a centre forward being aggressive and mixing it up with centre halves, all the best ones do.

Without the double-handed pushing players over aspect though.

 

[Tom Hark Preston Park]

Whilst I think Delap is clearly a very talented young player, I'd hope that Evan will never play in a side where he is reduced to being a disruptive lump up top.

Evan is a year younger and has 9 more Premier League goals than Delap does. A much much higher ceiling than him as well.

Either one of them will do well to develop into Chris Wood. Produces the goods year after year

 

[Greg Bobkin]

Did you miss Pedro’s “ challenge” on their keeper then? Or does that not count because he’s our player?

Nothing wrong with a centre forward being aggressive and mixing it up with centre halves, all the best ones do.

At least JP was going for the ball...

 

[schmunk]

Evan is a year younger

Almost 2 years younger.

 

[tstanbur]

At least JP was going for the ball...

Maybe, but he certainly wasn’t with that elbow the other week!

 

[Bodian]

Did you miss Pedro’s “ challenge” on their keeper then? Or does that not count because he’s our player?

Nothing wrong with a centre forward being aggressive and mixing it up with centre halves, all the best ones do.

No I didn't miss it. And have voted 'red' in the relevant thread about it.

There is absolutely nothing wrong with a centre forward being aggressive. But in a fair fashion. Mitrovic was a great example of an aggressive but generally fair CF who bullied Dunk every time they met - I'd love us to have one of those. But what Delap was doing was simply pushing people over with his hands - that's not what I want to see from an aggressive centre forward.

 

[Beanstalk]

Either one of them will do well to develop into Chris Wood. Produces the goods year after year

I was going to go down the Chris Wood lane in terms of comparison (as it is definitely there in Delap) but actually think that would be a bit harsh on Wood. He isn't really a bully, just a very effective target man. Not dissimilar to our Glenn really.

Think Delap could head that way and be a Wood or Solanke. Despite a sorry few months for Evan, he's got a hell of a lot more about him.

 

[Greg Bobkin]

Maybe, but he certainly wasn’t with that elbow the other week!

Very true.

 

[Joey Jo Jo Jr. Shabadoo]

Whilst I think Delap is clearly a very talented young player, I'd hope that Evan will never play in a side where he is reduced to being a disruptive lump up top.

Evan is a year younger and has 9 more Premier League goals than Delap does. A much much higher ceiling than him as well.

I'd quite like to see Evan putting in the kind of bullying performance Delap puts in, he is a lot more than a disruptive lump up top. We can look a bit soft at times, and that goes beyond just this season, someone trying to bully the opposition centre halves would be great.

Delap has 8 PL goals, Ferguson has 13. So it's a 5 goal difference, Ferguson has got his in 59 games, Delap in 20. At the moment Delap is everything that Ferguson isn't and hasn't been since mid-way through last season.

 

[Beanstalk]

Almost 2 years younger.

Feel like we're heading down this path mate

 

[tstanbur]

No I didn't miss it. And have voted 'red' in the relevant thread about it.

There is absolutely nothing wrong with a centre forward being aggressive. But in a fair fashion. Mitrovic was a great example of an aggressive but generally fair CF who bullied Dunk every time they met - I'd love us to have one of those. But what Delap was doing was simply pushing people over with his hands - that's not what I want to see from an aggressive centre forward.

No I didn't miss it. And have voted 'red' in the relevant thread about it.

There is absolutely nothing wrong with a centre forward being aggressive. But in a fair fashion. Mitrovic was a great example of an aggressive but generally fair CF who bullied Dunk every time they met - I'd love us to have one of those. But what Delap was doing was simply pushing people over with his hands - that's not what I want to see from an aggressive centre forward.

I was watching on an unreliable stream so may have missed relevant parts of the game -just how many times did Delap push people over last night?

Ps Mitrovic definitely lost his head and acted “inappropriately” a few times in his career!

 

[schmunk]

View attachment 195285
Feel like we're heading down this path mate

Sure, but saying he's a year younger downplays the 20-month gap in age.

 

[Tom Hark Preston Park]

I was going to go down the Chris Wood lane in terms of comparison (as it is definitely there in Delap) but actually think that would be a bit harsh on Wood. He isn't really a bully, just a very effective target man. Not dissimilar to our Glenn really.

Think Delap could head that way and be a Wood or Solanke. Despite a sorry few months for Evan, he's got a hell of a lot more about him.

Sorry, but not seen a lot of evidence to back up your claim, despite us both wishing it to be true

 

[tstanbur]

I'd quite like to see Evan putting in the kind of bullying performance Delap puts in, he is a lot more than a disruptive lump up top. We can look a bit soft at times, and that goes beyond just this season, someone trying to bully the opposition centre halves would be great.

Delap has 8 PL goals, Ferguson has 13. So it's a 5 goal difference, Ferguson has got his in 59 games, Delap in 20. At the moment Delap is everything that Ferguson isn't and hasn't been since mid-way through last season.

This.

Fergie has got it in him but he’s clearly lacking in confidence all round.

He bullied Coady and Tarkowski away at Everton a couple of seasons ago (and scored a great header) and I loved it.

I want that Fergie back.

 

[Beanstalk]

Sure, but saying he's a year younger downplays the 20-month gap in age.

Yes, you're right of course.

There are a number of players in our first team squad that are eligible to play in the PL2 still (Enciso, Evan, Baleba, Minteh, Gruda, Ayari). Always worth remembering just how young they actually are!

 

[Beanstalk]

Sorry, but not seen a lot of evidence to back up your claim, despite us both wishing it to be true

One of only four players to score a PL hat trick at 18.
One of two non-English players to reach 10 Premier League goal involvements while aged eighteen and under.
Young Player of the Season at 18.
First competitive goal for Ireland at 18.

The injury has clearly stalled his progress but if he can have a run of first team PL games (here or somewhere else) there is plenty of evidence that he can get back on the path he was on. Something is not right between him and the club at the moment and there probably needs to be a bit of a reset for him to get there.